Beginner Tips For Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii

There’s been a lot of hype around the release of Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii and a lot of new players will be using this wacky spin-off as their first jumping-in point for the Yakuza series. Despite being a spin-off game in the vein of Like A Dragon: Ishin rather than a mainline entry, the game retains a lot of the Yakuza DNA in its gameplay and systems. Like other recent spin-offs, Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii returns to the action-brawler style of older Yakuza games, rather than the turn-based Like A Dragon system.

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The Like A Dragon series has a unique style, and new players might be caught off-guard by the number of different activities and systems vying for their attention, even in the early stages of the game. From what to expect from the game to starter tips and things to watch out for, these are the things new Yakuza players should know about Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii.

1

Go At Your Own Pace

No Wrong Way To Play

This could be said of any game, but there is no wrong way to play a Yakuza or Like A Dragon game. The same is true here. If players find themselves wholeheartedly enthralled by go-karting and want to put an hour or two into it, that’s fine. There are plenty of side activities in Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, and players can explore or ignore them at their leisure.

The story missions tend to ramp up the stakes and seriousness, but the side content can be just as deep, if often more whimsical. This lets players dictate their own pace of progress in the game, and the majority of side activities will earn rewards that are useful in general gameplay, too. Pirate Yakuza is similar to the other games in the series in this way, even if the main story is happier to jump the shark than the mainline games.

2

Story Events Will Unlock New Ways To Play

Main Story Progress Opens Up More Of The Game

One thing that the Like A Dragon series has always been good at is opening up more content and gameplay elements gradually. New side characters and mechanics are often introduced as story elements before segueing into their own side activities as players progress. This is just as true in Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, and players shouldn’t neglect progressing the main story if they want more ways to interact with the game.

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An early example of this is the Hook that players unlock in the middle of chapter two. This is a weapon and utility item that gives players new ways to explore the environment and new options in combat. Players can use the hook to grapple to previously inaccessible locations, as well as use it to close the gap on opponents. This not only makes combat flow better, it opens up new ways to explore and uncover secrets.

3

Don’t Forget To Upgrade

Majima Can Grow

New players coming to the game should expect to be in combat a lot. There’s both melee brawling and ship-to-ship naval combat in Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, and both systems are equally deep. New players should be aware that Like A Dragon games have all the depth of your average RPG, and almost everything can be leveled up or upgraded.

That starts with Majima’s core stats, and new players should look to get early health and attack upgrades to make the many combat encounters a lot easier. Players can also unlock new combat skills and upgrades for each of their fighting styles, as well as upgrade their weapons, gear, and accessories as they progress. All of that is before players even get to upgrading and crewing their ship, leveling their crew, and more.

4

Build A Pirate Crew

Motley Crew

While Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii shares a lot with previous Yakuza games, the biggest new system is the naval combat. Large-scale ship-to-ship battles include a naval phase, where ships fight with weapons from standard broadsides to laser cannons and rocket launchers, and a boarding phase, where players fight in brawler style alongside their crew.

As this is a Yakuza game, players won’t be hiring new crew members from a list. Instead, recruits are found all around the map. Sometimes they’ll come from completing side quests, random challenges, or after big reputation gains. Once players have started assembling a crew, they can level them up by taking them to participate in naval battles.

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This crew-building mechanic is more core to the gameplay loop than new players might expect. One of the key story reasons that the Goro pirates are in Hawaii is to expand their crew, so it’s more than just a side activity. For players who click with the new ship combat, there’s also the draw of the Pirate Coliseum for players to test their crew compositions and naval battling skills.

5

How To Amass Treasure

Every Pirate Needs Booty

New players need to know that acquiring money is one of the most important things players can do in Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. Leveling up Majima’s skills in the game costs cold hard cash, not XP. There are a lot of other things players are going to want to buy throughout the game, too, so hoarding that pirate booty is essential.

Players can always sell junk and other items they find around town for cash, but there are better ways to make money. Just grinding fights can become lucrative as enemies get stronger, but pursuing bounties is an even better way to make cash. Bounties are a side activity marked on the map once Honolulu opens up, so they’re easy to find. The pirate coliseum is another good way to earn money, but players will need to build their ship and crew to have continued success.

6

Make Use Of Buffs And Healing Items

Get Into Cooking

In keeping with series traditions, there are a lot of different items that players can make use of in Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. From healing snacks to energy drinks, to items that can provide buffs, players might not know what the best items to use are. Items are plentiful in the game, and players shouldn’t hesitate to use them.

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For the best healing and buffs, players will need to make use of the cooking system. Some ingredients can be found in the environment and cooked up with meal kits to provide healing and buffs. This will also save on buying healing items from vendors. New players should be aware that anything shiny in the environment is worth investigating, as this is how players will acquire random items and ingredients.

7

Find The Dark Instruments

Call On The Sea Gods

New players in particular should be aware that their combat arsenal is not going to be complete until they’ve passed certain story milestones. Various aspects of the combat system will only unlock with progress, but one of the biggest examples is the Dark Instruments. These legendary musical instruments let the player summon “ancient gods” for assistance in combat.

They each provide some very strong combat abilities, but they don’t even get introduced until the end of the second chapter. Players need to pursue the Devil Flags quest line to acquire the instruments, and they’re definitely worth going after.

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Released

February 21, 2025

ESRB

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

OpenCritic Rating

Strong