Yohohoho! Gather ’round, children of Man, and be ready to hear the tale of the world’s greatest pirate that Hawaii and its surrounding islands have ever seen in their time: Captain Majima Goro stars in developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and publisher SEGA’s latest 3D brawler ‘Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii’. Unlike those blasted turn-based mainline titles that have graced us their presence thee, Pirate Yakuza is a return-to-form, so to speak, giving players control over the captain’s two main battle stances: his famed brawler “Mad Dog” moveset and an all-new “Captain- “Sea Dog” set suited only for the maniac himself.
But matey, it doesn’t end there. No, no, there be ship battles. Fast-paced battles that are frantic as they are chaotic. Aye, that would be the end of it, too, if Pirate Yakuza weren’t built on a solid foundation of past Like a Dragon titles, giving our beloved Captain Majima more things to do than ever—minigames, exploration, combat challenges, customisation of the cap ‘n the ship ’emselves, karaoke (saving a certain song from that awful Dead Souls “doom”), you dare well name it.
…right, I think I’ve had enough typing like a pirate. Or trying to, at least. Welcome aboard the Goromaru!
Every Dog Has its Day
Majima Goro is ex-Yakuza, a man whose been through quite a bit in his life. And here he is in his greatest challenge yet: waking up on an island with shoes and pants but no shirt—no service, one might add. Brought water by a young boy named Noa along with his pet cat Goro, Majima comes to a number of realisations: he’s got no idea where he is, what’s going on, and worst yet—who he even is. It’s all a blank, the most pathetic you’ll ever see this psycho mob boss. But despite having a few, how should I put it, “extra” screws loose, it takes little time for Majima to regain some ground to his identity when some of the most wretched hive of scum and villainy come to attack: pirates.
In Pirate Yakuza, players will help Majima go from rags to riches, gaining his former combat skills back and up to snuff. There’s leading a ship and a motley crew to one that rivals a certain construction company Majima was once familiar with. All the while, plans are setting in motion in the background that pull factions from all over the Hawaiin islands, which of course no Like a Dragon game could be its namesake if their respective main characters aren’t dragged into the discourse. Although, in Majima’s case, he’s more than happy to fight his way through conflict as he hopes to become a notorious pirate, even as an amnesiac. Fights, kidnappings, escapades, and secret discoveries ensue!
Make no mistake, Pirate Yakuza is very much a Yakuza game first and a pirate game second. It’s a story heavy game where a lot of your mechanics slowly and annoyingly open up over the course of the game’s first two chapters which can easily run you about nine hours or so. The game really gets going by then, including its set pieces and story fights along with the available sea content that opens up—but expect to slog through an annoying first couple of hours just to get Majima back on his feet. But for what it’s worth, getting more of Majima isn’t a bad thing, and the supporting cast bounces off the old man pretty well. Some plot devices make their eyerolling appearances to get you to chase after baddies, but hey, anything that leads me to deliver a good whooping is usually fine by me.
Something to note is that this game takes place right after the last game, ‘Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth’, so if you haven’t finished that game yet, you might want to do so before jumping into Majima’s adventure. Some of that game’s issues haven’t been fixed, like side conversations having to be restarted upon interruption (which will happen a lot) and the like.
Players will visit multiple islands in the Goromaru, a ship he comandeers after beating up a bunch of scumbag pirates and driving them off the island he woke up on. Pirate Yakuza is not an open world pirating game, rather the player will select a given map to explore and either battle enemies and bosses, unlock lighthouse waypoints, and jump right into short-form dungeons with a small portion of your crew to collect treasure. All of the above will gain Majima notoriety, which is useful as you’ll need a bunch of criteria to hire some of the best pirates or would-be pirates across the game world. Collecting treasure is also an incredible boon as not only does it explode your ranking to great heights but some of that treasure can even be worn. As part of being a pirate, players can don Captain Majima with 10 rings, each one providing stat boosts and bling that are well-suited for this psycho.
Speaking of which, one of the things I was really looking forward to as Majima were for his combat styles. In ‘Yakuza 0’, Majima had a tonne of combat techniques that he could swap between to adapt to any given situation. The same idea applies here, but he’s got two this time: Mad Dog and Sea Dog. Mad Dog style is a mix of Majima’s fast-paced dance and brawler styles, letting him dash to and fro while punching and stabbing Hawaii’s local hooligan populace with his trusty Mad Dog of Shimano blade. When in Sea Dog mode, players get two cutlasses and a trusty flintlock that lets you be both a heavy and ranged menace to some of the most offending dodge-and-retaliate baddies in the game.
