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 Please be advised that the PDF is outdated now, but still contains information for the whole game.
Komaki (Hand to Hand) || Doctor Shinbei || Ginryu (Sword and Wild Dance) || William Bradley (Pistol) || Scarecrow Mansion
You can train with masters in Kyoto to unlock new abilities.
When you have completed all the training with Komaki, Ginryu and William Bradley and are at level 99, you can talk to Komaki to fight Komaki, Ginryu and William Bradley all at once. When you defeat them, your level is reset back to 1 and you can level up to gain more skill souls again.
You can visit Komaki's dojo in Fushimi any time after helping the Shinto Priest in chapter 2.
When you go near the dojo, you see Komaki shouting at a young man, saying "I don't remember raising such a coward! Get out of here and never show your face around here again!". Talk to the young man and he complains that Komaki isn't keeping with the times; he says the style focuses on bare handed fighting, but these days it's all about using guns, so learning to fight with bare hands is pointless.
After talking with him, the students takes you inside. Komaki and Ryoma exchange introductions and Komaki asks Ryoma to spar with his student, but with his student using a wooden sword and Ryoma using his fists, to teach his student a lesson - that true strength isn't about what weapon you use. This starts the first Komaki training mission.
This is the Hand-to-Hand Fighting Style special ability, which bombards an enemy with consecutive attacks.
To use this ability press R2, then repeatedly hit square to attack and hit a finishing blow with the triangle button. You need to be in heat mode to use this ability.
After completing this tutorial, you can use the Dragon Wing Formation ability in battles.
Speak to Komaki in the dojo and select the top option to begin the training.
This technique allows Ryoma to roll away. He does not take any damage while doing this
Press X or left analogue stick + X while evading to use
This cannot be used when you are using a special weapon
After completing the tutorial, the seal on this ability in the Hand-to-Hand sphere grid is removed and you can now purchase it with one of your souls.
After completing #2, go out and get into 1 fight on the streets, then come back and speak to Komaki to begin the training.
Press triangle while guarding (L1) to counter an enemy attack.
After completing the tutorial, the seal on this ability in the Hand-to-Hand sphere grid is removed and you can now purchase it with one of your souls.
After completing #3, go out and get into 3 fights on the streets, then come back and speak to Komaki to begin the training.
Press triangle while dodging to strike an enemy.
After completing the tutorial, the seal on this ability in the Hand-to-Hand sphere grid is removed and you can now purchase it with one of your souls.
After completing #4, go out and get into 3 fights on the streets, then come back and speak to Komaki to begin the training.
While holding R1, press triangle when an enemy attacks to launch a counter attack.
After completing the tutorial, the seal on this ability in the Hand-to-Hand sphere grid is removed and you can now purchase it with one of your souls.
After completing #5, go out and get into 3 fights on the streets, then come back and speak to Komaki to begin the training.
Press X as you hit the ground to flip onto your feet.
After completing the tutorial, the seal on this ability in the Hand-to-Hand sphere grid is removed and you can now purchase it with one of your souls.
After completing #6, go out and get into 5 fights on the streets, then come back and speak to Komaki to begin the training.
Press circle while dodging to avoid an enemy attack and grab hold of him.
After completing the tutorial, the seal on this ability in the Hand-to-Hand sphere grid is removed and you can now purchase it with one of your souls.
After completing #7, go out and get into 5 fights on the streets, then come back and speak to Komaki to begin the training.
Be warned that Komaki is very difficult if you are at a low level, so you may need to do some leveling up beforehand (and be sure to take healing items with you in this fight). The way I beat him was I kept parrying his attacks and used the square-square-square-triangle combo when his back was turned; don't go all out on him because he'll make quick work of you if you do!
After you win, you get a Revelations Document describing how to have the revelation.
After beating Komaki, get into fights and keep parrying enemy attacks until a revelation indicator appears on the screen - press triangle when the screen indicates (will appear after you parry an attack) to have this revelation. It takes a lot of parrys for the indicator to show up and you don't have to do it a certain number of times in a single fight. Just keep parrying in fights until it finally shows up. It will take a while, but I promise you the indicator does come up eventually (even though it seems like it never will!). It will show up at the top right of the screen, where the heat action indicator usually is.
