Ryu ga Gotoku Ishin (released in Japan in February 2014) is a spin-off game set at the end of the Edo period of Japanese history (known as the Bakumatsu period), a period when the Tokugawa Shogunate came to an end and imperial rule was restored (Meiji Restoration).
Sakamoto Ryoma is living undercover, with a false identity, as "Saito Hajime" in Kyoto. One year earlier, on the eve of the coup d'état of Tosa, Ryoma's foster father, the man who raised him, was murdered before his eyes. The only lead he had to discover who the killer was is that he used the Tennen Rishin style of fighting. This is a style used by the Shinsengumi, so Ryoma infiltrates their ranks, becoming captain of the 3rd Shinsengumi unit, in attempt to find the killer.
Big thanks to Kevin Debrabandere for creating a PDF for the entire Ishin guide. You can download the PDF version of the guide here. Please be advised that the PDF is outdated now, but still contains information for the whole game.
The options in the same order as they appear in-game. The text in bold indicates the setting the game defaults on, and text to the left and right of it are settings you can switch to. For example, the "Tips" option defaults on "Normal" and to the left there is "Few" and to the right there is "Many", so pressing left will set it to "Few" and pressing right will set it to "Many".
| Difficulty | For the first time in the series, you can change the difficulty in-game - please note that this option only shows up on the in-game options screen, not the title menu options screen |
| Tips | Few - Normal - Many |
| Camera Operation (Vertical) | Normal - Inverted |
| Camera Operation (Horizontal) | Normal - Inverted |
| 1st Person Camera (Vertical) | Normal - Inverted |
| 1st Person Camera (Horizontal) | Normal - Inverted |
| Mini-map Display | Off - On |
| Mini-map Style | Fixed Position - Camera Direction |
| Subtitles | Off - On |
| Terminology Highlighting | Off - On (this setting highlights terminology used in the game in the same way it does in Kenzan - which also had its own in-game dictionary for the various terms used) |
| Chapter Summary | Off - On (with this setting on, the game will give you a summary of what happened in previous chapters before you begin the new chapter) |
| Cutscene Weapon Change | Off - On (with this setting on, your equipped weapons are shown in cutscenes, rather than the default models) |
| Font | Auto - Ming Typeface - Gothic Typeface |
| Screen Contrast | Adjust the contrast of the screen |
| Screen Brightness | Adjust the brightness of the screen |
When selecting the New Game / Premium New Game option, select the top option for Premium New Game and bottom option for New Game.
With the Gambling Mini-Game option, you can compete with people from all over the world in a few mini-games.
On Network Info, the top option tells you about the network service and the bottom option shows you the DLC you have.
"Special Weapons" are things such as cannon, spears and greatswords. When you equip one of these weapons, you can select it in battle by pressing the down directional button when you are using the Hand-to-Hand Fighting Style.
"Bullets" are the special bullet types you can use with the Pistol Fighting Style.
"Notebook" contains lots of information, including all the tips from the game and explanation of gameplay mechanics and such (all of which is explained in the main story, but you can come back and read it again in this section)
"Terminology Dictionary" contains explanations of the various terms used throughout the game
For the first time outside of the Kurohyo games, you can save wherever you like (though you can't save during battle). You can also load whenever you like from this menu.