But lest not we forget that Majima can jump! Jumping gives you a tonne of movement and setups, letting you either dash your way out of trouble, air combos, or air dropkicks. Sea Dog also lets players use a grappling hook to latch onto distant enemies, dealing great damage while bringing you closer to the group. The Mad Dog style can let you zip right into enemies too, provided you upgrade and unlock your skills as you gain notoriety and monies. But best of all, transitioning between both styles is essential to breaking enemy guard and keeping your damage-dealing combos going. Not to mention your ultimate attacks that can be used once the circular gauge is completely full.
Fit this right into the developer’s patented 3D brawling framework, where environmental objects can be used to beat up people or simple explode when you toss scum right into them. The physics and the fast-paced, smooth movements make Pirate Yakuza a hell of a fun time for brawler fans. Oh, and Majima can don a bunch of shirts, hats, earrings, you name it—there’s plenty of customisation available for both on foot and ship gameplay.
The Sea is the Life for Me
There’s a reason the Captain isn’t too keen on returning to Japan—who in their right mind would give up such a wonderful bit of living? Ship battles are frantic and arcadey! This is a SEGA game after all, so besides beautiful and lush island scenery (seriously it’s kind of their forte), your boat controls as well as you’d expect from a galleon that can reverse, fire lasers, and frost bolts. Oh, and it can boost too, letting you ram into enemy scoundrels for massive damage. You’ll need to drift and brake, sometimes boost out of and into enemy attacks to keep your ship alive and your crewmates well. If things start looking dicey, you’ll need to order repairs or even get off the wheel and get things done yourself—waking up KO’d allies and turning your ship invisible while retaliating with a bloody rocket launcher is about as Pirate Yakuza as you’re going to get.
In certain segments, such as boss battles or when taking on challenges in Madlantis’ Pirate Coliseum, you’ll need to board the enemy ship with your assembled crew and defeat all combatants onboard to claim victory. In this mode, both opposing forces will build a meter as their allies dish out damage. When this meter fills, they can activate buffs and debuffs that can turn the tide of battle, so it’s best for you to fill up yours first and get the right crewmates to fill supporting roles to get the best possible stat boosts in combat. Speaking of which, getting allies will take a quite a bit of work on your end! Some will join just by taking a beating, others will want to join a prestigious pirate crew, some will come through substories you’ll encounter, so on and so forth.
Substories are a core component of every Yakuza game, by the way. It’s one of those moments where Majima goes from psycho nutjob to most normal person in the room as you encounter amusing characters who’ll trick, fight, or simply seek advice from the Captain. And you know what? It’s oddly cathartic watching Majima put his blade away for a moment to dish out life advice to anyone he meets. It’s a Ryu Ga Gotoku mandate to be wise, I suppose. Either way, these are highly amusing stories and I always recommend you watch ’em to completion.
I take a few issues with the combat mechanics of the ship. See, the player’s camera is always positioned somewhat left-justified centre of the camera, and your ship’s front weapons fire from the sides, not directly in front. It can be hard to see what’s in front of you at times, especially when heavy rain begins to pour and enemy boats are tossing artillery and bombs at you in full force. You can zoom the camera in to get a better view, but I haven’t really found this to be a very useful mode as it comes off a little too close for my taste. Gauging main weapon shots got annoying, so as I strengthened the ship, I simply chose to ram enemy pirates and fire off my starboard and portside cannons.
Either way, being a pirate is just as important to Majima as being a landlubbing, damage dealing, scum-slashing swashbuckler. You won’t get far if you don’t build your crew and your ship, so take the time to explore the maps and ready yourself for challenges against humans, bears, and even bloody lions. Err, possibly tigers.
And you know, in all this chaos, I never got the chance to talk about Madlantis and Hawaii, our major exploration zones. The former is this Pirates-inspired hellscape of scumbaggery and sin, a cave made out of makeshift containers, gates, duct tape, you name it. It’s incredibly pretty and fun to walk about as is Honolulu City and Waikiki Beach. Ryu Ga Gotoku’s take on a small portion of Oahu Island is lovely, all though I do wish we could explore the eastern side of the map in more detail (even if it is nothing but trees, a hill, and the Diamond Head crater). It’s the company’s forte to build little dioramas of real-world locations and they succeed here just as well. Could use a few slack-key guitar tracks, however.
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii brings about solid 3D brawling combat back to the series alongside tonnes of minigames, fun pirating sections, and intense set piece battles the series is known for. It’s more Yakuza—are you going to say no to that?
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
Played on
Xbox Series X
PROS
- Top-notch brawling gameplay.
- Fun pirate life gameplay!
- Great cast chemistry and fun story.
- Tonnes of minigames and exploration to work through.
- A decent selection of ship and character customisation.
CONS
- Takes too long to get to the good stuff.
- Ship combat can be a bit clumsy.
- Some clumsiness from prior entries haven't been fixed.