After the revelation, the seal on this ability in the Hand-to-Hand sphere grid is removed and you can now purchase it with one of your souls.
When you have reached rank 25 of the Hand-to-Hand Fighting Style and have purchased every ability on the Hand-to-Hand sphere grid, speak to Komaki. You will fight Komaki and his student.
When you defeat them, you can now level up the Hand-to-Hand Fighting Style past rank 25, up to rank 50. Also, your Hand-to-Hand sphere grid resets - you don't lose the abilities you purchased the first time round, but when you purchase upgrades in the sphere grid the 2nd time round the effects are enhanced (for example, when purchasing a health upgrade you yet again get another health boost, or when you purchase an ability it does more damage, etc).
You can do cannonball training with Doctor Shinbei any time after the fight with Okada Izo in Chapter 2.
Speak to the doctor over by the cannonball training area and he'll talk about his cannon and how he can train samurai with it. Choose the top option to do the training.
Press the square button to cut the cannonball when it's close enough. Getting the timing right gives you more points. When you get a certain amount of points, you get rewards. When you play using the Pistol, there is a crosshair on the screen - press square when the cannonball is in the crosshair to land a hit.
The bar on the left indicates how many points you currently have and how many you need to succeed (and get the reward).
Getting a well-timed hit gives you 200 points, while a regular hit gives you 100 points. Golden cannonballs give you double points (so, 400 for a well-timed hit and 200 for a regular hit).
After doing it for the first time, you unlock the seal for the "Cannon Knowledge" ability on the Pistol sphere grid. You don't have to get a certain amount of points on the first play to unlock this ability.
When you next talk to him, you can select the top option to do the training with your sword, or the 2nd option to do the training with your pistol. After selecting a weapon, you select what grade you want to do (you start with Beginner and then unlock the higher grades after you complete the lower grades first).
You get a reward when you get the bar to the left of the screen above the blue line. You unlock the next grade when you get the bar above the yellow line.
The bonus grade isn't unlocked until you complete the advanced grade for both Sword and Pistol (get above the yellow line on advanced grade of both).
When you go near his dojo in Rakunai, some guys confront Ryoma, but then Ginryu shows up saying if they want to fight, do it somewhere else - not in front of his dojo. The guys are like "you mean you're that swordmaster, Ginryu!?". The guys then run off. Ginryu then introduces himself to Ryoma - he says he's heard Ryoma's name (the name "Saito Hajime", that is). He talks about the style he teaches and invites Ryoma to come by if he feels like training in this "Beautiful Technique" sword style.
Go into the dojo and speak to Ginryu. He asks Ryoma to fight his students using only his sword, so he can have a look at Ryoma's level.
The first part of this is the Sword Fighting Style special ability, which launches a high speed powerful attack.
Hold down R2 for a little while and then release to launch an attack. You can use the left analogue stick + square when your first attack hits to launch another attack on an enemy. You can continue doing this, but your heat gauge is drained for each additional attack you hit.
Then next part of this is the "Beautiful Technique - Misty Sword" ability for the Sword fighting style. Press triangle while evading (X) to use.
The next part of this is the Wild Dance Fighting Style special ability which launches gunshots and sword attacks wildly. Hold down R2 to use.
The final part of this is the "Beautiful Technique - Wind Circulation" special ability for the Wild Dance fighting style. Press L1 when an enemy attacks you to evade the attack.
After completing the tutorial, the seal on the "Beautiful Technique - Misty Sword" ability in the Sword sphere grid and the "Beautiful Technique - Wind Circulation" ability in the Wild Dance sphere grid are removed and you can now purchase them with one of your souls. You can also now use the Dragon Fang Flash and Wild Dance of the Divine Dragon special abilities in battles.
When you have a 3 star sword equipped (you cannot do the next training with a sword that has a higher or lower star rating), talk to Ginryu. You get to choose which fighting style to use - Top option for Sword, bottom option for Wild Dance.
When you choose the Sword Fighting Style, the training is for the "Beautiful Technique - Flashing Sword" ability. While holding R1, press triangle just before an enemy hits you with an attack to perform a strong counter.
