4/5 ★ – Lord_Hazenberg's review of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.

My favorite pastime. Yapping about Yakuza. Another day, another good Yakuza game. I desperately needed a game like this after the dumpster fire that was Avowed. RGG studios’ flawless record continues with Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. Getting to play as Majima again for the first time since his Kiwami 2 DLC was every bit as joyous as expected. I played this on PS5, and it took me around 33 hours to beat the game & acquire the platinum trophy. That does include all sub stories, colosseum fights, & beating the Amon Pirates. There were no crashes, bugs, glitches and only minor texture pop in here & there. And of course I played it in Japanese, because sorry Matt Mercer you are no Goro Majima (except you’re still leagues better than YongYea Kiryu). Combat is an absolute blast, and plays very similarly to the other post Judgment dragon engine games. The revamped Mad Dog style is insanely strong, & the new Sea Dog style offered enough tools to not be completely outclassed. The jump feature is a little wonky at times, because it shares the same input as sprint. Perfectly timed blocks felt like a new mechanic unless I’m misremembering. They also added unique combat when fighting on ship masts with a heavy focus on parrying. Ship combat was a franchise first and it’s serviceable. Enemy ships will cheat by defying physics to hit you, and there isn’t much to do in the open ocean bits. Getting to bring raiding parties into battles was really cool to see since your ship uses a recruitment system similar to Gaiden’s colosseum. A helpful tip from me; use ice cannons. That status effect is so unbelievably broken and turns most fights into easy wins. The Honolulu map from Infinite Wealth is reused along with 2 small islands where you can roam free. Most side activities are for recruiting crew members for you ship as the main story will halt your progress if your ship rank isn’t high enough. Hunting down bounties on foot, or sailing to island dungeons to find treasure are your best ways of gaining the money & experience to afford ship upgrades. It ain’t a Yakuza game without another banger soundtrack. The new karaoke songs, Mad Dog style theme, & Goro Pirates anthem are great ear worms. Although the music felt very quiet at times, so some boss themes weren’t immediately impactful. (STORY SPOILERS START HERE) The story itself isn’t the best this series has offered up, especially compared to recent entries like Infinite Wealth or Lost Judgment. But a good old fashioned island hopping treasure hunt with all of the Yakuza tropes in tow is still a great time. Majima’s job in the story is being the catalyst for the main cast of Noah & the Rich family. Noah is a young boy who wants to see the world & his drunk belligerent father Jason both come along for the ride. Their family relationship is the main emotional crutch the story leans on, and it’s fine. Although I do understand you can’t go as dark as other stories in this series when a 12 year old boy & his pet tiger cub are the main sidekicks. The villains were a little underwhelming, but they weren’t bad. Jack the Collector exists to give Majima his ship, Mortimer has a neat little arc given his sparse screen time, and Queen Michelle is probably the worst offender as she is barely given any motivation or screen time & is used as a setup villain for the real main antagonist. Raymond Law (Samoa Joe for any wrestling fans) plays the puppet master role. Pulling the strings behind many major characters to become the main antagonist. His boss battle is pretty sweet too. The post credit scene that reveals Majima’s motivations for being in Hawaii after he regains his memory was easily the biggest emotional punch in the game. I won’t spoil that here as that’s a great scene to discover on one’s own. (END OF STORY SPOILERS) TLDR; LaDPYiH (couldn’t help myself) is a fantastic addition to the greater Like a Dragon franchise. A fun, lighter hearted pirate adventure with the fan favorite Goro Majima was very needed after the darker emotional roller coaster that was Infinite Wealth. RGG have a good thing going with alternating between the turn based main series, and the brawler side stories to keep people who prefer either style happy.