When it comes to Goro Majima having his very own game, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii wasn't quite what I expected it to look like. After being briefly playable in Yakuza: Dead Souls and sharing the spotlight with series lead Kazuma Kiryu in Yakuza 0, the Mad Dog of Shimano now has a whole swashbuckling adventure to call his own - and it's already shaping up to be something quite special.
I was recently able to visit Sega's London offices for a preview of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. While my time with the game amounted to a relatively short vertical slice lasting around 45 minutes, I still got to see and do a healthy amount in that time.
Pop-up pirate
My preview began with Majima and the crew of the Goromaru (his pirate ship) arriving at the US island state. We've barely made landfall and already, a group of hoodlums want to beat us up and steal our lunch money - as is eternally the style of this series.
This serves as the quick combat tutorial for Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii and introduces you to Majima's two fighting styles. First, we got to grips with the 'Mad Dog' style, which is akin to Majima move sets of prior games, making use of rapid punches and his iconic knife.
However, the Mad Dog style in this game feels like a true evolution, being more fluid and ferocious than ever. Majima can now launch enemies upwards, jumping after them to perform slick air combos. His knife attacks can also be woven into standard combos in a manner that all feels so impressively effortless. You can also make use of an independent jump button - a first for the series - to access moves such as diving attacks.
Majima can also summon Doppelgangers of himself when he fills a meter through combat. These shades of the Mad Dog mimic your attacks and can be charged up by holding a button before releasing for a devastatingly powerful finisher.
In the second part of the tutorial, we swap over to 'Sea Dog' style, which is far more self-explanatory. Majima dons his really quite dashing pirate outfit and wields a pair of cutlasses. Said cutlasses can be thrown at groups of enemies for effective crowd control but he's also packing a flintlock pistol, which can be charged for a devastating shot. Lastly, a hook can be used to latch onto enemies and pull Majima towards them, making it easier to leap across arenas.
Both styles seem like immense fun and can be swapped between at will during combat by tapping down on the d-pad. Both also employ a variety of context-sensitive Heat actions - the series' iconic finishing moves that can be activated when certain conditions are met, such as when carrying a weapon or when an enemy is about to shoot you.
All about Hawaii
There wasn't much story to enjoy during my preview of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. Instead, the demo kept things brisk, limiting main progression to a single known as Madlantis. And mad it was; a ship graveyard converted into a gambling den and colosseum. There wasn't much to do here during the preview, but we reached a rather simple boss fight against a pirate named Keith - and some goons for good measure - before the main portion of the demo came to an abrupt end.
However, that didn't mean I had to stop playing. During the preview, I was also able to indulge in a small selection of the side activities that the series is well-known for featuring. Though I will say, all side content featured here (in this demo at least) were old modes carried over from previous entries in the series.
First up was karaoke, which is always a blast in these games thanks to the voice actors going all-in, singing as if their rent was due. I wanted to check out karaoke first because - this being a Majima-led title - I had to know if '24-Hour Cinderella' had made the cut. The good news is that yes, it has, and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has even redone the hilariously iconic music video for the second portion of the song.
From here, it was over to Dragon Kart, a mode returning from Yakuza: Like a Dragon. This felt more or less the same here as it did there; you can drift your kart to navigate tight corners, and pick up weapons to take other racers out of the competition. The main difference here is that there will be a new selection of tracks for the Hawaii map and that alone makes the mode well worth a revisit.
I was also able to change Majima's outfit - much like we could with Kiryu in Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name - and take part in Crazy Delivery which returns from Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. However, at this point, my remaining time with the demo was tight, so I decided to wander around Honolulu for the last five minutes or so.
During exploration out in the open map, Majima is able to make use of a hook that can catch bugs or - more importantly - ascend to otherwise out-of-reach sections such as the tops of buildings. I found that there was often treasure stashed away in these locations, so it seems that they're always worth seeking out.
I also noticed a number of handcuff icons on the map screen. Approaching these will initiate combat against a relatively dangerous foe, and Majima will earn cash for defeating them. Other things I noticed include the return of Kamulop and the fortune exchange, as well as what appeared to be an option for naval battles within Madlantis.
Unfortunately, we were not able to experience that aspect of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii quite yet. However, I was able to see a combat-packed slice of what the game would have to offer, and I had a blast despite my time with the game being so short.
I'm looking forward to seeing what the full game has in store - and what kind of crazy story Majima and crew will embark on - when Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii launches on February 28, 2025, for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC.
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