After completing the tutorial, the seal on the "Beautiful Technique - Flashing Sword" ability in the Sword sphere grid is removed and you can now purchase it with one of your souls.
Next, speak to Ginryu again and you'll begin the Wild Dance tutorial for the "Beautiful Technique - Tsukimizake" ability. Press square while evading to attack with the sword.
After completing the tutorial, the seal on the "Beautiful Technique - Tsukimizake" ability in the Wild Dance sphere grid is removed and you can now purchase it with one of your souls.
Speak to him again after this and he asks you to compete against his student. You have to get the battle grade "Expert", at least, to pass (you are graded after every battle in the game - it's that screen you get right after you win a fight). You can fight using the Sword (top option) or Wild Dance (bottom option) fighting styles.
When you have a 4 star sword equipped (you cannot do the next training with a sword that has a higher or lower star rating), talk to Ginryu. You get to choose which fighting style to use - Top option for Sword, bottom option for Wild Dance.
For the Sword Fighting Style, the training is for the "Beautiful Technique - Weather Vane" ability. Press triangle when an enemy attacks you while you're defending (L1) to repel the enemy's attack (this only seems to work while an enemy is performing a combo attack).
After completing the tutorial, the seal on the "Beautiful Technique - Weather Vane" ability in the Sword sphere grid is removed and you can now purchase it with one of your souls.
For the Wild Dance Fighting Style, the training is for the "Beautiful Technique - Tengu Shadow" ability. While you are attacking, press L1 when an enemy attacks you to evade the attack.
After completing the tutorial, the seal on the "Beautiful Technique - Tengu Shadow" ability in the Wild Dance sphere grid is removed and you can now purchase it with one of your souls.
Speak to him again after this and he asks you to compete against 5 of his students. You have to get the battle grade "Master", at least, to pass. You can fight using the Sword (top option) or Wild Dance (bottom option) fighting styles.
After completing #3, leave the dojo and then come back inside again and talk to Ginryu. You need to have a 5 star sword equipped (you cannot do the next training with a sword that has a higher or lower star rating).
He asks you to compete against his student. You have to get the battle grade "Master", at least, to pass. You can fight using the Sword (top option) or Wild Dance (bottom option) fighting styles.
When you win the fight with a battle grade of "Master", at least, the seals on the "Bullet Dodge Mastery" ability in the Sword sphere grid and the "Crowd Dispersion" ability in the Wild Dance sphere grid are removed and you can purchase them with your souls.
After completing #4, leave the dojo and some students go out for a talk with Ryoma. After they finish, go back to the dojo and talk to Ginryu.
Select the top option to do the next training.
The first part of the training is for the "Dry Leaf Disturbance" technique. While holding R1, press circle when an enemy attacks you with a sword to defend against their attack.
After doing that ability 3 times, defeat all the opponents.
After completing the tutorial, the seal on the "Beautiful Technique - Dry Leaf Disturbance" ability in the Sword sphere grid is removed and you can now purchase it with one of your souls.
Speak to Ginryu again to begin the next part of the training. He asks you to compete against 4 of his students. You have to get the battle grade "Master", at least, to pass. You can fight using the Sword (top option) or Wild Dance (bottom option) fighting styles.
When you win the fight with a battle grade of "Master", at least, the seal on the "Heat Haze Circulation" ability in the Wild Dance sphere grid is removed and you can purchase it with one of your souls.
After completing #5, talk to Ginryu when you have a 6 star sword equipped (you cannot do the next training with a sword that has a higher or lower star rating).
You have to compete against Ginryu himself and get a battle grade of at least "Master" to pass. You can fight using the Sword (top option) or Wild Dance (bottom option) fighting styles.
When you win the fight with a battle grade of "Master", at least, the seals on the "Dry Leaf Smash" ability in the Sword sphere grid and the "Flying Wild Shot Mastery" ability in the Wild Dance sphere grid are removed and you can purchase them with your souls.
After the fight, Ginryu gives Ryoma 2 Revelations Documents.
