Rise of the Ronin and Like a Dragon: Ishin follow a common trend within the gaming industry, but take very different approaches to their execution.

Games set in Japanese historical settings seem to be popular among game developers right now. Titles like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Ghost of Tsushima, and Like a Dragon: Ishin have all arrived in the past few years. Next month, Team Ninja’s open-world Souls-like action game, Rise of the Ronin, set in 19th-century Japan, joins the ranks of these titles. While the game is similar to FromSoftware’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice due to its combat and traversal mechanics, RotR offers a story and setting identical to Like a Dragon: Ishin.

Both Like a Dragon: Ishin and Rise of the Ronin occur during Japan’s turbulent Bakumatsu era, which marked the end of the feudal shogunate that ruled Japan for nearly 200 years.

This period is often referred to as one of the darkest periods in Japanese history. Both games depict the bloodshed and brutality associated with the fall of the Shogun and the Meiji Restoration. Like a Dragon: Ishin and Rise of the Ronin present this era differently. They are telling an iconic historical period in two different styles.

Like a Dragon: Ishin and Rise of the Ronin paint different pictures of the same historical era

The Bakumatsu period of Japanese history lasted from 1853 to 1867. At that time, anti-Shogunate sentiments began to spread. Groups such as the nationalist Ishin Shishi faction began to gain popularity. Under the Tokugawa Shogunate, Japan was notorious for its highly isolationist foreign policy. The latter banned most Western countries from trading with the nation.

As many citizens wanted to adopt modern Western technology, groups like the Ishin Shishi rallied around the rightful heir to the Japanese throne and supported a return to imperial rule under Emperor Meiji.

Opposing the Ishin Shishi were pro-Shogun groups such as the Shinsengumi secret police. This consisted of low-ranking samurai who were enlisted to protect essential figures in the Tokugawa government. In Like a Dragon: Ishin, players take on the role of Sakamoto Ryoma, who infiltrates the Shinsengumi to uncover the mystery behind his father’s murder. Ultimately, he must navigate the tensions between the Shinsengumi and the Ishin Shishi. RotR also features characters like Ryoma, who were also key players in the story of Like a Dragon: Ishin. Because they are real historical figures who played an essential role in that period.

How will the two games differ?

Although both games are based on the same location of Japan’s Bakumatsu era, they present the era’s events in different ways. Like a Dragon: Ishin follows the typical Yakuza and Like a Dragon formula. It mixes action and combat-focused gameplay with a handful of side activities and side stories for players to explore.

In contrast, Rise of the Ronin leans heavily on Souls-style combat, challenging players with relentless combat mechanics that test their skills while also giving them an open world to explore using a variety of traversal methods such as grapple and glider.

The story of the game also seems to be different. Despite being set in the same base period. Rise of the Ronin is set mainly in Edo, while Like a Dragon: Ishin places players in Kyoto, and some characters such as Nagakura Shinpachi, who was an ally in Like a Dragon: Ishin, appear to be enemies here that players they will fight. Rise of the Ronin will likely focus more on Western forces than Like a Dragon: Ishin. An important player, for example, is the American commodore Matthew Perry, whom Western scholars often credit with having negotiated the opening of Japan to the Western world.

Source: PlayStation Blog