Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii Proves You Can Teach An Old Sea Dog New Tricks

When I played a short but sweet burst of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii in September, it was only a mere taste of everything the game has to offer. This time around, we were given a couple of hours to explore two different parts of the game, and more importantly, were finally allowed to get to grips with the ship.

Despite this, I’ve still left feeling as though I’ve barely scratched the surface. Much like The Man Who Erased His Name, Pirate Yakuza may be smaller than a mainline Like a Dragon game, but there’s still plenty of meat on this skull and crossbones.

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If you’ve played either of the two recent Ryu Ga Gotoku launches, The Man Who Erased His Name or Infinite Wealth, Pirate Yakuza will be a familiar sight. You’ve got a few different maps available to you, with Honolulu being the largest, and it’s filled with minigames, substories, and plenty of bad guys to beat down.

Despite this familiarity, RGG is pushing boundaries with this game. If plopping a fan favourite on a giant ship as a pirate captain and letting him loose in the waters around Hawaii wasn’t evidence enough of that, let me clue you in.

RGG Studio Is No Stranger To Innovation

When you look back to the launch of Yakuza and compare it to the most recent launch of Infinite Wealth, the series has evolved greatly. It’s not just the normal improvements you’d expect from the benefit of adapting to more modern technology over the years, there are big changes that raise the bar for the series launch after launch.

RGG makes bold choices: going from one protagonist to multiple, changing from action to turn-based combat, swapping out the fan-favourite protagonist for an entirely new one, and switching it up from the beloved stomping grounds to somewhere overseas. Heck, they even changed the (Western) game title from Yakuza to Like a Dragon. RGG is not afraid to try something new, and it’s pushing the Black Pearl out for Pirate Yakuza.

RGG never does anything half-heartedly, so adding in naval combat is a high target to set itself. Not only must it meet the high standard the series is known for already, but it will be held in comparison to every game with naval combat that has come before. Pirate Yakuza shouldn’t struggle to beat Skull and Bones, but it still has Assassin’s Creed Black Flag and Sea of Thieves to contend with.

When I managed to get my hands on Pirate Yakuza this time around, you can bet that one of the first things I did was make said hands get Majima’s hands on the ship’s wheel and take the Goromaru for a spin.

It’s All Looking Ship-Shape

The Goromaru can be customised to suit your preferences, whether you want to make it pretty in pink or slap Taiga Saejima’s face all over it, but it goes beyond mere cosmetics. You have cannons on both the port and starboard sides that can be changed and upgraded, and it’s not about sheer attack power as many weapons have additional effects, such as cold or heat.

It’s up to you whether you want shark canons or flamethrowers, while you also handle a machine gun that you can fire straight ahead with, or you can flip back to the deck and just whip out a rocket launcher from Majima’s pocket to fire away. You’ll want to weigh up which weapons you want where based on how you plan to attack other ships in the water. You have a boost and a brake (as ships famously have), and using this efficiently will allow you to quickly navigate out of the path of enemy fire, or even allow you to drift sharply and turn around.

“The distance between you and the other ship and where all of your equipment is key to winning these battles, and you’ve got to get in close and launch big broadsides to take them out,” RGG Studio chief producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto tells us.

It’s not just about the weapons either, as your crew play an important role. You’ll unlock crewmates naturally as you progress, while others can be recruited by finding them around various maps, defeating them in the Pirate Coliseum, or completing certain substories. Each crewmate has different skills and strengths, so where you assign them on your ship is important. Perhaps they’re better at fighting rather than repairing, so you’ll have to strategise.

Some fights can also result in boarding battles, where your whole crew will engage in melee combat with the enemy. This felt very similar to TMWEHN’s coliseum fights where you choose your team and have a big free for all where your chosen fighters can utilise specific skills. I was happy to see the return of these chaotic large scale battles return, especially with the added benefit of Majima’s whacky Sea Dog and Mad Dog skills.

If your ship HP’s reaches zero, you’re sunk. So the aim is to smash your opponent before they can do serious damage to your own ship. You can switch to your deck view to go around repairing your ship, dousing fires, and helping crewmates, and this is where your strategic crew planning will certainly be most tested.

In total there are four Madlantis Pirate Coliseum modes: Quick Clash, quick and easy ship vs ship battles; Swashbucker Showdown, a land-based large-scale battle; Madlantis Mania, a series of battles you play in a row; and Tournament of Captains, which is where you increase your Coliseum Rank.

X Marks The Spot

There are a few islands you can visit in Pirate Yakuza, and you’re able to explore both the land itself and the waters around it aboard your ship: Rich Island, Honolulu, and Nele Island, associated with the religious organisation Palekana, which Infinite Wealth players will have some familiarity with already. Finally, there’s Madlantis, the underbelly of criminal organisations and all things piratical.

But that’s not all. What kind of pirate game would this be without a few treasure islands? You explore the ocean at will to pick up floating debris in the ocean for crafting materials, aim for the circular air currents for a little speed boost, battle against other ships, and drop anchor at various islands to seek out buried treasure.

These treasure islands are dungeon areas where you navigate through set areas with different branching paths, defeating enemies and grabbing as much loot as you can while dealing with other potential risks, such as poisoned areas. This part specifically reminded me of Ishin’s Battle Dungeons, which also has you choose your team before entering, each of which offers different skills or buffs, and having to navigate through dungeon areas.

But fear not, there are safe areas at sea too, near lighthouses, so you can always furl those sails and take a little break. Aboard the Goromaru, you can mooch around, customising your ship or outfit, speak with your crew, participate in karaoke, or host a celebratory feast to raise staff morale. You can also use your spyglass to look at distant islands and discover their difficulty levels, and even climb up to the crow’s nest for a better view.

I’m Ready To Set Sail

RGG could safely rest on its laurels and still appease the fandom, turning a profit without having to step foot out of its already established boundaries by simply giving us a fresh chapter in the lives of our favourites on the same turf with the same minigames. But that’s never been the studio’s way.

Pirate Yakuza is boldly treading new ground. Being a non-mainline game gives RGG more license to experiment with new ideas and mechanics, and I’m ready for some silly romp around with Majima on the high seas, but I’m also preparing myself for the typical emotional rollercoaster we expect from RGG. After all these years and fans begging for a Majima game for so long, I think there’s going to be some deep buried narrative treasure alongside some good old-fashioned pirate fun and I can’t wait to dig it up.

Systems

Developer(s)

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio

ESRB

Mature 17+ // Blood, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Alcohol