Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
Review
A Mad Dog on the High Seas
by Camrin Santchi
reviewed on PC
A Pirate's Life for Me
Long-running franchises don't often get pirate-themed spin-offs, but when they do, they tend to be amazing and unforgettable. Much like my favourite Assassin's Creed title Black Flag, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii delivers an exhilarating adventure that blends the unique crime drama and brawling elements of the series with a nautical twist that is wild, unexpected, and wholeheartedly welcome.
In Pirate Yakuza, players take the role of Goro Majima, the infamous 'Mad Dog of Shimano', who has played an important part in many of the Yakuza/Like a Dragon games up to this point, but has only been a playable character once - in Yakuza 0, a prequel game that set the stage for the events of the series. With an eccentric personality and a savage fighting style, Majima has been a fan favorite character for quite some time particularly as a contrast to the seeming stoicism of Kazuma Kiryu, the 'Dragon of Dojima', the face of the franchise. With a number of games in this series quickly approaching double digits, it's almost a bit of a relief that Pirate Yakuza took the slightly cliche route of doing an amnesia story, meaning even those new to the series will be able to embrace the chaos and enjoy the ride.
No Memories? No Problem!
Washing up on an island not too far from Hawaii, Majima doesn't remember a thing about his past- the only things he can really gather initially are that he was one rough customer thanks to missing an eye, his back tattoo, and the Demonfire Dagger, a short tanto blade that an island local found that seemed to match his tattoos. Merely trying to get his head on straight forces Majima into getting involved with several fights with a modern day pirate crew - all dressed up in classic pirate garb and wielding primarily old fashioned weaponry like cutlasses and flintlock pistols. For a series well known for its absurdity, neither Majima's amnesia nor the existence of modern-day pirates feels at all out of place.
As Majima initially searches for his memories he quickly decides 'when in Rome' and does what he can to adapt to a pirate's life of fighting and treasure hunting. As he says himself in the game, it really isn't that different from being a yakuza, down to some families or pirate crews having codes of honor while others do not. He wants to regain his memories, sure, but more important to him is keeping his promise to the young boy who saved his life, Noah Rich, an adventurous but frail boy with dreams of seeing the world.
Sanity Optional
Even for the Yakuza series, Pirate Yakuza's grip on reality is...absolutely gone, in the best ways possible. Laser cannons for your pirate ship, cursed musical instruments that summon gods of the sea, a massive coliseum for ship battles built on a graveyard of crashed vessels - these are just some examples of Pirate Yakuza treating logic as a suggestion. This is part of the charm of the series, many players will point to the ludicrous minigames or absurd substories as some of the biggest draws to the series, even with them starkly contrasting the action packed crime drama that makes up the main story of the games. In fact many will point to the contrast as a benefit to the series, which this reviewer wholeheartedly agrees with. If you ever wanted a game where you can hit cannonballs with a baseball bat like some insane batting cage, play go-karting with rocket launchers, or even just playing darts or doing some karaoke, Pirate Yakuza delivers.
By Land or By Sea
Pirate Yakuza has two main forms of combat, when you're on land and when you're at the helm of your ship, the Goromaru. On land players switch between two different fighting styles on the fly, Mad Dog for Majima's typical agile and erratic fighting style that he's infamous for, and Sea Dog where he embraces his new role as a pirate captain wholeheartedly and wields weaponry like cutlasses, a flintlock pistol, and a chain hook that Majima wields as a grapple.
This isn't the first time the Yakuza series has featured multiple fighting styles. Yakuza 0, the only other game where Majima was fully playable, had four different combat stances. However, switching styles in that game was slow and tended to require openings. In Pirate Yakuza, however, swapping is near instantaneous, allowing players to seamlessly combo between fighting styles without breaking the action.
Consecutive attacks build your Heat gauge, which allows Majima to use powerful Heat Actions that can absolutely tear through his foes and differ depending on which fighting style you're in as well as situationally, and Heat Actions build Majima's Madness gauge, which would be considered his 'ultimate moves'. Madness, like Heat, has a different effect depending on which fighting style you’re in, in Mad Dog Majima summons doppelgangers that aid in combat and help keep a large amount of enemies off of you, and in Sea Dog Majima can wield cursed instruments to summon 'gods of the sea', spectral beings that have powerful effects on the battlefield. In passing Majima mentions a 'cost' to using the summons, but the only consequence is having to build the Madness gauge back up.
Naval combat is just as intense as brawling on land, with the Goromaru feeling surprisingly agile thanks to some of Majima's eccentric modifications- including jet boosters. Drifting into position to line up cannon shots might sound absurd, but it fits right into Pirate Yakuza's over-the-top energy. The Goromaru's armaments within Pirate Yakuza include both port and starboard cannons which are upgraded and equipped independently of each other as well as forward facing machine guns. The amount of damage done depends on the type and quality of the weapons, but also the crew members assigned to those portions of the ship. Crew gain experience when they engage in battle, and some are better at certain tasks than others. Some crew are better at cannons, while others are best as part of a boarding party, so assigning them properly is one of the better ways to ensure you can become a legendary pirate. Some crewmates are unlocked over the course of the main story, but most tend to be recruited by doing something for them. Some are via the substories mentioned above, while others just need a specific item, some cash, or the Goro Pirates to be at a certain level of fame and infamy to be convinced to join your cause.
Set Sail, Goro Pirates!
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is a very enjoyable game with a lot to do, and players can spend plenty of time exploring Honolulu or playing minigames without even engaging all that much with the story. There's plenty to do and a large amount of it is incredibly fun, from using a baseball bat and a cannonball to blow up exploding barrels or just fighting your way up through the ranks of the pirate arena. The only real flaw this reviewer could find is that it might be a bit too eccentric for players that might not be used to the Yakuza series, and even for the series Pirate Yakuza goes a bit beyond the pale. But if you're ready to embrace the madness, hoist the sails, and take the helm- this game is a fantastic experience that no Yakuza or pirate fan should miss, and is a blast from start to finish.
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9.6
fun score
Pros
Tons of fun side content, Satisfying combat on both land and sea
Cons
Might be too eccentric for newcomers to the series
