Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii review roundup: 'a delightful spin-off'
Goro Majima's bonkers adventure has impressed critics
👍 Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii has a Metacritic score of 79 after 51 critic reviews
🤷♂️ The game has 78% positive reviews, 22% mixed and 0% negative
📅 Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii releases on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC on February 20
🏴☠️ It’s a crazy spin-off starring Yakuza series fan-favorite, Goro Majima
Someone needs to study how Sega’s Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio can produce so many quality games in such a short space of time, as it looks like they’ve delivered another great experience in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.
The absurd and bizarre spin-off is currently sitting on a Metacritic score of 79 after 51 critic reviews, which is quite the achievement considering this is the third Like a Dragon game in three years. Here’s what reviewers made of Goro Majima’s swashbuckling adventure.
VG247 were swept away by Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, giving it a perfect score. The reviewer was particularly impressed by the game’s new customization options:
“RGG’s also embraced visual customisation in a more in-depth manner than it ever has before here – not just with your ship, but with putting together custom outfits for Majima that’re mix-and-matchable, rather than rigidly set. You’ll spend most of your time in your getup of choice, ticking off suitably piratey sub-stories and goals in order to recruit new crewmates, as well as hunting down bounty targets pulled from IW’s array of different enemy categories to beef up your bank balance in refreshingly ungrindy chunks.”
The Gamer also enjoyed the nautical nature of the latest Like a Dragon game, giving it 9/10:
“Pirate Yakuza goes all in on making Majima the most charming, endearing, and downright loveable rogue he’s ever been, taking everything 'Majima' and ramping it up to a million.”
GamesRadar+ praised Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii’s new naval combat and gave the game 8/10:
“The return of beat 'em up combat and Goro Majima are great, while new ship combat refreshes a wealth of side content. Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii feels like RGG Studio's most worthwhile spinoff game to date – sun, surf, and treasure hunting takes the series to new places at the right time.”
IGN was also a fan of Pirate Yakuza, giving the game an 8/10 and saying:
“Propelled by a breezy and often completely bananas treasure-hunting tale, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is a delightful spin-off that seamlessly shifts between street thuggery and skulduggery. Majima’s Sea Dog stance is one of the most fun and flexible fighting styles I’ve enjoyed in the series to date – at least in its classic, combo-based form – and I welcomed the challenge of carefully balancing my crew lineup in order to survive the many turbulent naval battles.
“While its overworld maps feel a little padded out with recycled island settings, Honolulu itself is jammed with unpredictable substories and overhauled activities that meant every moment of shore leave was full of surprises. Absolutely heaving with buried treasures and varied pleasures, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is a consistently captivating voyage that kept my timbers shivering whether on land or at sea.”
However, VGC weren’t as taken by Pirate Yakuza and gave the game 6/10:
“Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is an amusing, if underwhelming way to kill time before Yakuza 9, but considering the speed at which RGG is releasing new games in the series, you probably don't have to wait that long for the next traditional entry.”
Digital Trends also gave Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii a 6/10, saying:
“The beefy spinoff of last year’s Infinite Wealth is an act of cosplay. While most of the pieces that make the long-running series so beloved are there, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio trades in strong writing for pirate pastiche with mixed results. Majima’s nautical adventure is at its best when flashes of memory break through its amnesia, reminding me that there’s more to Like a Dragon than its memeable moments.”
Judging from the reviews, fans of the Yakuza and Like a Dragon games will find plenty to enjoy in this kooky spin-off. There’s also enough variety, humor and new gameplay mechanics to keep things fresh.
Check out the upcoming PS5 games and upcoming Xbox games lists to see what’s up next for Sony and Microsoft’s consoles.
Up next: Avowed review roundup: ‘a solid action RPG’
Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.