'Like a Dragon: Ishin!' Review: An epic samurai tale leaves Japan for the first time

https://www.npr.org/2023/02/17/ [login to see] /like-a-dragon-ishin-review
It's easy to forget nowadays, but the Yakuza franchise actual struggled outside of Japan for many years. With its mainline games floundering in the West, spinoffs didn't have a chance at localization for an international audience.

One of these titles, 2014's Ryū ga Gotoku Ishin!, never made it out of Japan. But the franchise's fate improved with Yakuza 0's Western release in 2017. That game's popularity paved the way for future games such as Yakuza: Like a Dragon to make their way overseas. It also sparked a remastering renaissance, as older games got released on new hardware, such as Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza 3 Remastered.

Now, after nearly a decade, samurai epic Ryū ga Gotoku Ishin! comes to international audiences and modern consoles with the English title Like a Dragon: Ishin!. It's a heart-wrenching story about brotherhood and found family, complete with the charismatic characters we've come to expect from the franchise. However, its combat can't always escape its dated PlayStation 3 roots.