Rahul Kohli Interview: Becoming A Like a Dragon: Ishin! Trooper Card

Like a Dragon: Ishin! is slated to release in early 2023, and developer Rya Ga Gotoku Studio has revamped some of the game’s mechanics. One of these changes is the inclusion of Trooper Cards in all gameplay, acting as various power-ups for players. Previously, these cards were only included in Like a Dragon: Ishin!‘s Battle Dungeons. Some of these cards will feature the likeness of real-life celebrities who are fans of the Like a Dragon series, including actor Rahul Kohli.

The Like a Dragon series – recently retitled from Yakuza – had a previous iteration of Ishin! that released only in Japan in 2014, and many fans of that title (and the series) have long hoped for a western port of the game. Ishin!‘s Trooper Cards all have different areas in which they can improve a player’s combat skills after being equipped, like new attacks or stat boosts. Rahul Kohli, known for his roles in shows like iZombie and Midnight Mass, will be featured on a card called Essence of Firestorm, which “incinerates enemies with fiery waves of righteous anger.”

Rahul Kohli sat down with Screen Rant to discuss his Like a Dragon: Ishin! Trooper Card, his love of video games, and his hope for a continued involvement in the gaming sphere.

Screen Rant: I would love to talk a little bit about your history with the Like a Dragon series from a fan standpoint. I know you’re a big gamer in general – can you talk about your personal history with this series?

Rahul Kohli: Yeah, sure. So I was aware of the series, just through word of mouth and recommendations from other people, gamers and people in the industry. But it wasn’t until I was in quarantine for two weeks when I went to Vancouver to shoot The Midnight Club; I had my Xbox with me and I knew the Yakuza series was on Game Pass there, and I thought, “You know, I’m stuck in a hotel for two weeks, this is a great time to play something.”

And that’s basically it, I started to play during my quarantine and was just hooked with it. I love combat games in general, but I didn’t think I would have been as hooked as I was into the story – the kind of soap opera-style, high-stakes drama that Yakuza is known for. That’s how it started. And then there’s a real kind of Yakuza fandom and community, it’s like a club. It’s almost like once you say that you play or you’re involved, everyone kind of comes out. It’s this niche group that really kind of embrace you. So when I started to tweet about it, it made everyone very happy.

And then eventually RGG (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio) and SEGA reached out to do a trailer reveal for Ishin, which I did. Then not long after that, RGG reached out to ask if I would want to be in it and just use my likeness for a Trooper card, this powerup card. And you know, I’m an actor so I almost always am playing someone else’s character or you know, a costume so to speak – this is the first time it’s me, my name. So I jumped at that kind of an opportunity to be a part of pop culture. It’s awesome, it’s been a really cool ride.

Can you describe your card a little bit more, its appearance and the way it helps players in combat?

Rahul Kohli: So basically, you can select a bunch of cards and decide which kind of buff you want during your play. My Trooper card is a very aggressive power, you activate it and you basically emit this scorching flame explosion that kind of obliterates everyone within a certain radius, which is something I was fortunate enough to have input on. I felt that I’m not a defensive person, I’m not particularly smart, nearly all the games I play very hard-headed and aggressive. So the move felt right for me, to just have this kind of very rage-filled explosion of anger. And then on top of that, there was a bio on the card, where I spotted a couple of references to Midnight Mass. There was a line about dignity on there, which is something that my character Sheriff Hassan was talking about. It’s awesome, and the artwork’s amazing. I’ve already kind of hinted that I would love to get a high quality print and frame it.

Can you talk a little bit more about how the collaboration process worked? Was there any sort of back and forth between you guys?

Rahul Kohli: I mean, I wasn’t expecting much. When the email came through asking if I would be okay with my likeness being used, I thought that would be the end of it once I said yes. And then again, you know, you’ll be contacted again when the game comes out, like, “Hey, here you go, it’s up, it’s done.” And it was anything but that almost every step of the way. There was correspondence about artwork: “Did you feel like this represents you?” and “Here’s a video of the move that you’re going to be using, are you cool with it? Do you like the color of it? Do you want to change it? We can do a blue fire,” and so on, so it was far more collaborative than I had first thought. And obviously, I loved the idea of being able to really kind of make it my own to a certain degree.

I never actually said no to anything, everything that RGG had suggested was perfect. The artwork was phenomenal, I kept it on my phone and just kept looking at it while I was on set, just zooming in. Like I said, I’ve voiced things and had less involvement. I’ve been characters in a game where I’ve gone into a booth and worked through the character, and then it just comes out when it comes out; then [there’s] something like this where I just thought saying yes and signing some contracts would be the end of it, but it was far more collaborative.

In terms of your general history with video games, you said you like combat-focused games. I’m curious about the sort of things you’ve found yourself playing while you’re taking time off of set besides the Yakuza series?

