Back in September, I had the chance to play a small demo of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. I learned the story of how Majima ended up snagging his newest job as a pirate and finally making his big comeback as a protagonist, almost a decade after Japan's release of Yakuza 0. My gameplay was primarily focused around combat and exploring the Madlantis area of the game. It was a short-lived experience, but it was so much fun to play as the goofy Mad Dog again, and I couldn't wait for a chance to play more.
We are now less than a month away from Pirate Yakuza's release and I finally got that chance to play a full hands-on experience of the more silly and exciting new content this game has to offer. Based on just a few hours of gameplay, I couldn't believe how much is packed into this game, and they only allowed us to explore a small part of it. The experience was overwhelming in the most positive way, and the new features in Pirate Yakuza continue to prove that Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio are masters of offbeat ideas and character-focused side content.
To quickly recap what we know of the story so far, Pirate Yakuza takes place six months after the events in Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Majima wakes up on an island and seems to have lost his memory. He ends up becoming a pirate and finding a crew to solve a waste-pollution problem on Nele Island and uncover the secrets of Madlantis--a hideout for criminal organizations. Recovering his memories is a core part to the game and story, all while trying to navigate between his current pirate family and past yakuza lifestyle.
Majima is one of the most-beloved characters in the Like a Dragon/Yakuza franchise and his loud and violent yet charismatic personality have cemented him as a fan favorite. In Yakuza 0, we got to see Majima in his pre-Mad Dog days, which felt like an entirely different character than the loveable loose cannon he later became. I was curious to see how the Mad Dog Majima as a protagonist would work, but Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii looks to be doing a great job of ensuring the new features and interactions he has with characters are perfectly suited for his wacky nature and new pirate persona.
I've played every Like a Dragon/Yakuza title, and while they all can seem a bit repetitive when it comes to running around the maps, devouring full menus of food, and attempting Mahjong for the 8th time to get those achievements, each game contains its own unique minigames and side quests that separate them from other RGG titles. Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii continues that legacy. I was mind-blown by all the fresh and goofy content I explored in just my two hours of gameplay: sailing the ocean and battling other ships, all the pirate-themed minigames, and even finding new silly ways to fish and cook food. RGG went all out to ensure Majima fans would be happy after years of the Mad Dog being away from the spotlight.
First Stop, Rich Island
In the demo, our first stop was Rich Island, a hub world for Majima. There's so much to explore here: a small community of residents and pirates, gorgeous views of neighboring islands and water, and even a mini farm called "Goro Kingdom" where you can bond with and feed different animals. Even when it comes to fishing, there's a great deal of variety: You can use a fishing pole, shoot and catch them with your grappling hook, or jump in the water and catch fish with your bare hands. (You can't fight them in the water though; I tried.)
The island is not safe from enemies, making it a great place to level up and practice your fighting skills. In Pirate Yakuza, there are "bounties" you can hunt down and fight throughout the game to earn a little bit of extra money, and the island has a few of them hanging out on the beach.
Another cool feature is the upgraded outfit-customization system. Similar to Kiryu in Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, you can customize outfits for Majima instead of sticking with the default. Pirate Yakuza gives you more options to fully customize everything from hair style to full outfits for each of Majima's styles: Casual (Mad Dog) and Pirate (Sea Dog). Majima can also equip up to 10 rings (one on each finger) at any given time that offer different buffs in battle and gameplay. You can even equip an adorable little hat to Goro the tiger as well.
Before heading out to the water and other islands, I got to explore Majima's ship, Goromaru. This ship has everything: you can sing karaoke, grow plants, change outfits, and bond with your crew. There's even a cooking game called "Goro Goro Kitchen" which is a fun spin on the cooking mechanic in Yakuza Ishin. You can choose which crew members to join you on the sea and level them up with gifts, drinks, and big group dinners. The crew members are a mix of brand-new characters and beloved and random characters from all past titles. The bonding moments are oddly adorable and remind me of when Majima had his construction crew back in Yakuza Kiwami 2. It was sort of nostalgic, and I'm sure it will play an integral part in recovering Majima's memories. Maybe we will also get another catchy jingle to sing along with too.
The new features in Pirate Yakuza continue to prove that Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio are masters of offbeat ideas and character-focused side content.
