The Yakuza collection has no scarcity of bizarre video games. From the intense however goofy at occasions mainline entries to its plethora of historic spinoffs, prequels, and facet tales. There’s one thing for everybody right here, actually. Whether or not you’re in search of the following installment within the lengthy working Like a Dragon collection, or simply wish to play one thing somewhat totally different, our final hands-on with Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii forward of launch means that it’s shaping as much as be one other strong spin-off that may plunder dozens of hours from you.
Ever since Murderer’s Creed IV: Black Flag dropped means again in 2013, I’ve been itching for one more worthy pirate journey. Whereas there have been a couple of respectable makes an attempt launched since then, none of them managed to seize my consideration and made me excited to get to pirating till I bought the possibility to play Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. At first look, Pirates and Yakuza might seem to be a mix that’s about as suitable as oil and water. However upon nearer inspection, Like a Dragon’s world, eccentric principal character, and never too overly severe presentation makes for a surprisingly competent and enjoyable pirate journey.
In Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii you assume the function of longtime collection favourite Goro Majima after he loses his reminiscence and winds up on an Hawaiian island. From all the things I noticed throughout my few hours of hands-on time, the collection’ weirdness is cranked as much as 11 right here. Exterior of beating up roving gangs of pirates and the occasional bounty with my small tiger companion, I discovered myself recruiting a large assortment of weirdos to my pirate crew, taking part in a plethora of enjoyable and surprisingly addicting minigames – akin to a house run derby, karaoke, and crusing the pacific ocean in my pirate ship, full with ship-to-ship fight and aggressive climate. To place it bluntly, there’s so much to do right here.
Island Time
Throughout my preview I spent a variety of time within the pirate metropolis of Madlantis, an space overrun by pirates, criminals, and a few genuinely unusual folks even by Yakuza’s requirements. I used to be in a position to take part in quite a few minigames and facet actions akin to claw video games, ports of traditional SEGA arcade video games like Virtua Fighter, and the Pirates’ Coliseum, an space the place I used to be in a position to have interaction in ship-to-ship fight to battle it out with an assortment of distinctive pirate crews, in addition to different combat-based minigames.
Talking of fight, in principal gameplay, it strays away from the JRPG flip based mostly fashion of the 2 earlier Like a Dragon video games in favor of a extra conventional beat-’em-up fight fashion. Majima has two preventing kinds: Mad Canine and Sea Canine. Whereas each preventing kinds are rooted in the usual “heavy and light-weight assault combined in with dodges” formulation, each kinds play in another way sufficient that I discovered myself swapping between them in an effort to maintain the momentum on my facet and deal out as a lot harm as potential. In Mad Canine mode, Majima will don his acquainted getup and use a plethora of quick combos to rapidly dispatch an enemy. Sea Canine, however, has Majima carrying a pirate getup and depends on pirate-themed weaponry akin to two cutlass swords, a pistol, and a grappling hook. Whereas Mad Canine was enjoyable to play, the vast majority of my fight time was spent in Sea Canine on account of its numerous assortment of weapons and talents. No matter what preventing fashion I had chosen, although I discovered myself having a ton of enjoyable beating up dozens of rival pirates.
That’s to not say fight didn’t have its shortcomings, although. Blocking and dodging took a little bit of apply to get used to, and the enemies can vary from a complete pushover to a problem that had me seeing the sport over display extra occasions than I had anticipated to in a Yakuza sport. Nonetheless, as soon as I discovered the best way to successfully swap between preventing kinds and reap the benefits of each instrument and skill I had out there, the fight turned a difficult however rewarding expertise.
Set Sail
Naval fight is a welcome addition to the Like a Dragon universe. Whereas some video games are likely to over complicate ship fight, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii goes with a “much less is extra” strategy to its maritime warfare sections. My ship had a couple of strategies of destroying enemy vessels the port facet of my pirate ship was donned with short-range flamethrowers that would deal immense harm so long as I used to be near my goal, whereas the starboard facet of my ship was outfitted with long-range cannons. Firing off these two choices along with the front-facing machine weapons is how I spent most of my time in ship-to-ship fight. The third choice was to go away the helm of my ship and use Majima’s rocket launcher. Whereas this didn’t do as a lot harm as the opposite choices, it was fairly enjoyable to leap round my boat and take pot photographs at enemy ships. No matter which technique I selected to interact in, I discovered myself having enjoyable drifting my boat round and sinking enemy vessels.
Primarily based on all the things I’ve performed to this point, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is certainly shaping as much as not solely dwell as much as the excessive requirements of the Like a Dragon collection, nevertheless it additionally has the potential to turn out to be one of many higher pirate video games launched since Black Flag. With its enjoyable and artistic fight, intuitive ship warfare, and genuinely fascinating and wacky world, you’re going to wish to pack your Hawaiian shirt.
