Ryū ga Gotoku Ishin!

Ryū ga Gotoku Ishin!
Developer(s)	Sega
Publisher(s)	Sega
Producer(s)	Toshihiro Nagoshi
Series	Yakuza
Platform(s)	PlayStation 3 PlayStation 4
Release date(s)	JP: February 22, 2014
Genre(s)	Action-adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player

Ryū ga Gotoku Ishin! (Japanese: 龍が如く 維新!, lit. "Like a Dragon Restoration!") is a spin-off game in the Yakuza series. The game was developed and published by Sega for PlayStation 3 and was a launch title for PlayStation 4.

Set in the chaotic Bakumatsu period (during and shortly after the American Civil War), Sakamoto Ryōma, is distressed resulting from conflicting pressures and uncertainty about one's self and role in the society. Being embroiled in the middle of a Tosa coup d'état and bent on finding the murderer who assassinated his mentor, Ryoma burrows himself with a hidden identity in the streets of Kyoto and joins the grim Shinsengumi.

Cast

Sakamoto Ryōma

Born in Tosa as a samurai of the lowest ranking class; a "gōshi"(郷士). In the midst of the chaotic uprising with other young men, he became distressed over his own aims and accomplishments. However, having the best sword skill in Tosa allowed for his swordsmanship training in Edo. With high expectations from Yoshida Touyou, along with Takechi Hanpeita, the plan for the reform of the Tosa government was in progress. However, on the night before it could be carried out, an incident occurred that changed Ryōma's life immensely.

Takechi Hanpeita

A person who treated Ryōma as a brother since an early age and had deep trust in him. Like Ryōma, he also grew up with the support of Yoshida Touyou, owing to him the advanced studies he took. He was also the leader of the "Sonnō jōi" movement that won many supporters and tried to recruit Ryōma upon his return from Edo. However, after the death of Yoshida Touyou, both men had to walk their own paths.

Reception

The game sold 138,158 copies on PS3 and 82,540 copies on PS4 on its first two days on sale.^[1] As of March 31, 2014, the game has sold 390,000 copies.^[2] The game was awarded near-perfect scores of 38/40 and 39/40 on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 respectively by Famitsu.^[3]

Free downloads

Free Trial Version

A 2.4GB^[4] playable demo (龍が如く 維新！ 体験版) was made available for download on the Japanese PlayStation Store on February 13, 2014.^[5]

Free Appli for PlayStation Vita

On February 13, 2014, a 2.6GB "free appli for PlayStation Vita" (龍が如く 維新！ 無料アプリ for PlayStation®Vita) was made available for download on the Japanese PlayStation Store.^[6]

DLC

Digest Narration Voice

On February 22, 2014, a 200KB DLC named "Digest Narration Voice" (ダイジェストナレーションボイス) and priced ¥300 was made available on the Japanese PlayStation Store.^[7]

Theme song

The game's theme is titled "Clock Strikes" and is performed by One Ok Rock.

Pseudo predecessor

Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan!

Despite being the first Yakuza series spin-off set in samurai era instead of modern-day Japan, Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan!, which was released in 2008 on the PlayStation 3 system, is not a prequel to Ryū ga Gotoku Ishin!. Kenzan! is set two centuries before Ishin!, hence the plots are not related with each other since both games focus on different characters, the historical figures of Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645) and Sakamoto Ryōma (1836-1867) respectively. However, the games do share parallels, both being historical spin-offs, as well as the fact that Ishin! was the first Ryuu ga Gotoku title released on the PS4, in the same way that Kenzan! was the first PS3 title.

References

External links

• Official website (Japanese)