Again in September, I had the prospect to play a small demo of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. I realized the story of how Majima ended up snagging his latest job as a pirate and eventually making his massive comeback as a protagonist, virtually a decade after Japan’s launch of Yakuza 0. My gameplay was primarily targeted round fight and exploring the Madlantis space of the sport. It was a brief-lived expertise, nevertheless it was a lot enjoyable to play because the goofy Mad Canine once more, and I could not watch for an opportunity to play extra.
We at the moment are lower than a month away from Pirate Yakuza’s launch and I lastly obtained that probability to play a full palms-on expertise of the extra foolish and thrilling new content material this sport has to supply. Primarily based on only a few hours of gameplay, I could not imagine how a lot is packed into this sport, they usually solely allowed us to discover a small a part of it. The expertise was overwhelming in essentially the most optimistic means, and the brand new options in Pirate Yakuza proceed to show that Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio are masters of offbeat concepts and character-targeted facet content material.
To rapidly recap what we all know of the story to this point, Pirate Yakuza takes place six months after the occasions in Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Majima wakes up on an island and appears to have misplaced his reminiscence. He finally ends up changing into a pirate and discovering a crew to unravel a waste-air pollution downside on Nele Island and uncover the secrets and techniques of Madlantis–a hideout for prison organizations. Recovering his reminiscences is a core half to the sport and story, all whereas attempting to navigate between his present pirate household and previous yakuza way of life.
Majima is likely one of the most-beloved characters within the Like a Dragon/Yakuza franchise and his loud and violent but charismatic persona have cemented him as a fan favourite. In Yakuza 0, we obtained to see Majima in his pre-Mad Canine days, which felt like a wholly completely different character than the loveable unfastened cannon he later grew to become. I used to be curious to see how the Mad Canine Majima as a protagonist would work, however Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii seems to be doing an excellent job of making certain the brand new options and interactions he has with characters are completely suited to his wacky nature and new pirate persona.
I’ve performed each Like a Dragon/Yakuza title, and whereas all of them can appear a bit repetitive in terms of operating across the maps, devouring full menus of meals, and making an attempt Mahjong for the eighth time to get these achievements, every sport comprises its personal distinctive minigames and facet quests that separate them from different RGG titles. Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii continues that legacy. I used to be thoughts-blown by all of the recent and goofy content material I explored in simply my two hours of gameplay: crusing the ocean and battling different ships, all of the pirate-themed minigames, and even discovering new foolish methods to fish and cook dinner meals. RGG went all out to make sure Majima followers could be glad after years of the Mad Canine being away from the highlight.
First Cease, Wealthy Island
In the demo, our first cease was Wealthy Island, a hub world for Majima. There’s a lot to discover right here: a small neighborhood of residents and pirates, beautiful views of neighboring islands and water, and even a mini farm referred to as “Goro Kingdom” the place you possibly can bond with and feed completely different animals. Even in terms of fishing, there’s an excessive amount of selection: You should utilize a fishing pole, shoot and catch them along with your grappling hook, or leap within the water and catch fish along with your naked palms. (You’ll be able to’t battle them within the water although; I attempted.)
The island just isn’t secure from enemies, making it an excellent place to stage up and follow your preventing expertise. In Pirate Yakuza, there are “bounties” you possibly can seek out and battle all through the sport to earn a bit bit of additional cash, and the island has a number of of them hanging out on the seaside.
One other cool function is the upgraded outfit-customization system. Just like Kiryu in Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Identify, you possibly can customise outfits for Majima as a substitute of sticking with the default. Pirate Yakuza offers you extra choices to totally customise every part from hair fashion to full outfits for every of Majima’s kinds: Informal (Mad Canine) and Pirate (Sea Canine). Majima can even equip as much as 10 rings (one on every finger) at any given time that supply completely different buffs in battle and gameplay. You’ll be able to even equip an lovely little hat to Goro the tiger as properly.
Earlier than heading out to the water and different islands, I obtained to discover Majima’s ship, Goromaru. This ship has every part: you possibly can sing karaoke, develop crops, change outfits, and bond along with your crew. There’s even a cooking sport referred to as “Goro Goro Kitchen” which is a enjoyable spin on the cooking mechanic in Yakuza Ishin. You’ll be able to select which crew members to affix you on the ocean and stage them up with presents, drinks, and massive group dinners. The crew members are a mixture of model-new characters and beloved and random characters from all previous titles. The bonding moments are oddly lovely and remind me of when Majima had his building crew again in Yakuza Kiwami 2. It was kind of nostalgic, and I am certain it should play an integral half in recovering Majima’s reminiscences. Possibly we can even get one other catchy jingle to sing together with too.
The brand new options in Pirate Yakuza proceed to show that Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio are masters of offbeat concepts and character-targeted facet content material.
