Open World Action RPG Review: Like a Dragon - Ishin!

Like a Dragon: Ishin! was originally released only in Japan for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in 2014. The original release was never released outside of Japan, however fans with the usernames MajDima, toyotasupra2, and jurxd created an English translation patch for the PlayStation 3 version on February 2, 2025.

The story takes place right before the Restoration period of Japan, hence the Ishin in the title, as Ishin means Restoration in Japanese. The story follows a samurai named Ryōma Sakamoto who takes on the identity of Hajime Saitō and infiltrates the special army for the Shogunate, the Shinsengumi, to discover who murdered his foster father, Tōyō Yoshida.

Ryōma Sakamoto, Hajime Saitō, and Tōyō Yoshida are all historical samurai who had an influence on Japan, but in real life, Ryōma Sakamoto and Hajime Saitō were separate people. The story mixes the lives of both men, as it begins with the life of Ryōma Sakamoto, with his friend Takechi Hanpeita, the head of the Tosa Loyalist Party. It twists things a bit, with Tōyō Yoshida being Ryōma Sakamoto's foster father in the game. This is where it diverges with the life of Hajime Saitō as it details his joining of the Shinsengumi, although in the game it is to find the person who killed Tōyō.

It's a very dramatic story filled with betrayals and bittersweet triumphs mixed in with craziness, especially in the side stories. In other words, it is very much a Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio game.

The characters are portrayed by Like a Dragon series staples, as well as those characters who are lesser known. The likeness of Kazuma Kiryu, complete with the marvelous deep voice of Takaya Kuroda, plays Hajime Saitō, aka Ryōma Sakamoto. The likeness of the wonderfully crazy Goro Majima portrays Soji Okita. You'll be glad to know Hidenari Ugaki plays Okita with all of the passion of Majima, complete with taunts of Hajime-chan! Many of the likenesses and voice actors of other characters that were playable in previous games also appear here as historical and fictional characters including Haruka Sawamura, Shun Akiyama, Taiga Saejima, and Ryuji Goda. Other series characters are also represented in supporting roles.

In the original version, there are several characters that were replaced in the Kiwami remake from games released after the original release of Ishin!, such as Koichi Adachi from Yakuza: Like a Dragon and Keiji Shibusawa from Yakuza 0. They replaced characters that had no counterparts as they were originally characters exclusive to Ishin!

Other characters that were in the original Ishin! but not included in the remake include Hiroshi Hayashi from Yakuza and Yakuza 2, Goh Hamazaki from Yakuza 3 and Yakuza 4, and Minoru Aoyama, Kan Ogita Yahata, Hiroshi Kugihara, and Shigeki Baba from Yakuza 5.

Ishin! is an action RPG, as were most games in the series before it switched to turn-based RPG style combat beginning in Yakuza: Like a Dragon. However, it does represent a change from the usual fare as swords and guns are available to use in addition to the usual fists and kicks.

As usual, side stories are plentiful, and many are just as crazy as you'd expect. The creators also had fun with the time period with some side stories, as there are some here that just wouldn't work in modern Japan. 

Happily, minigames made it into the game despite the pre-Restoration era setting of Japan. The usual Japanese gambling games are present, as is the Western gambling game of Texas hold 'em poker. The latter does make sense within the context of the game, as the era is set when the "black ships" from Britain came to Japan. As expected from a Like a Dragon series game, there are also odd yet fun minigames included such as chicken racing. You can also fish, farm, cook, and then sell the results of your hard work with help from Haruka. 

Interestingly, Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise resembles Like a Dragon: Ishin! As the former was released before the latter, it is obvious where Ryu Ga Gotaku Studio got the inspiration to delve into the post-apocalyptic world of Fist of the North Star. As I was playing Ishin!, I noticed the similarity right away due to the rustic feel of the in-game villages between the two games. However, once Haruka's villa was available, it became more apparent. Lin's expressions, comments, and movements are identical to Haruka's here. It works in both games, though, as it gives off a cute vibe that suits both characters.

