Ryoma Sakamoto can do a lot of things in Like a Dragon: Ishin when not participating in Shinsengumi activities, one of which is farming. However, you cannot immediately start farming and cooking with Haruka the moment you leave Tosa and arrive in Kyo. First you need to establish yourself a bit. Luckily, there’s no way you’ll miss unlocking farming and your backcountry home away from home in Like a Dragon: Ishin.
How to unlock farming in Like a Dragon: Ishin
It’s easy. Reach Chapter 4: Joint Battle by Like a Dragon: Ishin. After the meeting with the heads of the Shinsengumi, you will return to the Fushimi area from Rakunai. When you do, Ryoma will automatically get involved in the affairs of Haruka and a Shinto priest. This leads Ryoma to gain access to the second house where the farming and cooking items are.
As for agriculture itself, it is more a matter of non-intervention. While you’re choosing what to plant, if you put manure and such on the farm management screen, you don’t need to get as involved as you would in story of the seasons oh star of the valley. It’s more of a thing that’s there, it happens on its own according to the plans you set for yourself and you can come back to it when you have time.
If you’re in Kyo and feel like heading back to the countryside, all you need to do is head to South Yashimachi Pier in Fushimi. The boatman will take you back to the second house.
How to expand your farm Like a Dragon: Ishin
Good. So once you get the farm, you don’t have immediate access to everything. You need to unlock even more to get the most out of farming in Like a Dragon: Ishin. I would prioritize options that let you have a bigger farm, more crops, and better yields, but there’s really no way you can go wrong. You really need to keep cultivating and engaging in activities to develop Virtue to be successful there, rather than focusing entirely on farming.
Here are the Virtue farm upgrades you can buy at shrines. I also include the elements of the cat, the hen and the dog, because what is a farm without animals? Green thumb upgrades increase the variety of crops available to you.
- Cat bed configuration: 500 Virtue
- Chicken Coop Setup: 500 Virtues
- Configuration of the dog house: 500 virtues
- Farm Expansion – You can buy four levels, the first costing 500 Virtues
- Farm Tier Upgrade – Again, there are multiple tiers to increase farm speed and yield, with the first costing 1,500 virtues.
- Green Thumb: Bok Choy: 500 Virtues
- Green Thumb: Beans: 250 Virtue
- Green Thumb: Burdock Root: 250 Virtue
- Green Thumb: Cabbage: 1500 Virtue
- Green Thumb: Eggplant: 200 Virtues
- Green Thumb: Ginger: 150 Virtue
- Green Thumb: Green Onions: 100 Virtue
- Green Thumb: Onions: 150 Virtues
- Green Thumb: Pumpkin: 600 Virtue
- Green Thumb: Strawberries: 1,500 virtue
- Green thumb: sweet potatoes: 100 virtue
- Green Thumb: Taro: 3,000 Virtues
- Green Thumb: Turnips: 200 Virtue
- Scarecrow Upgrade: This tiered upgrade reduces damage from crows, with the first costing 1,000 Virtue.
- Spontaneous culture: 1500
Like a Dragon: Ishin is available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and PC.