Sail Between Islands
There are a variety of spectacular new options in Pirate Yakuza, however essentially the most thrilling for me was the ocean exploration. That is the place Pirate Yakuza stands out among the many earlier titles within the franchise. Though previous video games have their very own distinctive options, each Like a Dragon/Yakuza has adopted the same components in terms of transportation: strolling round or taking a taxi between areas or large metropolis maps. There was by no means a purpose to alter this components till they gave Majima a pirate hat and a misfit crew their very own ship to sail between islands.
This is likely one of the coolest new additions to the Like a Dragon sequence, and I hope they’re going to discover different methods to convey it again sooner or later. Ryu Ga Gotoku went all out with ocean exploration: from battling different ships to discovering treasure and smaller islands to battle and loot. It is like The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker for organized crime.
You journey between islands in Hawaii, Wealthy Island, Nele Island, and Madlantis areas, and collectively these give you numerous to discover. There’s treasure in all places to gather, and you may discover smaller islands to battle teams of pirate gangs, stage up your crew, and accumulate much more treasure. My favourite half was battling different ships on the water. Majima’s ship is provided with a machine gun on the entrance and cannons on both sides, and your ship’s look and crew might be personalized as properly. The battling was fairly fundamental, and not one of the enemy ships stood an opportunity towards us. I am hoping they get more difficult in a while within the sport however both means, you get sufficient of a pirate expertise with this function, with loads of potential for it to develop.
I used to be additionally stunned with how clean the controls have been for the ship and the way straightforward it was to maneuver. The ship is very large and tanky, however straightforward to navigate by means of the waters, with the increase and battle mechanics as properly. Crusing is fairly simple, however storms will occur sometimes and you must courageous whirlpools and lightning to keep away from damaging your ship. I’d’ve cherished to face some actual difficulties within the waters since every part appeared a bit too straightforward, however I nonetheless had enjoyable simply crusing round and was hooked instantly. I am actually trying ahead to spending 20+ hours simply on the ship and forgetting concerning the story for weeks.
Madlantis Coliseum Battles and Exploration
In the second a part of the demo, we headed to Madlantis to take a look at the Coliseum battles and discover among the minigames. This time, Majima was totally leveled up, so we obtained to expertise the complete scale of Majima’s expertise and talents, together with an upgraded ship.
The Coliseum battles are my favourite replace to the minigames I’ve performed to this point. As a substitute of the sector-sort fights in earlier titles, the stadium fills with water and also you begin every battle going head-to-head with enemy ships. Since our ship is totally upgraded, we obtained elemental mechanics added to our weapons, like flamethrowers to assault enemies from the facet. When you win towards the enemy, you hop on over their ship and have interaction in a large group brawl. It is not only a petty battle; it is a conflict over the seas. It is a hilarious addition to the coliseum system and becoming for our chaotic protagonist. Coliseum battles have been at all times a enjoyable problem for me in Yakuza video games, however the added pirate theme and mechanics makes this model extra epic and ridiculously enjoyable to play.
The fight nonetheless continues to impress me: I believed I noticed all of the options throughout my final palms-on demo, nevertheless it turns on the market’s much more to Majima’s talents. When Majima’s warmth circle reaches the max, he can bust out a musical instrument and summon one among 4 completely different “Darkish Gods,” that are animal gods that can help in battle. He can summon jellyfish, a parrot, an ape, and sharks by enjoying a corresponding instrument. The gods do not appear to do a ton of harm, however they’re a humorous help for giant group battles. It seems as wild because it sounds, particularly when he busts out a violin mid-battle and a bunch of sharks begin flying out of the bottom to assault enemies.
Outdoors of the coliseum battle. I checked out among the different facet content material in Madlantis. Each staple minigame from earlier titles ({golfing}, playing, baseball) had a pirate-themed spin to them, which was a refreshing addition to this sport. I instantly grew to become obsessive about the battle-cage baseball minigame referred to as Bang Bang, the place as a substitute of attempting to hit residence runs, you hit exploding barrels to attain factors.
Gallery
For the final a part of the demo, I briefly explored Hawaii to see how a lot of Infinite Wealth’s content material was squeezed into this already huge sport. The anticipated enormous map is there, however this time RGG brings again the beloved Dragon Kart. The minigame’s mechanics have not modified a lot, however racing by means of Honolulu roads with a stunning tropical background is sufficient of a deal with for me.
The 2-hour demo was restricted to what I may discover and see, however I can already inform followers will love all of the wacky pirate and Majima content material packed into the sport. Clearly there’s nonetheless quite a bit to the story we do not learn about and I am very curious to see how this sport will probably sum up Majima’s saga, however from what we have seen to this point, I can inform there’s potential for it to tug at my heartstrings, once more. Recovering outdated reminiscences with previous relationships whereas creating new ones might trigger a battle in Majima’s new pirate way of life, and I can not wait to see the way it does whereas I am ugly crying in my gaming chair.