In mid-September, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, the Japanese developer behind the Yakuza games, surprised fans with the surprise announcement that the next game in the series would be released on February 28, 2025, and would feature fan-favorite Goro Majima on a pirate adventure. I recently had a chance to play a bit of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii at their West Los Angeles office. boy Does it live up to the name?
And we say short: the folks at RGG only gave me 30 minutes to play through some of the combat and mini-games. It’s impossible to get a full picture of the gameplay or story in that short amount of time, but it did offer a small taste of what’s in store for players when Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii releases early next year.
My demo began shortly after the game’s launch, with one-eyed Majima arriving on the beach in Honolulu, Hawaii (the setting for the previous spin-off, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth). As you’d expect from “Mad Dog” Majima, it didn’t take long for him to get into a brawl with some local toughs, giving me some real combat action.
Pirates Yakuza in Hawaii returns to the series’ live-action fighting roots, letting players move around while attacking in real time (apologies to fans of Like a Dragon and Infinite Wealth’s turn-based RPG systems). Majima can instantly switch between two fighting styles: Mad Dog and Sea Dog. Mad Dog lets you run around with a launcher that fires quick punches, knife attacks, and slides into air combos. Sea Dog style puts two cutlasses in Majima’s hands, allowing him to charge through enemies while slashing and shooting.
Fights in a “Sea Dog” style.
No use pretending: Sea Dog Style is a lot more fun, especially since switching to it automatically puts Majima in an awesome pirate outfit. You can throw your sword like a boomerang, or toss a grappling hook (called a “wire hook”) at enemies to pull them into slashing range. But don’t skimp on Mad Dog Style’s Madness Gauge. Once it’s fully filled with enough attacks, you can activate it to summon four doppelgangers to challenge foes or combine for a spin attack. If you don’t want a charmingly silly Yakuza game, look elsewhere.
After beach buddies, the demo took me back to Majima’s pirate ship Goromaru and let me check out the game’s new area, Madlantis. Hidden on a harmless mountain island, the salvage-strewn pirate port is a lawless, neon- and rust-covered realm, filled with coliseums and casino tables. Watching over it all is an elegant queen who rules from atop a stranded tanker overlooking the chaos below. I didn’t have time to get any further into the lore of Midlantis, though.
The pirate city of Madrantis.
Here I fought Keith, a boss pirate who wronged Majima earlier in the game and deserved to be beaten along with the horde of dark-skinned boys surrounding him. After being taken down with a flurry of slashes and special attacks, I raced back to Honolulu and was able to take part in a few mini-games. I grabbed a microphone and belted out a rendition of “24 Hours Cinderella” at a karaoke bar (86.6 out of 100, thank you), then tried out a mini-game where you delivered food to locals by bicycle (inspired by BMX Crazy Taxi) before the demo time was up.
After just 30 minutes of playtime, I can tell you that Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii definitely feels like a Yakuza game, the combat I played was tense and fun, and the quirky Madlantis fits the wild atmosphere of the game’s bold and straightforward title. I’m eager to play more, because the brief preview just wasn’t enough to gauge what players should expect from this game.
Choose your costume and become your favorite pirate.
Still, RGG (um, RGG?) has an outstanding reputation for producing great games that fulfill their premise. Plus, the studio is disciplined and has a proven track record of releasing big games every year. In an industry where AAA games typically take five years to develop and release, that’s an impressive pace. I’m fully excited for Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, even though many questions about the game remain unanswered. After all, what other studio would take a lovable gangster character and let him roam the seas like a scurvy dog for a break from the melodrama of a crime dynasty?
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