Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii Review

Do you want to date a tiger? And what would you say if I told you that’s not the strangest thing to happen to an amnesiac Goro Majima in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii? I mean, it’s already strange from the fact that he’s the sole protagonist for the first time, as even his origin story in Yakuza 0 he shared with Kazuma Kiryu. But is “strange” the only way to describe the latest title in this action adventure series by developer Ryu Ga Gotoku?

Majima’s journey begins as he’s washed up on a beach on Rich Island, a (fictional) part of the Hawaiian archipelago with a population in the double digits. A child named Noah, son of the local bar owner, gets himself and his pet “cat” involved and they try to find out why Majima washed ashore so far from Japan. Okay, Noah’s pet is a tiger, don’t let the 10-year-old gaslight you.

As something of a coincidence, Noah’s pet is named Goro, and so when Majima (who cannot remember his) forms a band of pirates and gets a ship, they’re the Goro Pirates aboard the Goromaru. But don’t worry, the Goro Pirates aren’t the bad type of pirates: they’re the good type who fight against injustice and hunt for treasure. In fact, “pirate” and “treasure hunter” are pretty much synonyms as far as Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is concerned. After all, protagonists in this franchise don’t kill, no matter how many knives, swords, and guns they fight with.

Speaking of fighting, as well as Majima’s Mad Dog (normal) fighting style, featuring his trusty dagger, aerial juggling, and one of the coolest special attacks, you will unlock the Sea Dog style, which utilises two swords and (eventually) a gun and grappling hook. The special move I mentioned is creating doppelgangers, which will attack enemies at random, and despite their appearance in the last two Like a Dragon titles, I was surprised to see them outside of turn-based combat. Sea Dog does also have a special skill, but it’s better for you to discover that for yourself. You can freely switch between styles, but not while a special attackis active, and as a neat touch, each style has its own customisable outfit.

After getting a ship and crew, Majima winds up getting embroiled in the schemes of the pirates of Madlantis. It’s a pirate paradise, full of violence, alcohol, gambling, and ship combat! Yes, it’s where the Like a Dragon (née Yakuza) familiar coliseum mini-game is — but in an unfamiliar way. See, it mainly consists of pirate ships blasting each other with cannons and occasionally boarding one another with between five and 20 of your crew to beat them up. As with any other game in the franchise, participating is optional after a point.

Another optional part of Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is taking on a band of evil pirates, too mean even for Madlantis, who are scattered around the archipelago. If you’re spending any amount of time on the side stories and mini-games, you can easily take on the enemies that you have to fight. It’s the ones that you can choose to challenge that you will have to take care about!

That Coliseum I mentioned? Well, the ship combat in that is also present as you sail around the archipelago. As you might suspect, you can circumvent it if you don’t enjoy it as soon as you unlock fast travel, but sailing does give you a chance to listen to the playlist on your phone — CDs were the first thing I bought when I found a new store. Most ship battles are finished when you’ve damaged the ships enough with your machine guns and cannons, with the ones requiring some on-deck combat usually warning you in advance.

Outside of battle, familiar mini-games fill both Madlantis and Honolulu (once you reach it), with some characters vaguely referencing Ichiban Kasuga, which I always enjoyed. You can race in Dragon Kart, play pool and darts, photograph more Sickos, deliver food, sing karaoke, cook, gamble… Most of them will reward you with points, which you can redeem for items, most notably treasure chests! My favourite part of finding treasure is that the item is instantly transformed into dollars, so when you’re low on funds and suddenly find a rock worth $16,000 it will really brighten your day.

Another way for a Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii to earn money is to hunt down criminals who are too dangerous for the police. That’s right, Majima is a pirate, treasure hunter, and bounty hunter! The reward is in proportion to how tough your foe is, so you’ll need to spend money to make money by purchasing upgrades. These also require pirate points, which are obtained by completing things on your challenge list (fight x enemies, walk x metres…) and also by finding treasure. The Goromaru is upgradeable, not only stats-wise, but you can craft new cannons and machine guns.

Apart from big spoilers for the previous title, Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is newcomer-friendly, because none of the characters in the first part of the game know anything about the yakuza, even the main character! While it’s not operating in a vacuum, it definitely doesn’t rely on what came before it for the majority of the game, yet still has nice references littered around the place, like one character who uses Hostess job attacks.

Honestly, I was really excited when this was announced as a Majima game because I absolutely adore voice actor Hidenari Ugaki’s portrayal of the character. English dub actor Matthew Mercer does a decent job, but I simply had to play this with the original voices. And there are even brand new songs to bring the joy of Majima’s voice to the Pacific!

The main issue with Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is its length. Don’t get me wrong, it’s absolutely stuffed with content, hidden collectables, and it’s not the shortest of the games in the franchise. But it is short: if you ignore the optional stuff, you can definitely push through this in a day. But if you’re a fan of Like a Dragon you definitely won’t, because some of the absolutely insane side content is probably the reason why you became a fan in the first place. Just give baseball a go.