Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii review: Majima takes the stage and delivers an unforgettable experience

Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is the second in what could be a series of Gaiden games, which are side stories that are still connected to the overall canon of the franchise. I know that the concept of “Pirate Captain Majima” may not necessarily seem like it belongs in the main canon, but let’s be honest — this is Goro Majima. The Mad Dog of Shimano. He’s a character that can straddle the line between weird nonsense, and serious, intense storytelling.

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect with Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, but I’m frankly glad I dove in. I was excited, but also a little bit nervous — I typically get really bad motion sickness around boats. Thankfully, SEGA thought of that in advance.

Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii takes players back to Hawaii in the boots of Pirate Captain Majima

Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii brings a truly unique experience to the “Yakuza” universe, and that’s frankly impressive. For “reasons unknown,” Majima washes up on Rich Island in Hawaii, and this sets up an incredible journey. It was a series of incredible moments, one right after another. In many ways, it felt like One Piece if Monkey D. Luffy was a violent, psychotic madman.

Looking for Crossword hints & solutions? Check out latest NYT Mini Crossword Answers, LA Times Crossword Answers, and Atlantic Crossword Answers

It all begins with Goro Majima getting mixed up into some mischief (Image via SEGA)

I cannot praise the story enough, and while I refuse to spoil it, I do feel like it’s a must-play. However, we do need to talk about something before we go any further. Yes, Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is a short game, and yes, it’s a $60 game. I know many will be disappointed about that, and I certainly understand. However, I do think this game is worth the asking price.

It’s longer than Gaiden, and I don’t really think it’s padded with as much extra content. There’s a secondary/side story in the game involving a group of evil pirates that Majima and his crew can take part in. It doesn’t feel like bloat or filler, but the remarkably slow movement of the ship does make it a little on the frustrating side.

All told, the story of this game is incredible and will not let fans down. Between the main story, the ridiculous side stories, and the new or reworked gameplay of previous systems, it all comes together into one beautiful package.

Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii brings amazing action-based combat (and ship combat) to the franchise again

Combat is fast and furious - you can do so much with these combat styles (Image via SEGA)

I love the turn-based combat the main series has shifted to. Though I’m more of a turn-based RPG fan, to begin with, the new combat is incredible. The two styles, Mad Dog and Sea Dog, are so much fun! I think they’re both good for their own reasons, and being able to seamlessly shift between them and set up flashy, Devil May Cry-style combos sets this game apart.

I think it’s a major improvement from Gaiden, too. I wasn’t really a big fan of Kiryu’s gadgets. They didn’t feel like Kiryu. However, Majima using cutlasses, old-style pistols, and stuff like that? Oh, that definitely feels like Majima. The extra gimmicks and powers he unlocks feel like something that could potentially happen to Majima as a character, and thus, I loved them.

I can practically hear "Deja Vu" while drifting in my pirate ship (Image via SEGA)

And then there’s pirate ship combat! I was incredibly worried about this because my issues with motion sickness are well-documented. However, at the very beginning, you can turn off the motion of the waves in most situations. What a game-changer! I can just…enjoy the game now.

But the actual pirate ship movement — including Pirate Ship Drifting — felt so good. You can put on flamethrowers, laser cannons, regular cannons, and things of this nature on your ship. Then you speed up, hit a sick Initial D drift, and obliterate someone with cannon fire? It’s so satisfying. However, pirate ships let me down with how impossibly slow they move. It’s miserable.

Getting from one island to another to treasure hunt makes me want to throw myself into the ocean — it takes forever! Having to constantly burn through fuel, then sail into a ring to get some more fuel back — it’s just not that great. The rest of the ship gameplay in Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is fantastic, though.

There’s plenty to see and do in Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii

In addition to playing around in mini-games, you can accrue a vast array of rings to buff your stats (Image via SEGA)

Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii will take players to several locales — sorry, no return trips to Japan though. It’s Rich Island, Madlantis, and Honolulu, but don’t get it twisted — there’s so much to see and do! Plenty of familiar mini-games are back - Dragon Karts, Sicko Snap, Crazy Delivery, etc. are all here and ready to go. Players also have Bounties to unlock, which are similar to the Super Hero content from Yakuza: Like A Dragon.

They’re very simple to understand, too — find the icon on the screen, then go pummel the bad guys and claim money. It’s a solid way to farm up some extra cash, and you will need it. Unlocking skills costs money again, so you need to have cash to upgrade your pirate ship to unlock abilities and many other things.

Recruit pirates, beat up criminals, snap photos of Sickos, there's so much to do (Image via SEGA)

You also need to recruit people for your ship in Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, which will be done in so many different ways. It’s worth it to just hang out in Honolulu, take part in side quests, beat up bad guys, and search for valuable loot.

While there are only a handful of chapters in Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, they’re lengthy and enjoyable. I feel like maybe it was just harder for the team to find places to split these into a few more chapters.

Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is a gorgeous game, like all modern Yakzua games

Monkey D. Luffy wishes he were this cool-looking (Image via SEGA)

It’s not a surprise to hear me say “Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is a beautiful game”, because of course it is. The modern graphics for the Yakuza franchise are stunning, and the RGG Studio team can do a lot with the cities they’ve already created. Each locale feels and looks different.

Madlantis is a far cry from Honolulu, and so is Rich Island. On top of that, there are tons of customizable things in the game. You can give Majima so many different outfits — no waiting until the post-game to change up your style! That’s one of my favorite things about the game. You can also customize your pirate ship, in some pretty outrageous ways.

Remember the “Massager” weapon from Yakuza: Like A Dragon? Yeah, that can be the figurehead of your ship. In addition, the voice acting — dubbed and subbed — are both fantastic. I do have a preference for the sub because I wanted to hear more from Hidenari Ugaki, the voice actor for Goro Majima. He deserved the spotlight, and he really nailed it.

In conclusion

"Come aboard and bring along, all your hopes and dreams!" - We Are, Kohei Tanaka (Image via SEGA)

Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is an unforgettable experience. I was hit with a bombardment of emotions while playing the game. I can understand people looking at the potential length of the game — for me, it was around 30ish hours, though I could have spent way more for the price. I stand by that Pirate Yakuza is money well spent.

The gameplay, first and foremost, is amazing — simply running up on fools with two cutlasses, slicing and dicing enemies, and juggling them down the road. Between ship and land combat, it felt fun. You can even make melee combat easier if you aren’t good at it. Then you have a wonderful, chaotic, almost One Piece story.

While yes, I want a new mainline game, I was enthralled by Goro Majima’s proverbial siren song. This is easily my favorite game of the year so far. If you are on the fence, I can tell you that this game is not going to let you down, even if it is a little on the shorter side.

Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is also well-optimized! We also ran the game on PC, and there were no issues with crashes, slowdowns, or issues of that nature. It’s a very well-optimized game, which is something RGG Studio is known for, at least, in my experience. If you are worried about PC, don’t be! It will run fine, don’t worry. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to sailing and causing mischief on the high seas.