Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
Developer: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio
Publisher: Sega
Platforms: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S (Reviewed), PC
Release Date: Available Now
Price: $59.99 USD – Available Here $99.95 AUD – Available Here
Overview
You never quite know where RGG Studio is going to go next. In the past year and a half we’ve seen everything from a Yakuza series veteran turn into a secret agent to bringing Like a Dragon‘s Ichiban all the way to Hawaii for a new start in a brand new location for the franchise. Now, for the third game in that time fans get to return but this time it happens to be with fan favorite Goro Majima as the Mad Dog of Shimano cuts through the crystal-clear waters of the Hawaiian islands as a pirate in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. Serving as both a spin-off and something of a continuation to the end of Infinite Wealth, how does this game continue the franchise all while telling its own crazy tale in a way only Majima can.
Story
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii’s story picks up six months after the events of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and while it isn’t necessarily required to have played through the entirety of that game, it is recommended to at least have completed most of the main storyline and substories to get the most out of this entry as there are numerous references, character appearances, and even proper conclusions to plot threads that were left hanging in that entry. In that time, no one appears to know what Goro Majima has been up to and even he himself has no idea as he washes ashore a small tropical island with only his pants, eyepatch, and infamous dagger. This amnesiac man doesn’t remember who he is, how he got there, or even the origins of his tattoos but with the help of a young boy named Noah he manages to get back onto his feet, only to find that he’s now stranded with no one else willing to help thanks to a bunch of rowdy pirates laying claim to the island and Noah’s father long giving up the sailing life.
Not one to stay still long despite his amnesia, Majima manages to not only take out the local pirate crew but commandeer their ship as well, becoming a pirate captain to a small crew including Noah and his father as they set out for Honolulu in an effort to not only track down the mysteries behind who he actually is, but even learn more about a mysterious long lost treasure that might contain a cure for Noah’s respiratory illness and all manners of priceless treasures.Along the way they’ll meet quite a few familiar faces, a few even from Majima’s past, take part in large scale ship battles in the coliseum inside Madlantis, a paradise for unlawful pirates to reside all headed by a queen and king that rule the ocean’s underbelly, and of course take part in plenty of randomly hilarious and off the wall side-quests along the way in a more streamlined and trimmed down narrative fit for a spin-off.
Besides having Majima as an amnesiac pirate throughout Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, perhaps the most surprising aspect of the storyline is how straightforward and relatively simple it is at its heart. The core storyline of building up a pirate crew to track down a treasure is surprisingly simple without the usual twists and turns that fans have come to expect from the franchise, even in a spin-off game. Sure, there is a bit of backstabbing going on as one would expect in seas filled with pirates, but it takes a fairly long time to actually develop to that point. In fact, it isn’t until the game’s last couple of chapters that the plot significantly ramps up the stakes and by then it is almost too late, with the primary villains at that point being too thinly developed to feel well-written and the earlier antagonists simply being annoying with how tenacious they were, like a wharf roach that won’t disappear. That being said, it is nice to note that this entry does wrap up a few elements of Infinite Wealth that were left hanging and unresolved, though we won’t say which for obvious spoiler reasons.
What is quite interesting here in Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is the different way players can see Goro Majima as a character. The Mad Dog of Shimano has always had a manic and sadistic streak that masked his cunning mind and battle-hardened heart that still cared for those in trouble, but now with amnesia players are able to see the warmth of the man, when he isn’t threatening to cut off a finger or slice apart someone that’s threatening him and his crew as you can take away his memories, but Majima’s sinister side still remains. It is through his interactions with Noah and his family as well as other characters through substories that players see these interesting aspects of his personality, even if they may not be quite as explored as fans might like, especially when a set of familiar faces appear as close allies near the end as their interactions are sadly mostly kept to sailing conversations “drink links” that make their return.
As for the substories, as mentioned before they are as wacky and all over the place as before. Sure, some may be as simple as talking to a few characters or getting some “friends” on the returning Aloha Links or cross-dressing to adopt a cat but many others are quite a bit more in-depth. Some of these even include elements that see characters and side events return from not only Infinite Wealth but Like a Dragon as well, bringing some extra tidbits and closure to continuing substories. In fact, there are two sets in particular that stand out thanks to their length and level of detail. One happens to involve helping out and befriending a number of girls for them to take part in a hilariously awkward live action bachelor-esque set of dating videos with a crew member, who all join Majima’s crew themselves afterwards, and another is an entire string of quests that involves hunting down notorious “Devil Flags” that sees players battling on ship, islands, and the sea in side-quest exclusive locations with satisfying encounters and storylines as well as rewards that are so powerful it is shocking they could be completely avoided should players wish.
