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 Please be advised that the PDF is outdated now, but still contains information for the whole game.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 chapter starts off with Yamazaki, the Shinsengumi Inspector, torturing an Ishin-Shishi for information. Hijikata says, "The name of the Shinsengumi will resound across the whole world now... Right, commander?" - and we get a glimpse of Kondo Isami, commander of the Shinsengumi.
Next, we see another captains and commanders meeting at the headquarters and yet again Kondo Isami is not present. There are more arguments, stemming from 10th captain, Harada, who talks about the different "factions" within the Shinsengumi and how, with 2 of the captains dead, Ito's "faction" has gotten smaller. But they then say there are no factions or sub-groups within the Shinsengumi; it's one united group symbolising loyalty to the Shogunate. Matsubara says he's tired of all the talks they have of factions, like the ones who came in with Ito's group, and the guys who came in from the Shieikan dojo.
Hijikata then makes an announcement to the captains about how the Shinsengumi name will soon be engraved into history forever. He tells them how Inspector Yamazaki got hold of an Ishin-Shishi spy - Furutaka Shuntaro - last night and they found a huge amount of gunpowder at his hideout. Apparently they had a large scale plan involving 40 Ishin-Shishi to use the gunpowder to set fire to the imperial palace. This confuses the captains - after all, the Ishin-Shishi are supposed to be supporters of the Emperor, so why would they burn down the imperial palace? Hijikata says if they set fire to the place, officials from the Shogunate who protect the capital will gather there (including the Shinsengumi), so then the Ishin-Shishi could take them all out in one go. They will also use the fire as a distraction as they take the Emperor away from there. Ito says they're having Yamazaki look for their headquarters and hoping to get the info later today, then the Shinsengumi are to launch a raid against the place tonight. Hijikata says they don't know exactly who the enemy is, but mentions a few key names of people involved - "Nakaoka" being one of the ones named!
After the meeting concludes, Ryoma says to himself he should head back to Terada Inn, to let Nakaoka know about this.
You can now do Chapter 6 substories.
Return to Terada Inn and Oryo speaks to Ryoma. Ryoma asks if Nakaoka is around and she tells him he's on the 2nd floor.
Go into your room and speak to Nakaoka. Ryoma asks if it's true if the Ishin-Shishi are planning to burn down the imperial palace and asks if he is involved in it. Nakaoka seems to have no idea what Ryoma is talking about. Ryoma tells him all about it and the Shinsengumi's plan to raid their headquarters. Ryoma mentions one of the other names of people who are supposedly involved in this, mentioned at the meeting - "Yoshida Toshimaro" of the Choshu domain. Apparently he has ties with Takechi - so Takechi was likely in on this plan as well - and Nakaoka supposes that the guy from Tosa who is involved with all this is part of the Tosa Loyalist Party. Nakaoka says their priority should be finding Yoshida Toshimaro and he tells Ryoma to leave it to him to do it alone.
After Nakaoka leaves, Ryoma says he should go back to the Shinsengumi HQ.
Until you proceed to the next part of the story, you cannot use any forms of transport (Palanquins, Boats), or trigger any substories.
[1]
Go here and Ryoma sees 4th Captain Matsubara and the informant Ryoma had helping him out earlier, back in chapter 2. Matsubara notices that the 2 of them seem to recognise each other and asks about it. The informant tries to excuse himself, but Matsubara kills him. He says he knew too much information about him. He tells Ryoma he's going to rest up for tonight's raid against the Ishin-Shishi and that Ryoma should get back before it's late as well.
Return to the Shinsengumi HQ and Hijikata tells Ryoma he has something to discuss with him. He says their inspector has pinpointed the location of the HQ to 2 possible places - Ikedaya and Shikokuya. He says they won't make any attacks until they know exactly which of the 2 it is and he tells Ryoma that he and his 3rd unit will be moving alongside him. He asks Ryoma which he wants to check out and he says Shikokuya, so Hijikata and Ryoma will be heading over there and Okita will be heading over to Ikedaya. Hijikata tells Ryoma to stay in the HQ until it is time to go.
[1]
Speak to Nagakura. He tells Ryoma he and his 2nd unit are going with Okita to Ikedaya. After he leaves, Matsubara appears and tells Ryoma the Vice Commander has summoned him - apparently he's waiting for Ryoma at the storehouse.
[2]
Go into the storehouse and Ryoma finds Hijikata, Okita and Nagakura there along with the Ishin-Shishi prisoner they interrogated (Furutaka). Hijikata makes him repeat the information to Ryoma and Furutaka mentions 2 key names of people involved in the plan - Yoshida Toshimaro, Katsura Kogoro of the Choshu Domain. Nagakura tells Ryoma that Katsura Kogoro is a great master of the Shindo Munen style of sword fighting, but that he is also a master of running away from situations, which has led to him getting the nickname "Kogoro the Evader". Hijikata says this guy could be considered the leader of this whole operation and that should he try to escape they must kill him immediately. They then say it's about time to get started.
