Yakuza Ishin!

Yakuza Ishin! transplants familiar faces from the series into a completely different time and setting - instead of modern Tokyo, it takes place in Kyoto at the end of the Edo period, during the turbulent era known as Bakumatsu, the end of shogunate rule and the arrival of modern Japan. The player takes on the role of Sakamoto Ryoma, a real historical figure from Japanese history, whom the creators cast with the face and voice of Kazuma Kiryu, while other familiar series characters, such as Goro Majima or Kazama, appear in the roles of other historical figures of the period, creating a peculiar blend of alternate history and fan-service casting. The game was released simultaneously on PlayStation 3 and the then freshly launched PlayStation 4, and in Japan it was among the first major titles that could put Sony's new hardware to the test on the market.

The game combines the series' typical open world and side content with a combat system noticeably inspired by the samurai era - the player switches between four distinct combat styles during fights, including one based on revolver shooting and one combining katana swordplay with simultaneous gunfire, giving the battles a completely different rhythm than the fistfights of the modern entries set in Kamurocho. Kyoto during the Bakumatsu period is smaller than modern Kamurocho, but it offers its own side quests, minigames, and political intrigue closely tied to the real historical events of the shogunate's end, including period weapons and clothing that give the whole city a distinct visual identity.

Why play it: Ishin! is a great choice for fans of the series who want to see their favorite actors in a completely different historical and genre guise, and note that this is not a remake of the later Like a Dragon: Ishin! from 2023, but the original version from 2014. The unusual combination of a samurai setting and modern gameplay mechanics makes it one of the most distinctive and most overlooked entries in the entire series, one that is worth discovering even years later.