Learn all rewards and locations for every bond, plus the bonds you should complete first

There are dozens of bonds to pursue in Like a Dragon: Ishin!. From chatting with a shop owner to becoming a regular at a sushi joint or patching up a samurai wannabe citizen with health items, there’ss no shortage of friendships to build. Bonds serve as an extension of substories, but quite frankly, the number of available bonds in Like a Dragon: Ishin! can be quite overwhelming.

Considering how much there is in the game to do and discover, spending time with bonds might seem trivial at first. This guide dives into all the rewards you can get from bonds in Like a Dragon: Ishin!, so you can know what these friendships will offer you in the long run without having to spend the money or the time. We’ve also highlighted the bonds in Ishin that you shouldn’t miss.

Bonds, which are also labeled as friendships in Like a Dragon: Ishin!, allow you to get to know the locals a bit further. Some have extended storylines, others are related to systems such as Another Life, and so on. In essence, there are quite a few substories that might feel short at first, but once completed, they unlock a bond for you to complete afterward.

Bonds are completely optional. They can’t be missed during the main story either, so you can always tackle them during Premium Adventure after the credits have rolled. If you’re looking to gain some Virtue, however, they can be a good source for that. But all in all, unless there is a specific reward that might be worth the time investment, these friendships are more of a completionist checklist item than anything super deep.

Amid the sheer variance of bonds, there are a few that you should complete as soon as possible. As a general rule, if you’re trying to speed up the process of increasing the friendship level of a bond, you can always exit the area that you’re in and come back again. If that doesn’t work, performing an activity — such as a battle dungeon, a karaoke song, or eating at a restaurant — might do the trick. But in any case, if you’re still doing the main story, progressing through your current main objective is always likely to reset an NPC so they’ll talk to you again.

In order to equip yourself with the best tools for the mid- to endgame grinds, here are the Like a Dragon: Ishin! bonds you shouldn’t miss. And for details about where to start these bonds and how to strengthen them (and, most importantly, what you get for doing so), scroll onto the next section:

Bonds are divided into two categories: Friendships and Friendships (Shops). The latter are far more common to encounter, as they generally just require you to purchase or dine at some place once. The rest tend to be related to substories. Keep in mind that the list below is in progress for the time being. We’ll update it in the coming days to include the remaining few bonds.

Below are all the Like a Dragon: Ishin! bond rewards and locations:

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