Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii: Review

Developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio
Published by SEGA
Platform: PS5

If you thought the idea of a Yakuza game being set inside a pirate sim was madness, you'd be right.

But what you'd be wrong about is the next thought you'd have which probably would be to dismiss it outright as a waste of time and a distraction from everything you love about the series.

In fact, what Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii does instead is take everything from the franchise, transplant it into a pirate setting and make it extremely playable for anyone wanting to sit down and pour a few hours into it all.

You take control of Goro Majima, the main protagonist of the franchise. Waking up on a shore with a bad case of amnesia and only the clothes he's dressed in, Goro must explore Rich Island and find some idea what has happened before to help him continue on into the future.Saved by a local boy Noah, he gets the lay of the land and must take on pirates, steal and crew ships and generally lord it up as a pirate.

In many ways, it's a very simple premise and in truth, the game offers little depth for long-term play. But what it does proffer is a very enjoyable combat system and series of minigames to wile away the hours with ease.

It's really only once the game takes out to the seas after you've beaten up some local pirates terrorising the chilled Hawaiian natives that it starts to find its sealegs. With swift combat on the waters and a sense of purpose, Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii entangles the player in a world of gangster-based absurdity but places it squarely in the pirate world.

Angling definitely for a more compact experience, the latest Like A Dragon has the bonus of appealing to non-fans from the genre - and with a wider remit than just GTA in Japan that's dogged the previous outings, the studio's desire to try something different pays off handsomely.