Review – Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii

Not to impress with your creativity. Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is proof that, no matter the theme, the Japanese know how to bring news to an extremely fun game that does not escape the formula established by the series. That is, there will be karaoke, there will be insane minigames, there will be everything the fans love. And, in a curious way, piracy fits very well on this adventure set in modern times.

Goro Majima, one of the most popular characters in the franchise, will stop amnesia on a beach of the remote Rich Island, inhabited by fishermen. Noah, a 10 -year -old boy who is accompanied by a tiger puppy (ironically called Goro) helps him with water and shelter. In a short time Majima wins the barrier of the language and they become friends. These and other important events in history are told in a direct conversation the player, as if it were a theater performance. He then promises to take Noah to know other places beyond the island, where he lives isolated with his father and his “cat.”

A captain, a crew and a sea of ​​madness

The events lead Majima to become a pirate in search of a large Spanish treasure, initially with a ship falling apart (Goromaru) and a crew consisting of Noah and his father Jason (a frustrated bar owner, but excellent browser), the cook Masaru and four more sailors who abandoned his former captain. On Rich Island you learn the basics, in a smaller but enough area to learn the combat tricks, which returns to the traditional Beat ‘in UP and with news.

In the initial shelter, you enjoy 5 Master System games available right away: Poseidon Wars 3-D, Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Alien Syndrome, Penguin Land and Fantasy Zone. With savestate and everything, to maintain the tradition of the in-game emulation of previous games. The library expands with more cartridges as you find them in the campaign and Sega’s old video game is accessible in other areas. The arcades are also back, including the classic on-rails shooter The Ocean Hunter. Game that, according to Technical Director Yutaka Ito, RGG Studio broke to insert in this spin-off precisely because there is no console, having to do everything from scratch.

Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii Introduces a plantation system in which you use seeds and fertilizers to then harvest and use in the kitchen, which in turn has a new minigame that involves different steps of gameplay according to the difficulty of the dish you want to do . You also take care of animals, receive a loot found by Felino Goro, befriends with general greeting with an Aloha, and participates in a series of different secondary tasks, such as photographing sights. But the icing on the cake is in the ship’s gameplay, quite unique compared to Sea of ​​Thieves and Skull and Bones. It is more arcade, but surpasses in some respects the naval battle of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. It is not only open world for exploration on the high sea just like the game of Ubisoft.

The control of the ship is very simple and practical, both in command of navigation and in the use of the buttons for different functions such as controlling the cannons and stretched separately, use the machine gun to throw head -on, fix the damaged hull, turn out fire, change the Visualization away or close, get out of the Timon and walk freely through the deck (being able to shoot poguetes against the opponents), boost the ship with a turbo and even skid like a tuned car. And, as expected, it has upgrades and customization of the ship.

Monkeys bite me, pirates in sight!

Its crew grows as the campaign advances and several NPCs are presented that can accept the invitation immediately or through the exchange of favors. In addition to the important characters in the story, with which you increase the bond through chat, the other secondary crew members-this includes Kazuma Kiryu and Ichiban Kasuga-have a level of their own that comes up with the battle wins and the gifts you It particularly gives each one, such as rare cigarettes, cafes selection, postcards and other pampering. To these crew members are also attributed distinct functions (strikers, tanks, curators and snipers), and it is essential to have a well-balanced training to help you in the fighting in search of gold and treasures on the islands. Fights that even occur on deck during invasions.

The danger is everywhere. In the sea, in addition to other pirate ships you face the fury of nature with storms that form large whirlwinds. On land, hordes of enemies and bosses will be waiting for you. And even when we finally arrived in Honolulu, the capital of Hawaii and the great exploration hub of Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, the troublemakers will be everywhere. Majima is more agile and powerful, with two fighting styles (“crazy dog”, with their own fists, and “dog dog”, using swords and firearms) that can be exchanged at any time and allow a huge variety of combos, including in the air.

The counterattack became practically a very powerful special. And when facing a large amount of enemies, their specials and the use of cursed relics (with animals) play enemies for the air as we see in games of the genus, such as the Dynasty Warriors series. It is a more than welcome exaggeration, especially appealing with Majima’s clones. Another thing I liked was the possibility of equipping rings in every protagonist’s fingers to boost the skills. It is a tacky, but quite effective.

Speaking of Honolulu, what a beautiful beach town! It gives pleasure to visit each corner and make the most beastly possible missions, such as finding lucky strips around the city to exchange for points with Kamulop, the mascot of a sanctuary. Still on the news, now you can explore some areas vertically with the use of a hook. And to give speed to exploration, the street surfer (introduced in) makes its return with greater dicycle customization.

Returning to the minigames, which are many, it is worth highlighting the Madlantis: a wreck ships that acts as a large casino and will keep the player distracted for a long time, rising in the ranking and gaining rewards especially at the pirate coliseum. The place is so cool and special that it reminded me of GOLD MEA FINAL FANTALY VII. As for the traditional franchise minigames, we have repeated delivery, kart race and others. But I leave here a criticism of the Involution of Karaoke: I keep thinking they could improve the synchrony of the buttons with the rhythm of music and give more weight to the confirmation sound effects of hits and errors. You don’t feel anything when pressing the buttons. It was just RGG Studio to have used any rock band or guitar hero reference, including public boo when singing badly. At least they took the generic sound effects of Yakuza: Like A Dragon and Infinite Wealth.

A must-see spin-off

If there’s one thing this franchise is doing very well is telling stories. All characters receive the proper prominence, whether with revelations about the past, personal dramas or motivations. With each new member of the crew, such as Clark and Naomi, but the story is interesting and gains strength. And the charisma of all impresses, in the sense that you care about everything and want to read every phrase of the dialogues in text. Apart from the nonsense humor, which makes him laugh all the time. In short, the story revolves around the events that led Majima to wreck and lose their memory, involving other members of Yakuza and the island of Neo, used as a nuclear garbage landfill.

It is strange to deal with the fact that like Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is an Infinite Wealth Standalone expansion. You can see that a lot has been reused and that the look is the same, but it has so much new and fun that made me discredit that they produced it in just 1 year. Although the duration is much smaller than the average, the game is round and will offer a fantastic experience for fans and also for those looking for a lighter RPG.