Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii Review
We Are! We Are! On a Cruise! We Are!
Sometimes when a series gets stale, developers will try to resuscitate it with little to no effort, slap a bow on it, and call it “new.” Ryu ga Gotoku Studio, however, decided that what gamers needed in their Like a Dragon experience, is some sweet-ass pirate action. Given how quickly we have been receiving games in this series, one would think that gamers would be bored by all these men ripping their shirts off on a cold winter’s evening, or that punching a tiger or bear had lost its charm. I’m here to tell you: no, it’s all still great, even with the silly swashbuckling nonsense. Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is just plain stupid. It’s the kind of stupid, however, that will put an idiotic grin on anyone’s face because the game is no thoughts, just vibes, which, given the state of the world, is just what many of us need. While the game is joy personified, it’s not a perfect experience, but who cares when you get to sail the high seas with everyone’s favourite yakuza moron, Majima?
This tall tale begins with Majima having drifted ashore onto a small island. With no memory of how he got there, he is greeted by a young boy named Noah and his pet tiger, Goro, whom he insists is a kitten. Noah explains that Majima has arrived on Rich Island, a stopping point for pirates and other unsavory types. Majima also learns that Noah dreams of seeing the world, even though he suffers from debilitating asthma. Taking a shine to the lad, Majima explores the island and meets Jason, a former treasure hunter who has clearly taken cues from Nathan Drake, and Masaru, Jason’s turncoat former partner who joined the Mortimer Armada, a group of losers pretending to play pirate. Further, rumors are flying about newly surfaced information leading to the Legendary One Piece Esperanza treasure, and every shady buccaneer on the island wants a piece of the pie. Majima convinces Jason and Masaru that this could be the adventure of a lifetime; after all, what’s a little crime for an ex-yakuza with amnesia? After saving the folks of Rich Island from pirate chaos and stealing the ship Goromaru from a notorious pirate, “Jack the Collector,” Majima and his newfound colleagues set sail in hopes of finding fame and fortune, and avoiding real-life responsibilities.
The power of SHARKS!
It’s a simple narrative setup and yet it is absolutely effective. It helps that Majima is our protagonist this time around and while he has had multiple concussions to the head, he also has infinite amounts of charisma. If there is any character in the Like a Dragon universe who would believe he could become a Pirate King, it is absolutely him. The story is utterly ridiculous, poking gentle fun at popular action-adventure franchises such as One Piece, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Indiana Jones, but adding that special yakuza twist where everything feels both completely unbelievable and oddly in the realm of possibility. The amnesia plot device has been done to death, but its effectiveness here hinges on the game doing a great job of allowing the player to question if Majima is indeed amnesiac or not. He’s completely insane, and any story out of his mouth veers into tall tale territory. Having the backdrop of Majima on the high seas wanting to become a Pirate King is completely on brand for his character, though he still manages to remain the sweetest golden retriever, particularly when it comes to giving Noah the adventure that he has craved his entire life.
Everything works story-wise because of the cast of characters that Majima meets through his adventures on the high seas. Jason is a hungry ex-treasure hunter who drowns his sorrows in alcohol at his bar on Rich Island but wants to complete that one big score to give his family a better life. Masaru is a cook and Jason’s ex-partner who is looking for love and fortune. Majima spends a lot of time with these two characters in particular, and while they are not the most interesting, they fit the mold of what a pirate captain would want in his best crewmates. The character that shines the brightest in this new cast is Noah, as he is so sincere in everything he does, and has, somehow, in his adventurous nature, won the heart of the Mad Dog of Shimano. There is a genuine and kind relationship between Majima and Noah that is at the heart of this game, adding a wholesome layer to this otherwise silly pirate adventure. Even the villains are more caricature than characters, right down to some twisty mustaches and hookah smoke. While this would be a problem in some narratives, it works well here if players are treating the story as though everything happening is highly improbable. Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, though it has some serious moments, is more about having fun and playing with a bunch of silly pirate tropes, while still retaining the core themes of the Like a Dragon series such as honour and debt.