Gameplay
Just like their last spin-off game, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii takes a trip back to RGG Studio’s past and delivers a fast-paced action game, even faster than before considering how quickly Majima moves now in combat. For the most part, many elements of the title remain the same as Infinite Wealth, with Honolulu being almost identical in design and shop layout with the only new explorable locations being Madlantis and Rich Island though new and returning activities populate all of these locations. It is also interesting to note that Majima acquires new skills by “investing” in himself like the classic Yakuza 0 where money and even crew fame is spent to unlock additional moves for his combat styles and increase various other buffs such as extra health and attack.
As players roam around and encounter thugs on any of the explorable locations or enter an island that they have to battle on, they’ll enter a fight where they will initially have access only to Majima’s signature Mad Dog fighting style. Mad Dog style is as quick moving and powerful as ever, allowing players to quickly string together chains of punches and knife slashes all while ducking and dodging to avoid attacks. Should his Madness gauge fill, Majima in Mad Dog style can even summon doppelgangers of himself to really lay into enemies, with his clones dealing out just as much damage as he does. Interestingly enough, Mad Dog style is also where a brand new element to the game’s combat has been added and that is the ability to actually jump for the first time ever in the franchise. Not only that, Mad Dog even sees some combos and charged attacks ending in launchers that will send opponents flying with Majima jumping up to deal extra damage. Players can jump and attack or even jump and dodge to avoid a troublesome attack and this can be done in both fighting styles.
Not too long after becoming a proper pirate Majima will also gain access to Sea Dog style. It is interesting to note that players can swap between combat styles at any time during a fight but his initial fighting style will vary depending on location. On Madlantis, an enemy pirate ship or island? Sea Dog. Exploring Honolulu? Mad Dog. Either way, Sea Dog style starts out rather basic as Majima will wield two sabers and only feature a small kit of attacks beyond his combo moves but as players progress through the story they will obtain various extra tools that will be added to Sea Dog’s repertoire. This includes a powerful flintlock pistol that can be used to take out enemies at a distance or charge up for more damage and eventually a grappling hook (that can also be used to reach treasure chests and fortunes stashed on rooftops or at a distance in Honolulu, that can help Majima zip around the battlefield and chase down foes that prefer to fight at a distance with guns or during large scale scraps which we will discuss later. The odd part of Sea Dog style comes with the aforementioned completely optional subplot involving the Devil Flags.
Unlike Mad Dog style, using Majima’s Madness gauge in Sea Dog style requires players to obtain an “instrument of the dark gods” which can only be obtained by progressing and completing various parts of the Devil Flags substories. There are four different instruments to obtain and each will summon a powerful beast to assist in combat for a short while, such as summoning sharks from the ground to tear away at enemies. The whole odd part is, should players not take part in this subplot at all or avoid it for a while, they’ll be completely missing out on these abilities, making it incredibly strange that they were relegated as a side-activity, especially with how powerful some of them are.
This all combines to make an incredibly fast and frenetic combat system that feels both satisfying and a bit like a power trip as powering up Majima’s abilities, strengthening his attack, and equipping rings on his fingers (the only form of personal equipment in the game) that provide various stat boosts, can turn him into a walking maelstrom of death regardless of the style he uses. That is of course unless the enemy loves using bombs, then players are a bit out of luck as they’ll almost always send him flying even if they come from friendly fire, but once again, more on that in a bit.
Now onto the biggest and most unique element of Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii and that is being an actual pirate. Players will sail the seas and while the maps aren’t open world, they are split into various smaller locations where players can use fuel boosts to move quickly or travel using the winds to keep their max speed up. Anytime they find a lighthouse, that lighthouse can then be used as a fast travel point and anytime players encounter enemy ships, be they out in the open ocean or story related, they’ll enter ship to ship combat There is a certain arcade style feeling to ship battles as players can make use of their machineguns to fire straight ahead, or lining up an enemy ship with your port or starboard cannons and letting them rip. Majima himself can even let go of the wheel to fire a rocket at an enemy ship to deal damage if needed, though we only ever did this enough to get the achievement, otherwise it felt mostly useless compared to using the ship’s own weaponry. In battles players can also ram the enemy ship’s sides to deal damage and inflict various status ailments though they can suffer from them as well, catching on fire, freezing, or even becoming poisoned and these can only be remedied by leaving the wheel to repair the ship. Oddly enough, repairing the ship in general can be done with a simple press of the button though players will be unable to attack while repairs are being made.
