I played two hours of Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii and it was pure head-empty bliss
THE Yakuza series is taking to the high seas for the first time with the upcoming adventure Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.
As a Gaiden game it’s part of the mainline series, but is not really a fully-fledged game.
The last Gaiden game was Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, which bridged the gap between Yakuza: Like A Dragon, and Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth.
Likewise, fan-favourite character Goro Majima’s adventure on the high seas explains the whereabouts between Infinite Wealth and the next mainline entry.
The last game allowed us to play as secret agent Kazuma Kiryu, and Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii lets us become pirate captain Kazuma Kiryu.
Gaiden games focus on the battles and gameplay rather than the story, but there are still touching character moments for fans.
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We’ve had the chance to play as Majima before and try out his fast-paced Mad Dog fighting style for ourselves.
Pirate Yakuza adds a new Sea Dog style that is slightly slower, but hits a little stronger.
When Majima is in Sea Dog style he can call up different animals to help in battle by playing different instruments.
It’s goofy, but that’s what the Yakuza series is all about, and more so when you cast your hero as a pirate.
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You can sail between the different islands, and while sailing is slow, you’ll see whirlpools, lighting and breaching whales as you go to keep things spicy.
Pirate Yakuza reuses the map from Infinite Wealth, but also adds a few more areas to explore, including Madlantis, a pirate-themed version of the Castle.
Coliseum battles made up a large part of fully completing Like A Dragon Gaiden, and that seems to be the case for Pirate Yakuza too.
The Pirate Coliseum features four battle types, ranging from over a hundred people beating each other up on the beach, to naval battles where you tactically take down the enemy ships before climbing on board to take out the crew.
The beach and deck battles will be familiar to any Yakuza fan, while the naval battles are something completely new.
It’s an entirely different style of fighting to what players are used to, but it’s good that RGG Studios is taking a risk.
It is also filled with more mini-games than you could ever play in your lifetime, with a good number of Sega Master System games thrown in for good measure.
Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii will undoubtedly attract newcomers to the series thanks to the pirate theme, while also acting as fan service for long-time lovers.
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Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii will be released on February 21, 2025 for PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.
If you want to read more gaming reviews, check out our Honkai: Star Rail 3.0 review.
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