The transition from bareknuckling to swashbuckling may seem like a big leap from the year-rated pirate-infested waters of the Hawaiian islands to the R-rated streets of Tokyo’s red light district, but Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii has done it with confidence and considerable flair. Without surrendering any of the slapstick humor and engrossing diversions that have long been the series’ defining characteristics, this jovial adventure forgoes the pulpy narrative twists and turf war clichés in favor of telling a concise and lively story about treasure hunting and seafaring.
In essence, Pirate Yakuza’s bizarre tale centers on the endearing series shitstirrer Goro Majima and concludes the events of 2024’s Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. After waking up on the shores of a remote island with amnesia, he immediately makes friends with a lively young boy and his cute pet tiger cub, commandeers a pirate ship that, for some reason, appears to have sailed in from the 1700s, and embarks on an exciting adventure to recover the lost treasure of a fabled sunken Spanish ship.
Compared to earlier Like Dragon stories, Majima is much less frantic in Pirate Yakuza, maybe due to his temporary memory loss, but he is still just as joyously naughty. While exploring the seas and coasts of Pirate Yakuza’s bright tropical surroundings, I never had a dull moment with him and his ever-expanding gang of goons who had turned into treasure-seeking Goonies.
By Nature, Nautical
Pirate Yakuza takes Like a Dragon into some genuinely unexplored territory, whereas 2023’s Like a Dragon Gaiden tried out a rather shallow secret agent twist on the series model. To be clear, Majima’s adopted pirate ship offers plenty of exciting naval action, but in terms of exploring, it does not try to replicate the sense of freedom I experienced in the Caribbean setting of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (2013). Rather than being one large open Waterworld, Pirate Yakuza’s waters are divided into a few smaller maps to alternate between, and many of the smaller islands are built using the same recycled layouts outside of the main Honolulu hub and the gorgeous ship graveyard turned casino district called Madlantis. As a result, the feeling of exploration gradually faded every time I dropped anchor and noticed anything a little too familiar.
In addition to often raising the Jolly Roger, Pirate Yakuza also lets its freak flag fly. In addition to often raising the Jolly Roger, Pirate Yakuza also lets its freak flag fly.
However, when I was in command of Majima’s ship, I stayed involved because the real open-water battle has enough spectacle and strategic depth. You can use machine gun fire to target an enemy directly or ram their hull using a boost-based maneuver. You can even maneuver with a rival to launch more devastating broadside attacks from your port or starboard cannons. Although Majima’s frigate can be outfitted with anything from flamethrowers to freeze guns, I soon set my sights on gathering enough spare parts to equip my ship with potent lasers that can cut crossways through my opponents from ear to buccaneer. These cannons can be upgraded by harvesting resources found drifting at sea or tucked around Pirate Yakuza’s scattered ports.
Additionally, I was constantly enlisting new pirates for my crew in every port where I anchored, and it soon became evident that designating a crew member to a particular job had quantifiable effects on every naval engagement. You rank the members of your pirating posse according to their attack, defense, and cannon power. I had to see my crew go from ragtag to bodybags in fast succession whenever I put any weaker or less experienced pals in, say, my boarding party.
I finally found the proper mix after some trial and error, including choosing the ideal pirate to be my first mate. I chose to promote a mechanic into the position since it allowed me to have two extra repair kits per battle, even if some applicants promised more damage bonuses or more fuel drums to burn with my ship’s boost. Having those additional kits to bring my battle-scarred hull to glory was really beneficial, especially since I approach naval engagements like Dave Chappelle approaches his stand-up sets—always on the offensive and always burnt up by the end.
However, some of the naval warfare functions do appear to be a bit unnecessary. For instance, I never felt the need to leave the helm to use Majima’s rocket launcher because the ship’s artillery usually seemed to be more than enough, and I also rarely had to manually extinguish fires on deck or thaw out ice that was obstructing my cannons. That did alter, though, after I finished the story and went back to finish the roughly thirty increasingly difficult combat in Madlantis’ pirate coliseum, where surviving its most difficult clashes required me to carefully employ every skill I had. This resulted in some much-needed optional tasks that were not part of the primary plot line.
Captain Hookshot
Naturally, since this is a Like a Dragon adventure, there are still plenty of chances for fisticuffs on deck or ashore whenever you are forced to board an enemy ship. Pirate Yakuza returns to the well-known combo-based street fighting style that was a mainstay of the series before the major entries switched to turn-based brawls with 2020’s Yakuza: Like a Dragon in the default Mad Dog fighting position. Majima can execute quick and fluid combos of punches, kicks, and quick dagger slashes; each attack is accentuated by dazzling neon movement trails and interspersed with foes that burst into gold coin fountains, resembling mobs of criminal question blocks from the Mushroom Kingdom. With a quicker step to allow overbalanced adversaries to counterattack and the practical ability to leap and air-dodge out of danger if he is overrun by an unexpectedly large horde, Majima feels noticeably more agile than Kazuma Kiryu ever did.
Nevertheless, I essentially never looked back when I had achieved the Sea Dog combat position a few hours into my 25-hour tour of Pirate Yakuza. Sea Dog is essentially a one-size-fits-brawl combat style that feels adaptable enough to match any given clash, but in earlier Like Dragon installments, I have enjoyed having the flexibility to swap between postures to effectively handle each enemy type or circumstance. Majima can use a pair of cutlasses to cut through foes in groups by either throwing them like bladed boomerangs or executing a vicious dance of spinning slashes while in this pirating position.
In essence, Sea Dog is a one-size-fits-all fighting method that seems flexible enough to work in every situation.
The Sea Dog style was so versatile and interesting to employ that I only ever felt the need to switch back to Mad Dog to unleash Majima’s slightly overpowering Doppelganger strike. This devastating ability, which is available after you have chained together enough successful attacks to fill up a special meter, summons twin Majima clones that swarm enemies and temporarily consume their health bars like a pair of piranhas. I was glad to have it in my back pocket for when I encountered one of the more vicious boss encounters.From the first sword slash to the last throat cut, Pirate Yakuza’s flamboyant fighting remained captivating, and I thought it was a significant improvement over the gadget-heavy grappling of Like a Dragon Gaiden, even though I believe Infinite Wealth’s hybrid turn-based combat has quite rightfully become the standard for the Like a Dragon series.
Pleasure Island
Although Pirate Yakuza’s Honolulu setting is more or less the same sun-drenched sprawl that is featured in Infinite Wealth, there are enough new secrets and distractions that make it rewarding to explore a second time around. Outside of combat, Majima’s hook shot can be employed to zip him up to anchor points on certain buildings, meaning that treasure chests full of alternate character costumes and other goodies are tucked away on hotel awnings and various other elevated spots all over the island. There are also countless bounty targets to track down and beat up for beefy cash bonuses, and games for the safehouse Master System to seek out.