Like a Dragon: Ishin! is a fantastic game, with all of the series staples that you would expect from the developers of the Like a Dragon series. The voice actors, as usual, have brought their A-game, delivering fantastic voice performances. The plot is interesting as well, weaving together the stories of two famous historical samurai in a story with both historical and fictional elements. If you are a fan of the Like a Dragon series, or just interested in historical Japan, this game is one that is well worth playing.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Like a Dragon: Ishin Kiwami review

Open World Action RPG Review: Yakuza Kiwami 2

The second Yakuza game was bigger than the first, with the addition of a new district, Shinseicho, based on the real-life Shinsekai, as well as including the usual Yakuza series hangout spot, Kamurocho, based on the real-life Kabukicho. In the Yakuza Kiwami 2 remake, the second district was replaced by Sotenbori from Yakuza 0, which is based on the real-life Dotenbori. In the case of both Yakuza 2 and the Yakuza Kiwami 2 remake, in many ways, bigger does indeed mean better.

In this game, Kiryu Kazuma is approached by the fifth chairman of the Tojo Clan, Yukio Terada, who wishes to broker an alliance between the Tojo Clan and the Omi Alliance. After Terada is murdered, Kiryu decides to take on this goal himself, as he was the one who appointed Terada as the fifth chairman. Thus, he places his adopted daughter, Haruka, in the care of the orphanage where they both grew up, and sets out on the dangerous task to broker peace between the two biggest yakuza organizations in Japan.

The story of Yakuza 2, which takes place a year after the events of Yakuza, is often praised as being among the best in the series and within the top two with Yakuza 0. That praise is well deserved, as it is an exciting murder mystery with a lot of twists and turns thrown in. On top of that, the female detective, Kaoru Sayama, whom Kiryu first meets in this game is written superbly. The writers are good at writing for interesting female characters, but they usually are relegated to the women at the cabaret clubs. It is fun to interact with these women, who range from ultra-feminine to tomboyish. However, they rarely have a tough, yet feminine woman who can hold their own in a fight. That's a shame because Yakuza 2 showed that they could do it well. It took over a half a decade, with the release of Yakuza 5, for another tough, feminine woman to appear in a Yakuza game, and over another half a decade for a playable strong, feminine female character to become playable with the release of Yakuza: Like a Dragon.

Another awesome character is the Kansai dragon, Ryuji Goda, who is one of the main villains of the game, as he wants to defeat Kiryu, the Dragon of Dojima, to stake the claim as the only dragon in the yakuza. He is written and performed so well that he became popular with the fans enough to become a playable character in Yakuza: Dead Souls.

As for gameplay, this game is the one that shows its Shenmue lineage the most. Yakuza showed it with quick-time events, fetch quests, and a puzzle near the beginning of the game where Kiryu had to infiltrate the funeral of the third chairman of the Tojo clan. Yakuza 2 has these as well, but it has an actual adventure puzzle near the middle of the game where Kiryu has to interpret clues to open a safe. The puzzle is done very well, and, as a fan of adventure games, I'm happy that it was kept intact in the Yakuza Kiwami 2 remake.

Speaking of the remake, compared to Yakuza Kiwami, the controls are still a bit stiff and there is only one fighting style for Kiryu. In addition, some locations with mini-games are no longer accessible in Yakuza Kiwami 2, such as bowling, pool, and the Club Adam host organization. In addition, with the replacement of Shinseicho for Sotenbori, the Shinseicho minigames have been moved to Kamurocho and Sotenbori or removed entirely. Making up for it, however, some mini-games have been added to the Kiwami remake, including the Majima Construction clan creator and cabaret club management. 

