Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii review: Silliness sets sail

Imagine sailing the waters off the coast of Hawaii aboard an old galleon with a crew of pirates consisting of an old guy in a mascot costume, a polar bear, and your old Tojo clan buddy who happened to be the protagonist in the last Like a Dragon game. Now add to that the usual over-the-top side missions from previous games but also throw in some badassery in the form of real-time brawls with nearly anything you can think of and you get the latest Like a Dragon creation you never knew you needed. Seriously, whoever thought of mixing yakuza with pirates was a genius.

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is not only a mouthful, but it’s also chockfull of all the best elements from previous Like a Dragon games while it also introduces a fun and immersive nautical component that adds to the story and to what you can do. It’s not original in that it reuses plenty of assets, locations, and even some mini-games from its predecessor, but it more than makes up for it in how much fun it is to play.

Ahoy, Aniki

Pirate Yakuza takes place six months after the events in Infinite Wealth but its standalone story makes it one of those games that starts to make sense the more you play. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that its protagonist Goro Majima himself has amnesia so everything starts to make sense for you and for him at around the same time. The other difference here is that this is essentially Majima’s own little adventure so most of the characters you’ll meet are unique to the game with the exception of the usual familiar faces you see later on when Majima meets his old buddies.

Even so, Pirate Yakuza’s approach to storytelling is how it keeps you invested in its silly but moving story. Not only does Majima somehow become the captain of his own pirate ship with a crew of people that want to work for him, but he also develops close connections with his newfound friends such as with the young Noah who saved his life after he washed ashore on his father’s island. There are several scenes where you see Majima’s compassion as he vows to help him see the world, something Noah’s father had never let him do before. You also see Majima grow as the game progresses giving this story of his an undertone of maturity despite all of the absurdity that takes place throughout his adventure.

What’s fun about how the story unfolds is that it won’t always be smooth sailing—pun intended—as you will often encounter some sort of obstacle that you will need to deal with before proceeding with your main objective of finding the lost treasure of an ancient ship. Other, smaller yet important plots will pop up as you progress through the game’s five chapters that will ultimately see Majima reunite with his old friends and help his new friends deal with all the backstabbing and treachery that comes with working with criminals. All of these layers help divide up the amount of action, comedy, and sailing you will be doing to ensure the game stays fresh without being too much of one thing.

Picking Fights in the Streets and on the Seas

Unlike that in Infinite Wealth, Pirate Yakuza features beat-em-up combat that lets you weave, dodge, and string combos together in quick succession in two different fighting styles. Mad Dog lets you use your fists and blade to pull off combos and counters while Sea Dog style lets you wield two cutlasses, a rope to propel yourself at enemies, and a gun for long-range shots. A heat gauge also lets you unleash strong attacks and reactive counters when filled up while a special “Madness” gauge lets you unleash ultimate attacks that are not only a sight to behold but can also turn the tide of a tricky fight. Suffice it to say, the combat here feels fast, fluid, and makes fights feel more immersive fitting Majima’s overall unhinged personality. Each style also features various upgrades and new combos you can unlock for them that expand your overall move-set and options. Plus, you can also swap styles whenever you want allowing you to play around with various tactics when approaching enemies to figure out what sticks during specific situations.

While the game features a few locations that let you explore them such as Rich Island, Madlantis, and the city of Honolulu that returns from Infinite Wealth, what sets Pirate Yakuza apart from other titles is that you can now set sail aboard your very own pirate ship and get into some nautical mischief. You first use your ship to sail to these locations as part of the story, but soon you’ll be able to freely explore the seas in search of treasure. Now, this isn’t Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag nor is it trying to be so don’t expect its level of exploration or complexity. Instead, locating an island that holds treasure means simply landing on it and then beating up all the enemies you’ll encounter to simply snatch the booty at the end. It’s simple and not very fancy, but then again Like a Dragon has always had a distinct arcade feel to it.

The same can be said to how you explore the seas on your ship. Sadly, you don’t really explore much as you are simply sailing to where you want to go on your (limited) map and using wind currents to get there faster, oftentimes bumping into enemy ships that you can easily destroy with your cannons, machine guns, or by simply ramming into them. There are, however, more formidable ships that you will encounter that will require you to upgrade yours in order to withstand their attacks and also dish out enough firepower to put them down. Once a ship is destroyed, a deck battle then begins letting you bring your entire crew onto the enemy ship for a massive battle.

A Treasure Trove of Content

Deck battles are a sight to behold as you’ll have dozens of characters on-screen battling it out. As the fight goes on, you or the enemy can unleash a special group command such as defense buffs, health regeneration, or various wacky effects that can sometimes make a battle harder on you or on your enemy. Once you get to a certain part of the story, you will also be able to enter ship battle tournaments in Madlantis that put you through fight after fight against formidable foes whose own crews range from sumo wrestlers to robots to office workers. All of these fights reward you with the much needed money you need to upgrade you, your ship, and to afford everything the game wants you to unlock.

One of the best parts about Pirate Yakuza is how much you can actually customize in your adventure. Beyond just controlling what Majima and your ship look like, you also control who you put on your ship. These choices can impact what kind of power-ups you get during deck battles but can also provide you with buffs when engaging with enemy ships such as extra repair kits, faster reloading times, and many others.

Getting characters to join your crew is also a task in itself as there are dozens of people you can recruit scattered throughout Honolulu and Madlantis. They all have their own requirements and some require you complete various substories. Anyone familiar with past Like a Dragon games knows how broad these substories can be, some ranging from disturbing to sad to ridiculous. There is even one with multiple steps that tasks you with recruiting potential Minato girls for your crewmate to date. Once you bring all the girls together, you are then treated to a series of Bachelor-style cutscenes that are not only live action with the game’s real actors, but soon make you wonder what kind of game you are playing…

Everything about the game looks and sounds good, but I did have some issues with it crashing on me during cutscenes. This was especially disastrous near the end of the game where cutscene after cutscene and no auto saves meant I had to restart it all from the beginning and redo a few tough matches to catch up. I also noticed that some cutscenes don’t respect your outfit choices for Majima so despite him looking a certain way, he will revert to his default clothes—a shame considering how cool my Majima looked.

Final Thoughts

When it comes down to it, there is a lot to do in Pirate Yakuza even after you finish its story in about 15 hours. It’s not the longest game in the series, but all of its substories, collectibles, mini-games like Dragon Kart racing, and the challenging ship battles will definitely keep you entertained well beyond the credits that let you continue completing everything you may have missed.

Because of its size and range of missions from serious to stupid, Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii feels like a “Best of”album of past Like a Dragon games. It’s a great entry point for anyone new to the series as its story is not overly complicated, but longtime fans will also appreciate seeing Majima as the main character again and the refreshing yet random pirate aspects thrown into the game. Surprisingly enough, this odd marriage works and gives you a game that doesn’t take itself too seriously but knows how to impress a crowd.