An early hands-on with Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii was absurd and delightful

Waves crash against the hull of a ship that looks like it came straight out of the 17th century, seagulls scream overhead, and a figure dressed in a Hawaiian shirt stands at the helm. It’s not how you’d expect to be introduced to Goro Majima, perhaps one of the most popular characters in the Like a dragon series, but it sets the tone. Polygon was recently invited to a hands-on preview to get a taste of what Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii — and it’s a story of Majima on the brink of ruin, on his way to becoming the greatest pirate the world has ever seen. It’s everything Like a dragon fans could expect.

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is as absurd as you would expect – it’s a Like a dragon game, and Goro Majima is the protagonist, so it makes sense that Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio would play into that. Majima is perhaps one of the few characters in the series who has been given complete character arcs, fraught with some of the most emotional moments the Like a dragon games. But not here! At least not in this preview. Instead, Majima and his crew head to the city of Madlantis, another dangerous underground city filled with violence and other ne’er-do-wells who, for the most part, aren’t dressed like Party City versions of Jack Sparrow from Gore Verbinski’s Pirates of the Caribbean. Like Like a dragon: infinite wealthThe non-Japanese characters are an approximation of what Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios has created to more or less fit your average outing in a Like a Dragon game: lost tourists, a few locals here and there, and hordes of thugs ready to beat you up for looking at them funny or for wanting to kick a guy while he’s down. It’s just a video game town.

Compared to Madlantis, Honolulu isn’t all that exciting, and during my time with the game’s preview build I mostly hopped around the city with my intrepid childhood buddy and his pet Bengal tiger kitten, singing Majima’s best karaoke hits, including “24-Hour Cinderella” Yakuza-0 — or Majima’s look turned into a poorly constructed dressing room. You can run around shirtless with the grimacing white face of the hannya tattooed on the Mad Dog’s back for all to see, or maybe you want to slip back into that iconic snakeskin jacket, leather pants, and silver-tipped shoes and all. I opted for the Yakuza-0 Look, it reminded me of a better time in the series. I also wanted to chase that feeling after I chopped up Keith, a generic looking pirate with a tricorn hat, who for some reason got on Majima’s bad side. I’m sure that’s explained in the full version of the game and probably carries more weight.

You see, while Majima may be getting older like the rest of us and has now reached the tender age of 60, that doesn’t mean he’s any less spry. Shimano’s Mad Dog is still capable of learning new tricks, and with the Sea Dog fighting style he wields a pair of machetes and a 17th century hand cannon. All of his attacks are as fast as they are deadly, and you can use a wire to launch yourself at an enemy with reckless abandon. There are also aerial combos, which are fun and feel a little overpowered, but I’m not going to complain about the game embracing the rule of cool for one of its most popular characters. But if you want a return to the familiar – something that takes you back to Yakuza-0 or that Yakuza-2 extra scenario — you can switch back to Majima’s signature fighting style, Mad Dog, to dash through enemies with his tanto in hand. He doesn’t go as crazy as in previous games, but you can summon doppelgangers and use an interesting spinning attack to send enemies flying or kill them outright. I can confirm that a new remix of “Receive You” plays while you’re in Mad Dog mode, and the music for Sea Dog isn’t bad either. It’s not the same overbearing EDM-esque OST that Infinite wealth and seems somewhat weakened.

After beating up Keith and his crew, I tore down what little I could find of Madlantis. It’s unlike the other crime-ridden underground areas in previous games Like a dragon games. It’s filthy, rusty, and crunched up by ships gathered in a proverbial graveyard. Neon lights illuminate the dilapidated buildings and reflect off the water’s surface, where everything floats precariously. It’s not like the Purgatory of the original Yakuzaor the Castle of Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name. It wasn’t glamorous or glitzy. Oddly enough, it’s a nice change of pace from what I’m used to, and I was willing to give Madlantis a try, even if I only got a taste. I couldn’t engage in ship battles to make Majima the most fearsome pirate on the seven seas, or pilot my own ship through the waters of Honolulu, but those options will be available in the full version of the game.

Like a Dragon: Yakuza in Hawaii really feels like a Gaiden game, something that is meant to fill the gap between releases and satisfy the hunger of a growing new audience. Or to attract loyal fans who have otherwise grown tired of the series and just want to play as Majima one last time. There were a lot of rough edges and a lot of asset reuse, which isn’t always a bad thing, but the Dragon Engine (which the team first used for Yakuza-6 in 2016) is really starting to show its age. It’s a wonder Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio hasn’t made the leap to Unreal Engine 5 like it did for Like a dragon: Ishinwhich looks a step above Yakuza in HawaiiI can’t say it’s more of the same, though, as a shift in protagonist and a return to more action-oriented combat feels refreshing.