Like a Dragon fan-favorite Goro Majima gets his own self-led spinoff title in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. You play as an amnesic Majima who awakens on Rich Island with no memory of his recent past. After saving the son of a wealthy family from pirates, he too soon believes himself to be one. He then starts his own ragtag group of pirates known as the Gojo Pirates aboard their ship Goromasu.

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is a 2025 action-adventure game, developed by Ryu Ga Goto Studio and published by SEGA. It’s currently available on PC, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

Editor’s Note: Spoilers for Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii may be present in this review. SEGA provided an Xbox Series X|S review code in support of this review.

Run a band of scallywags in Yakuza Pirates.

Ryu Ga Goto Studio is in a bit of a weird, but fun place with the Like a Dragon franchise. In addition to the mainline series now starring Ichiban, they’ve been experimenting a bit more with their approach to the franchise through spinoff titles such as Man Who Erased His Name and Like a Dragon: Pirates. It gives the long-running series a lot of breathing room and continuing renewed interest. The series has never taken itself too seriously, where a direction like this would feel desperate or out of place, and Pirates is just as over the top as a long-time fan would come to expect from the franchise these days.

Prepare to walk the plank with Yakuza Pirates.

THE GOOD: In 2024, six months after the events of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Yakuza boss Goro Majima finds himself awaking in Honolulu, Hawaii, near completely amnesic, and falsely believing himself to be a pirate. He rescues a boy named Noah Rich from pirates and soon forms a makeshift band of his own after defeating a pirate leader. After being attacked by a local cult named Palekana, he’s saved by an ex-Yakuza named Teruhiko Shigaki. Shigaki informs him that Nele Island is full of reformed yakuza who clean it up from waste.

Shigaki also reveals he was a former patriarch of the Tojo Clan, and a conspiracy involving the Palekana and Tojo Clan begins to show itself. Majima later recruits cook Masaru Fujita and Noah’s father, Jason, into his crew. Majima and his crew go to the pirate hub Madlantis, which is led by Queen Michele. Jason reveals that his daughter Naomi is Michele’s bodyguard, which conflicts with the group. Majima later learns that he has a bounty placed on his head from a past acquaintance of Jason’s who had betrayed him years prior. Majima continues his investigation into the conspiracy with the Gojo Pirates and learns of a treasure that may have powerful healing properties, hoping to use it for Kiryu.

Enjoy a bit of grog on your travels.

Like a Dragon: Pirates in Hawaii, on the surface, is reminiscent of the core brawler gameplay from the original action combat style. He can switch fighting styles, similar to Kiryu, like in the past, with Majima being a playable character. However, in Pirates, Majima has two styles: the Mad Dog speedster style, where he wildly attacks, swinging his body around like a human nunchuck, and the Sea Dog, which is more pirate-based, where he uses dual cutlasses and pistols. More pirate-themed weaponry becomes available to play into the content; additionally, he can jump and do mid-air combos.

Pirate crew management and naval combat, as well as treasure hunting, are introduced into the game. Majima’s ship can be upgraded to aid in the naval combat, which even allows players to board enemy ships once their health has been depleted. Minigames return with kart racing, a delivery service, and the signature karaoke. Every Like a Dragon game, main or spinoff, must have karaoke. Unique to Pirates is a side quest minigame involving finding a love interest for Majima’s companion Fujita. The arcade with real game emulation of classic titles also make their signature comeback.

Exploring the map leads players to four central locations: Rich Island, Michele’s base, Madlantis, and the cult base Nele Island, and Honolulu. The story is a good bit of additional Majima content, which is never a bad thing. It’s not a particularly long game versus other titles, but for story completion sake, it’s worth playing to the end.

A pirate’s life for me.

THE BAD: I mentioned earlier that this is a particularly short game; most titles are at least upwards of about thirty hours long in the series, but with Pirates, you can finish it in under twenty hours. The naval combat, while cool for the theme, is a bit shallow compared to more recent pirate games. The ship can also move incredibly slowly, making sea travel a chore at times. The story isn’t as dark or emotionally impactful compared to other games in the series, and this can be chalked up to the emphasis on the franchise’s signature silliness and comedic antics. But, it’s a bit of a double-edged sword here as the lack of depth in the story makes it feel very low-stakes, almost as if they played it way too safe.

Treasure, sword fighting, and more await in this Like a Dragon adventure.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Like a Dragon: Pirates in Hawaii is, in a lot of ways, exactly what the marketing depicts. A goofy pirate adventure with one of the fandom’s favorite characters as the lead. I think most longtime fans will see it as one of maybe three things: a game that’s more classic Yakuza to take a break from the Ichiban remodel, a more comedically focused spinoff to turn your brains off for a fifteen-hour ride, or a slightly out-of-place, and maybe even frustrating at times entry. Whichever group you fall under, I think it’s important to remember that Like a Dragon only really got successful a few years ago after being a bit niche. And SEGA thinks it’s become successful enough to experiment a handful of times with a twenty-year-old series. Nothing wrong with that, especially to avoid risking a formula overstaying its welcome.

However, they need to remember not to stray too far from what makes Like a Dragon what it is at its core. Even with several different swings at what they want the future entries of the series, spinoff, or mainline to be, full-blown or experimental.