Once again players are rewarded for “investing” in the Goromaru ship that they call home. Using money to purchase various upgrades such as increased health, an additional cannon for each side, more fuel tanks for boosts, etc. Unfortunately the upgrades here are shockingly limited. There is no way to increase the Goromaru’s overall cruising speed or even unlock extra cannon slots for the ship which should obviously be able to hold more than allotted, especially given the ship size. As for the weapons themselves, cannons and firearms can be purchased either directly from the customization menu or obtained through the familiar Julie who can use materials players have gathered out on the seas and during exploration to craft special weapons for use on the ship. Ironically, this can mean that players can find themselves decked out with max level laser cannons on both sides of the ship, fully upgraded freeze machine guns, and even a max health ship before they even get out of chapter two if they focus heavily on side activities and events that open up wildly as players advance through the game.
Now as mentioned before, players will find that there is plenty to do on Honolulu and Madlantis and most of these activities remain the same as Infinite Wealth such as Photo Ops, Darts, Pool, Shogi, etc. or make a return such as Dragon Karts, or in the case of changing baseball to hitting cannonballs at exploding barrels, and completing these minigames or partaking in them can often reward players lucratively or even unlock crew members for the ship. Yes, there are over a hundred characters easily that players can obtain as part of their crew and each one has different stats and fighting styles that will vary depending on where they are assigned on your ship. Ironically, some of this strength just comes down to rarity, as higher rarity characters have max levels of 40 while standard characters can cap off at 20, making even a favorite useless in the long run. It is also interesting to note that while players can crew their ship with various canoneers and a first mate, their contributing factor to how strong their cannon damage will be and how well the ship can repair is determined by their stats. Similarly, players can unlock up to four raiding parties that will join them in battles against an enemy crew once they board the ship, with some raiders having special squad skills that provide unique bonuses and special skills they can unleash during fights. These characters come from all over the place, ranging from Kei from the bar to allies obtained from substories and many more. Giving players a real feel for creating their favorite crew as long as they can survive some of the tougher battles players can throw at them, including mass scale battles that can see the player’s entire assigned crew battling alongside Majima against a hundred foes at a time in a truly spectacular looking brawl.
Those looking to truly test their skills will find the Madlantis coliseum the real challenge for the game. These fights all take on various forms, including simply taking down a boss ship, boarding it, and eliminating the crew, starting out right from boarding and fighting a crew in a tournament of sorts, and even fighting the aforementioned large scale fights as well. These are some of the most rewarding but also toughest ship battles in the entire game and it is entirely possible to get overwhelmed should players try out certain challenges too early. That being said, there is some irony to becoming the “champion” of the Madlantis coliseum only to have a single mission require Majima and the crew to win against a simple ship despite the fact that they’ve already proven themselves as champions.
Audio & Visuals
Since Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii uses almost the entirety of the Honolulu location fans of the franchise will mostly be experiencing the same locations again only with Majima at the controls, though this time some different enemies are moving around and fights happen in quick action packed bouts rather than turn-based affairs. The main new locations happen to be Rich Island, a small and simple tropical island and Madlantis, an absolutely grimy and gorgeous looking pirate paradise that is nicely designed. Sailing on the waves is also portrayed quite nicely with players occasionally having to deal with waterspouts, lightning, and whirlpools. Majima has a wide array of pirate outfits and normal clothes to wear, including some oddball items as well and even the ship, the Goromaru, can be heavily customized with cosmetics. Similarly, the crew that Majima can recruit for the ship come in all different forms. If it was a side-character in some form in Infinite Wealth there is a good chance they’ll be recruitable here too, including Revolve’s bartenders. It is rather unfortunate that the islands that players explore when hunting treasure are incredibly simplistic and bland to the point that they quickly become repetitive.
Sega has continued their latest tradition of providing an English dub to accompany the Japanese voice track originally produced for the game and it is nice to note that the English voice work is handled quite well here. Even Majima’s signature laugh is captured to some small degree, though not quite as severe and wonderful as it might be in his Japanese dubbing so those who prefer that option may wish to use that voice track instead. As far as the soundtrack goes, there is a solid collection of its own background music, including a musical number even, as well as countless songs that players can obtain in the game to put together their own background music playlist from classic and recent Sega titles, including a song from Metaphor ReFantazio, Persona 3 Reload, and Persona 5 Tactica.
Overall
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii proves itself as a more than satisfying spin-off of the main storyline while also maintaining just enough connections and references to the core plot of the franchise to make it a vital, albeit completely different, entry for fans of the franchise to check out even if it does see a bit too much reuse and generic elements at times. Seeing Goro Majima of all people taking care of a kid and raising a crew of swashbucklers is something the Mad Dog may never have done before but watching it happen throughout this story is an enjoyable one, even if it is a bit too basic and short for its own good. Thankfully a plethora of side-content that shockingly hides some vital elements behind it and some amazing action combat make Majima’s first solo adventure in some time more than worth your while.
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