The Like a Dragon series has had plenty of wild moments and plots over the year, but Goro Majima becoming a pirate after losing his memories is certainly up there as one of the most zany ideas the franchise has ever tackled. Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio pulled this off with Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, which places players back into the shoes of Majima for the first time since Yakuza Kiwami 2. This game introduces so many new elements to the tried-and-true brawling action system that fans come to expect with the Dragon Engine, while offering an engaging story with crime drama-esque elements that only RGG Studio can create, and it’s a really great time.
Taking some cues from Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, the Majima-focused action game sends players back to Hawaii and the Pacific six months after Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. The amnesic Majima finds himself on an island far away from the Hawaiian mainland, and he’s saved by a young boy named Noah Rich and a strangely-named tiger cub named Goro. Some pirates cause trouble for Noah and Majima, but the former yakuza patriarch is able to fend them off and later regain his bearings, with the help of Noah’s sister Moana and father Jason. Despite losing most of his memories, and even his own name, Majima’s personality still shines through.
It’s worth noting that since Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii takes place after Infinite Wealth, the game will contain spoilers about what actually happened in that game. As a result, this may not be the best “jumping in” point for the series. You will want to catch up with the series to get the most out of Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.
Majima Answers His New Calling in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is a breath of fresh air, as the game starts out completely differently from any other in the series. Majima is truly in unknown territory outside of Japan, and the Pacific islands outside of Hawaii weren’t accessible in Infinite Wealth to players, either. In the first chapter, I was thoroughly engaged from the start exploring Rich Island, meeting characters that would become important to Majima’s pirate adventure, including Masaru and Jason, and adapting to the game’s refined combat system.
The pacing of the story feels very similar to Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name. It doesn’t take long at all to progress through the first chapter and begin Majima’s proper adventure on his ship, Goromaru, as he seeks treasure and answers behind his memory loss. Specifically, Majima is interested in Esperanza’s treasure, which is believed to be an “elixir of life” and a potential cure for Noah’s health condition.
As the player, it almost feels like you’re on the same boat (pun intended) as Majima with very little expectations on what’s actually caused his amnesia. The game’s simplistic approach to its story telling here is very beneficial, since there’s so much to discover. However, there are times where the main story’s pacing slows down to introduce many of the game’s key aspects and side activities, such as the Pirate’s Coliseum and substories to name a few.
A Mad Dog Gets His Sea Legs
Majima’s Mad Dog fighting style is back and it’s so much better than it has ever been. The fighting style was retuned, refined, and fleshed out with a lot of new moves and combos, including that infamous Doppelganger ability. Since the main character can now jump, Majima is able to launch opponents into the air and follow up with air combos in Devil May Cry-like style. At first, launching enemies and jumping felt strange and out of place, but after some more fights and practice, these mechanics feel like second nature. You can make quick work of enemies in the air and send them downward with a heavy attack.
Despite that, Mad Dog is suited for fights against single bosses or small groups of enemies, just like Kiryu’s Dragon of Dojima style. Sea Dog, however, is a key highlight of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii and an entirely new addition. Wielding dual cutlasses and plunderer’s pistol, Majima is able to deal damage to enemies in all ranges with the Sea Dog fighting style. Majima can also unleash the power of Dark Instruments gathered from his treasure hunts to take out enemies with easy, although it can’t be used often on a whim. A grappling hook, which can be used in and out of combat, also becomes a part of Majima’s arsenal.
Bringing the Heat
Heat Actions are back with an ability upgrade system very reminiscent of the one found in Like a Dragon Gaiden. This time, upgrades and Heat Actions can be unlocked by spending hard-earned money in the game and/or using reputation points, which are obtained by completing in-game challenges.
There are some returning Heat Actions like Essence of the Mad Dog: Maul, while there are many other new ones for Mad Dog and Sea Dog alike. I especially enjoyed a lot of the Sea Dog Heat Actions since they tend to take out multiple enemies at once. On top of this, there are so many Heat Actions that are already available without purchasing them from the upgrades menu.
