Like a Dragon: Ishin!
Like a Dragon: Ishin! is a PlayStation 5 adventure game developed by SEGA. It centers on combat encounters, story, case, or mission progress, and objective or clue progression, with controls and information arranged around the DualSense twin sticks, triggers, directional pad, and face buttons, with touchpad, motion input, adaptive triggers, and detailed haptics where the game uses them.
- AI score · out of 10
- 7.7 / 10
About this game
Like a Dragon: Ishin! is a PlayStation 5 adventure game centered on combat encounters, story, case, or mission progress, and objective or clue progression. Locations, objectives, and clues gradually open the main chapters, with progress divided into stages, tasks, matches, or growth milestones that make immediate goals understandable. Its value depends on whether these rules continue to create judgment and room for mastery rather than on length, sales, or series recognition. Short campaigns are judged by repeat-challenge value, while longer ones are judged by variety, pacing, and recovery after failure. Theme, character expression, and environmental clues need to support exploration together, while SSD streaming, 4K and HDR output, 3D audio, performance or quality modes, and high-density interfaces need to preserve feedback and information clarity together. The genre-specific limitation is that guidance, objective triggers, camera behavior, or dense text can create search and comprehension costs. Platform conditions also include install size, SSD space, patch version, DualSense battery life, visual mode and frame rate, online dependencies, PS VR2 requirements, and cross-generation version differences affect the current release. This description covers only this platform release and does not import features or conveniences from remasters, emulators, or other console editions.
Collected in series
Like a Dragon, formerly known in English as Yakuza, follows people trying to hold on to loyalty and dignity amid crime and betrayal. Dense city districts invite you to step away from serious drama for games and eccentric side stories. Some entries use direct-action brawling, while Ichiban Kasuga’s adventures bring a party into turn-based combat.
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PlayStation 5
AI review
AI reviews are subjective assessments, not player ratings. See each review for its evidence and limitations.Published date:
Lively period drama meets an older, repetitive structure.
Ishin gains much of its personality from placing familiar faces inside a historical drama. Strong localization and expressive scenes help its comedy coexist with serious conflict. The combat offers several distinct approaches through swords, guns and unarmed attacks, although powerful optional cards can distract from those underlying styles. The town is more appealing to discover than to exhaust: repeated deliveries and grinding make completion feel less purposeful than the best individual stories. Technical consistency also limits the documented PS5 experience. Destructoid observed effects-heavy drops after some pre-release fixes had already arrived. Those findings inform this early-build assessment without claiming that the same faults remain in the current patch.
Strengths
- Combat variety and expressive drama create a strong identity.
Weaknesses
- Repetitive completion tasks and early effects-related drops interrupt flow.
Who it is for: Players interested in period drama and varied action.
Play notes: Technical observations concern the February 2023 PS5 review builds.
View scoring basis
| Dimension | Review state | Score | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dimension Comic diversions survive, but repetitive errands make completion less rewarding than discovery. | Reviewed | 7.0 / 10 | Not provided |
| Dimension Several styles invite experimentation, though powerful cards can overshadow their distinctions. | Reviewed | 8.2 / 10 | Not provided |
| Dimension Localization and cinematics connect broad comedy with convincing dramatic peaks. | Reviewed | 8.5 / 10 | Not provided |
| Dimension Effects-heavy PS5 dips weaken consistency in the documented early build only. | Reviewed | 6.5 / 10 | Not provided |
Review sources
Not provided
Core information
- Developer
- SEGA
- Publisher
- SEGA
- Release date
- Feb 21, 2023
- Platforms
- PlayStation 5
- Content kind
- Game
- Release state
- Released
- Region
- Worldwide
- Official website
- Not provided
- Offline minimum players
- Not provided
- Offline maximum players
- Not provided
- Online minimum players
- Not provided
- Online maximum players
- Not provided
- Categories
- Action · Primary genre
- Tags
- Story-drivenMain Story 10–20 HoursInvestigationReal-time CombatThird PersonSlow BurnExplorationFantasyLinear LevelsPuzzle Solving3D GraphicsSolo-friendly
- Supported game languages
- Not provided
- Requires base game
- Not provided
- Standalone
- Not provided
- Age ratings
- Not provided
- Play modes
- Single player
- Perspectives
- Third person
Release editions
- PlayStation 5WorldwideFeb 21, 2023
Game gallery
Sources
Not provided