Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii has a lot of familiar elements among the many changes. On the change side, the protagonist has switched from Ichiban Kasuga to Goro Majima who is now a pirate captain out in search of treasure around the Hawaiian islands. For the returning mechanics, players can upgrade Goro under four skill trees including Stats, Shared Abilities, Mad Dog, and Sea Dog.
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Players will need money and points earned from pirate adventures to buy skills, so players can’t waste their hard-earned currencies willy-nilly. That’s why it’s encouraged to avoid these skills like the plague in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii as they offer little use. They’re not bad, but their uses are very particular.
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Essence Of Flowing Light
Use Jet Packs For Heat Actions
Essence of Flowing Light is a skill tied to Heat Actions. Those unfamiliar with the Yakuza series should know there is a blue meter under the health bar and once full, players can execute Heat Actions based on their spatial awareness. New skills will unlock new opportunities from smashing enemies against walls to using a bike as a battering ram. Essence of Flowing Light unlocks Goro’s ability to use jetpacks on the beaches of Honolulu. The Heat Action is cool to see once but the opportunities are rare so it feels like a waste of money especially early on.
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Heat Gauge Auto-Charge: Desperation
Heat Gauge Charges When HP Is Low
The Heat Gauge normally rises when players hit enemies although there are items to replenish the meter as well as rings to amplify it in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. Heat Gauge Auto-Charge: Desperation is a skill that will also aid it, raising the meter when players are at a low enough health point.
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Desperate times call for desperate measures which is not a bad thing. However, since players can have near limitless healing items thanks to potion-like drinks and home-cooked meals, there’s really not much of a need for low HP boosters including Ultimate Counter: Desperation.
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Mad Dog Trick: Demonfire Rain
Unleash More Daggers From Above
Mad Dog Trick: Demonfire Rain is a skill attached to one of Goro’s two stances: Mad Dog. If players jump in the air and then hit circle, Goro will throw knives down like a demonic rain cloud and this skill will add more knives to his attack. It’s not a bad move but the Mad Dog stance has so many better moves. For example, players can unlock Mad Dog Trick: Serpent which is a powerful uppercut, and Mad Dog Trick: Chomp is a lightning-fast charge through multiple enemies.
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Mad Dog Trick: Savage
Increase Combo Count
For PS5 players, Mad Dog Trick: Savage will unlock a combo move involving pressing Square four times followed by a Triangle finisher. It’s a fine enough combo to unlock for the Mad Dog stance but chances are players aren’t going to pay attention to their button presses. Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is a more chaotic action game with so many variables from switching stances to ultimate attacks. Plus as was already covered, there are better Mad Dog tricks to unlock which is why Mad Dog Trick: Savage is best left alone.
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No Reservations
Eat As Much As You Want
Food has played a big role in the Yakuza franchise and it’s still big in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. The only difference now is that players don’t have to rely solely on going to restaurants to heal while roaming around. There are more options now which is why a skill like Increased Recover at Restaurants, which boosts the healing factor of food, is not great. More so than that, No Reservations is pointless because it turns Goro’s stomach into a bottomless well even when HP is full. The only time it’s useful is when players have to eat so much food for side quests like getting recruits in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii and even then there are cheaper ways to circumvent the restrictions.
2
Perfect Guard
Guard Before An Enemy Strikes
There are a few ways players can counter or dodge enemies in the game like the Ultimate Counter. Players can hit X on the PS5 controller followed by circle to counter with a powerful strike.
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Players can buy Ultimate Counter: Wild Blade for another way to activate this attack but it isn’t necessary. What’s even less necessary is Perfect Guard. If players time their block with L1 right, they can counter as well but with Ultimate Counters already unlocked there is no point in buying Perfect Guard as a skill.
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Sea Dog Skill: Charge ’N’ Shoot
Make The Gun More Effective
Sea Dog is the other stance for Goro which dresses him up like a pirate which is the point of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii as a game: to sail around and cause havoc. Players will unlock a pistol to accompany Goro’s twin blades under the Sea Dog stance. The initial model is not that powerful and it charges slowly. Items and skills like Sea Dog Skill: Charge ’n’ Shoot can help it, but it’s not worth trying to make the pistol better. Sea Dog Skill: Charge ’n’ Shoot, to be clear, strengthens the impact of bullets. Eventually pistol-based skills like this and Essence of Piracy: Rain of Blood will be useful but only in certain areas of the game much later.
- Released
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February 21, 2025
- Engine
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Dragon Engine
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ // Blood, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Alcohol
- Steam Deck Compatibility
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Unknown
- X|S Optimized
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Yes
- File Size Xbox Series
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45.03 GB
- Number of Players
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Single-player
- OpenCritic Rating
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Strong
- PC Release Date
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February 21, 2025
- PS5 Release Date
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February 21, 2025
- Xbox Series X|S Release Date
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February 21, 2025