Within the trailer for Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, Yakuza fan-favorite Goro Majima wakes on a seashore along with his reminiscence wiped. A child with a tiger cub pal named Noah finds him, and earlier than lengthy, Majima finds himself beating up a pirate captain and taking on his ship (or so it’s implied.) I bought my first hands-on with the most recent in the Yakuza franchise, and I’d like to let you know about it.
I performed a quick portion of Pirate Yakuza when Majima, Noah, and buddies arrived in Infinite Wealth’s acquainted locale of Honolulu, however this was very a lot constructed as a demo, so I can’t make certain of how related the subsequent collection of occasions could be to the total recreation. First, a quick fight tutorial on mechanics doubtlessly unfamiliar to Infinite Wealth gamers: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii isn’t a turn-based RPG like Infinite Wealth, however as a substitute an motion beat-em-up like the unique Yakuza video games. This quick tutorial primarily described Majima’s two combating types: Majima’s basic Mad Canine Model and the brand new, aptly pirate-themed Sea Canine Model.
In Sea Canine Model, Majima wields twin cutlasses, a long-range hand cannon, and a wire hook that permits you to pull in near a focused enemy. A cutlass can be thrown as a boomerang if a button is held down. Fight is partaking and enjoyable, and I can see it being diversified sufficient to maintain issues attention-grabbing with simply its two totally different types.
After the essential tutorial, I may select whether or not to go to the fabled Madlantis to proceed the story, or do one in every of a few facet actions: Karaoke, Dragon Kart, Loopy Supply, and match test (change garments).
I don’t have fairly sufficient expertise with these mini-games in earlier Yakuza video games, so I couldn’t touch upon whether or not something substantial had modified about them, however they had been all enjoyable and worthy of spending time on for the leisure issue alone. I can let you know that long-time Yakuza followers will certainly acknowledge not less than among the songs out there in karaoke, although.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon’s mini-game Dragon Kart wasn’t in Infinite Wealth, making it probably the most far-removed of the facet actions out there throughout the demo. This absorbing mini-game is fairly constructed out in its personal proper and is mainly Yakuza Mario Kart, full with boosts, drifting, cash, and objects. You can even go to a altering room to modify out Majima’s garments for each his common and pirate types.
In between side-activities, I grew to become finest buddies with a little fowl named Joseph and used the brand new Wire Hook whereas out exploring to assemble a high-up butterfly. Apparently you may swing round Hawaii with it, however I didn’t see any apparent factors to set off this once I performed.
Lastly, for the primary occasion, I bought to see a little bit of the model new location of Madlantis. This grungy but energetic ship-graveyard-turned-mini-city-inside-a-cave-in-the-middle-of-the-ocean appears like a worthy hub. It’s not less than residence to Pirate Colosseum, the place, in the total recreation, you’ll be capable of have interaction in “intense ship battles” because the Goro Pirates.
Sadly, I didn’t get to check out any form of ship battle in the demo, which was a little disappointing to say the least, however Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is ship-shaping as much as be a seaworthy spin-off with a fin-favorite at its helm. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)