Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii

I've spent a long time waiting for Goro Majima to step out of Kiryu's shadow and carry a full game on his own shoulders. After Yakuza 0 proved he had the depth to do it, RGG Studio made us wait nearly a decade before handing him the keys. The result is a spinoff set six months after Infinite Wealth, in which an amnesiac Majima washes up on a Hawaiian beach, befriends a kid named Noah, hijacks a pirate ship he names the Goromaru, and promptly decides treasure hunting is his new life's purpose. Yes, it is exactly as ridiculous as it sounds, and for the most part, that is a feature rather than a bug. On land, the combat ditches the turn-based system from the mainline entries and returns to the series' real-time brawler roots. Majima fights across two switchable styles: the Mad Dog style, a single-target, dagger-focused set of rapid slashes and dash attacks that veterans will recognize, and the Sea Dog style, a crowd-control beast built around dual cutlasses, a flintlock pistol with infinite ammo, and a grappling hook that doubles as both a traversal tool and a weapon. The biggest mechanical addition is a full jump and aerial combo system, letting you juggle enemies mid-air in a way previous entries never allowed. Swapping between styles mid-combo is fast and satisfying, and the ring system, where ten equippable rings with set bonuses meaningfully change Majima's stats, adds a light loot-brain dimension that kept me fiddling with builds longer than I expected. That said, critics are correct that large mob fights can devolve into button-mashing, and anyone expecting the tactical nuance of Infinite Wealth's turn-based battles will feel the gap. The combat is fun, not deep. The naval half of the game is where Pirate Yakuza earns its title. The Goromaru's sea battles, built from scratch by RGG, have you steering broadside to fire cannon volleys, swapping cannons for flamethrowers or lasers as you upgrade, and then boarding weakened ships to throw hands with the crew. Assembling your pirate crew matters too: recruits come in ranged, tank, healer, and other roles, and optimizing boarding parties for the Pirates' Coliseum tournaments in Madlantis becomes its own quietly compelling loop. The sea exploration zones, from volcano-ringed waters to freezing blizzard seas, give the open-ocean sailing genuine variety. It does not reach the heights of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, but it is a genuine addition to the series, not a gimmick. Narrative is where the critical split lands, and I think fairly. Majima's amnesia, while serviceable as a storytelling device, strips out the cunning scheming that makes him so compelling in the mainline games. The throughline, keeping a promise to Noah by showing him the world, is genuinely warm, and there are pockets of earnest emotion that break through the pirate pastiche. But the story never swings for the fences the way Yakuza 0 or Infinite Wealth did. If you come in looking for major series revelations, you will leave largely where you started. The substories, however, are a different story. Several of them follow up on Infinite Wealth character arcs, and one specific chain builds to a conclusion so magnificently awkward it may be the most unhinged resolution in the franchise's history, which is saying something. The side content breadth is enormous: Dragon Kart racing, karaoke, Goro Kingdom base-building, emulated SEGA arcade titles, cooking for crew morale, and treasure hunting across islands tracked with a completionist's precision. At 81 on Metacritic and an 84% critic recommendation rate, the consensus is consistent: this is a polished, content-rich spinoff that prioritizes gleeful energy over narrative ambition. For series newcomers it is not the right entry point, since substories and cameos lean hard on Infinite Wealth knowledge. For returning fans who want more time in this world with one of its best characters, it delivers with confidence. Filler quests exist, and you will feel overpowered well before the credits if you chase side content aggressively. Those are the low tides. The high tides are high enough.

Monika · Scout Team

RPGs

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