Review: Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii review

Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii made me smile a lot, but I think the folks at RGG need to take a break for a few years. Watch some films. Have some cocktails. Get inspired again, y'know? Just as the high seas are the refuge of displaced Yakuza or insolvent scoundrels in this minigame-stuffed brawler-RPG, the game feels like the last port of call for a studio scraping the bottom of the grog barrel. I smiled a lot, mind. It's hard not to with Majima back; moisturised, flourishing, driving a six-inch tanto knife into a man's kidneys for being mildly rude to him on the beach, and abducting monkeys for his petting zoo. He's also the captain of a pirate ship now, having woken on a strange island with no memory of his Yakuza past, but the same sense of fair play and manic flair for theatrical shankings. Plus, he's already got the eyepatch sorted. Why are there actual, cannon-wielding, tricorn-headed pirates off the coast of Hawaii? Shhh. Just get on the boat. You do find the idea of a Majima being a pirate entertaining enough on its own to last you twenty five hours, don't you? I hope so, because this shorter side entry in the series isn't so much lean as it is thin. Read more

Feb 18, 2025 - 16:02
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Review: Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii review

Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii made me smile a lot, but I think the folks at RGG need to take a break for a few years. Watch some films. Have some cocktails. Get inspired again, y'know? Just as the high seas are the refuge of displaced Yakuza or insolvent scoundrels in this minigame-stuffed brawler-RPG, the game feels like the last port of call for a studio scraping the bottom of the grog barrel.

I smiled a lot, mind. It's hard not to with Majima back; moisturised, flourishing, driving a six-inch tanto knife into a man's kidneys for being mildly rude to him on the beach, and abducting monkeys for his petting zoo. He's also the captain of a pirate ship now, having woken on a strange island with no memory of his Yakuza past, but the same sense of fair play and manic flair for theatrical shankings. Plus, he's already got the eyepatch sorted.

Why are there actual, cannon-wielding, tricorn-headed pirates off the coast of Hawaii? Shhh. Just get on the boat. You do find the idea of a Majima being a pirate entertaining enough on its own to last you twenty five hours, don't you? I hope so, because this shorter side entry in the series isn't so much lean as it is thin.

Read more