Stabby, stabby!
Being a pirate adventure, one of the newest features, of course, is sailing around the Pacific Ocean in the Goromaru. However, although exploration feels important, players are really only working through five medium-sized maps, fighting random pirate forces along the way and stopping at random islands for a treasure hunt. Majima also needs crew members to help work the Goromaru, though the game only has three major hubs where people can be recruited at the game’s three major hubs of Honolulu, Madlantis, and Rich Island. This is where we see a large chunk of recycled content from Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth come into play. Players will spend the majority of their time in Honolulu recruiting crew members, all familiar faces, who expect the player to complete the same content from the previous game. Want to recruit Charlie from Crazy Eats? Play Crazy Eats a lot. Want the Alo-ha Happy Man to join? Complete stamp rallies where the cards and locations are still the same. It’s clear that Ryu ga Gotoku Studio wanted an excuse to reuse all the assets from Infinite Wealth, but given how recent its release is, anyone who has played it is retreading still-familiar waters. To counteract this, new areas Rich Island and Madlantis have been added, but they are also so much smaller in scale and scope than Honolulu. It’s a shame, given that more could have been done with these areas, and many of the random islands that players can stop and treasure hunt on are all small and follow the exact same corridor patterns.
Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii also suffers from the same problem as Infinite Wealth: there is an overwhelming amount of content in it. There are so many new and returning mini-games and gimmicks that the game forces players to explore. While the narrative itself isn’t super long if one plows through the main story, clocking in at twenty hours, the game has a lot of padding with all the additional elements it wants players to explore. If a player needs money, there are plenty of bounties to cash in on. If a player wants to treasure hunt around Honolulu or even look for hidden grappling hooks, they can do these as well. And yes, Majima can now use a chain to hook himself to things around down… because clearly this maniac needed that! He can even use this hook to fish and collect fruit. Majima has also become an amazing gardener, and players are encouraged to grow their own crops in little flower beds that are scattered around all the different locations. He has even become a “professional” chef, as the cooking mini-games from Like a Dragon: Ishin! are back. There are tons of things to do, so players will never be bored, but it’s also so much that it still feels unending.
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate yakuza life for me…
Combat comes in two parts now: pirate battles aboard the Goromaru and action-based combat when wandering around locations on foot. Starting with the Goromaru ship combat, players are expected to recruit crew members and then place them in specific roles on the ship, such as maintenance, cannons, gunfire, and even the “clean-up” crew. Each crew member has a proficiency for what role they work best in, though this can be upped by Majima giving these people gifts and throwing lavish ship parties to boost morale and experience. The Goromaru controls like one would expect: a stiff-wheeled shopping cart, which seems about right given the ship’s shoddiness. Moving the Goromaru is slow, her turn radius is wide, and it takes some time to line up cannon shots or even ram the enemy with the hull. Players can also switch from ship to deck combat with the push of a button, with Majima armed with a rocket launcher, though there isn’t a good benefit to using the deck mode unless players are incredibly close to an enemy ship. It’s serviceable but lacks any wow factor to want to stay in it for long periods of time. After ships are destroyed, Majima and crew can swing onto them and steal their treasure, beating up the enemy crew in regular hand-to-hand combat. Players will punch, kick, and knock swabbies overboard, and it’s a bit chaotic given the friendly AI of crew members is as useless as tits on a bull, leaving Majima to do all the work.
The action-based combat is where Like a Dragon feels best. Majima has two styles that he can switch between: Mad Dog, a melee style that focuses on speed and knife work, and Sea Dog, which allows for more fluid movement in combat, utilizing two swords, a gun, and a hook. Sea Dog is fabulous and has a good amount of versatility as it levels up, and many of the Heat Actions, or super moves, that Majima can perform in this style are brutal and painful. Throughout the game, Majima can find cursed instruments that allow him to summon creatures such as a wall of sharks. It’s stupid, fun, and effective in situations where it’s one versus many. In Mad Dog, Majima’s special is the ability to clone himself, which is helpful in situations where the player is overwhelmed, though admittedly, the clones are a bit too overpowered and can finish enemies off before Majima can. While both styles are great, the Mad Dog style truthfully needed a bit more balancing.
