Ryu Ga Gotoku studio did a direct for the upcoming Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii and, the game looks as wild and absurd as its protagonist, Goro Majima. Majima has been a fan favorite within the franchise for a long time and when the game’s absurd premise was announced, fans weren’t even surprised as it simply fit Majima all too well.
While this isn’t the first game to feature Majima as a protagonist as he was one of the main playable characters in Yakuza 0, it featured a far more calm version of Majima as it was an origin story for he and Kiryu rather than the Mad Dog of Shimano he eventually became.
Ryo Ga Gotoku did a deep dive on the gameplay for LAD: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii and it looks excellent and just fits who Majima is as a character so well. The game sees Goro Majima, amnesia stricken after washing up on a beach who decides to become a pirate while he tries to regain his memories. The gameplay goes back to the beat-em up/RPG of the older games rather than the turn based RPGs of the recent mainline games. A first for the series is the ability to jump, which allows Majima an array of aerial attacks as well as juggle combos.
Similar to Kiryu in The Man Who Erased His Name, Majima has two distinct fighting styles to draw from. Mad Dog, a style reminiscent of his fighting style from the old games which sees him perform dodges and counters coupled with quick and powerful strikes and slashes with his trademark Demonfire dagger. Majima can also perform charged attacks to launch enemies for juggle combos or clear out groups.
The other style is Sea Dog style which sees Majima dual wield cutlasses. He can throw the cutlasses like boomerangs as well as use other pirate weapons like a hook shot, pistols and bombs.
The heat system also returns in the game and on top of the well known powerful combo enders, also allows Majima to use other abilities for either style whenever he fills his madness gauge. This new system allows him to do things such as make shadowy clones of himself in mad dog or summon sharks, jellyfish or a giant monkey in sea dog. Enemy encounters look like they can get larger than in past games and these abilities seem perfect for it.
Hop Aboard Your Ship Matey
Naval combat will also be a vital part of LAD: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii and it resembles a more arcade version of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. Majima has a fully customizable ship called the Goromaru which can be painted in a variety of ways and be outfitted with various cannons and even things such as jet rockets. A crew can also be recruited similar to the management side quests in some past games. The crew can be upgraded by doing things such as partying and singing shanties with them. Ships can also be boarded to engage in Captain vs Captain battles.
The game also features multiple locales, including Rich Island, the island where Majima washes up on and serves as his home base where he can resupply as well as tame various animals, Madlantis which features a colosseum and where many pirate activities take place, Nele island which seems vital to the story and Honolulu, the main locale of Infinite Wealth.
All in all, Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is looking like it’ll be a blast and is the perfect premise and playstyle for a character like Goro Majima. Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii launches on February 21st, 2025 for Xbox series X/S, Xbox one, PS4, PS5 and windows.
You can watch the full gameplay direct here:
