Like a Dragon: Ishinrecently released to huge plaudits from the wider fan base of the franchise, with the remake being anticipated by Western audiences for close to a decade. To mark such a momentous release, the title is complete with swathes of brand-new content, a graphical overhaul, and a revamp of the game’s original involved characters.
While the implementation of more contemporary characters within the story ofLike a Dragon: Ishinis a great way to make the game more relatable to newer fans of the series, there are still quite a few massively important recent franchise characters that did not make the cut. In this way, any subsequent content for the IP such as a sequel toIshinwould be the perfet place to give these unused characters their time in the spotlight.
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Returning Franchise Characters in Like a Dragon: Ishin
While the many characters that make upthe narrative ofLike a Dragon: Ishinborrow the voices and likenesses of many figures from the franchise’s main games, theirIshincounterparts are otherwise completely unrelated to their original roles. WithIshin’s characters bearing completely different names and with the game being set hundreds of years prior to the mainYakuzanarrative, the familiar faces withinIshinat most simply just bear similar overall personalities to their original portrayals.
For example, the face and voice of longtime protagonistKazuma Kiryu appears inIshinas Sakamoto Ryoma, with the likes of Goro Majima, Taiga Saejima, and Shun Akiyama also appearing inIshinroles that generally reflect their presence in the franchise’s main narrative. Many characters appear withinIshinfrom more recent games likeYakuza 6andYakuza: Like a Dragon, further adding to the remastered experience of the title. However, it remains that the large amount of important characters that did not appear in the game whatsoever deserve a chance to thrive in the more outlandish settings that spinoffs likeIshinfoster.
Potential Yakzua Characters In An Ishin Sequel
While a fairly comprehensive list ofnew characters were introduced toIshinfromYakuza 6, it remains that only two main figures fromYakuza: Like a Dragonappeared in the remaster, despite the huge amounts of recent success that the title generated for the IP. In this way, it is clear that a potential future sequel toIshinwould be wise to take from this pool of unused but contemporarily popular characters.
The most obvious character that should appear in futureIshin-like content would be Ichiban Kasuga, the belovedprotagonist ofYakuza: Like a Dragonand the future face of the franchise. With Ichiban taking the IP’s star role from Kiryu, it would only make sense that Ichiban could be the protagonist in a futureIshingame, replacing Sakamoto Ryoma. In this line of thinking, a supporting role for a character based off ofYakuza: LIke a Dragon’s Yu Nanba would be perfect for anIshinsequel, especially when paired with an Ichiban-based protagonist.
With other supporting characters like Saeko and Eri returning, a futureIshintitle could easily replicate thesuccess and chemistry ofYakuza: Like a Dragon’s involved characters. While the replacement of older characters with the likenesses of newer ones is a smart decision onLike a Dragon: Ishin’sbehalf, the roster of massively important characters that went unused within the title should absolutely be utilized for a potential sequel, at the risk of otherwise being wasted.
Like a Dragon: Ishinis available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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