To have the Sword fighting style revelation, continuously use the "Beautiful Technique - Weather Vane" ability (press triangle when an enemy attacks you while you are defending). Eventually, after performing the technique, a revelation indicator will appear on the screen (press triangle).
To have the Wild Dance fighting style revelation, continuously use the "Fenghuang Formation" ability (press circle). Eventually, a revelation indicator (press triangle) will appear during the Fenghuang Formation ability.
When you have reached rank 25 of the Sword Fighting Style and have purchased every ability on the Sword sphere grid, speak to Ginryu and fight him.
When you defeat him, you can now level up the Sword Fighting Style past rank 25, up to rank 50. Also, your Sword sphere grid resets - you don't lose the abilities you purchased the first time round, but when you purchase upgrades in the sphere grid the 2nd time round the effects are enhanced (for example, when purchasing a health upgrade you yet again get another health boost, or when you purchase an ability it does more damage, etc).
When you have reached rank 25 of the Wild Dance Fighting Style and have purchased every ability on the Wild Dance sphere grid, speak to Ginryu and fight him.
When you defeat him, you can now level up the Wild Dance Fighting Style past rank 25, up to rank 50. Also, your Wild Dance sphere grid resets - you don't lose the abilities you purchased the first time round, but when you purchase upgrades in the sphere grid the 2nd time round the effects are enhanced (for example, when purchasing a health upgrade you yet again get another health boost, or when you purchase an ability it does more damage, etc).
When you go near Unyuan in Rakugai anytime from Chapter 3 onwards, Ryoma notices 3 guys arguing. Talk to them and then a mysterious foreigner shows up and sends the guys away. He tells Ryoma to come inside his weapons store. He introduces himself to Ryoma as "William Bradley". He reveals he knows about Ryoma - that he's a great swordsman who stays at Terada Inn. He goes on to talk about the "Urayama Group" and that they murdered his brother before his eyes and he's after revenge against them. Ryoma says he'll help him out hunting down the group and in return William says he'll give Ryoma pistol training.
This is the special ability for the Pistol Fighting Style. It picks out multiple opponents and shoots them all in one go. Hold down R2 for a little while and then release to use.
After completing the tutorial, you can now use this ability in battles.
Talk to him after completing #1 and he'll give you 3 of every special bullet type in the game. Next, go to the equipment screen and switch your equipped bullets to Enhanced Bullets (they're the first one of the 6). Now speak to William to begin the training.
Press triangle to fire the equipped special bullet type. After you fire the first bullet, go back to your equipment and switch to Flashing Bullets (they're the last one of the 6). Then fire a Flashing Bullet. Next switch to Electric Bullets (2nd one of the 6) and fire it. Next switch to Acid Bullets (4th one of the 6) and fire it. Next switch to Poison Bullets (3rd one of the 6) and fire it.
After that the training is complete.
The special bullets have the following effects:
Enhanced Bullets
No special effect; just does a lot of damage
Flashing Bullets
Blinds an enemy, leaving them vulnerable for a moment
Electric Bullets
Paralyses an enemy, leaving them vulerable for a moment
Acid Bullets
Melts armour
(useful against enemies wearing a lot of armour)
Poison Bullets
Poisons an enemy, making them gradually lose health over a period of time
After the tutorial, the seal on the "Enhanced Bullet Knowledge" ability in the Pistol sphere grid is removed and you can now purchase it with one of your souls.
Speak to William after completing #2 to do this. Press square while evading to perform a rolling shot attack.
After the tutorial, the seal on the "Whirlwind Shot" ability in the Pistol sphere grid is removed and you can now purchase it with one of your souls.
You begin this automatically right after completing #3. You have to defeat 30 of his guys while you are at low health to pass.
After completing this training, the seal on the "Rapid Fire Consecutive Attack Mastery" ability in the Pistol sphere grid is removed and you can now purchase it with one of your souls.
You also receive a Golden Hammer.
You can now talk to one of his men to do this training exercise again (there are 2 men standing near him, by all the weapons and armour, speak to the one with a number "1" above him and select the top option to do this exercise) - you get a Golden Hammer every time you complete the training.
After completing #4, William will ask you to help out against the Urayama group. Select the bottom option to help him. You fight 5 guys from the group alongside William. After you beat them and get back to his base, speak to him to begin the next training.
