What began as a street-level beat-’em-up gangster drama 20 years with the original Yakuza has evolved into something delightfully, fantastically ridiculous with Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. In a new look at Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s next installment, we see that any shred of realism has been discarded like jetsam; pirate protagonist Goro Majima can engage is mass naval warfare with laser guns, summon a giant spirit macaw with a magical saxophone, and visit the mystical island of Madlantis.
Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii looks like it might put Ubisoft’s beloved pirate games to shame with its ship combat. Captain Majima can take part in fierce boat battles, equipping his vessel with energy cannons, poison-spewing rocket launchers, and ice-elemental guns that freeze opponents’ ships. Majima can assemble a crew of weirdos to man his vessel, including former yakuza, hostesses, robots, ninjas, and sheep men. Things can get even weirder on land, as Majima’s abilities include the power to summon shadowy doppelgangers that fight for him. Or he can call upon jellyfish, sharks, and a big monkey to do his ass-kicking bidding.
Whereas previous Like A Dragon and Yakuza games have had relatively grounded combat, Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii has no such pretensions. Majima is now basically Dante from the Devil May Cry series, and can launch his opponents into the air, juggling them with flying punches, kicks, and flintlock pistol shots.
Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios is basically doing what it does best: borrowing ideas and gameplay mechanics from other game genres and stuffing them into a new Like A Dragon. If last year’s Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth drew inspo from Animal Crossing, Dragon Quest, and Crazy Taxi, this year’s spinoff will smartly swipe from Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, Devil May Cry, and every role-playing game where you wake up on the beach as an amnesiac. Sega seems aware of just how weird things have become; at the end of the video, voiceover notes “yes, this game is canon, and you’re going to need a lot of them.”
If for some reason you thought that Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii would be a ho-hum, fast-tracked sequel in Sega’s long-running franchise, take the 13 minutes to watch Thursday’s Like A Dragon Direct. It’s jam-packed with game details that make this year’s Like A Dragon another must-play.
For Like A Dragon fans, there’s also a big piece of welcome news in here: Unlike past titles, Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii won’t lock new game plus behind a paywall. That feature will be added to the game for free in a post-release update, Sega confirmed.
Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X on Feb. 21.
