Like A Dragon: Ishin

With this thorough, if not comprehensive, refurbishment of 2014’s formerly Japan-only release Ryu Ga Gotoku: Ishin, the recently retitled Like A Dragon series might just have found the most ideal expression of its dual personality. This is, after all, a game that has blended violent drama with broad comedy from day one – and Ishin duly delivers the bloodiest fights so far, while putting forward a strong case for being the funniest entry to date.

Born in the late-PS3 era, finally making its western debut two console generations later, it has the visual hallmarks of an expensive cut-and-color several weeks on: from a distance it can look spectacular, but its greying roots are showing through. More significantly, it tells a story that demands its hero adopt an alter ego to remain incognito, building a fictional 19th-century tale around a real person who here has the face, voice and phlegmatic character of the series’ best-loved protagonist. For Saito Hajime, née samurai revolutionary Sakamoto Ryoma, read: Kazuma Kiryu. Confused? The way the story unspools ensures you shouldn’t be, although we do dip into the glossary more often than we’d anticipated.