The RGG Like a Dragon Direct gave us an in-depth look at the gameplay of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, covering the game’s various locations, combat systems (on land and at sea), crew building, and more. Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is coming to PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC on February 21, 2025.
Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii really leans into the madness of Goro Majima, who now takes the lead in this latest spin-off. Washing up on the shores of Hawaii, he is soon confronted by pirates and sets out on an adventure full of buccaneer battles, crew building and ship-to-ship combat.
On land, Goro has multiple combat styles that he can use in battles that could potentially push this series into the realm of a musou. The Mad Dog style will look and feel relatively familiar to the classic Yakuza series, focusing on fistfights and short swords with speed and agility, dodging and blocking, taking to the air before unleashing charged moves, whirlwind slashing, building up to the ultimate Suspicious Men move, summoning shadowy doppelgängers to fight alongside you.
Sea Dog style then relies on double short swords, grappling hooks, muskets and the like. You can throw the swords like boomerangs, create a chain hook to close the gap and blast away with pistols. In no time, whip out your guitar, violin and saxophone to summon Dark Gods: Curse of the Man-Eating Shark, Curse of the Electrifying Jellyfish, Curse of the Sadistic Ape, Curse of the Cyclonic Avian. Crazy things.
At sea, you build your big galleon as you see fit and then hire a crew to man it. You can train them, deepen the bond through song, drink and adventure, and more. Of course, your ship should be armed to the teeth with broadside cannons, forward-firing rocket launchers, laser miniguns, flame walls, and more. Strategically allocate crew hands to maximize attack and defense stats.
It’s not all fighting, and you can retreat to the base on Rich Island. This is where Goro woke up with no memories of who he is, along with Noah Rish and tiger cub friend Goro. Rest here, replenish supplies, rehabilitate animal friends and more.
You can also go to other nearby islands such as Madlantis, where pirate lords make their home. This is the hub for mini games with gambling, mini golf and the Pirates’ Coliseum where you can test your team against everyone. Nele Island is home to ex-Yakuza who moved there… mainly to help clean up nuclear waste. And there’s always Hawaii itself, as seen in Infinite Wealth.
It looks huge and completely ridiculous, and we can’t wait for this to come out next month!