Rahul Kohli: Yeah, to be honest, I play a lot. I always have, too. My relationship to film and TV is similar to games, where I want to experience it all. I don’t just watch horror or just watch sci-fi, and the same goes for video games. It’s an expensive hobby when I do it, because I tend to lean towards anything that a lot of people recommend. So that’s basically it, regardless of the genre. Even if a sports game gets a really high review and people are raving about it, I’ll check it out.

But for the most part, I do lean towards certain things. Like obviously I love RPGs, my favorite game of the last decade is Red Dead [Redemption]. That was a real hybrid of my love for the western genre and open-world RPG. Recently I’ve been playing some real time strategies, so I’ve been playing Warhammer 40K: Chaos Gate, which I’m too stupid for. That’s my problem with RTS, is I am stupid, and having to strategize and know that I only have X amount of move points, it’s really teaching me to be patient. Because I want to Diablo it, right? I just want to go in there and just smash everything to bits. But I’ve been on a bit of a Warhammer 40K kick.

I’m still playing through the Yakuza series, because I came into the game quite late, and because I’m a bit of a completionist each one’s taking a long time – I want to do it all, I do all the mini-games. I want to feel like I’ve completed it, so I’m still doing that, and I’m doing a completionist run of God of War: Ragnarok.

In the original version of the game these cards existed, but they were different, they were just for the battle dungeon system. I know you got into Yakuza recently, so you didn’t play the original one, but based on what you know, how do you think the system will impact the gameplay?

Rahul Kohli: I mean, there’s a variety of options now to kind of cater your style. I know for a fact that with a lot of games that give me options, I tend to want the most aggressive move sets; that’s what I tend to lean toward. And so I feel like it’s going to have a lot more of a personal experience being able to have those throughout. Like a Dragon: Ishin is a game I know very little about to a certain degree, because I came into this series and came to this fandom quite late.

It was already something that I would see on message boards about, like, “When do you think we’ll get a western port of Ishin?” and things like that. But for me at the time, I didn’t really pay too much attention, because I was like, “I’m about seven games away from being ready to play, so the longer that this takes the better for me, so I can get on everyone’s level.” So that was always the plan. When I heard it was being announced, I was like, “That’s great. I’ll probably play it in a couple of years.” Because that’s how long it’s gonna take me to get to the point where my Yakuza backlog is done. But now that I’m a card, I probably have to just stop wherever I am in Yakuza to jump on Like a Dragon: Ishin.

Yeah, I think if your face is in a game, you’re obligated to play it.

Rahul Kohli: No way I can wait. [Laughs] Like, “Oh, let me finish off Yakuza, let me do Like a Dragon and all of this stuff, and then I’ll play Ishin.” I’m just gonna have to stop. But that’s the great thing about Ishin, is that it exists outside of the narrative, so it doesn’t matter. I can pick it up and it’s a self-contained story with the characters you love, and then I can jump back into my serial drama.

Is there anything else that you want players to know about this card or the system in general?

Rahul Kohli: Yeah, I mean, it’s one of those things where it’s the least amount of myself I’ve ever given to a project; I’ve always either voiced or played a character or something like that. But this one’s a really special one for me, because it feels so personal, it feels so cool to be in a video game as yourself with your name on there.

I’m so glad that this opportunity came to me, because it was as special, if not more special than other things. Usually you’re in something because you have an ability, someone wants you to play this particular character. So it’s not you they want, it’s your skill. With this, RGG just wanted to put me in it because of my love for their work. And that’s kind of special in its own way, that kind of exists on its own tier of coolness.

Yeah, like you said, such a different set of skills, or perhaps lack of skill in this case.

Rahul Kohli: [Laughs] Yeah, now I’m literally like, just a reference in the video game. I mean, 99% of the player base probably wouldn’t know who I am, but for the 1% that does it’s super cool.

I know you’ve acted in video games before, but do you see yourself wanting to pursue those even more in the future?

Rahul Kohli: Yeah, I wanted to be in games before I wanted to be an actor. One of my earliest career things when I was in school, I remember doing a presentation when I was in elementary school where I said I wanted to be in game development as an artist. And then I obviously became an actor, and it sort of still came around in its own way to still be a part of this industry that I love so much.

I have had a lot of opportunities over the last few years to do mo-cap and performance capture, and every single one – even after contracts have signed – has fallen apart because I can’t shave, and I can’t do facial capture because I’ve been filming projects and they’re much more protective about this face. So that’s kind of one of the things that we’re trying to make happen, to carve out a way for me to be able to give myself over to a game. I’m good friends with Troy Baker, and Troy has been a big kind of push and mentor for me in performance capture. I just haven’t been able to do it, because I can’t shave the beard. So yeah, I want to take that to the next level. Most of the stuff I’ve done has all just been voice only, and I’d love to give that a stab.

Like a Dragon: Ishin! will release February 21 for Xbox consoles, PlayStation consoles, and PC via Steam.