(The following contains spoilers for Like a Dragon: Ishin!)The remake ofLike a Dragon: Ishin!recast some of its characters with figures from more recent games, but unintentionally gave away the story’s biggest reveal in the process. While there’s no problem adding more recent characters to make the game feel more relevant, great care has to be taken in assigning their roles. If a character’s visual inspiration does not suit the role that they end up playing in the story, it will look strange to fans. Unfortunately, one example ended up suiting aLike a Dragon: Ishin!role too well, to the point of being an unintentional spoiler.
One interesting aspect ofLike a Dragon’s historical spin-offIshin!is the fact that most of the important characters in the story are portrayed by characters from across theLike a Dragonseries. The most obvious example would be Ryoma Sakamoto being a samurai version of longtime series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu. This is particularly true for the Shinsengumi, many of which are portrayed by powerful gang bosses from across the series. Even some lesser characters got counterparts, like sidestory character Yae being based onYakuza 0trainer Miss Tatsu. It can be fun for fans to point out who plays each character, but one instance of this approach proved to be a big mistake.
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Shibusawa Was The Wrong Character To Hide Hanpeita’s Role In Ishin!
Takechi Hanpeita was wholly original in the game’s initial release, but whenIshin!’s remake replaced some character designs, he was instead modeled afterYakuza 0’s Keiji Shibusawa, which creates an issue. Not only is Shibusawa visibly older than Ryoma despite their characters inIshin!being adoptive brothers, but Shibusawa was the final boss ofYakuza 0. Since Hanpeita starts the game as arguably Ryoma’s closest ally, him having Shibusawa’s appearance is an obvious sign that the two of them would not remain on good terms. As a result, it’s not surprising when Hanpeita does end up as the final boss.
Shibusawa and Hanpeita are both difficult and rewarding final bosses who have excellent soundtracks during their fights, making Shibusawa a good fit for the final test ofIshin!’s unique combat for the series. The issue is not how well Shibusawa fits the role, but how he completely spoils what should have been a major reveal. Although tension between Ryoma and Hanpeita begins to build during the earlier chapters, it isn’t until later that his true villainous rule in the plot is made clear. Instead of taking players by surprise, his ultimate role in the game had already been telegraphed ahead of time.
There’s a fair argument to make that Hanpeita was the one character inIshinthat should have remained an original character. The nature of his character could easily be spoiled by who ends up portraying him, and arguably evenLike a Dragon: Ishin!’s trailerdid that with Shibusawa’s part in it. On the other hand, if Hanpeita was instead played by a more friendly character, it would have been more surprising, but it would have been harder to buy his villainy coming from a friendly face. Hanpeita was done right the first time as an unfamiliar face, since his role would be difficult to fill with an existing character.
Even though Shibusawa is an important character inLike a Dragon’s history, he was the wrong choice to play Hanpeita. He completely gives awayIshin’s big twist well before it happens in the story simply through the role that he played. IfLike a Dragon: Kenzanalso gets remade, it may want to shy away from similar casting for the same reason. While Shibusawa’s role inYakuza 0was iconic, it made it impossible to hide Hanpeita as a villain. AlthoughIshin!is still an excellent game, Hanpeita’s new look accidentally took away some of the story’s punch.
Like a Dragon: Ishin!is avaliable now for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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