It’s in the Yakuza / Like a Dragon blood to have outrageous and over-the-top moments, and a pirate spin-off adventure seems just about right. Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku revealed Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii during the RGG Summit held in September 2024, with fan favourite Goro Majima taking the helm as a solo protagonist.
A seven-minute announcement for the game doesn’t give much of its story away, introducing fans to an amnesiac Mad Dog of Shimano who washes up at the beach of Rich Island near, well, Hawaii and gets involved in a pirate feud. Along the way, he forms his own crew to face off against various pirate lords, crossing swords with enemies and rope-swinging on board a ship. More notably, it features the Mad Dog and Sea Dog fighting styles and marks the first time that players can jump in a Yakuza / Like a Dragon game. Oh, and let’s not forget air combos!
The upcoming outing looks to be a Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth off-shoot, where Majima deals with repercussions caused by Ichiban Kasuga’s involvement with the Palekana cult on Nene Island. According to RGG president Masayoshi Yokoyama, its story is about 1.3 to 1.5 times larger than Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name and will have a “much larger” overall game volume (via Famitsu).
This official reveal comes after an earlier leak from 4chan posted in May, which turned out to have several accurate details, such as the 2024 reveal window and its Hawaiian setting. However, the rumour sounded too outlandish and far-fetched to be believable and was quickly disregarded (to their credit, 4chan sources aren’t the most reputable).
Other notable information shared in the leak but not in the trailer includes Majima’s way of recovering his memories through tattoos, revisiting certain events from the series, and the ability for his crew to undertake missions while doing story quests.
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is set to debut on 28 February 2025 for the Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PS4, and PC.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Edwin Teo
