The DLCs for Like a Dragon: Ishin have names like “Armament of the Third Division” or “Dragon’s Clutch Katana”. We treated ourselves to all of the additional content for the release of the Yakuza spin-off in order to find out whether the DLC weapons in particular are worth it; and we were surprised.
So-so additional content for Ishin: Together with seven DLCs, the international version of Like a Dragon: Ishin was released on February 21st. The fact that the developers from Ryu Ga Gotoku didn’t give the “remake” too much love is not only shown by the minor differences to the PS3 version, but also by those very additional contents.
“Third Division Armament Expansion Kit”, “Dragon’s Clutch Katana”, “Ryoma Growth Aid Kit”: These DLC names sound as if the hero Sakamoto Ryōma is about to really kick some asses, right? Accordingly, we took a look at our inventory in-game, and found at least the Steam-exclusive Dragon’s Clutch Katana there. There was no sign of the “armament of the Third Division”, but that was only the first wrinkle in our forehead.
Speaking of Which: What DLC Weapons?
Our astonishment about the “Armament of the Third Division” DLC didn’t end when we read its description in the Steam store. We had purchased the entire package of additional content by buying the Deluxe Edition, so we were not fully aware of the additional paid content. And wow: The supposed weapon box contained eight legendary and five epic soldiers, plus glod plates and promotion jewels. So maybe we should use soldiers as throwing hammers like Asterix and Obelix?
Anyway, there was still the Dragon’s Clutch katana, which is available for free download exclusively for Steam users. And this part really had it all. While Samurai-Kiryu started out with a sword that produced around 80 points of damage, the Steam katana produced cuts and bumps for a whopping 328 points of damage. Mind you, this is at the beginning of the game, because the Dragon’s Clutch blade is available immediately.
“Ryu Ga Gotoku and the overpowered items” is a story that has been known for a long time, so it continues in Ishin. And how it does, if you look at the screenshots above. These are not taken from the later game, but from the third chapter, which is still comfortably floating along. A sword that can beat up the henchmen of the authorities for 667 damage points? Kijin-maru Kunishige is at your service. And Kijin-maru actually does exactly what these high “stats” promise with most opponents.
Disposable DLCs
But let’s talk about the “Armament of the Third Division” DLC once again, as we really noticed it negatively in the further course of the game. Here, too, it turned out that we had to deal with more “overpowered items”, so the game went far too easily for us.
Sure, you don’t have to bag these game spoiler soldiers at all. Still, there’s a bitter aftertaste here that doesn’t want to disappear entirely: “Arming the Third Division” is a disposable DLC. In other words, this content can only be activated once per save slot. Just like all the other additional content in Like a Dragon: Ishin.
By the way, no further research is needed to find this out, because the clownish in-game DLC butler (Bakumatsu Bob) will tell you about it every time he passes you something. He would give us this or that object only this once, so we should take good care of it. Whether this means that we can expect some highwayman DLC soon remains unclear. Therefore, prevention is probably the best advisor, because additional content that is not purchased cannot be lost.
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