[1]
Go near here to trigger an event. Ryoma meets up with Hijikata, who tells him that they need to be stealthy, because if they are spotted by the Ishin-Shishi they will alert their comrades. Once they determine which of the 2 places if the one they're looking for, they'll launch their raid. He then asks Ryoma if anything happened between him and Matsubara, because Matsubara was asking a lot of questions about Ryoma. He then asks Ryoma why he joined the Shinsengumi. Ryoma tells him he didn't have anywhere else to go, but Hijikata says with Ryoma's skill, he would be accepted as an Ishin-Shishi of any domain. Ryoma tells him he didn't particularly care whether he was on the side of the Emperor or the Shogunate, he just went to those who offered the best price. Hijikata goes on to tell Ryoma that both himself and commander Kondo Isami were from commoner families - their ancestors were peasants and they did not agree with using swords - in fact, he himself thought he would spend his whole life that way. But after the "black ships" (foreigners) arrived and it became an era where true stength is necessary. This is what lead to himself and Kondo Isami becoming strong and working towards building the Shinsengumi - not for the sake of the Shogunate, but to protect the country. He tells Ryoma there will come a time when he can tell him about it in more detail.
Then a Shinsengumi member shows up and tells Hijikata there is no sign of the Ishin-Shishi at Shikokuya, then another comes round the corner and tells them they are at Ikedaya.
[1]
Head over to Ikedaya. There is a long fight sequence here, so make any necessary preparations (such as getting health items). Hijikata tells Ryoma that, once inside, he must look for Yoshida Toshimaro and Katsura Kogoro and to leave the small-fry to the lower ranking Shinsengumi members. As Ryoma is about to go inside, he sees Nakaoka and supposes he failed to pursuade Yoshida Toshimaro to leave. But then the thinks that the Shinsengumi just moved too fast, so he didn't get a change to speak to him.
Yellow dots incidate items on the ground you can pick up.
When you get to the stairs at the bottom right of the map, there is a quick time event.
[1]
When you get here, Ryoma sees Nagakura injured on the ground. He says Yoshida Toshimaro took him out and has been destroying all these other Shinsengumi soldiers lying around on the ground. This leads to a fight against Yoshida Toshimaro. After the fight, Nagakura tells Ryoma they still have to find Katsura.
[2]
Make your way over to here. When you get near here, a Shinsengumi soldier tells Ryoma that Katsura is just down the corridor. When you reach the destination, Ryoma encounters Katsura, who turns out to be Niibori Matsusuke (Katsura Kogoro is another one of his names - his original name, before he took "Kido Takayoshi"), whom Ryoma met in chapter 2.
He tells Ryoma there's been a misunderstanding - that he himself is not actually behind the plans. In fact, he was trying to stop Yoshida from doing it. He asks Ryoma to let him go - he says there's no need for them to fight to the death here, because he doesn't want to die and says Ryoma still has things he has to take care of back in Tosa - that's what Takechi wishes for! He tells Ryoma he knows all about why he has joined the Shinsengumi and that he has no reason to kill him, because they're really on the same side - it turns out he's heard from Takechi all about Ryoma.
Ryoma asks him to explain things, but then he launches a surprise attack. He tells Ryoma someone is behind him (Nagakura), so they need to play up the act so Ryoma isn't exposed. Ryoma tells Nagakura to leave this to him and not to get involved at all. A fight against Katsura begins.
After the fight, Katsura thanks Ryoma for playing along and says he'll make it up to him another time. Then Hijikata appears and Katsura makes a run for it. Ryoma apologises, saying he wasn't able to take him down.
Hijikata gathers up the captains and tells them Katsura got away. He then says he's learned something else - that there is a spy from the supporters of the Emperor among them in the room. Todo says it's Matsubara. Matsubara isn't happy with the accusation, but Hijikata says he knows his origins - he's from the Choshu domain. Also, he says they were using an informant to investigate the information about the Shinsengumi that was being leaked back to Choshu and that Matsubara killed that informant. Matsubara thinks Ryoma sold him out, but Hijikata says Yamazaki found it out. He also knows that Matsubara has been in touch with many informants for the past 3 months. Matsubara points out that it's the same with Ryoma - he, too, was in touch with that informant he killed, after all. Hijikata says they must purge the Shinsengumi of traitors and tells him he must accept his fate. He then hands his sword to Ryoma, telling him to do it. He says Ryoma was in touch with the informant before joining the Shinsengumi. He tells Ryoma he's heard of someone looking around dojos for people using the Tennen Rishin style of fighting. He says he doesn't want to suspect Ryoma, so he must kill this Choshu spy to prove his loyalty. Matsubara says to Ryoma he heard about his true objective from an informant, but before he can say it Inoue kills him. He apologises for interfering, saying he was just angry and let it get to his head.
When you complete this chapter, you get the "Story Clear #3" trophy.
