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0 Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is an Action, Adventure, RPG from the great Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio. They have developed the entire Yakuza series which has recently been renamed the Like a Dragon series. Their publisher, SEGA has been by their side since the very beginning and has made this series great. I honestly feel like Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio saw that the pirate genre was slowly sinking into the water and said “hold my grog.”
No matter where and no matter when, Mad Dog Goro Majima is having chaotic fun again.
This series has always been a great time when it comes to it’s gameplay, mini-games and mechanics. Getting to go back to the original combat system feels right. And it seems that SEGA learned their lesson about paying for New Game +, since that isn’t in this game at all. So, let’s batten down the hatches and see how this game made me love pirates again.
Gameplay
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is the 13th entry in the series. The game starts you off as Majima stranded on the beach of island, we have no idea where. A young boy named Noah soon takes pity and provides some much needed some water. After drinking fresh water, Majima realises that he got a heavy case of amnesia. So heavy in fact, that he doesn’t even know his own name. And having a pet tiger with a name like Goro doesn’t help him either.
This whole path that we’re walking down all seems to culminate in Majima appearing to be the somewhat king of the pirates. Just minus the One Piece and devil fruits being able to split himself in a crazy way of course. The series does their usual crazy amount of min-games that I’ve sunk hours into. Yet, the thing they brought to this war table this time is the ship battle mechanics. I haven’t had this much fun with ship battles since AC: Black Flag.
The moment I unlocked the option, I spent a few hours in Madlantis doing pirate battles. I spent a decent amount of time grinding my pirate rank to be as high as it can be. This was also a great way gather up points to invest into Majima. It’s impressive (annoying?) the amount of skills and abilities that require not only this point grind, but money as well. Alongside ship battles and cutlass fights, there are also treasure hunts. Which were really fun to do.
Pirating our way around
The last thing I want to cover in this gameplay section is the mechanics. More specifically the mechanics surrounding the ship crew and rings. When selecting the crew that’ll be either on deck or joining us when we attacking the enemy on their ship, the gameplay felt familiar. It reminded me Yakuza 0 when I had to decide who I was going to send out to take care of my properties. The rings system did catch me off guard. But I love the fact that they stay on Majima in every cutscene and have great benefits. Just, make sure to read the fine details about what you’re going to equip before anything…trust me.
Graphics
Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has once again gave us a visual feast for the eyes. From the attention to detail on the environment, to the weapons to the beautiful ship. It is truly spectacular. The over-the-top scenes and locations, like Madlantis, had my jaw dropping. Going from a small island, to a moderate island, to Honolulu, to a bloody Pirate theme park was nuts. Getting to see the beautiful sunset on the beaches of Honolulu while perfectly “defending” myself from these beach bullies is downright fun.
The scenery of traversing the high seas was visually stunning. Such as when undertaking a large battle during a storm all the whilst making sure to not get caught by a waterspout. The lighting reflections and whirlpools are amazing. Even seeing the occasional dolphins and whales felt breathtaking. Lastly, when it comes to the graphics, the animations for each mini-game and attack I preform as Majima are smooth and creative. Even the appearance and details on the ship makes me want to make a ship of my own close to how I have this one.
Audio
When it comes to the audio of the game, I don’t think there was ever a time I thought, “they should have done/changed this”. Listening to the characters themselves in both the English and Japanese VAs, it was honestly hard for me to choose between the two voices. Even down to the sea shanties. Both languages have brilliant voice actors. Plus, the OST when serious moment happens and get locked in to kick some butt is still top tier. Honestly, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio always knows how to have the music reach to the depths of my very core.
I started the game with the English voices to see who’s voicing who and got hit by Matt bloody Mercer voicing Majima. Then I get sideswiped listening to the character Keith. Every time he talked I questioned where I’d heard his voice before. Only to to say “Germaine?” under my breath. I looked up the VA list for the game to see that it was indeed Todd Haberkorn who voiced Keith! Now I can’t fight this character without me saying “All right, all right, all right. Let’s see what we’ve got” playing in my head. I loved that the VAs themselves sang the sea shanties. It was great for game immersion. At first it caught me off guard as I wondered where the singing was coming from. But soon I looked forward to traveling the seas and hearing the shanties from my crew. I only wish that the sea shanties could be playing during ship battles, or battles in general. But, I do love that players can choose the music we want playing at all times once the cell phone is acquired.
Longevity
The amount of time I’ve spent in this game going between the Steam Deck and my PC is well above several hours. The game itself should take around 14 hours to complete. If you stick to the storyline that is. The completionist route is currently clocked in around 42 hours. But, that’s only if you’re a master of some of the mini-games like shogi and mahjong. Otherwise it’ll take a lot long than that.
I’ve mostly been spending my time doing pirate things like beating other pirates out at seas or in the coliseum. Then there’s the treasures to find and take with a few devil flags I went out of my way to destroy. Honestly, if you’re into the series, we know that after beating the game, we’ll just return for the mini-games.
Final Thoughts
Besides having 5 game crashes during cutscenes, I completely enjoyed my time playing as Majima again. Not since Yakuza 0, have players been able to play as him. In fact this is the reason why I designed my ship with the sign of the Grand cabaret! Being able to choose his hairstyle from zero again was another great touch for me. Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is honestly a great pirate game in this dry age of pirate games. And having Majima be the centre of focus was the best choice I can ever see.
I give Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii a Thumb Culture Platinum Award
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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