Following the exciting news from RGG Summit 2024 on September 20, Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii has made waves in Tokyo Game Show with its game demo, and we had the opportunity to play it firsthand!
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii brings an incredible spin on the Yakuza franchise with its new pirate concept and Goro Majima being the main playable character. While this demo is only available to play for roughly 15-20 minutes or so, we have been highly impressed with how much content it had.
A Main Story Continuation, not a Spinoff
Producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto clarified in our round table interview that Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is a continuation of the main story and not a spinoff game. Therefore, for fans who have already played Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, this new title will surely bring a lot of fun on top of the familiar side games and characters.
The game demo provided no solid hint as to what the plot may truly be in this game. It has been straightforward with simple mission targets, random fights, and item acquisitions throughout the provided map. We can only glean and assume with what we have all seen in the trailer released during the most recent RGG Summit livestream. However, it is without a fact that this game will bring as much excitement, if not more, as Gaiden did with Kiryu Kazuma (aka Joryu) as its main protagonist.
The Return to Real-Time Action Combat
Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is considered as the Gaiden story to Infinite Wealth, and it brings back the classic real-time action combat thatGaiden did. The game features two fighting styles for Majima: the Mad Dog Style, which is the classic set of moves inherent to him from the past series, and the Sea Dog Style, a pirate-y style that involves the use of an arsenal of (pirate) weapons such as cutlass, wire hooks, and pistol.
The game demo opens with Goro Majima arriving in Honolulu, Hawaii (the setting for Infinite Wealth) and goes straight to a brutal fight against menacing men. The tutorial quickly gives a run down of both styles as well as proper dodging and activating heat actions.
Doing combos is smooth in this game. We find that Majima has a flair for the dramatics with his movesets, especially when using his Sea Dog Style. Stylish is an apt term to describe the combat in this game that has been further emphasized with the slow-motion juncture as the last opponent falls in each fight.
And because of this slow-motion feature in fights, we think that there will be more interesting combos and crazy heat actions to be made in this game. We are excited to discover more movesets and skills that we can unlock to create more stylish combos.
New Looks, New Equipment
Fashion customization has been a constant feature in the yakuza franchise and this time around, RGG Studio decided to include ‘rings’ as the primary equipment for buffs to specific attributes (attack, defense, etc.). This is a good move because it fits the overarching theme of pirates and Majima as a character. He does look good with such accessories!
And while we cannot adjust the rings customization yet, we are excited to see how such ring combinations may affect future gameplay moving forward.
During fights, Majima also changes his outfit depending on his fighting style. Director Ryosuke Horii has mentioned that it has a visual purpose–to have clarity that Majima indeed has changed fighting style–but also to make it more fun and emphasize the theme of being a pirate in the game.
It does feel a bit like a magical transformation sequence with how neon and vibrant the colors of Majima’s pirate outfit are. Nonetheless, it’s amazing and ties the whole crazy pirate experience altogether.
Mad Lad Missions
Throughout the demo, Majima can talk to Noah, his young boy minder (similar to Akame in Gaiden, who is also voiced by the same actress), to go to various places and try side games like karaoke, fashion runway, Crazy Delivery and Dragon Kart.
Going to Madlantis is the main mission in this demo. When playing the demo, we suggest going for the fashion runway, Crazy Delivery, or Dragon Kart first because playing as Majima has a very interesting take. If you still have time, the karaoke is also worth seeing because you will be taken to a familiar Hawaiian bar to sing to your heart’s content.
Initial Verdict
We want more. We are excited about the full gameplay and experience Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii will offer. While playing the demo, we did see some still locked features which may be available in the full game, but rest assured that RGG Studio will be releasing new information as time goes by. We can only wait with excitement until its full release on February 28, 2025.