Personally, I found Heat Actions to be much more useful in Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii compared to Like a Dragon Gaiden, since so many of them can be activated without the need for being next to a specific object or putting yourself in a precarious position. Although there are still Heat Actions that require you to be in low health, you will often times find yourself in that sort of situation when you’re battling pirates.
While it’s not too challenging on the Standard difficulty, enemies in Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii appear to be smarter and more aware of the player and crewmates. However, I do think Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii’s combat is superb, and I rate it highly with the likes of Lost Judgment and Like a Dragon Gaiden. I think the new Sea Dog style and the tweaks to the combat system make Majima feel free-flowing and at many times, more frantic and brutal.
Rings for Days
Aside from upgrades, Majima can be more powerful with rings, which replace the accessories system that players saw in Infinite Wealth. Now, Majima may equip up to ten rings to improve attack, defense, bullet defense, and blade defense. Rings also grant status resistances and other unique effects, so equipping rings right away early on is recommended.
I think rings are a great replacement for accessories, especially since you can equip more of them at once. In addition, the rings actually do appear on Majima’s character model, as shown in the dedicated “Rings” menu. I haven’t found all of the rings yet, but there are dozens of them to acquire and purchase in the game world.
The World is Majima’s Oyster
Despite being a Gaiden-style game, Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is much larger in scope with Honolulu being fully accessible in all its glory, along with many new areas outside of Hawaii’s “Big Pineapple.” After setting out from Rich Island, Majima and the Goro Pirates crew can sail the pacific waters, which are divided into various sections that you can view from maps. At first, some parts of the maps are blocked off for the story, but these areas can be explored after making enough progression and unlocking other features. If you played Ys X: Nordics, you will feel right at home and certainly notice similarities in how you can explore the seas in Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.
Each map displays the lighthouse safe zones you can sail to, along with the many Treasure Islands you can visit and other important details, such as rival pirate leaders to take down. Treasure Islands are a main draw for ship exploration though, since clearing these dungeons will award treasure that’s necessary for getting more reputation and leveling up the Pirate Rank. There’s over 60 treasures to collect, so you can expect to visit many islands and take down thousands of enemy pirates.
Manning the Goromaru
Ship traversal is very steady and for the sake of fun gameplay, the Goromaru is very nimble and can even drift. It was a breeze to sail the seas on Majima’s adventure, and the visuals are really stunning at sea. There are occasional obstacles though, like weather conditions that can send down lightning or waterspouts to potentially ruin the fun. Fortunately, it’s very straightforward to navigate through, and the Boost function can come in handy. There’s also Boost rings that will help you reach locations faster.
At the start of the voyage, the ship has two standard cannons and a pair of machine guns that can shred through lower class ships. After making sufficient progress in the main story, you’re able to customize the Goromaru with all sorts of weapons, designs, cosmetics, and so much more. Vendors in and out of Honolulu will sell the decals and other items you would want, along with many other extras. It’s vital to upgrade the ship’s weaponry and attributes from that point on, since the waters that Majima and the crew navigate later on will become more perilous in difficulty.
You can also take your hands off the steering wheel at any time to roam the deck. At first glance, this may seem like a bad move while in a ship battle, but you can do some things on the deck to turn the tides. For instance, you can revive and motivate downed crewmates, and you can use machine guns and rocket launchers to inflict serious damage. It can be helpful in certain scenarios, especially if you can’t turn the ship fast enough and need to take out an enemy ship.
Rising Up the Ranks
Along your journey, you’ll visit Madlantis, a major hub for pirates and other people operating off the grid. Madlantis certainly reminds me of the Castle from Like a Dragon Gaiden due to its few mini-games and its main draw, the Pirates’ Coliseum. This is where the aforementioned Pirate Rank comes into play, since it determines the ship battles you can participate it. Completing challenges, collecting treasure, and doing other sorts of activities improves your Pirate Rank, giving you access to more events at the Pirates’ Coliseum. Essentially, it follows a very similar progression system to the Castle’s Coliseum, but with ship-based battles and exploits being tied in.
