Game Review: LIKE A DRAGON PIRATE YAKUZA Nails the 3 C’s of RPGs

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
Directed by Yasuaki Uehara
Written by Tsuyoshi Furuta, Masayoshi Yokoyama
Designed by Takanori Naganuma
Produced by Ryosuke Horii, Hiroyuki Sakamoto
Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio
Published by SEGA
PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One, Xbox X/S
February 21, 2025

 

2025 is off to a great start in the video game world, with games like Monster Hunter Wilds and Split Fiction coming out to both critical and commercial success. However, there is one game that stands above them all in terms of quality in this humble reviewer’s opinion and that is Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. (I will be calling it Pirate Yakuza for the rest of this review)

For those of you who haven’t heard of it somehow, the Like a Dragon series (better known in the West as Yakuza) is one of the flagship series from Sega along side Sonic the Hedgehog and Persona. The series is known for being an Action Beat-em-up with RPG elements, and while the series has started to shy away from this in recent years, the spin-offs are where you can get your action fix. If you ever wanted to beat up hundreds of yakuza grunts as a super buff guy with a badass back tattoo, then Like a Dragon is the series for you.

Pirate Yakuza continues the action beat-em-up traditions and adds some spice to the formula, following the 3 Cs in RPG games: Content, Combat and Customization. All of these elements combine to make Pirate Yakuza the jewel in the series crown.

CONTENT

The first C of a good RPG game is content. Even though Pirate Yakuza is only a spin-off, there is still so much to do in this game. (This is shown through the fact that I have put a good 30 or so hours into the game and I’m only on chapter 3 still.) The story begins with fan favorite character, Goro Majima washes up on the shore of Rich Island after the events of Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth. This is the first time since Yakuza 0, that Majima has become a playable character. The source of the conflict is shown when Majima realizes that he lost his memories. So what do you do when you lose all your memories? Why you become a pirate captain, of course.

Majima eventually learns of the treasure of the Esperanza and vows to find it. He eventually ends up at Madlantis, which is a pirate bastion known for the Pirate Coliseum. The Pirate Coliseum is  the same as the Roman Coliseum for all you Gladiator fans out there. Majima eventually gets roped into the coliseum and is forced to fight to get a bounty on his head removed. The game also uses the location of Honolulu from Infinite Wealth and it’s pretty much the same as it was in that game. So far the story is stereotypical pirate fare with a splash of Like a Dragon staples. There are the LAD staples such as substories (which might be some of the best in the series) and various different minigames, like dragon kart and photo rallies. Where Pirate Yakuza shines though is the pirate side content. There are two forms of pirate content in this game, The Pirate Colosseum and the Devil Flags. Without any spoilers, both of these show off what the gameplay of this game is all about, showing off both the naval and hand-to-hand combat.

 

COMBAT

Speaking of the naval combat, that is the new thing that Pirate Yakuza brings to the table in terms of gameplay and this might be some of the best naval combat I’ve ever seen in a video game. (Yes better then Sea Of Thieves and AC 4 and especially better then Skull and Bones.)

The best part of the naval combat in my opinion is the fact that there are a lot of different weapons that you could outfit your ships with from cannons to laser guns to ice machine guns. The Goromaru (the name of the ship) might be my favorite part of the whole game. The boat controls like it is very weighty and you can do damage to other ships just by running into them. Then you can also board the enemy ship as well. Its more then just the regular combat too since you get to fight with your crew against the enemy.

CUSTOMIZATION

The final C I want to talk about is Customization. The Like a Dragon series has dabbled in customization in the past in games like Like a Dragon: ISHIN and Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth. However, Pirate Yakuza takes it to a completely new level that has not been seen in the series. That’s because you can customize just about anything in the game. You can customize the Goromaru in multiple different ways, like having the RGG studio logo on the side of the ship or having the face of Kazuma Kiryu on your sails. You can also customize your crew as well. The absolute best part of the game in my opinion is just the amount of characters you can get on your crew, from an actual ninja, to a circus performer, to mainstay characters like series protagonists Kazuma Kiryu and Ichiban Kasuga. You can also customize Majima’s outfits in both of his styles.

Heck you can even give your mascot tiger Goro a little top hat. If that does not sell you on this game, I do not know what will.

Overall, I would say Pirate Yakuza is a evolution of what makes the gameplay series so great. It has a likable cast and the experimental gameplay is definitely fun. This game is a early contender for 2025 game of the year in my opinion.

Not totally un-related but I would love a One Piece Game by RGG Studio in the same style as this one. That might become the greatest video game ever made.