Have to Know
What’s it? A Yakuza spin-off on the Hawaiian seas that is a little bit too harking back to Yakuza 8.
Launch date Feb 20, 2025
Anticipate to pay $60/£55
Developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio
Writer SEGA
Reviewed on Gigabyte G5
Steam Deck Verified
Hyperlink Official web site
£44.34View at Amazon £47.99View at very.co.uk
My pirate ship is crusing by means of the Hawaiin seas, pursuing a speedboat. You may assume an enormous, heavy vessel like a pirate ship would stand little probability of catching up with a nimble speedboat. However don’t fret—my pirate ship has rocket boosters. So I efficiently chase the speedboat right into a Bond-villain fashion base, whereupon I proceed the pursuit on foot, leaping over laser traps, fleeing a large cannonball that rolls in the direction of me Indiana Jones-style, after which end up with a sword combat in opposition to a large robotic.
How can I presumably give a recreation that comprises all that any lower than PC Gamer’s first ever 100% rating? Effectively… the ‘boat chase’ is only a cutscene, the lasers should be jumped over with sticky platforming controls, that cannonball sequence is a fast time occasion, and that enormous robotic additionally requires that crap leaping to succeed in its weak level. Nonetheless, when a recreation’s bought this a lot charisma and pleasure in its coronary heart, it is easy to miss plenty of flaws on this pleasantly batshit nautical journey.
You play as sequence favourite Goro Majima, and should you’re not acquainted with Yakuza, don’t fret, as a result of Majima has misplaced his reminiscence and has no concept who he’s both (although I nonetheless would not advocate beginning right here—go take pleasure in Yakuza 0 first). Majima wakes up on a Hawaiian island and shortly groups up with an lovable ten yr outdated boy known as Noah. These acquainted with Majima know that you just’d sooner depart a ten yr outdated boy within the firm of a stack of lit dynamite.
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I assumed Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii would burn me out on the Like a Dragon sequence, however now I do know that is by no means going to occur
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Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii seems extra like a zany RGG tackle Black Flag than I dared hope
Latest mainline Yakuzas have been turn-based RPGs, however this one will get again to the sequence’ street-brawling roots. Majima has barely regained consciousness earlier than a number of pirates choose a combat with him. Sadly for them, Majima has remembered that he is lethal with a knife, quick as Hell, and nice enjoyable to brawl with. There’s blocking, dodging, and parrying however you will not have to fret about any of that for hours—simply give attention to kicking the crap out of those pirates as magnificently as potential.
Quickly you are launched to Noah’s father, Jason, a surly alcoholic ex-treasure hunter who wants his love of the ocean reawakened—by means of a fistfight, naturally. This sequence stays glorious at crafting nice characters which are ridiculous one second, then pulling melodramatically on the heartstrings the following (Jason solely needs the legendary treasure to heal his sick son!). Different highlights this time embrace Masura, a ship prepare dinner who appears a little bit too open to cooking human meat, and Queen Michelle, who continues this sequence’ unimaginable run of scenery-chewing villains.
Maybe you are questioning why it is taking me so rattling lengthy to get to the piracy stuff. So was I, once I was enjoying by means of the entertaining however glacially paced opening hours. After many tutorials, character introductions, a nap, one asinine cooking mini-game, and a number of other extra punch ups, Majima lastly hops aboard a pirate ship and is quickly declared captain. However then, after an unimaginable musical quantity, that is sadly the place the hilarious script and appreciable attraction hit their first rocky wave because the crusing is all a bit Bland Flag.
Hawaii’s seas are damaged up into a number of mini-areas fairly than one open world, they usually all look near-identical. A small assortment of treasure islands whereby you combat different pirates for loot, lighthouses that act as quick journey factors, rival ships dotted round, and velocity rings that make you go sooner whenever you sail by means of them. You may need to persist with these rings as a lot as potential, too, as a result of your ship strikes painfully slowly even with the increase on.