Sail Between Islands
There are a lot of impressive new features in Pirate Yakuza, but the most exciting for me was the ocean exploration. This is where Pirate Yakuza stands out among the previous titles in the franchise. Even though past games have their own unique features, every Like a Dragon/Yakuza has followed a similar formula when it comes to transportation: walking around or taking a taxi between areas or giant city maps. There was never a reason to change this formula until they gave Majima a pirate hat and a misfit crew their own ship to sail between islands.
This is one of the coolest new additions to the Like a Dragon series, and I hope they'll find other ways to bring it back in the future. Ryu Ga Gotoku went all out with ocean exploration: from battling other ships to discovering treasure and smaller islands to battle and loot. It's like The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker for organized crime.
You travel between islands in Hawaii, Rich Island, Nele Island, and Madlantis areas, and together these give you a lot to explore. There's treasure everywhere to collect, and you can explore smaller islands to fight groups of pirate gangs, level up your crew, and collect even more treasure. My favorite part was battling other ships on the water. Majima's ship is equipped with a machine gun on the front and cannons on each side, and your ship's appearance and crew can be customized as well. The battling was pretty basic, and none of the enemy ships stood a chance against us. I'm hoping they get more challenging later on in the game but either way, you get enough of a pirate experience with this feature, with plenty of potential for it to grow.
I was also surprised with how smooth the controls were for the ship and how easy it was to maneuver. The ship is massive and tanky, but easy to navigate through the waters, with the boost and battle mechanics as well. Sailing is pretty straightforward, but storms will happen occasionally and you have to brave whirlpools and lightning to avoid damaging your ship. I would've loved to face some real difficulties in the waters since everything seemed a little too easy, but I still had fun just sailing around and was hooked immediately. I'm really looking forward to spending 20+ hours just on the ship and forgetting about the story for weeks.
Madlantis Coliseum Battles and Exploration
In the second part of the demo, we headed to Madlantis to check out the Coliseum battles and explore some of the minigames. This time, Majima was fully leveled up, so we got to experience the full scale of Majima's skills and abilities, including an upgraded ship.
The Coliseum battles are my favorite update to the minigames I've played so far. Instead of the arena-type fights in previous titles, the stadium fills with water and you start each battle going head-to-head with enemy ships. Since our ship is fully upgraded, we got elemental mechanics added to our weapons, like flamethrowers to attack enemies from the side. Once you win against the enemy, you hop on over their ship and engage in a massive group brawl. It's not just a petty fight; it's a war over the seas. It's a hilarious addition to the coliseum system and fitting for our chaotic protagonist. Coliseum battles were always a fun challenge for me in Yakuza games, but the added pirate theme and mechanics makes this version more epic and ridiculously fun to play.
The combat still continues to impress me: I thought I saw all the features during my last hands-on demo, but it turns out there's even more to Majima's abilities. When Majima's heat circle reaches the max, he can bust out a musical instrument and summon one of four different "Dark Gods," which are animal gods that will assist in battle. He can summon jellyfish, a parrot, an ape, and sharks by playing a corresponding instrument. The gods don't seem to do a ton of damage, but they are a funny assist for big group battles. It looks as wild as it sounds, especially when he busts out a violin mid-battle and a bunch of sharks start flying out of the ground to attack enemies.
Outside of the coliseum battle. I checked out some of the other side content in Madlantis. Every staple minigame from previous titles (golfing, gambling, baseball) had a pirate-themed spin to them, which was a refreshing addition to this game. I immediately became obsessed with the battle-cage baseball minigame called Bang Bang, where instead of trying to hit home runs, you hit exploding barrels to score points.
For the last part of the demo, I briefly explored Hawaii to see how much of Infinite Wealth's content was squeezed into this already massive game. The expected huge map is there, but this time RGG brings back the beloved Dragon Kart. The minigame's mechanics haven't changed much, but racing through Honolulu roads with a gorgeous tropical background is enough of a treat for me.
The two-hour demo was limited to what I could explore and see, but I can already tell fans will love all the wacky pirate and Majima content packed into the game. Obviously there's still a lot to the story we don't know about and I'm very curious to see how this game will possibly sum up Majima's saga, but from what we've seen so far, I can tell there's potential for it to tug at my heartstrings, again. Recovering old memories with past relationships while creating new ones may cause a conflict in Majima's new pirate lifestyle, and I can't wait to see how it does while I'm ugly crying in my gaming chair.