Yakuza Kiwami 2 is an excellent game with multiple locations to visit, well-written and excellently voiced new and returning characters, and a superb plot. Any version is worth playing, from the PlayStation 2 original, the Japanese-only high-definition versions on PlayStation 3 and Wii U, or the Kiwami remake, although I wholeheartedly recommend playing the Yakuza Kiwami 2 remake. Yakuza 2, and by extension, Yakuza Kiwami 2, absolutely deserves its praise as one of the best games in the series, and the remake cements it there, even when compared to later games in the series.

Final verdict:

5 out of 5

Yakuza 2 (HD) Review

Yakuza Kiwami 2: Majima Saga review

Choices-and-Consequences Management Simulator Review: Dispatch - Episode 1: Pivot

Dispatch, the episodic superhero adventure game by AdHoc Studio premiered with two episodes. AdHoc was founded by Telltale Games alumni, so there was a lot riding on the studio's choices-and-consequences superhero management game. The big question for fans of Telltale and fans of the aforementioned genres in general is whether the premiere episode was worth the wait.

Dispatch follows Robert Robertson, a non-powered human who inherited a fortune which he used to maintain a giant robot and fight crime as Mecha Man. After a mission doesn't go as planned, Robert becomes a middle manager as he dispatches superheroes to fight crime and do mundane tasks around the Dispatch universe's version of Los Angeles.

The wording in the previous paragraph was not a coincidence, as the dispatch system is highly reminiscent of the auto-play mode of Double Fine's Middle Manager of Justice. An event is reported and Robertson has to choose the superheroes on his team to respond. These heroes all take the form of archetypes from comic book superheroes, including super strong men and women, heroes who can control elements like fire, heroes who are super smart, and those who aren't human such as reptiles and robots. Dispatching requires some strategy as each hero has a unique level of combat, intellect, vigor, charisma, and mobility. Completing a mission successfully will raise the stat level, allowing the improvement of one trait for a hero.

As this is a choices-and-consequences game akin to the Dispatch team's past titles at Telltale, such as Tales from the Borderlands, the game consists of dialog options which will affect further dialog. They can sometimes also affect characters physically as well. As with most games of this type, there are also quick time events which affect physical motions performed by Robert. This game is a lot more flexible than some earlier titles, as the game begins with a pop-up with an option to have QTEs or to play the game cinematically without the requirement of any button inputs. When the latter is chosen, it is still obvious where the QTEs were located, as the action pauses for a moment before kicking back in. This is a development choice that is awkward at first but should stop taking the player out of the story as the story progresses.

In between the choices, quick time events, and dispatch strategies, a minigame will pop up to act as a tool to hack into various computer systems in the game. This takes place on a board that requires a bit of maneuvering to connect bridges over gaps to get the needed information from various points on the grid. Once everything is collected, the player exits the grid before time runs out and the story moves on. This computer hacking mechanism is quite like the LINC terminals that allow Robert Foster to traverse computer systems in Revolution Software's Beneath a Steel Sky. The difference here is that some points in the grid will have button prompts which need to be completed in the correct order.

The presentation is top-notch, with top-tier character modeling and animation combined with music and sound effects that sync up perfectly with the events unfolding in the story. The actors are all fantastic, with voices that fit the characters so well you end up focusing on the characters even when you recognize the voices of prolific actors such as Laura Bailey and Jeffrey Wright. It really does feel like watching an animated superhero series. One such animated series in particular immediately comes to mind, as Dispatch gives off real Invincible vibes.

To answer the question that began this review, the first episode of Dispatch really was worth the wait. It has fantastic characters performed by equally fantastic voice actors. The art and animation is truly amazing and the music just makes the art that much better. The storyline is also really intriguing. The management simulation mechanics also fits in surprising well with the choices-and-consequences gameplay and button-pressing prompts. For fans of either of these genres, or just those who enjoy animated superhero dramedies such as Invincible, this game is well worth playing.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Turn-Based Role-Playing Video Game Review: South Park - The Fractured But Whole

South Park - The Fractured But Whole is the direct sequel to The Stick of Truth. This game was developed by Ubisoft San Francisco rather than Obsidian Entertainment. As a studio known for the Rocksmith rhythm games, role-playing games were out of their repertoire prior to the release of this game. This, combined with the popularity of Stick of Truth, meant that The Fractured But Whole had a lot riding on it upon its release.

