Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii Review: Pirate Adventures and Yakuza Spirit

As the Yakuza series reopens its doors under the official Like a Dragon name, Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii arrives as the first major spin-off of its new era. release on February 21 2025, this game focuses specifically on fan favorite Goro Majima. This review explores its mechanics, story and overall package.

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Story and Setup: Memory Loss and Pirate Adventures in Hawaii

Players take on the role of Goro Majima faced with amnesia. Made landfall in Hawaii, Majima must adapt to a colorful but alien pirate culture. This adventure features ship battles, island exploration in search of treasure, and new and familiar characters from the greater Like a Dragon-verse, including callbacks to Infinite Wealth.

Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii embraces the series' insanity. Prepare for bizarre mini-games and side quests. Beneath the whimsy, the narrative retains an affecting center. Stripped of his past, Majima searches for his identity and purpose. The closing scene is powerful, forcing us to confront how we find ourselves in tragedy.

The game’s pacing is deliberate. Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii is a slow burn. The first hours are heavy exposition, dialogue and hand-holding. This lengthy preface might challenge those wanting action right away.

Progression and Gameplay: Pirate Rank, Ship Mods and Crew

Progression in Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii is two-fold, focused on Majima and his pirate ship. They use Pirate Points and in-game currency.

Character Progression and Pirate Rank

Pirate Points are earned by completing challenges, quests and exploring. These points raise your Pirate Rank through five tiers. Higher ranks bring perks including:

• New Skills: Purchasable moves for combat.
• Crew Recruitment: Access to recruit more crew members.
• Side Quest Access: Access to previously off-limits side quests.
• Stat Upgrades: Upgrade core stats and unlock combos.

Focus on learning combos for both combat styles — Mad Dog and Sea Dog. These unlock powerful moves and finishers.

Customisation, Progressive Ships

Acquiring and upgrading your ship is foundational. Ship customization unlocks after obtaining a boat and progressing in the story. This includes:

• Beauty Edit: Customize your ship's appearance.
• Functional Build: Customize ship systems like cannons and launchers.

Upgrade to better hardware and a competent crew for sea battles. Build or buy cannons and ship weapons.

Recruiting and Managing Crew

Hiring crew members for the “Goro Maru” is key. Recruitment methods vary:

• Dialogue: Some characters join through conversation.
• Quests: Some require specific quests.

Assign crews strategically based on stats:

• First Mate: Unlocks special ship abilities.
• Support Characters: Give bonuses in deck battles.
• Squad Leaders: Improve squadron performance in deck battles.

Crew morale is easily maintained with onboard “parties”.

Gameplay And World: Archipelago, Fetch Quests, And Mini-Games

The game world is an archipelago with explorable islands. Key areas include:

• Rich Island: Your first home base.
• Honolulu: A new explorable setting with new and returning characters.
• Nell Island: Central focus of Gaiden.
• Madlantis (Atlantis): A pirate sanctuary with the Pirate Coliseum.

Sailing between islands involves encounters:

• Ship Battles: Combat with pirate vessels.
• Treasure Island Discovery: Uncover hidden treasures.
• Gold and Glory: Treasure earns gold and Pirate Rank points.

Treasure and Collectibles

Treasures include:

• Combat Items: Pistols and chain hooks.
• Tainted Instruments: Artifacts with combat effects.
• Rings: Stat-augmenting equipable items.

Gameplay progresses linearly, except for the "Champion's Ring" earned in the Pirate Coliseum. It speeds up heat action gauge refill.

Mini-Games and Other Activities

Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii is filled with side content and mini-games:

• Mini-Zoo: Rescue and care for animals.
• Bounties: Hunt bounties for cash.
• Recruitable Crew: Find new pirates.
• Classic Mini-Games Return: Crazy Delivery, Sio Snap, cart racer, and new ones like "Bang Bang Bat".

Secondary activities help the player fit with the main theme of finding purpose and convey important messages with humor. Even side quests delve into themes about self-reflection and growth.

Combat System: Ground and Ship Combat

Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii has ground-based beat 'em up action and ship-based naval combat.

Ground Combat and Styles

Two ground combat styles exist: Mad Dog and Sea Dog. Effectiveness depends on unlocked rings and combo mastery.

• Mad Dog Style: Single-target focused, with knife attacks and counterstrikes.
• Sea Dog Style: AoE focused, with pistols and chain hook for traversal and grappling.

Heat Actions / Madness Gauge

Heat actions (cinematic attacks) are unlocked by filling the heat gauge. Heat actions fill the "Madness Gauge," activating style-based effects:

• Mad Dog Madness: Summons clones of Goro Majima.
• Sea Dog Madness: Summons “Dark Gods” with varied effects.

Deck battles involve crew-vs-crew combat. Manage abilities and positioning to avoid stun-locks.

Ship Combat Mechanics

Ship combat mechanics include:

• Front guns: Rapid firing damage.
• Cannons: Port and starboard cannons with cooldowns.
• Ship boost: For ramming attacks and maneuvering.
• Deck Mode: Man cannons and machine guns directly, revive crew, use Smoke Screen and Rocket Launchers.
• Rocket Launchers: Burst-damage weapon.

Ship combat becomes simple with upgrades. Engagements become overwhelming foes with machine guns, cannons, and ramming.

Steam Deck Compatibility

Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii is Steam Deck Verified. Performance is decent, with occasional frame drops in Honolulu and combat. Some users reported crashes, but it's mostly playable with controller support and cloud saves. Reduce settings for maximum performance in graphically intense areas.

Conclusion: Catchy Spin-Off Title

Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii provides a solidly entertaining, fun romp. It’s a perfect palate cleanser, easier than story-focused RPG peers. For a game described simply as fun, weird situations, and good action, Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii is a great pick. Beat ‘em up combat is satisfying. Ship combat could use more depth, but the overall experience entertains.

A demo is available. Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii delivers a solid and fun time, especially for action, wackiness, and adventure with an impactful narrative in a piratey Yakuza package.