Yakuza 0 Proves a Serious Majima Game Isn’t an Impossibility

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home January 19, 2025 11 Views 8 Min Read
Yakuza 0 Proves a Serious Majima Game Isn’t an Impossibility



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This article contains SPOILERS for Yakuza 0 and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is set to see Goro Majima headline a game once again, this time as an amnesiac pirate captain sailing around the Hawaiian islands. The wacky premise and tone of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii are fitting for the character, and serve as a nice contrast to the much more emotional stories of the previous games in the series, Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. However, this doesn’t mean a serious game starring Majima could never work, and one fan-favorite entry in the franchise proves this.

Recently, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio chief producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto claimed in an interview with TheGamer that “you can’t make a serious Majima game” and that any game made around him is going to be over the top. While it’s largely true that Majima is one of the franchise’s most over-the-top characters, Yakuza 0 showed a much more subdued side of him that helped elevate him to the fan-favorite character he is today. Ignoring the success of Majima’s story in Yakuza 0 does a disservice to the character, and he shouldn’t be disqualified from having a more serious game again in the future.

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Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii Can’t Be Majima’s Swan Song

If LAD: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii follows in Kiryu’s footsteps, it could be Majima’s swan song, and I’m not sure if I’m ready for that.

While Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii’s Wacky Nature is Welcome, A Serious Majima Game Shouldn’t Be Off the Table

Majima’s Yakuza 0 Portrayal Shows the Character Can Be at His Best with a Serious Tone

While fans have become accustomed to Majima’s antics over the years due to his portrayal as the Mad Dog of Shimano, he hasn’t always carried this persona. Yakuza 0 serves as a prequel to the series wherein Majima is forced to play the role of cabaret club owner as a punishment for his failure during the infamous Ueno Siwa Hit. During this time, Majima takes on his Lord of the Night persona, leaning into the suave club owner and bowing to the whims of club patrons in order to earn enough money to wipe away his debut and rejoin the Tojo Clan.

Despite first portraying Majima as a wacky side character through his Majima Everywhere side quest in the original Yakuza game, the growth his character undergoes during the events of Yakuza 0 shows he has the potential to be far more well-rounded than the one-dimensional over-the-top character the series tends to portray him as. In fact, it’s through his efforts to protect Makoto Makimura, rather than assassinate her as he was ordered to do, that Majima grows into a character that many fans find far more interesting than he was previously. His Mad Dog persona largely grew out of a response to feeling caged by his duties at the Grand Cabaret in Sotenbori, and other glimpses of a serious Majima can be seen in flashbacks throughout the series.

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii’s Amnesia Plot Would Have Been Perfect for a Serious Majima Game

The Mad Dog persona has started slipping again in the post-Great Dissolution era of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, and an aging Majima working as a fisherman alongside Saejima and Dojima in Hokkaido looks far different from the zany character of the series’ past. With Majima waking up on Rich Island with amnesia at the start of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, it would make sense for his Mad Dog persona to have slipped away even more. Instead, Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii seems to double down on this persona, which while fun for many fans, misses the opportunity to tell another serious Majima story.

Without the knowledge of his past to motivate the Mad Dog, seeing Majima regress into his pre-Yakuza 0 personality would have delivered an interesting take on the character. It’s not often that players get to see that version of Majima, so even if Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii does not embrace that side, another prequel game starring Majima should still be on the table in the future.

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