The review will be split into two parts: The Actual Game and Misc.

I've been wanting to get my hands on Ishin for a long time, but was unable due to the fact that there was no english localization. When I heard the news that a remake of Ishin was planned, including english localization, I was more than hyped.

The Lore was great, a lot of plot twists and action sequences. I've experienced shock, tension, relief and I immensely enjoyed the game's lore. Acting on the characters was superb.

The return to multiple styles is definetly a welcome change. Every style specializes in something else, Sword is for damage, Wild Dancer is for close ranged chip damage, Gunman is for long ranged chip damage, Brawler is defensive (kinda). I also love how the game rewards you with more experience points for things like using various styles, doing moves which are difficult to time and finishing an enemy with a heat action.

Also to note is a drastic change in enemy behavior. You cannot combo enemies from behind anymore, they will turn around after 2 hits. Many say that this change is bad, but I think otherwise. My main complaint for Yakuza games in general is that they weren't very hard (I played on Hard). I didn't even utilize combos and had no issues beating most of the bosses. In Ishin however I had to reset 6 times, I actually felt challenged by the game (also played on Hard). Going for the back has been turned from "getting the boss healthbar down by 30%" to "getting a few unblockable hits in". Bosses also give you ample time to react when they break your combo, so you are not punished for going for the back. I like Ishin's combat a lot.

This section will tackle side content. The yakuza usuals are here: gambling, karaoke, and most importantly: "Disco" makes it's long awaited return after Yakuza 0. I was happy to play it again. It also has your regular 2 longish side quests and a bunch of wacky and hilarious substories, along with, of course, an Amon fight at the end.

-Slight graphical issues from time to time
-Weapon smithing is, as of now, completely ridiculous with the prices that are set for certain weapons.
-Ryoma sometimes has a very long recoil animation when knocked down
-No special indicators for unblockable attacks, which would be welcome
-The Penultimate Boss Fight was ass
-The UI elements are very slow and janky and you need to wait a while before you can navigate the menus after entering them

It's time to move over to the negative part of the review. I absolutely HATE how they handled specific aspects of this game. I'll go over them quickly:

-One of the difficulty settings is locked behind a paywall
This is absolutely unthinkable, especially for the most expensive RGG game to date. All difficulty levels should be avaliable from the get-go. I can understand things like cosmetic items, in-game boosts, but not a whole difficulty level, cmon now. Also bonus minus points to removing the tradition of unlocking the hardest difficulty by beating the game once.

-DLC is tied to a save file, rather than your account
This means that if you redeem the DLC in one savefile and decide to start a fresh new game from the start, you will not have those DLCs in that savefile. It's a dirty practice, but most importantly, IT'S NOT MENTIONED ANYWHERE AT ALL.

-The game requires an internet connection
I honestly do not know the reason for this, since most if not all of the game is offline. This however makes it impossible to enjoy the game if for whatever reason you don't have internet access. Also if you lose internet connection after not saving, you will lose that progress.

Overall grade: 8/10

The review will be split into two parts: The Actual Game and Misc. [h1][b]The Actual Game[/b][/h1] I've been wanting to get my hands on Ishin for a long time, but was unable due to the fact that there was no english localization. When I heard the news that a remake of Ishin was planned, including english localization, I was more than hyped. [h1]The Lore[/h1] The Lore was great, a lot of plot twists and action sequences. I've experienced shock, tension, relief and I immensely enjoyed the game's lore. Acting on the characters was superb. [h1]Combat[/h1] The return to multiple styles is definetly a welcome change. Every style specializes in something else, Sword is for damage, Wild Dancer is for close ranged chip damage, Gunman is for long ranged chip damage, Brawler is defensive (kinda). I also love how the game rewards you with more experience points for things like using various styles, doing moves which are difficult to time and finishing an enemy with a heat action. Also to note is a drastic change in enemy behavior. You cannot combo enemies from behind anymore, they will turn around after 2 hits. Many say that this change is bad, but I think otherwise. My main complaint for Yakuza games in general is that they weren't very hard (I played on Hard). I didn't even utilize combos and had no issues beating most of the bosses. In Ishin however I had to reset 6 times, I actually felt challenged by the game (also played on Hard). Going for the back has been turned from "getting the boss healthbar down by 30%" to "getting a few unblockable hits in". Bosses also give you ample time to react when they break your combo, so you are not punished for going for the back. I like Ishin's combat a lot. [h1]Side Content[/h1] This section will tackle side content. The yakuza usuals are here: gambling, karaoke, and most importantly: "Disco" makes it's long awaited return after Yakuza 0. I was happy to play it again. It also has your regular 2 longish side quests and a bunch of wacky and hilarious substories, along with, of course, an Amon fight at the end. [h1]Complaints[/h1] -Slight graphical issues from time to time -Weapon smithing is, as of now, completely ridiculous with the prices that are set for certain weapons. -Ryoma sometimes has a very long recoil animation when knocked down -No special indicators for unblockable attacks, which would be welcome -The Penultimate Boss Fight was ass -The UI elements are very slow and janky and you need to wait a while before you can navigate the menus after entering them [h1][b]Miscellaneous[/b][/h1] It's time to move over to the negative part of the review. I absolutely HATE how they handled specific aspects of this game. I'll go over them quickly: [b]-One of the difficulty settings is locked behind a paywall[/b] This is absolutely unthinkable, especially for the most expensive RGG game to date. All difficulty levels should be avaliable from the get-go. I can understand things like cosmetic items, in-game boosts, but not a whole difficulty level, cmon now. Also bonus minus points to removing the tradition of unlocking the hardest difficulty by beating the game once. [b]-DLC is tied to a save file, rather than your account[/b] This means that if you redeem the DLC in one savefile and decide to start a fresh new game from the start, [b]you will not have those DLCs in that savefile[/b]. It's a dirty practice, but most importantly, IT'S NOT MENTIONED ANYWHERE AT ALL. [b]-The game requires an internet connection[/b] I honestly do not know the reason for this, since most if not all of the game is offline. This however makes it impossible to enjoy the game if for whatever reason you don't have internet access. Also if you lose internet connection after not saving, you will lose that progress. [b]Overall grade: 8/10[/b]