Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, the following sport from Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, was initially a idea known as Like a Dragon: Tuna the place authentic protagonist Kiryu Kazuma was a combating fisherman.
RGG Studio director Masayoshi Yokoyama revealed the origins in a PlayStation Blog submit discussing Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii forward of its February 28 launch date. The sport stars the fan favourite Majima Goro as he wakes up on a seaside with no reminiscence and, in a sea-faring different to his yakuza roots, turns into a pirate.
It wasn’t initially going to star Majima in any respect, nevertheless. “For fairly a while, I wished to make a sport known as Like a Dragon: Tuna, the place Kiryu Kazuma, as a tuna fisherman, units off to sea to struggle in opposition to fishing boats,” Yokoyama mentioned.
“Lengthy story brief, it by no means got here to fruition, however key phrases like ‘ship,’ ‘sea,’ and ‘combating,’ which had since then been engraved in my head, developed into the idea of pirates.”
Kiryu has had loads of fishy expertise through the years via the myriad fishing minigames sprinkled all through the Yakuza/Like a Dragon sequence. He is additionally resorted to beating the rowdier ones up along with his fists, like in the shark boss struggle from Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth that is virtually the tip of Jaws.
Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is a spin-off to Infinite Wealth, the eighth mainline entry in the Yakuza sequence (or ninth together with Yakuza 0). The sequence underwent a title change from Yakuza to Like a Dragon upon its launch, made extra complicated by the seventh sport being known as Yakuza: Like a Dragon and starring new protagonist Ichiban Kasuga.
Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii grew into its personal factor in the course of the improvement of the most recent sport, nevertheless. “Round June or July 2023, lengthy earlier than the discharge of Infinite Wealth, the dev group was already mulling over the thought of an Infinite Wealth spin-off,” Yokoyama mentioned.
“Even when we have been to make Like a Dragon 9, we knew that wouldn’t be sufficient to seize and inform the story. In the course of the finish of the Infinite Wealth improvement, we started percolating the thought of a spin-off that stars characters who should not Ichiban Kasuga. It was virtually as if we have been creating a blown-up sub-story for Infinite Wealth.”
Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii was revealed in September as a half Yakuza, half Murderer’s Creed 4: Black Flag-looking entry. A prolonged reveal trailer confirmed Majima washed up on the seaside of Wealthy Island, close to Hawaii, trying worse for put on and helped by a baby with a pet tiger (who’s bizarrely performed by Ichiban voice actor Nakaya Kazuhiro).
This would be the first time in a whereas Yakuza followers have needed to wait a whole yr for a new launch, with Infinite Wealth having arrived in January and Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii not launching till February. Whereas that is pretty regular for many sport franchises, RGG Studio is understood for its fast launch schedule.
Within the final 5 years, for instance, it has launched Yakuza 4 Remastered, Yakuza 5 Remastered, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Judgment Remastered, Misplaced Judgment, Like a Dragon: Ishin, Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Title, and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, alongside three Tremendous Monkey Ball Video games and an enhanced remaster of Virtua Fighter 5. That is 12 video games in complete.
Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii will due to this fact add to that checklist, however the subsequent mainline sport (and a mysterious trademark known as Yakuza Wars) are but to be revealed. In our first preview of the incoming entry, IGN mentioned: “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.”
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll discuss The Witcher all day.