REVIEW: Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is the definition of a side story... and that's not a bad thing

It's been almost exactly a year since Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio released their 100+ hour epic and VGG Game of the Year nominee, Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth. In the time after, you'd imagine most studios maybe have rumors about what's next. Maybe even a teaser trailer.

RGG Studio is built different though. They've just gone ahead and released a whole 40-hour adventure just 13 months after the release of their last game. And spoiler alert: It's good. It's definitely a side adventure, and it stands as a reminder that the series shifting to turn-based RPG mechanics was the right one, but it's good.

Put on your pirate hat, say yarr, and join me on a seafaring review.

An in-game screenshot of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza. On the deck of a pirate ship, various crew members pose for a photo. Some cross their arms, some raise a fist in glory. In the front, the game's protagonist Majima points at the camera. Next to him, a young boy stands with his hands at his waist, and his father stands next to him in a backwards cap raising his fist. A baby tiger sits off to the side as well.

Just the Facts

Developer: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio (RGG Studio)

Publisher: SEGA

Platform(s): PC, PS4/5*, and Xbox Series S/X *denotes platform reviewed

Price: $59.99

Release Date: February 21, 2025

Review key provided by publisher via fortyseven communications.

Yohoho and a bottle of... sake?!

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii (Pirate Yakuza for short) is the twenty-fourth entry in the Like a Dragon series since the initial game launched in 2005. And you might think that with so many games, and with how appropriately over the top the series has been from the start, there'd be nowhere left for them to go.

Well, RGG has seemingly started to toss concepts into a hat to dictate their next game with the mouthful that is Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, somehow still finding their way to something that 1) makes sense within the established narrative, 2) fits the series direction, and 3) is incredibly fun as a result.

Pirate Yakuza brings players back under the eyepatch of series favorite Goro Majima, the Mad Dog of Shimano. Most known for his unpredictable antics as usual protagonist Kazuma Kiryu's on-again-off-again rival and bestie, Majima is a legend in the Japanese criminal underworld in his own right. But when he's called to duty in Hawaii — the new yakuza hot spot since the events of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth — everything goes topsy-turvy.

A shipwreck with a side of memory loss leads to the once-feared patriarch washing up on the shores of an island in Hawaii with no idea who he is or what he's doing there. He instantly latches onto the friendship of a young lad named Noah and his pet "cat" (read: a baby tiger), Goro, who save his life. It's on this island that amnesiac Majima learns about the thriving pirate culture in the Hawaiian waters: We're talking full wooden pirate ships, captains and first mates, yarr me hardy, battening down the hatches, and all that.

It's introduced so plainly and so simply that, in classic Like a Dragon fashion, you don't even bat an eye at it.

What ensues is a legit pirate adventure where Majima and his slowly assembled misfit pirate crew take to the seas in search of an ancient treasure hidden somewhere on the Hawaiian islands. The Yakuza are of course involved, as are the Palekana religious zealots from Infinite Wealth — along with a new band of pirate folk led by a fancy "Queen of Pirates," Michele, and the WWE/AEW superstar Samoa Joe-modeled Pirate King, Raymond Law. The whole affair is a non-stop cycle of backstabbing between factions, familial drama, and batshit zaniness.

Pirate Yakuza feels uniquely wacky in a way that even past Yakuza/LaD games aren't. I'm not sure if RGG Studio just felt like that was easier to get away with thanks to Majima being in the driver's seat or if the theme could only be capitalized on with full commitment, but the pirate shenanigans feel even sillier than the series standard. There's a full-on Bachelor style dating show (with live action cutscenes) at one point, a giant pirate coliseum where crews face off in gladiatorial combat, and some of the oddest side characters in town, like a beef-based pirate captain who makes cow puns constantly.

It's silly fun, but it lacks stakes and some of those more grounded, heartfelt moments that past games in the series use to balance the chaos. Characters feel underdeveloped, particularly the villains, who I couldn't give two shits about in the end. And while it was fun to see Majima not just devolved into his usual chaos-for-chaos'-sake self that he's been for years now, the amnesiac plotline made everything feel a little toothless. Newcomers are definitely more welcome as a result, but even they will come away a little unfulfilled in the end.

Listen, it's a side story and it fulfills that brief perfectly. It fills the gap between mainline titles and offers up an extra silly adventure that'll make you laugh, with an ending that sets up whatever comes next in the series beautifully in another "oops I'm suddenly crying" sort of way. Is it the most engaging video game narrative out there? No. Do I regret experiencing it? Also no.

It's silly fun, but it lacks stakes and some of those more grounded, heartfelt moments that past games in the series use to balance the chaos.

An in-game screenshot of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza's naval combat. On the deck of a ship, a crew mans various stations. Machine guns and cannons. Cannon fire shoots on an enemy ship to the side and an island can be seen in the distance.

The pirate's life is fun... for a bit.

Pirate Yakuza continues the series trend in that it reverts back to the beat-em-up combat of the series' roots, leaving the turn-based RPG systems for the mainline games moving forward. While it's fun to go back to the classic Like a Dragon gameplay style, it's also a reminder of how apt and how genius the shift to turn-based RPG mechanics was.

As Majima, you'll wander the streets and oceans of Hawaii, gathering up treasures, fighting off pirates and thugs, and gaining money to level yourself up and buy new gear for your pirate ship. Majima comes equipped with two fighting styles: his classic Mad Dog style, dodging swiftly and doing big damage with his trademark dagger; and the new Sea Dog style that is better equipped for taking down large groups of enemies with his double cutlass action and his pistol.