The first part of the training is the back shot. Move the left analogue stick in the direction Ryoma's back is facing and press square. This doesn't work while you are holding down R1.
The next part of the training is the Gauntlet Breaker ability. Repeatedly fire at an enemy with the square button to make them drop their weapon.
After the tutorial, the seal on the "Gauntlet Breaker" ability in the Pistol sphere grid is removed and you can now purchase it with one of your souls. You can also now use the Back Shot special ability in battles.
This begins right after you complete #5. You have to defeat 20 of his guys in 60 seconds to pass.
After completing this training, the seal on the "Flank Attack Mastery" ability in the Pistol sphere grid is removed and you can now purchase it with one of your souls.
You can now talk to one of his men to do this training exercise again (there are 2 men standing near him, by all the weapons and armour, speak to the one with a number "2" above him and select the top option to do this exercise) - you get Gold Metal Powder every time you complete the training.
After you complete #6, leave the building, then leave the area and come back later. One of William's guys talks to you at the entrance and says William wants his help against the Urayama guys again. Go inside, talk to William and select the bottom option to help him. You fight against 4 guys on your own. These guys can do some serious damage to you, so you might want to bring lots of healing items.
After the fight, William thanks Ryoma for his help. Talk to William again to receive a Revelations Document. You will not receive it automatically.
To have the revelation, continuously use the "Leaping Shot" ability. Eventually, while running you will have a revelation indicator at the top right of the screen (press triangle). It will take quite a while before it finally shows up, so just continue using the leaping shot ability until it finally does.
When you have reached rank 25 of the Pistol Fighting Style and have purchased every ability on the Pistol sphere grid, speak to William Bradley and fight him and 2 of his guys.
When you defeat them, you can now level up the Pistol Fighting Style past rank 25, up to rank 50. Also, your Pistol sphere grid resets - you don't lose the abilities you purchased the first time round, but when you purchase upgrades in the sphere grid the 2nd time round the effects are enhanced (for example, when purchasing a health upgrade you yet again get another health boost, or when you purchase an ability it does more damage, etc).
You can barter with his men in the room - you can exchange items with them. Starting from the man closest to the stairs and going anti-clockwise around the room:
First guy wants 10 Water God Stones in exchange for Beautiful Silk.
The next guy wants a Pearl in exchange for 3 Beast's Tails.
The next guy wants a Pearl in exchange for a Famous Horse's Mane.
The next guy wants 20 Water God Stones in exchange for a Crimson Jewel.
The next guy wants a Pearl in exchange for 5 Wild Silk.
The next guy wants a Pearl in exchange for 10 Beautiful Fur.
The next guy wants 10 Indigo Stones in exchange for a Inaka School Catalog.
The next guy wants 5 Wooden Bear Carvings in exchange for the Revelations Document - Wind. After getting the revelations document, he will want 20 Indigo Stones in exchange for a Pistol That Time Forgot.
The final guy wants 5 Water God Stones in exchange for a Vermilion Cloth.
You can visit the Scarecrow mansion in Rakugai any time from Chapter 3 onwards. Speak to the guy standing outside, then go inside. When inside, speak to the guy and select the top option to do the training.
In the next screen, you have all the scarecrow training missions. At first you can only do the foundation room missions, but as you clear more of the earlier room missions you unlock higher difficulties. Clear 4 foundation missions to unlock application. Clear 6 application missions to unlock fighting. You unlock the ultimate room by completing all of the missions from the first 3 rooms.
The objective is to destroy enough scarecrows within the time limit to meet the required points for the mission (see tables below).
For some missions, you are forced to use a particular fighting style, but for other you can freely use whatever style you want.
You can only get the mission reward ONCE. When you complete the mission every time after you already won the original reward, you get a Miniature Scarecrow Carving.
There are 4 types of scarecrow:
White, which give you 100 points per scarecrow destroyed
Red, which can attack you with swords and guns and give you 200 points per scarecrow destroyed
Black, which are tough (take a while to destroy) and give you 300 points per scarecrow destroyed
Gold, which give you 500 points per scarecrow destroyed
