Like a Dragon: Ishin! Review (Spit)
My original review I wrote for this game was when I had around 12 hours. To summarize it, I wrote: I don't think this game, mechanics and gameplay wise, is as good as the other recently released Yakuza games. I don't hate this game. I just wish I paid less for it. I found more joy and variety in the other games overall, compared to this one.
I still stand by that statement. It is a modern remake missing modern gaming features. Kiwami 1 and 2 were great remakes and games that outshine Ishin in more ways than one. Nonetheless, without getting too much into comparisons, I think Ishin is a good remake but not at it's price point. There are several features in the game I found very lackluster and overall unnecessary.
The story as a whole I think is very good. There's a good hook, an okay build up, fantastic climax that is surrounded in political intrigue which I absolutely loved, and an alright ending. If the money you spend on video games only matters to you if the story is good, this game is exactly what you're looking for.
If the money you spend on video games only matters to you if both the story and gameplay is good, I suggest waiting for a decent size sale. Unfortunately I can not make this short for there are too many modern gaming features that are so blatantly missing combined with features that are just completely unnecessary.
Combat: 4 stances. Only 3 are useful, fighting with your fists is stupid because you do the least amount of damage and attacking with objects found on the ground is so slow you usually get hit, forcing you to drop said object, before you can even connect. The other 3 stances I categorize as: pewpew spam the attack button from afar, large group of enemies watch me twirl, and single target/boss fight stance. The heat moves from each stance are fun to watch at first till you're 20 hours in and realize you're going to be seeing the same 2-4 heat moves from each stance again and again and again. Overall, the combat lacks just a tiny bit of variety and pizzazz compared to other Yakuza games. 90% of the skills you unlock are useful with some being downright idiotic. No I'm not going to constantly have a mandarin orange in my inventory just so I can use that one move sorry. Combat overall is pretty easy and boss fights simply boil down to: block until their combo is finished, do your combo, rinse and repeat.
Cards: Another game adding battle cards/perks because it's a trend???? Whatever man that's fine I guess. Again, completely unnecessary. Never changed my cards from what they first give you and I set them to automatically being used when available. I don't hate this feature but I sure as hell don't care for it.
Crafting: I did not craft a single freaking thing in the entire game. Why is this feature here? It's completely unnecessary. Why is it so large? Why are there so many crafting materials? I didn't even once see half of the materials some items required. I used the same pistol through three quarters of the game and when I finally looted a new one, it did maybe 10 more damage. Defensive equipment is the same thing. Didn't craft anything and only changed my equipment maybe twice. It never once hindered me either! I died 4 times throughout my entire playthrough on Normal difficulty. 3 of those times were just large amount of enemies with a few of them being "elite" with annoying attack patterns. The other time I died was because I missed a block on a boss's very telegraphed one shot attack.
Grind: It's there if you want it. You 100% don't have to do any of it. It's not worth it because there's no incentive to do it. I didn't grind once and only ran low on funds one time near the end of the game when I was buying every healing item I could find. I ended up selling one very expensive crafting material and my problem was solved instantly. There are several dojos, dungeons, and other areas you can grind if you want the mindless challenge but again, why would you?
Fast travel: There is only a few fast travel points and you unlock an additional one by maxing your bond with those dudes. The additional spot isn't convenient but you'll unlock it by naturally playing. My biggest issue with fast travel other than the low amount of spots, was if the spot I was fast traveling to was not on my map, I had no way of confirming that was the correct spot without spending money and going there. I had to end up remembering the names so I could stop wasting money. Why am I unable to look at the other map areas unless I'm physically there?
Substories: Same Yakuza silliness mixed with basic life lessons. If you like this kind of stuff it's there though a tad underwhelming. My biggest gripe was a lot of these required you to revisit them repeatedly bringing certain items like vegetables, junk, or whatever they requested. Once you do, they repeat the same dialogue and animation per every delivery until your bond is maxed and then a long drawn out conversation about life, but you don't really care because this is the first time they ever showed any sort of personality instead of acting like a robot and thanking you for their 20th potato or scrap paper. The bond feature is okay. It's not okay when you force the player to build these bonds to progress a meaningless substory.
These are the features that bothered me the most and I've already written too long of a review. Once again I will say, this is a good game, just not for the price point they are selling it at. I really enjoyed the story and I think anyone else would too. The gameplay however is this game's largest flaw and they hide it very well. Please take my advice and wait for a big sale. I got this game for 30% off and still feel slightly ripped off. Do not impulsively buy this game just because you need more Yakuza.