Combat is fun and flowy and you can certainly run into some powerful combos to feel like an unbeatable machine, but it at times feels a bit mindless and repetitive as you mash your way through the same combos and same heat actions to get through these fights as fast as possible. When you add in the ability to very quickly level yourself up into an unbeatable state — thanks to the copious ways to earn money and spend it on power ups — fighting becomes more of a chore than something that is engaging from stem to stern.

But luckily, there's lots more to do in Pirate Yakuza.

One of the great things about Like a Dragon, a series that reuses assets and mechanics across games, is how full an RGG Studio world feels from the moment you drop in. The density of each game levels up as each new title adds in some new system, mechanic, or weird new minigame. Pirate Yakuza's biggest addition comes in the form of its ship combat and exploration. Once Majima starts the Goro Pirates and takes the helm of their trusty flagship, the Goromaru, you're free to roam the seas and loot and pillage the islands that dot them.

Ship-based combat and exploration is reminiscent of the naval combat of the Assassin's Creed series, but with that special Like a Dragon flair. You've got machine guns to fire out front, cannons to fire on either side of the ship, and a rocket launcher that Majima can fire from the deck of the ship at any time. You can rocket boost your ship across the waters and drift to dodge out of the way of incoming shots. You'll also have to maintain the health of your crew on deck as the fights go on. It's an even more arcade-y take on the Assassin's Creed-style naval combat, and by stripping away any of the more complicated systems, it keeps the focus on fun. It's a simple but needed diversion from the landlocked gameplay and it opens up avenues into more interesting gameplay styles.

Once you're done delivering a broadside or whatever, you will likely either end up going aboard the enemy ship or onto an island where treasure awaits.

In Deck Battles, you and your handpicked crewmates go onto the deck of your opponent's ship and partake in an all-out brawl. There are light management elements for your crewmates where each one has unique skills in specific roles and can be leveled up with certain items handed out to them.

Meanwhile, disembarking onto islands to look for treasures allows you and a smaller crew to tread through mini dungeon-like islands, fighting through waves of enemies. Pirate combat is almost musou-like in execution, pitting Majima and his crew against upward of 100 enemies at once, more about crowd control than anything else.

It's a nice change of pace from the smaller group fights I'm used to with the series, and it makes the pirate-focused ground combat feel like it has its own identity. Especially when you consider the musical instrument-based power moves that Captain Majima can unleash to summon giant monkeys, sharks, and parrots. It's so good.

Between the pirate-focused segments, the myriad of minigames — Dragon Kart, Crazy Delivery, and many emulated SEGA games abound — and the traditional city-based gameplay, I rarely grew bored of it all, despite each system's generally shallower feel in comparison to the mainline titles. How deeply you dive into each system will run you anywhere between 20-40 hours for a first playthrough. As an avid Like a Dragon fan, my playthrough ended up on the 40-hour end, and I ended up feeling overpowered for more than half of that.

An in-game screenshot of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza. A large monkey surrounded in a ghostly purple aura uppercuts some enemies while a pirate slahes on the ground with his cutlass. Waiting enemies stand warily behind this scene.

Reusing assets has never felt better

More studios need to take a page out of RGG Studio's playbook and reuse assets to turn around games more often with less effort and expense. Oftentimes when we finish a big AAA game, the one thing we want is just... more. We want to live in that world for just a little bit longer and experience new things within it. Nearly every part of Pirate Yakuza is built out of pieces of Infinite Wealth, with the whole of Honolulu left untouched and stories and ideas carried over from that game left fully intact. And while some pieces are a little shallower than I wanted, Pirate Yakuza fulfills that itch; it almost serves as a semi-sequel to Infinite Wealth's Hawaii-based stories and side stories in a fulfilling way.

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is the definition of a spinoff game, but it's also the gold standard for games like it.

Having played roughly half the game in English and the other half in Japanese, I can report that RGG Studio has delivered quality voice acting on both sides once again. Matthew Mercer has been Majima's English voice actor since 2020 and has nailed the mad side of the Mad Dog of Shimano ever since. And Hidenari Ugaki, the Japanese voice for Majima since the very beginning, delivers another hearty performance and continues to showcase his legendary status. Both actors are clearly having a lot of fun with the pirate-y theming and making the most of their time as pirate captains.

Other standouts include Jason Rich (Kenji Matsuda/Jeremy Brandt), Noah's father who looks exactly like Luke from Gilmore Girls; Samoa Joe's Raymond Law, who makes the most of his fairly minimal villain role; and the amorous Masaru Fujita (Ryuji Akiyama/Brent Mukai), who fulfills the lovable goofball sidekick role perfectly.

And yes. The rumors are true. There are several full musical interludes in this game that are worth seeing to believe. That's all I'll say.

An in-game screenshot of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza. A man with an eyepatch and short hair leans back in the background of a shot on the Hawaiian coast. He holds a dagger up and in front of him are several ghost clones of him in various poses.

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is the definition of a spinoff game, but it's also the gold standard for games like it. Majima's Hawaiian adventures are a little shallower than I wanted, but when compared to the likes of the last two mainline games, anything would seem shallow. But being a pirate captain for a "short" 40 hours in the Like a Dragon universe is a dream I never knew I had, and RGG Studio showed me why it was a worthy fantasy.

Video Games Are Good and Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is . . . GOOD. (7.5/10)

+ pirate gameplay feels refreshing for the series, Majima is a perfect protagonist for a pirate adventure, the story is so perfectly unserious

- but the narrative lacks some heart and some development, many gameplay systems feel shallower than expected, too easy to become overpowered and lose interest

The key art of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. A man stands with his mouth agape and with an eyepatch over one of his eyes. The eyepatch shows a snake and the man wears full pirate garb. He wields two cutlasses and stands in front of an orange to purple gradient.

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