The story once again stars the New Kid, the player's avatar. This game gives not only a lot more customization options than its predecessor, but more customization options than most games available at the time of its release. The Stick of Truth only allowed customization of the look of the character but the story referred to the character as a male. This time, there is an option for gender, but there's a lot more available than merely male and female. There are also multiple options available to choose for your sexual orientation. The characters will then refer to the New Kid in the manner appropriate to gender and sexual orientation. There is also some clever social commentary in the character configuration as well as in the game proper.

In this game, the New Kid gains powers to reverse time. This can be used both in puzzles when traversing the map as well as in the turn-based fights. The battle system has also been changed from the previous game with grid-based movement that adds strategy to brawls. There are many different enemies from South Park's history to battle, including the crab people who were cut from the previous game.

There is a larger variety of South Park kids that can be included as a playable character in your party, including a girl in the form of Call Girl, also known as Wendy Testaburger. The characters go by code names as this time they are playing as superheroes. The first game had up to six characters which could serve as the three characters in your party, this time there are thirteen. The other twelve characters include Stan as Toolshed, Kyle as the Human Kite, Cartman as The Coon, Kenny as Mysterion, Butters as Professor Chaos, Jimmy as Fastpass  Clyde as Mosquito, Craig as Super Craig, Tweek as Wonder Tweek, Token as Tupperware, Scott Malkinson as Captain Diabetes, and Timmy as Dr. Timothy.

South Park: The Fractured But Whole improves upon its predecessor with more characters, a more robust battle system, and fun time manipulation puzzles. However, the storyline is divisive this time around, as the whole premise is of the New Kid using flatulence to manipulate time. This, obviously, sets up a lot of toilet humor. The other part that divides fans is that the game contains characters and situation mostly from the newer episodes of South Park, whereas the original had characters and references that spanned the entire show up to that point. If you can look past the childish exterior, the storyline actually is quite fun with conspiracies, time travel, and the expected South Park satire.

Final Verdict:
4½ out of 5

Turn-Based Role-Playing Video Game Review: South Park - The Stick of Truth

South Park: The Stick of Truth is a role-playing video game based on the famous foul-mouthed children from the long running Comedy Central satire comedy animated series South Park. Early South Park games were created without direct input from the creators of the animated series, Matt Stone and Trey Parker. This game was created early in the era where this was corrected, in an attempt to create games that were more than a simple cash grab.

The Stick of Truth was created by Obsidian Entertainment, the studio known for the Star Wars RPG Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. This game is the first to feature the New Kid, which serves as the silent protagonist. The game has a fairly robust character creation system, or at least as robust as possible for a character design that was originally created through construction paper cut-outs. In this game gender can not be chosen, so the character is always referred to in the masculine. However, many costume pieces can be collected that let you wear female clothing. 

The female roleplay actually also extends to Kenny, who plays a princess. This aspect of the game is one of the best parts. Many of my favorite South Park episodes are those where the kids of South Park Elementary actually act like children. It always provides a humorous juxtaposition where the kids use their imagination to roleplay fantasy characters in situations that are very real. That is the case here, as the town is eventually taken over by zombies, but the kids take this in stride as they fight them off in their cosplay outfits.

The children of South Park play as fantasy characters in a feud between humans, led by the wizard king Cartman, and the elves, who are led by the high elf Kyle. Cartman's faction includes the thief Craig, the cleric Token, the shopkeep Clyde, Princess Kenny, the paladin Butters, and the barbarian warrior Tweek. Kyle's faction includes the ranger Stan and Jimmy the bard. The New Kid helps both factions, eventually gaining the six playable allies Butters, Cartman, Jimmy, Kenny, Kyle, and Stan.

