Like a Dragon: Ishin! is finally out for people outside of Japan. Here are some things to know before you start a new game.

Like a Dragon: Ishin is a game that is old in Japan but new in the West. It is a remaster of Ryu ga Gotoku Ishin, a PS3 and PS4 game that came out in Japan only in 2014. Now, after almost a decade, people in the West can finally play the Yakuza series.

Even though Like a Dragon: Ishin is set in Japan, it plays the same as the other games. Even the main character, Sakamoto Ryoma, looks like Kazuma Kiryu, who has been in the series for a long time. The focus is on close-quarters fighting, but players can also use guns and swords more easily. This remastered Yakuza game has a lot more to talk about, but let’s start with how to get the most out of the first few hours.

Options To Check Out

There are a few things to think about before you start the game. First, turn off the summaries at the end of each chapter that tell what happened. They aren’t needed in 2023, just like the QTE mechanics aren’t needed. Turn them both off.

Lastly, it’s important to know that the game has four levels of difficulty: Easy, Normal, Hard, and Legend. You can change them at any time when you’re not in combat, so don’t spend too much time thinking about what to do; just start on Normal.

What Style Should You Main?

As in past Yakuza games, players can switch between four different ways to fight during battle. Brawler is the traditional stance that lets Ryoma fight with his bare hands and pick up things. Swordsman and Gunman each have him put on one of these weapons.

The best choice is Wild Dancer, which lets players use both a sword and a gun. This style of fighting is strong, fast, and can switch between ranged and close-up attacks on the fly, which is useful for any action game.

Keep An Eye Out For Objects

In Like a Dragon: Ishin, the Brawler style is the second-best choice. Because players can pick up things like chairs, benches, and other things. In most street fights, no one will want to use a bench to hit someone in the face.

Switching to Brawler mode is a good idea when fighting a boss or when there are a lot of enemies around in a story battle. Using big things can help you deal with large groups of people and do a lot of damage to bosses. This is a good way to play in any Yakuza game.

Early Weapon Upgrades

When players get to Kyo, they will be able to get better weapons. If a player has the right materials, they can go to a smithy and have them improve their swords, guns, and even accessories. Players should go to the local weapon store and buy a Bundle Blade, which they can then upgrade to a Keen Blade.

They should also improve the Imported Revolver and make it a High Revolver, though people could just buy the High Revolver instead. This could be expensive for both upgrades, so do what you usually do in an RPG and grind for money and materials.

Praying And Virtue

There are two types of currency in the game: money and Virtue. Players can get Virtue by praying at smaller shrines. They can also get Virtue by helping random people, buying items, or completing quests. You can spend virtue money at bigger shrines.

You should buy the first two upgrades, which are “Enhanced Sprinting” and “Inventory Capacity.” The first upgrade will give players more stamina so they can run around for longer without stopping. With the last upgrade, they will have more room for items both in and out of battle.

Be Sure To Explore

Other than random fights, the first area of Like a Dragon: Ishin has no secrets. Players should stay with the story and move quickly to get to the next chapter, which takes place in the city of Kyo. Here, things get a lot more open, so look for substories in places outside of the main story.

People who do these side quests will get a lot of valuable items, money, or other things. They are also often funny, like the one about the dancing people who won’t stop a robbery because they have the dancing fever.

Keep Well Stocked

After getting to a marker, most story missions will ask players if they want to keep going. If this happens, it might mean that a hard fight is about to start. In these kinds of situations, it’s best to always have a full supply of healing items on hand.

Random battles usually drop one or two healing items, so players should always have what they need. There will also be a lot hidden in urns around towns. Don’t forget to use storage facilities to get rid of extra things, since you wouldn’t want to leave anything behind.

Save Often

In Like a Dragon: Ishin, the most important thing to stress is that players should save their game often. In Happy Wheels game, you can save anywhere and at any time, except in dungeons and in the middle of a battle. These are restrictions, but they’re fine because the rest of the game is pretty open.

More action games like this one should offer free saves with a large number of slots. Save your game before going on a story mission, in case things get too hard.

Like a Dragon: Ishin came out on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X on February 23, 2023.