Aaron Ploof
Shiver me timbers, Yakuza has entranced me once again! There’s something that holds undeniable charm about this treasure of a series. Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii (or Pirate Yakuza, as I will refer to it from this point on) is worth its weight in doubloons. The good-natured, heartwarming storytelling returns, with a bit of pirate flavor! While I sometimes felt strung along on a wild booty chase, Pirate Yakuza was still one wonderous swashbuckling adventure!
All Washed Up
Our tale occurs six months after Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth ends. We open with a prelude. The Mad Dog, Goro Majima, breaks the fourth wall. He recounts washing up on the shores of an unknown island not too long ago. Shortly thereafter, a young boy named Noah and his pet cat (but wait, is that a tiger?) rescue him. They graciously give him water and help him regain his lost bearings.
It turns out our boy, Majima, has amnesia and has forgotten his name. Noah has some troubles as well: a serious case of asthma and his father keeps him cooped up on the island. After some bonding with Noah, our hero promises the world-curious boy he will take him on some adventures. His father takes some convincing, but soon the trio is on a hunt for the legendary treasure of Esperanza! It comes complete with an elixir of life, which will cure Noah’s illness.
Adventure Calls
Pirate Yakuza covers five chapters, with my total runtime totaling 31 hours (most side content included). During that time, players will sail the Pacific Ocean, engage in pirate battles (both ship and on foot), play a bucket load of minigames, make social network friends, raise animal pets, take on hilarious side quests, collect cursed musical instruments, and challenge fearsome pirate gangs!
Majima takes on the role of Pirate Captain to accomplish all these tasks, and the majority of your time will be spent with him manning the wheel of the Goromaru, the Goro Pirate’s vessel. You will steer the ship through several different areas of the waters near Hawaii, unlocking new ones as you go.
Each area in Pirate Yakuza features different areas of interest, from treasure islands you can explore to ships you can battle. Unfortunately, getting from point to point can take a little while. Even though there are wind rings that help give the ship a boost, these sections are sadly a snooze fest at times. The mood livens up, though, when you land on an island. If you’re hunting treasure or pirates, you’ll have to take on mobs of enemies to collect your reward.
Land Combat
You handle combat through two different styles, Mad Dog and Sea Dog. The former is classic Majima, complete with quick swipes of the blade and acrobatic flips. The latter features two cutlasses, which can be thrown boomerang style, as well as a chargeable pistol, and a hook shot. Both styles feature a special gauge that can be charged up through different moves to release a special technique. Mad Dog has doppelgangers, whereas Sea Dog has special cursed instruments. The doppelgangers surround your enemy, dealing extra damage, and the instruments summon dark animal gods to perform spectacular attacks on your foes.
The heat gauge returns as well. It’s a bar that fills up, allowing you to perform special attacks in certain circumstances. If you charge up your pistol, for instance, you can attack with a volley of shots one right after the next. Unfortunately, these circumstances are more limited this time around, and I didn’t find myself using these special attacks nearly as often as in the other Yakuza brawler games.
When going on treasure hunts or even ship takeovers, you’ll bring your crew with you. You can customize this crew on the “Prepare to sail” screen, which you unlock by visiting Lighthouse warp points. The crew plays into the minigame of collecting pirate crew members from around the world. Each member has stats that contribute to your overall team. They are attack, defense, support, gun, or healing types. Additionally, you’ll have support team members who can trigger special skills in times of need.
There are a few things about combat I found annoying. One, Majima can sometimes be hard to pinpoint in the scruffle. I lost track of our hero many times. So, I had to resort to button-mashing to get him out alive. Two, the ranged attack enemies that can shoot you are particularly irksome. Although they make a whistle to warn you of their attack, it’s also difficult to pinpoint where their gun is shooting from.
Sea Combat
This won’t be a bother, however, in ship battles, where there are only a few vessels on screen. They are arcade-like in form, as you maneuver your ship in front of other ships to let loose with your cannons. If your ship is low on health, you can heal up by having your members repair the damage, but you can do this only a limited number of times.
If your ship gets blasted repeatedly, it may take on a status ailment, or your crew members may faint. You can switch to a zoomed-in view to repair your ship by spraying a hose or stirring your crewmates by shaking them awake.
I found these battles entertaining, but the strategy was pretty similar for each ship I took on. Sail next to them, fire cannons, repair, repeat. There’s not much variation in what is needed to take down an enemy ship. Still, there’s quite a bit of fun here.
For both the ship and hand-to-hand combat, I began the game on standard mode out of the three available difficulties and later switched to professional mode. Only when the game became nearly impossible did I switch back to standard. You can also battle ships in Madlantis, which is one of the two primary sites you can set land on(the other being Honolulu). In both of these locations, the story (and side stories) of Majima and his stalwart crew take place.
A Tale For Pirates
Like previous Yakuza games, Pirate Yakuza hits the sweet spot between serious and goofy and always lands somewhere heartwarming. There’s always a positive message to receive from the antics of this crew! The politics are all progressive. There are themes of forgiveness, redemption, loyalty, and setting good examples for the younger generation. Although a criminal by nature, Majima is a sweetheart at his core. He even turns a corner by the end of the game, and improves upon his morals from the past games.
Even with his memory gone, Majima still retains his crazy attitude. However, he’s significantly less chaotic than post-Yakuza 0 days. If anything, his personality most closely resembles that of his in that classic game.
Many of the side quests found in the game come directly from Infinite Wealth, following up on that game’s plotlines, and as usual, they’re the best part of the game. Some highlights include a date with Noah’s tiger, Goro, and a visit to the aquatic zoo. But the best sidequest occurs about three-quarters of the way through the game when Majima searches for women to hold a party for the ship’s cook. I won’t divulge details here, but this is one worth following through. Minigames are also throughout the adventure, from golf, batting, and cooking, to kart racing.
The only overall problems with the plot come in the latter half of the adventure when it feels as if you’re being yanked from place to place. Just when you arrive at a location, a character tasks you with visiting someplace else. The villains introduced also lack complexity, although the performances given by the actors are well done (I played subbed, by the way).
Yo-Ho Yo-Ho
With an amusing style that once again hits that Yakuza sweet spot, and a plethora of activities and lovable characters to count, Pirate Yakuza is one game worth spending extra time on. Don’t be surprised if this game pulls you in. It could have been better with some tighter writing, but this one adventure won’t be walking the plank or being keelhauled anytime soon!
Rating: 8/10
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii | Story Trailer
PRE-ORDER NOW https://www.sega.com/like-a-dragon-yakuza/like-a-dragon-pirate-yakuza-in-hawaii The Pirate King Raymond Law played by Samoa Joe provides a glimpse into Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, setting sail on Feb 21st. Pre-order to add Ichiban Kasuga and Nancy to your crew plus the ability to have Majima change into two of Ichiban Kasuga’s iconic outfits.
