Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii lands on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC with a score of 7.9 out of 10. The game turns away from the main Like a Dragon story to follow a familiar, one-eyed fighter from the series as he takes up a life of piracy, mixing ship combat with the brawling the franchise built its name on.
Trailer, via GameSpot.
A Familiar Fighter, New Waters
The lead character has spent years as a supporting player across the wider Like a Dragon story. Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii gives him top billing, and the shift pays off. His fighting style keeps the wild, unpredictable energy fans expect from him, now paired with a pirate theme that touches everything from his weapons to his crew to the way he talks about the sea.
Ship Battles on Open Water
Naval combat is new ground for the series. Players steer a ship across open water, trade cannon fire with rival crews and board enemy vessels to finish fights hand to hand. The loop is simple to learn.
It also stays satisfying across the full campaign, thanks to upgrades that change how the ship handles and fights. New cannons, hull plating and crew stations open up gradually, giving players reason to keep pushing further out to sea rather than sticking to the main route.
Street Fights Under a Hawaiian Sun
Back on land, the game trades the series’ usual Japanese city streets for sunlit stretches modeled on Hawaii. The playable lead can switch between two combat styles on the fly, one built for fast single-target damage and one for clearing out groups of enemies at once. Side content fills the map, drawing players away from the main story with smaller tasks tied to the pirate theme.
Not every one of these side tasks holds up as well as the main quest line, but most tie back into the crew system in some way, giving them a reason to exist beyond padding out playtime.
Building a Crew Worth Sailing With
Recruiting a crew is a running thread through Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. New members bring their own skills to ship battles, and building out the full roster gives the side content a clearer purpose than it might otherwise have. Some recruits are found through story missions, others through side quests scattered across the map, and each one changes how the ship performs once they take their post.
“Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii” delivers a wildly entertaining shift for the series.
Pacing Through the Middle Stretch
The story leans fully into its pirate premise without losing the tone longtime players expect from a Like a Dragon game. Serious moments sit next to broad comedy, and the lead character carries both sides of that balance well throughout. Pacing dips in the middle stretch, where side content and crew management can pull focus away from the main plot for long stretches at a time.
Combat remains the strongest reason to keep playing through those slower sections. Even when the story slows down, taking the ship out for another fight or diving into another street brawl keeps the pace of play from ever fully stalling.
Where the Game Falls Short
Not everything lands as well as the ship combat does. Some side activities feel thin next to the main campaign, offering little beyond repeated fights and small rewards. The middle section of the game also asks players to manage more systems than the story strictly needs, and that can make the pacing feel uneven for a stretch before the plot picks back up.
None of that undoes what works well elsewhere in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. The ship combat gives the series a genuine new direction rather than a passing novelty, and the lead character’s presence holds the whole package together even when individual side quests come up short. Players looking for a fresh angle on a familiar cast will find plenty here to hold their attention, even through the slower middle hours.
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