So much Majima paper doll content. You can even make him a pretty princess!
Even though the overwhelming amount of side content can feel daunting, a lot of it is pretty fun. The substories this time around are top-tier in terms of ridiculousness. Examples include having to partcipate in a Bachelor-style reality show with one of the sweetest crew members to helping a living statue find his life’s purpose and then some. There is also all of the new content in Madlantis, specifically the Pirate Coliseum, where players can sink some battleships in many satisfying ways and gain excellent boons in the process. Recruiting members to the Goromaru is like playing Pokémon — it’s incredibly addictive and it’s easy to get lost trying to figure out how to win some of these weirdos over. While the rehashing of content is inevitable in the case of Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, it’s very easy to fall down the side-content rabbit hole, lose a bunch of hours, say “Gee, where did the time go?” and then repeat the process. If it was bad side content, that would be one thing, but there is so much to explore, and Ryu ga Gotoku made sure that there was truly something for everyone. It also helps that Majima is such a charming and insane protagonist that going through side stories with him will always provide constant laughs.
Much like previous games in the series, the graphics are decent, though there is a jump in quality during cutscenes as compared to regular exploration. A lot of the character models look good, though some of the facial capturing of certain female characters gives off the uncomfortable look of a porcelain doll. The new areas are well designed, though a lot of the smaller islands have a lot of visual recycling and similar corridor pathways that aren’t particularly interesting. Madlantis’s design is fabulous, from the giant ship attached to the top of the cavern to the crazy neon lights that make the player feel as though they have entered “Pirate Las Vegas.” Water effects make the biggest waves, from whales crashing to rainstorms that cause the ship’s deck to glisten. These visual elements are wonderful touches that add to the overall pirate aesthetic, though the overuse of asset recycling is a shame.
Come a board / and bring along / all your hopes and dreaaaaaaams~!
Compared to previous Like a Dragon titles, the soundtrack in Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is top-notch, especially if one is a classic Sega fan. Majima can purchase CDs throughout his adventure and play recognizable tracks from games such as Virtua Fighter, Sonic, and even Valkyria Chronicles as he punches dudes ten ways from Sunday. There is also the inclusion of sea shanties that the crew will sing, which is very wholesome, and the Goromaru Pirate theme song is exactly what one would expect if they were watching a bunch of rejects perform in High School Musical. It’s corny, campy, and just plain stupid. Since stupid is a large part of what makes Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii shine, having an ultra-sincere theme song fits the bill. The voice acting in Japanese is fantastic, and while the English voice acting is solid, this reviewer is personally still struggling with Matthew Mercer as the voice of Majima. Regardless of which language one plays, it’s a fun romp no matter what.
While Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii retreads some familiar ground, it is hard to deny what a joyful experience it is. It’s as though Ryu ga Gatoku Studio knew gamers needed a bit more stupidity in their lives, decided One Piece and Like a Dragon should have a baby, and boom — you get this delightful oddball spinoff that is just fun. Much like Monkey D. Luffy in One Piece, Majima is no thoughts and just vibes, on the adventure of a lifetime, and while finding treasure and becoming a pirate king would be a great reward, it really is more about the friends we make along the way. Everything in Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is exactly what we’ve come to expect from the Like a Dragon series dialed up to a hundred, and while other series would long ago have gotten stale, sometimes injecting a large dose of stupidity can go a long way.
Disclosure: This review is based on a free copy of the game provided by the publisher.
Silly yet captivating story
Fantastic side content
Sea Dog style is rad AF
Partner AI is dumb
Too much recycled content from Infinite Wealth
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