Like a Dragon: Ishin! Another Life Guide

Last Update: February 20, 2023 5:44 PM /

By:


Like a Dragon Ishin! Another Life Guide header

Sometimes the life of a samurai is a little too hectic, with Ryouma wanting to take a little time off. This is where Like a Dragon: Ishin!’s Another Life comes into play, allowing Ryouma to grow crops, cook, and take care of animals at a leisurely pace. In our Like a Dragon: Ishin! Another Life Guide, we’ll go over each aspect of this side of the game, and why it’s worth paying attention to.

Like a Dragon: Ishin! Another Life Basics

Another Life is unlocked during Chapter 4, as Ryouma heads south back into Fushimi after becoming a member of the Shinsengumi. Here, he’ll offer to shoulder the debt of a young girl name Haruka. While 100 ryo is a lot of money (especially during this part of the game), you’re not forced to pay anything back straight away. As an added bonus, Ryouma can also make use of the house and its facilities.

While you’ll be directed to Haruka’s house during the game’s introduction to Another Life, you must manually return there later on via the boatman at the southwest side of Fushimi. This is not marked on the map, so make sure to take a note of its location once you leave for the first time.

There are three main aspects to Another Life: Gathering items via farming, fishing, and animals, cooking food, and trading to gain money and other materials.

Like a Dragon: Ishin! Another Life Farming

Farming is the simplest aspect of Another Life, though it requires a lot of Virtue (obtained via most activities) to unlock its full potential. Interacting with the small tool shed beside the farm opens up the Farm Management menu. This lets you view each crop’s progress, plant new crops, or scatter manure to reduce the remaining time each crop needs to grow.

The farm is split into a grid, with each crop having a certain size. Alongside size, crops also take a certain amount of time to grow, and have an expected yield. To start with you’ll only have access to a couple of crops, but more are unlocked by spending Virtue at shrines (there’s a small one that can be used in the yard). Virtue also lets you increase the farm’s size up to a maximum of 5x10 squares, while improving growing times and yields.

You’ll need a wide variety of crops for cooking and trading (more on those later), so it’s always worth unlocking new ones early and switching things up every harvest. If you don’t feel like changing things manually, the Virtue menu has an unlock called “Spontaneous Farming” which replants your farm at random. Once unlocked, the option is available right at the bottom of the Farming Plan crop list.

Ryouma catching a fish in Like a Dragon Ishin!

Like a Dragon: Ishin! Fishing

While not part of the house or surrounding area, you’ll need fish for certain cooking recipes and trading. However, before fishing properly, it’s worth saving up Virtue and using it to unlock the Peerless Pole. This requires you to unlock the previous four options in the Fishing Virtue list, with the total cost being 7,800 Virtue. The Peerless Pole makes catching fish far easier.

The southern side of Fushimi has access to both river fishing and a boat that can let you fish in the ocean. Mukurogai also has another river fishing spot that can get you new fish as well. Bait can be bought from one of the traveling peddlers running around Kyo, which is used to attract more fish for a short amount of time.

Like a Dragon: Ishin! Cooking

You can cook from the kitchen inside the house. Interacting with it will open up a list of recipes, though the initial selection is rather small. The rest of the recipes can be unlocked via spending Virtue at shrines, with each progressive Kitchen Upgrade unlocking more recipes. The other kitchen related Virtue upgrades come in the form of improved cooking success rate, increasing the chance to make gourmand dishes.

Cooking itself takes the form of a simple series of minigames, with the exact minigame depending on what you are cooking:

  • Chopping ingredients: Just press the show button at the line passes over it.
  • Heating the fire: Mash one button (default Xbox A, PlayStation X) for a few seconds.
  • Pouring seasoning: Holding down the button will fill the meter, with the aim being to get as close to the highlighted line as possible. However, you have to let go of the button early, as the bar continues to fill for a second or so afterwards.
  • Grilling meat: Just press the right button once a group of sparks appear.

Completing these minigames perfectly will improve your chances of creating a higher tier dish — better dishes restore more health when used as an item.

Like a Dragon Ishin! Another Life trading menu.

Like a Dragon: Ishin! Trading

Inside the house, you can interact with the bookcase in the corner to access trading. This is a simple system that allows you to sell produce, meals, fish, and some miscellaneous items for money. You can deliver multiple items on the list at once, with the list updating if you head back to the main are of Like a Dragon: Ishin!, quit and reload the game, or successfully trade items.

More trading requests appear as you unlock new produce and dishes, with later requests giving even more money. Requests with a present icon on the right side will give you an extra reward on top of the money, usually in the form of manure for the farm or crafting items. It’s usually worth checking out the trading menu every now and then, as it’s a decent way to make some extra money with little effort.

Like a Dragon: Ishin! Haruka

Haruka hangs around both inside and outside the house at random, greeting Ryouma when he enters the area. Greeting him will increase Haruka’s Trust meter by a small amount, with said meter increasing the Trust level when it fills up. Haruka’s Trust can go up to level 7, with certain ranks unlocking new Slice of Life scenes. The requirements for each of these scenes are:

  • Garden: Leave the house for the first time after unlocking Another Life.
  • Den: Interact with the fireplace after reaching Trust level 3.
  • Bath: Interact with the door at the back of the house after reaching Trust level 4.
  • Futon: Interact with the futon in the corner of the house after reaching Trust level 5.

All Slice of Life scenes give a big boost to the Trust meter after you view them. Otherwise, you can increase this meter by completing tasks at home like cooking dishes. Just spend time doing Another Life tasks and you’ll max out Trust with little effort.

Ryouma looking at a cat in Like a Dragon Ishin!

Like a Dragon: Ishin! Pets

While it’s possible to get a pair of chickens via Virtue upgrades (these spawn eggs every now and then), getting more animals will require slightly more effort. It’s possible to add a total of 3 cats and 3 dogs to your house by completing certain substories and friendships. These are:

Cats

  • The Lucky Cat - Rakunai. Keep giving the cat money. You’ll get the money back (and more) after completing the friendship meter.
  • The Hungry Cat - Rakugai. Feed it any fish.
  • The Filthy Cat - Fushimi. You only need to interact with the cat near the pier every time.

Dogs

  • The Barking Dog - Rakunai. Keep giving the dog bones (can be bought at the pawn shop to the north).
  • The Injured Dog - Mukurogai. Use healing items each time you visit.
  • The Patient Dog - Fushimi. Requires any food item. Can make Homemade Pickles quickly via your kitchen.

Pets can bring back materials, with the chances of doing so increasing if you buy upgrades via Virtue.

Have a tip, or want to point out something we missed? Leave a Comment or e-mail us at tips@techraptor.net


Isaac
| Staff Writer

Isaac is a Staff Writer at TechRaptor, handling guides — and the occasional review — for games throughout many genres. Some of his more extensive work at… More about Isaac

More Info About This Game
Learn more about Like a Dragon: Ishin!
Publisher
SEGA
Platforms
PC
Release Date
February 23, 2023 (Calendar)
Purchase (Some links may be affiliated)