Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is a Swashbuckling Spectacle With Unexpected Heart

As quickly as Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii erupted into a musical quantity on the intro credit, I knew I used to be in for a spectacular and weird expertise, even by Like a Dragon’s requirements. There he is, Goro Majima, Mad Canine of Shimano and the sport’s protagonist, gesticulating wildly in a plush, purple velvet trimmed coat, as a crew of pirates sing and dance round him concerning the lures of the open water.

There’s a lot to take in, and loads of surprises we don’t wish to spoil, so let’s undergo among the highlights from the early sport. You’re in for a deal with.

Riches to Riches

Majima awakens on the shores of Wealthy Island, a small plot of land inhabited by a small group. He’s additionally stricken with a extreme case of amnesia and may’t bear in mind who he is or how he received there. Reminiscence or not, Majima is a resourceful character and is quickly embraced by good-hearted, morally complicated locals and embroiled in quite a few brawls that finally consequence in him changing into captain of a ship. Not a dangerous day’s work.

Wealthy Island is the place Pirate Yakuza begins to introduce its myriad of minigames and actions, true to Like a Dragon type. An early spotlight is Goro Goro Kitchen – a cooking minigame the place Majima could make health-replenishing meals with substances he’s purchased or grown. It’s a cheerful flurry of well-timed button mashing, and your efficiency dictates the standard of the meals.

Naval Battles and Treasure Hunts

Scrapping with enemies at sea and scooping up new riches are two actions thought-about integral to the pirate expertise. Pirate Yakuza introduces each to the combo.

As you discover the seas, clusters of small vessels will intermittently have interaction with you, sparking water fight. Right here, you’ll make the most of your ship’s defences, which begins with hard-hitting cannons and a rapid-fire mini mounted on the bow. You’ll have the choice to improve your ship’s artillery with components you’ll be able to scavenge or purchase, which’ll come in helpful for extra highly effective foes in a while.

The ship fight is a standalone RPG expertise. Your crew will achieve expertise and ranges the extra you battle, and a few members have distinctive talents that can provide you an edge in a combat. Additionally they have wants and moods – permitting them time to relaxation and giving the occasional reward will raise their spirits. Having a crew with expertise and emotions makes them really feel much less like static props and extra like an precise assortment of characters value caring for, akin to Majima’s Cabaret Czar aspect plot in Yakuza 0.

These battles are fast-paced and dole out small rewards, akin to the mini-encounters you’ll have on land with small teams of enemies, although it is a little simpler to outrun a handful of males than it is to shortly steer your ship away.

Treasure Hunts are introduced like a boss rush – your crew disembarks onto a small island and must combat by way of a sequence of pirate grunts earlier than taking down a boss and copping the treasure on the finish. Right here, you’ll discover distinctive gadgets that may improve Majima’s talents, and naturally, bucketloads of money.

Sea Canine of Shimano

Majima additionally picks up a brand-new combating stance unique to Pirate Yakuza – Sea Canine Type. The stance permits him to ship swift, swishing blows with a pair of cutlasses, alternating between mild and heavy assaults and allotting huge AoE injury. Majima may wield a pistol for long-range assaults – excellent for staggering foes – and a chain hook that can launch him in direction of an enemy, which might be adopted up with extra close-range assaults. In a while, Majima can summon deities utilizing ‘Darkish Devices’, unusual gadgets plundered from rival pirate gangs. To offer you a sense of the talents right here, Majima can summon a large man-eating shark by shredding on a violin, an outrageous scene to witness.

Majima additionally carries his basic Mad Canine stance seen in different Like a Dragon titles right here too, so if you happen to (for some cause) don’t really feel like being an especially cool, cutlass-swinging pirate, his conventional roster of speedy blows, slick knife assaults and shadow clones to spice up assault energy is additionally an especially enjoyable choice.

The Path to Madlantis

Majima and his crew set sail to the island settlement of Madlantis a few hours into Pirate Yakuza, and it is maybe certainly one of my favourite areas I’ve seen in a Like a Dragon sport. It’s a rogue trove of delights, nestled away inside a cave system and largely constructed from the wreckages of outdated ships.

Strolling by way of Madlantis feels instantly unsettling in a means that areas like Kamurocho and Sotenbori not often do, even in their shadiest spots. It’s shrouded completely in darkness, illuminated solely by colourful neon indicators, harsh floodlights and flaming barrels. Suspicious-looking faces are clustered in dimly lit corners ingesting, enjoying card video games or beating somebody up whereas onlookers pay no thoughts.

It’s additionally house to The Coliseum, the place Majima and his crew can face off towards different pirate crews to rack up fame as a feared pirate, in addition to different rewards.

Madlantis is certainly one of 4 distinct areas you’ll go to – Wealthy Island, Nele and Hawaii all boast their very own distinctive settings, characters and actions, however Madlantis actually blew me away as a hive of nefariousness brimming with characters that, once more, even by Like a Dragon’s requirements, felt actually outlandish.

The Heart of Yakuza

Whereas a lot of this sport presents an off-beat journey stuffed with swashbuckling and treasure-hunting, it’s nonetheless pleasantly rooted in the core themes of the sequence. Whereas Majima can’t bear in mind who he is, he’s shortly reunited with a roster of Yakuza allies, and his adventures together with his new crew should intertwine with the pressing enterprise he’s anticipated to cope with as a Yakuza boss.

It additionally touches on some extra delicate themes; the perils of fatherhood, the steadiness between wanting to maintain a liked one secure and letting them free, and naturally, the ever-present, pertinent query that each Like a Dragon sport poses: What it means to be a man.

That mentioned, it’s additionally simply an extremely humorous sport. The characters are so splendidly blasé in the face of whole nonsense, which makes it much more entertaining. Throughout one treasure hunt, Majima has a fistfight with a big brown bear, and afterwards, exclaims “ah, he had a basic grizzly proper hook.” Moments like this paired with the above robust emotional storylines coursing by way of Pirate Yakuza make for a improbable, rounded journey.

This is merely a small glimpse into the wacky phrase that Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii – it’s a actually distinctive journey that appears like a fever dream, whereas remaining loyal to the guts of the principle franchise. There’s not lengthy to attend both, you’ll be able to set sail with Majima when the sport launches for Xbox Collection X|S on February 21.

For these desirous to get a style of the motion straight away, a free demo of the game is available to download and play now.