Like a Dragon: Ishin lore - Who is Sakamoto Ryoma, and what is his role in the story?

sportskeeda.com:

In February 2023, a classic Yakuza spin-off game, is coming West, with Like a Dragon: Ishin. Set in the late 1860s at the end of the Tokugawa regime, it brings together many of the most popular Yakuza characters back into one place for an epic story.

A historic set-piece, it will still feature all the ridiculous side stories, fun mini-games, and violence that fans expect.

But who is the main protagonist, Sakamoto Ryoma? What role does he play in this grand story? He is played by Kiryu Kazuma and voiced by Takaya Kuroda, but what more is there to know?

Warning: This article contains mild spoilers for the story of Like a Dragon: Ishin

In Like a Dragon: Ishin, many of the popular Yakuza characters take on the role of important historic characters. Naturally, Kazuma Kiryu portrays perhaps the most famous samurai in human history. In the game, Sakamoto looks just like Kiryu, except, of course the samurai topknot.

He even still has the little stubble goatee that Kiryu is famous for. Sakamoto Ryoma starts off as the lowest class of samurai (goshi), but his swordsmanship is second to none in Tosa, his hometown. Ryoma was going to help reform the government in Tosa. This is when tragedy strikes and changes the course of history for the protagonist.

Thanks to a fight with the Joshi - one of the highest class of samurai - he wound up in prison, beaten and tied up. His foster father and mentor, Yoshida Toyo, broke him out of jail, informing the guard that he would be the one to slay Ryoma when it was time to deliver judgment.

However, ultimately, Sakamoto Ryoma takes the fall for his mentor’s death and must find the real killer to prove his innocence. In order to do this, he takes on the name of “Saito Hajime”, and joins the Shinsengumi.