Like Gaiden’s Coliseum, recruit people in Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii can give you an edge in certain Pirates’ Coliseum events. I’m glad that the recruiting element is back, since it was fun in Gaiden to find substory characters to add to your crew after meeting certain conditions. Similarly to recruitable characters in Gaiden, each member of the Goro Pirates has strengths and weaknesses, along with special skills that can really help out. Improving your Pirate Rank, participating in Pirates’ Coliseum, and making the Goro Pirates the best pirate crew out there was quite fun and engaging.
Back in the Big Pineapple
Once more, Honolulu is fully explorable with tons of discoverable materials all over the map, just like in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. I was initially surprised by this, since I expected part of Honolulu to be inaccessible, similarly to Isezaki Ijincho in Gaiden. There are some changes to account for features that Majima can use, such as cooking, an updated selection of mini-games, and the expected omission of dungeons. However, Honolulu is fully featured with all of its shops and notable locations, including the Revolve bar. Once in the city, you’ll make progress toward unlocking the Aloha Links friendship system, the ability to change and customize Majima’s outfits, and much more.
Honolulu and other locations in Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii have treasure chests, which are typically out of reach and require the use of the grappling hook. Tons of recruitable NPCs for Goro Pirates, substories, and other secrets can be found all over the city, so it doesn’t feel like RGG Studio skimped out at all. In addition, the Dragon Kart and Crazy Delivery mini-games make their return from past installments, and there’s new arcade games like The Ocean Hunter. Karaoke, gambling, swimming, shogi—it’s all here.
One of the new features also include Bounties, which sees Majima go after wanted targets. Bounties also improve the reputation of the Goro Pirates, allowing you to recruit more people and earn more rewards. The Bonds system also makes its return in Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, so you will be able to grow closer with Noah, Jason, Masaru, and other characters by initiating conversations at various locations and completing Drink Links. Majima can also improve his bond with Goro the tiger, but it’s through a different system involving pets, similarly to players could do with Ichiban in Infinite Wealth.
Bountiful and Improved
It’s safe to say Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii has a lot more content than Gaiden, and I’m glad RGG Studio went the extra mile to make this feel more like a main entry in the series rather than an epilogue or “in-between” game. Not only are there dozens of substories and recruitable NPCs, but the Pirates’ Coliseum, the main story, and the game world itself offers so much to experience and explore.
I really don’t have any gripes with Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, since RGG Studio managed to create so much new content. Honolulu was already so vast in Infinite Wealth, so exploring it again as Majima felt new and different to a degree. But, this is more Like a Dragon at the end of the day, and since many aspects of the game aren’t entirely new, it didn’t blow me away like visiting Honolulu for the first time was in Infinite Wealth.
The game also rights some wrongs from the Gaiden’s release, as the English and Chinese dubs are both available in a day one patch. Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii‘s English dub is incredible with Matt Mercer leading the charge as Majima, and you’ll definitely hear other familiar voices throughout the game. The Karaoke songs are also really great with many favorites like 24-Hour Cinderella on the list. It seems like auto-tuning was toned down quite a lot, making the songs feel more natural and enjoyable to listen to.
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is the Majima-Focused Game I’ve Always Wanted
In all, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is the Majima game I’ve wanted for years after playing Yakuza 0. There’s so much to unpack here with Majima as the lead, but it’s not overwhelming or feeling like it’s retreading old ground. It’s just right, as it’s not nearly as long to complete as Infinite Wealth. If you’re trying to do everything, I’d say the game lasts 50 to 60 hours at the most, but your mileage will vary. The story is also great, but I wouldn’t say it’s the best in the series.
I’m impressed with what RGG Studio created here, since Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii experiments with ideas I never thought would be considered for a Like a Dragon game, most notably pirate ships and sea exploration. A 60-year-old Majima still has a lot of tricks up his sleeves, and this game does well to respect his character, too. If this is the send-off to Honolulu before the next Like a Dragon game eventually comes, then this was a great one at that.
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii releases February 21 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.
Disclaimer: SEGA and Ryu Ga Gotoku provided Final Weapon with a PlayStation 5 copy of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii for review purposes.