Unlike the early Acclaim titles, Stick of Truth stays close to the look of the show, with cutscenes that are indistinguishable from the show. The voice actors from the show are also used here, including Matt and Trey themselves. This further helps to make it feel like South Park. One cutscene created for this game actually made it into the show proper in the season seventeen episode "A Song of Ass and Fire". The playable part of the game also retains the look of the series, as the New Kid walks through familiar locations which closely match those from the show.

Like the show itself, there are some controversial moments. One in particular was censored in Germany, which led to a fun joke in itself where the moment is written out in text while a statue of David facepalms in the background. Those who do live in Germany don't have to worry much at this point, as there are fan-made mods that can be used to restore the cut content.

The game serves as a celebration of all of South Park, as characters from the madcap early days show up in the game or as friends that can be collected as friends on Facebook alongside characters from the later satire era of the show. There are a lot of fun moments with these characters that are a real treat for those who are long time fans of the show, however the comedy writing is so good in this game that fans who are only aware of the later part, or those who are only aware of its early years should still get some laughs from the game.

South Park: The Stick of Truth is a fun roleplaying game that is a fun role-playing game created by developers from a company that knows how to create fun RPGs. It is also a game that successfully recreates the look and feel of South Park, complete with the voice actors from the show. Its writing is wonderful, with great jokes that draw from the early era. This is one licensed game that fires on all cylinders, and should entertain fans of any era of the show.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Fighting Game Review: Darkstalkers - The Night Warriors

The Halloween season is upon us again, and with it comes my infrequent tradition of reviewing monster-themed games. The game to begin the festivities is Capcom's classic arcade monster fighter, Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors, also known as Vampire: The Night Warriors in Japan.

Darkstalkers has ten playable characters, all of whom make up an eclectic cast of monsters. The series mascot is Morrigan, a succubus who has since become a fan favorite. Joining her as the only other female in the game, is Felicia the cat girl. The first of the male characters is the vampire Demitri Maximoff, the intended protagonist of the series. Other male monsters include the British werewolf karate master Jon Talbain aka Gallon, the German creature Victor von Gerdenheim who is made up of reanimated body parts in the vein of Frankenstein's monster, the zombie rock-and-roller Lord Rapper aka Zabel Zarock, the mummified pharoah Anakaris aka Anakarisu, the samurai ghost Bishamon, the merman Rikuo aka Aulbath, and the Canadian yeti Sasquatch.

The graphics are right up there with the seminal Capcom fighter, Street Fighter II. That's not a surprise, as the art was created by the man who created the art from that game, Akira "Akiman" Yasuda. The monster theme allowed for some fun character designs. The female characters are sexy, as is usual from fighting games, especially those in the early 1990s. While they are sadly not as popular as the likes of Chun-Li, Sonya Blade, or Sarah Bryant, their skimpy costumes have become iconic. This is especially true of Morrigan, who has become the face of Darkstalkers over the years. The male characters allowed Akiman to stretch out his imagination, as they all have the monster flare of Street Fighter II's resident green-skinned feral wildman, Blanka.

The monster archetypes also allow for some fun stages. They include a classic London nighttime cityscape, a vampire throne room draped in blood red, a mad scientist's lab, a medieval castle above a creepy cave, a sasquatch village, a green-tinted graveyard, a Brazilian jungle, a town draped in winter accoutrements, a Japanese cyberpunk city, a mummy's tomb, a robot factory, and an alien planet. 

The music also takes advantage of the iconic QSound available found in games that run on the Capcom Play System 2 boardset. They are all fun tracks, which play around with the varied characters and landscapes. The sound is the standard found in Capcom's 1990s fighters, with various grunts and occasional voice clips.

Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors remains a B-tier Capcom fighter, as it never reached the heights of its sister series, Street Fighter. This reputation is underserved however, as Darkstalkers is made up of fantastic monster characters in a fun art style playing on the weirdness of the premise, fantastic music and sound that is right up there with the best of Capcom's well-regarded 1990s output.

Final Verdict:
5 out of 5