Should you one way or the other thought the Like a Dragon (previously Yakuza) sequence wasn’t over-the-top sufficient already, a brand new addition to the upcoming remake of Like a Dragon: Ishin! would possibly simply flip the tables…or flip them. Developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has revealed that wrestler Kenny Omega shall be making a cameo look in Ishin as a summonable character to assist in battle, full with a wondrous crossover of a transfer: One-Winged Angel. He’ll be joined by Midnight Mass star Rahul Kohli.
Omega and Kohli’s appearances will take the type of a “Trooper Card,” successfully a summon much like the Poundmates utilized in Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Trooper Playing cards are a function new to the remake that enables gamers to summon different characters to assist them in battle with particular skills, assaults, or short-term stat boosts, and can embrace each movie star cameos in addition to visits from different characters throughout the Like a Dragon sequence.
Kohli’s Trooper Card is titled “Essence of Firestorm” and its in-game description reads as follows: “A chivalrous man who’s traveled by means of house, time, and actuality to serve the Shinsengumi. Attracts upon his expertise in legislation enforcement to maintain the peace.”
In the meantime, Omega’s Trooper Card is named “Essence of the One-Winged Angel” and bears the outline: “A strapping fighter who’s traveled by means of house, time, and actuality to serve the Shinsengumi. It’s mentioned that his elite expertise can summon the celebrities themselves.” It’s a reference each to Remaining Fantasy 7 in addition to Omega’s in-ring wrestling finisher, One-Winged Angel.
That mentioned, wrestling followers shouldn’t count on it to look something like his precise in-ring transfer, as he informed IGN forward of this announcement.
“It is utterly completely different,” Omega says. “It is not a wrestling maintain. It takes under consideration that we’re closely influenced by swordplay, magic, and gunplay. I assumed it was an opportunity to do one thing a little bit completely different. As a lot as I do need, hopefully sometime, to have a few of my precise wrestling maneuvers in a sport, for now I am very happy and thrilled to have a really distinctive and unique assault that feels prefer it belongs within the universe.”
The AEW World Trios Champion is a recognized gamer and RPG fan, and has been a large fan of the Like a Dragon sequence since he was a child. He’s performed each entry thus far besides for 2: Kurohyō, a PSP sport that was solely launched in Japan, and the unique Ishin.
His favourite? Omega loves Yakuza: Like a Dragon as a result of it’s an RPG, however he additionally wished to shout out Yakuza 2.
“I really feel like there is a nostalgia issue, and I really feel like that captured my creativeness essentially the most,” he says. “I knew a lot about Tokyo and the sights and sounds, so to take the journey to Osaka after which see simply how quirky and funky and enjoyable Osaka was with out ever having a hope of going there. Yeah, it at all times has a particular place in my coronary heart.”
It was Omega’s love of the sequence that netted him the cameo, too. He was initially simply serving to out with commercials for Ishin, however that chance finally developed right into a Trooper Card. His look in a Like a Dragon sport has been rumored since final fall, when Omega shared on Instagram that he had his likeness scanned into the engine. And the wrestler is clearly stoked, evaluating his love of Like a Dragon to Yakuza: Like a Dragon protagonist Ichiban’s love of Dragon Quest.
The extra time that goes by and the extra installments we get, the extra honed to our actuality that the video games turn into.
“That caught me off guard,” he says of the cameo. “Big shock. Very, very, very pleased about that information. Wanting very ahead for individuals to get their palms on the cardboard, and I am pleased to report that even in the event you’re not a wrestling fan, even in the event you’re not a Kenny Omega fan — I do know, geez, wow, boy, would that ever be unhappy in the event you weren’t? — however in the event you’re not, completely comprehensible, as a result of I’ve helped design a card that I believe shall be helpful throughout the board, and simply make your time in Ishin a little bit extra enjoyable and a little bit extra overpowered.”
Omega isn’t simply thrilled about his personal inclusion in Ishin, however about what it means for the franchise. Whereas previous Like a Dragon video games have had occasional cameos of standard Japanese celebrities and even wrestlers, his look coincides with ongoing development in recognition for the sequence within the West. Meaning we would see extra cameos from Western celebrities in Ishin or future video games…and possibly much more of Omega.
“I do really feel just like the extra time that goes by and the extra installments we get, the extra honed to our actuality that the video games turn into,” Omega says. “We’re beginning to see extra real-life individuals. Extra real-life eating places, mental properties, landmarks. It is attending to turn into similar to the world that we stay in, or not less than the Japan that we have now in our world.
“And who is aware of? Who is aware of the place their travels will take them? Possibly they will find yourself elsewhere someday. However yeah, for now, the world is beginning to really feel increasingly more acquainted, and likewise increasingly more relatable. So if there’s any kind of collaborative effort, I am positively throwing my identify within the hat, and hopefully this is not going to be the tip of Kenny Omega within the RGG universe.”
I shut our dialog by asking Omega if he thinks he may take the protagonist of Like a Dragon: Ishin!, Ryoma, in a battle, and the champion is surprisingly humble…even perhaps a bit villainous?
“No, after all not,” he says. “I do not know what sort of reply anybody was anticipating. No, I am only a showman. I am a nasty man, too. I am the man that should get his butt whipped, I believe.”
Like a Dragon: Ishin! is deliberate for launch on February 21, 2023 for Xbox, PlayStation, and PC.
Rebekah Valentine is a information reporter for IGN. Yow will discover her on Twitter @duckvalentine.
