Like a Dragon Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii Review — Close Enough! Welcome Back Assassins Creed Black Flag! or The Quadruple-A Pirate Game is Finally Here

Good pirate games are something I’ve craved and are a niche that has been left largely unfulfilled in the modern gaming landscape. Since 2013’s Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, only Sea of Thieves and the rather rough Skull and Bones have really tried to satiate our seafaring cravings. Fortunately, I’m happy to say that Like a Dragon Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii manages to give its own very solid and fun spin on the genre. I am here for it, and there are plenty of reasons to get on board this crazy pirate ride.

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is unapologetically a Yakuza game where the shenanigans are turned up to the max every step of the way. Ridiculous enemies, storylines, mini-games, side characters and so much more make up dozens of hours of content.

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Step into the shoes of everyone’s favorite wacky rival, Goro Majima, who conveniently has amnesia and now sails the seas near Hawaii as a pirate. Build your reputation among the ranks of fellow plunderers, gather crew members from the strangest backgrounds, and explore the seas and cities of Honolulu and Madlantis for treasures, crew members, collectibles, and so much more.

If you’re a fan of the Yakuza games and their recently more over-the-top and unserious approach, you’ll feel right at home with Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. That shouldn’t put newcomers off. Even if you’re completely new to the series, the game gets you up to speed quickly, enabling you to enjoy this pirate adventure all the same. The game features that signature over-the-top Yakuza vibe where the game and story don’t take themselves too seriously, making for some great entertainment. That’s not to say that the story is bad or uninteresting by any means.

Playing as Mad Dog Goro Majima gives the game an even crazier tone than your average Yakuza title because he’s all about going with the flow and speaking with his fists. He’s a lovable psycho who makes every interaction a lot more entertaining to watch, especially when it comes to interacting with side characters and recruiting new crew members each with their own ridiculous backgrounds.

Joining you on your high seas adventures are the young and inquisitive Noah, his father the ex-explorer Jason, and the adorable pet tiger also named Goro. It’s a pretty standard setup that gets the narrative going, with Majima trying to uncover his past while simultaneously rising to pirate stardom at the Colosseum. As for the side character interactions, you’re going to be joined by misfits from the most random backgrounds such as idol otakus, scammer scientists, failed comedy duos, and you’ll even join an old man in photographing perverts around the city; it’s a wild ride every step of the way.

Screenshot by Twinfinite

The game does its Hawaii setting justice as you’ll be treated to gorgeous views and the cutscenes, environments, and photos all look crisp. It’s something you won’t notice all that often, but Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii looks drop-dead gorgeous and really captures that Hawaiian feeling with its open seas and colorful sceneries. However, for PC players, I’d strongly suggest installing it on an SSD if you want to avoid annoying loading times.

The game takes a good while to get you up to speed on all of its systems and everything almost up to the events of Chapter 2 is basically a tutorial. Once the world opens up, there are things to do everywhere in the city and on the high seas. It can feel almost overwhelming in the best sort of way, with all of the mini-games, side content, and optional activities available at your disposal. Play pool, arcade, gamble, sing, take part in some Mario Kart, make Crazy Deliveries, and find mini-games around every corner. Many of these activities have their own unique questlines and rewards where you can sink several hours into mastering them to unlock outfits, crewmates, soundtracks, treasure chests, and other items.

You can see most of the rewards and decide if an activity is worth your time or not if you don’t care about the particular mini-game, plenty more await you around the corner. You’ll find yourself deviating from the main quest and drawn into these mini-games and side quests fairly often and they’re compelling enough to form a substantial chunk of your playtime.

Screenshot by Twinfinite

Several systems, iconic NPCs, and mini-games from the previous game make their return such as the Aloha Links system, Crazy Dash Delivery, returning NPCs such as the garbage dumpers, and much more. Everything is expanded and you’re not just limited to one city. You can explore various regions of the ocean around Hawaii and places such as the lawless neon city of Madlantis, or the humble Rich Island where you can gather all of your pets in Goro’s Animal Kingdom. You can ignore the main story and get lost in all the side content which feels like the meat and potatoes of Like a Dragon Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.

Many of you will be happy to hear that combat is back to its real-time beat ’em up style, with Majima gaining access to two distinct fighting styles each with fleshed-out upgrade trees. Fight with the cutthroat Mad Dog Style with your knife or don your pirate outfit and swashbuckle with your Sea Dog Style twin cutlasses, pistol, and hook. Both of these styles have their unique draws with Mad Dog just being pure efficiency and brutality where you can use Majima’s ultimate to summon several dopplegangers for a single-target focused playstyle, while Sea Dog Style offers a flashier and extremely cool playstyle where you can dash through enemies with hooks, cut through them with AoE cutlass throws and gun them down with powerful pistol shots.

Screenshot by Twinfinite

Combat itself feels fluid, but I would’ve loved some more combos and skill expressions to add to my arsenal. Most of the cooler abilities take a while to unlock and just investing into the attack stat enough times will let you stat-check and pummel most enemies very quickly. Another pet peeve was how hard Heat Actions can feel to perform. They’re some of the coolest finishers in the game and triggering them is a pure dopamine rush, however, their prompts feel quite inconsistent or tedious to set up at times. Other than that you can hack and slash through hordes of enemies which feels great but I do wish there were some more combo options and depth to the whole thing as fighting the same no-name goons over and over again gets tedious.

On the seas, you can’t expect a naval combat experience with the depth and feel of Assassin’s Creed Black Flag, but you will get a fairly solid ship battle experience where your skills as a captain will be tested (especially on higher difficulties). Again, the game doesn’t take itself incredibly seriously… so expect laser cannons, coconut machine guns, and all other kinds of crazy weapons available to upgrade your ship with. The real fun comes when you get to brawl against enemy crews once you board their ships and witness a 20 v 20 brawl. Combine that with a fairly well-thought-out upgrade system and unique ship combat mechanics, and it makes for several hours of fun buccaneering, looting, and shooting.

Image via Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio

The amount of content they’ve managed to fit into what I assumed was just a small spin-off title has been astonishing, to say the least. Looking at it from a purely hour-per-dollar comparison, Like a Dragon Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is an easy purchase. If you’re a Yakuza fan who wants more you won’t be disappointed, and if you’re new to the series then this title has enough polish and charm to suck you into the wacky world of Yakuza.

I must also mention the music player feature in Like a Dragon Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii because I wish every single game had one of these. You can collect soundtracks from various games by purchasing them from different stores and taking part in mini-games. These can then be made into custom playlists and you can play them whenever you want from your phone. Riding around the streets of Hawaii while listening to Baka Mitai, Persona 3 Reload’s ‘It’s Going Down Now,’ or even the Angry Birds theme is an absolute vibe that made me love the game and the freedoms it gives you.

Screenshot by Twinfinite

Speaking of freedom, the level of customization options for Goro, the Goromaru (Your Pirate Ship), and even the scooter are extensive, making it easy to style out your adventure in a way that’s unique to you. Choose from several styles and sets for each of these, all of which are well-designed and manage to look good. I was tempted to collect cash just to unlock all of the available outfits and costumes for Majima and show them off.

Overall, Like a Dragon Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is not some revolutionary masterpiece but it manages to successfully be exactly what it set out to be—a fun and wacky pirate adventure in Hawaii, complete with dozens of hours of side content, fun combat systems, tons of customizations, and an immaculate vibe that’ll make you want to gather treasure from every nook and cranny of the Hawaiian seas.

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