Like a Dragon: Pirates Yakuza in Hawaii has dropped anchor in Tokyo Game Show waters with its massive display and playable game demos in the SEGA/ATLUS booth. There, director Ryosuke Horii and Producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto also shared valuable insights into this exciting new title that will surely make waves in the series’ fanbase.
During our roundtable interview with Horii and Sakamoto, we got to ask about various aspects of the Pirate Yakuza’s development, including its concept and its fan-favorite protagonist.
“First of all when number 8 (Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth) came out, there was thought of how he [Majima] would go on living in the context of these mainline stories. There has been a long time of thought for creating a title with Majima as the protagonist,” tells Producer Sakamoto. “The question of ‘what’s the most Majima-esque kind of game’ and what sort of elements can be combined with him in the context of Infinite Wealth came to their minds. “That’s how we landed on this [pirate theme]. This suits the character of Majima and it’s the most fresh–the best idea.”
Sakamoto also mentions that fans of existing pirate-themed media (both in series and in film) may come to like RGG Studio’s own take on such pirate concepts.
“The idea of Majima as a protagonist—there was a very positive feeling about that,” Horii adds. “Majima appeared during Yakuza 0 as a playable character, but this time around he’d be made/played using the latest engine, and we have been wanting to do that for a long time, and it’s great.”
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii Director Ryosuke Horii
And while the title does not have the ‘gaiden’ term to it (unlike Gaiden: Man Who Erased His Name), it is still a ‘gaiden’ by nature and story. “It is not a spinoff. It’s the continuation of the main story,” clarifies Sakamoto. They wanted to show Majima’s interaction and relation to the organization/entity called Palekana (in the game) and all that essentially happens after that.
“In terms of creating new gaiden titles (or non-numbered titles) in the future, it’s not confirmed at this point. Still not decided,” producer Sakamoto says. “Gaiden had a little threshold for playability—[meaning] it’s a small size compared to the numbered titles. There was a positive fan reaction to Like a Dragon Gaiden so we do want to create [easy-to-play] titles that will support the numbered main stories.”
Director Ryosuke Horii also says that just creating a pirate title alone wouldn’t be completely a Like a Dragon game, so it’s important to include key elements in the series depicting reality and the underground world. “We really tried to include that and there were a lot of discussions on how to do so.”
“The [Like A Dragon] series has always combined reality and fiction in a certain way,” Sakamoto adds. This time, they have combined it with pirate fiction/elements in a very satisfying way. “Having a pirate ship appear in Honolulu [Hawaii] leaves a great impression [after all].”
In terms of the development itself of the game, Sakamoto explains that it began during the creation of Infinite Wealth. He shared that introducing the pirate elements and adding things which have a theme like that has certainly been a challenge for them. “The Like a Dragon series is an action series at its heart but there are plenty of other included elements. Like the combat system that is unique to a pirate was challenging [to develop], as well as other [pirate-y] elements [in the game] which have yet to be announced.”
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii Producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto
On talks of Majima’s distinct fighting styles in the game, Director Horii shares with us that the Mad Dog Style is what makes Majima unique and makes sure that he’s alive and well in the game. “To have something with a different ‘mood’, the Sea Dog style was developed,” Horii says. The Sea Dog style is in contrast to the former and involves elements such as using two blades [instead of one] to fight.
“So the Mad Dog [fighting] style, it [inspires] a lot of Majima-esque moves from the past, having a lot of dynamic motion, but it is a new style,” Horii explains. Players will see attacks and movements which are reminiscent from the past games, but this is a completely new style.
As shown during the game demos, Majima changes his outfits whenever he switches his fighting style: from his basic floral shirt into the swash-buckling full pirate captain regalia. This feature was added to make a visual distinction for the player while playing.
Horii expounds on this, “This is to make it visually very clear that he has changed between two styles. It’s there to make it easier to understand. There’s also the fact that this is a pirate title [or pirate-themed]—so we make use of that element. So having that pirate visual appear often in the game, we thought we’d make it a lot more fun.”
To add more to the fun aspect of the game, there is also a new equipment customization option featured in the demo. Unlike the usual Yakuza fashion equipment with added buffs, Majima can now have multiple finger ‘rings’ to help increase his attributes.
“There’s outfit coordination in the game and with that function you will be able to choose the kind of fashion you want to wear in your style, like jackets and stuff,” Horii tells. “And we thought having such items and clothing with ‘buffs’ already on them (like raising attack, raising defense) limits the ability to customize [fashion] like that. So for that reason everything with buffs like that is just [settled] with the rings.”
“We really want to place importance on a gaiden game which this title is; because these games are easier to play and more approachable. So we want to keep trying that out in the future,” Producer Sakamoto expresses. The final number of hours to finish the game is not yet confirmed, but it is indeed going to be approximately longer than Like a Dragon Gaiden itself.
Director Horii says that the Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii still has the drama you can expect in the series. “So fans can certainly feel confident playing the game, walk around, explore, and expect to be satisfied with it,” he shares. “We have never made a pirate title before so there were many challenges in the development process. There are a lot of gameplay elements to be expected, and moving forward there will be new information coming out so please look forward to that. Look forward to playing the game!”
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii will be released on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC on February 28, 2025.