The main story in Like a Dragon: Ishin has a more serious tone, similar to the rest of the series, but it’s the Substories that take a different approach, as they tend to be a little less serious. The Substories in Like a Dragon: Ishin, though, aren’t visible on the map, so you will need to explore every single inch of every map to sometimes uncover them. However, there is one way to get them to appear on the map, which is through a piece of headgear, the Inviting Hat.

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The Inviting Hat highlights all unfinished Substories on the map

How to Reveal Substories in Like a Dragon Ishin¶

Unfortunately, there only seems to be a single way to obtain the Inviting Hat in the game. You won’t be able to craft it at the Blacksmith, which means you will need to wait until Chapter 5 of the main story. Once you reach that, head to the Mibu area, which is the section where you have the Shinsengumi barracks. On the southern path, follow it west and when you reach the gate there, you should trigger Substory 60 - It’s What’s on the Inside. This is a pretty simple Substory that doesn’t really require much out of you.

Upon completing that one, exit and re-enter Mibu, just to be on the safe side, then head to the shrine on the western end of the map. There, you will trigger another Substory, The Boy Who Cried Bear. Note that it will throw you straight into a fight, so make sure to save beforehand, just to be safe. As the name suggests, you will be fighting a bear here and it is quite powerful, with its attacks dealing a good amount of damage. Take things slow and don’t get too greedy with your attacks, dodging the bear’s attacks and striking a few times before backing off from it.

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You will receive the Inviting Hat as a reward for a Substory

Once you win, you will complete this Substory and obtain the Inviting Hat as your reward. Equip this to make all Substories you haven’t done appear on the map, with the exclamation mark icon. Note that this won’t make those Substories that unlock from doing other ones appear, nor ones that appear inside of buildings or the upper area of Mukugorai. It also helps that the Inviting Hat offers a good amount of defense, plus it has two open slots for Seals.