That may be much less of an issue if the waters weren’t so uninteresting to discover. Normal issue is laughably unchallenging, with any ships you probability throughout happening in a couple of hits. Majima can let go of the wheel and pull out a rocket launcher, one thing I truly forgot I might do. Not as a result of I am additionally affected by amnesia, however as a result of I simply went by means of far an excessive amount of of the sport with out ever needing to make use of it.
Ship of fools
Realism has been booted overboard in favour of flamethrower cannons, laser beams, machine weapons that fireplace ship-freezing bullets, and so forth.
Issues enliven significantly when a subplot involving mightier ships is launched and you’ll sail to particular factors on the maps to take them on. However the commute remains to be uninteresting as bricks as a result of there’s so little hazard alongside the best way. Black Flag, nonetheless the head of third-person piracy, felt genuinely harmful as a result of mighty ships might all of the sudden emerge whenever you had been exploring, or the authorities would present up should you sank too many vessels. There’s none of that right here, bar a little bit of nasty climate sometimes spicing issues up. “Look, it is raining,” says certainly one of my crew every time it rains, which mainly sums up how boring crusing too typically is.
Pity, as a result of the most important ship battles do nonetheless seize that Yakuza fight OTT magic. Realism has been booted overboard in favour of flamethrower cannons, laser beams, machine weapons that fireplace ship-freezing bullets, and so forth. It is all about making an attempt to get your ship into the optimum place to do most harm with out leaving your self open. As soon as the rival ship has been defeated, you and your crew then climb aboard.
Right here Yakuza is on far stronger footing, as Captain Majima has to assist his crew take out as many pirates as potential. Fortunately, he is bought his new ‘Sea Canine’ preventing fashion. This comes with two cutlasses that he can frisbee into crowds of grunts and that’ll boomerang again to him. He has a grappling hook, good for closing the hole with distant enemies. And he even has a pistol should you’d choose to maintain that distance and simply fireplace away. There are additionally particular strikes, magical devices that may summon a shoal of ghost sharks (yep), and Majima’s ‘normal’ preventing fashion even allows you to summon three clones to combat alongside him. That final one nearly makes up for the problem spike in Yakuza 7 when he used it in opposition to you.
Deadly as you might be, you are still going to wrestle and not using a first rate crew. Fortunately, Hawaii is filled with people who find themselves surprisingly eager to observe an amnesiac weirdo right into a life or piracy. You quickly make port at Honolulu Metropolis, the setting of final yr’s Yakuza 8, which is filled with facet quests and characters that may be recruited. Highlights embrace a PR supervisor who’s making an attempt to detoxify a pirate captain’s picture, and serving to the relationship prospects of a girl ex-pirate who’s “some unrefined salty bitch and not using a lick of sophistication” (er, her phrases not mine). And would it not blow your thoughts to be taught that yet one more dope has introduced a harmful animal to Hawaii in an insecure storage system?
These are hysterical, however when you attain Honolulu, you are mainly enjoying a Yakuza 8 enlargement pack. Delightfully odd and with the standard hilarious dialogue, however the one factor that does not really feel acquainted about exploring right here is the fight. Oh, and Majima’s pirate hook he can use to succeed in excessive locations and nab treasure that poor grounded Ichiban apparently missed final yr. The similar minigames and metropolis format means it struggles to really feel recent. We have simply been to Hawaii, and a full priced recreation is a reasonably cheeky ask for such an analogous return journey.
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is as delightfully preposterous as its identify suggests. I’ve complained lots right here, however the implausible writing and great forged imply that is most likely certainly one of my most screenshotted video games since… nicely, the final Yakuza. How will you hate a recreation with a location known as “Madlantis”? Arguably, as a result of it is one of many solely new places. There’s enjoyable available right here, but when Sega are going to maintain releasing spin-offs that recycle a lot content material at full worth, they could encourage a unique sort of videogame piracy.
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii: Worth Comparability £44.34View £54.99 £47.99ViewWe verify over 250 million merchandise daily for one of the best pricespowered by
The Verdict
70
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Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
Flawed and overfamiliar, however nonetheless as joyously OTT and hilarious as ever.
Abbie Stone
