Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is absurdist gaming at its finest

Image source: Gamesplanet

I'm a part-time amnesiac yakuza and full-time pirate. But none of that matters when I happen across a pop idol’s tour bus, hop on, and become a groupie just for kicks. Along the tour, I meet the idol's hopelessly naive fans. Then I find out the idol and her manager secretly hate these socially awkward men and just want to drain their wallets. So I beat the snot out of the idol's manager and set the pair straight. The idol's fans see this, learn that parasocial celebrity worship is unhealthy, and befriend each other. Thus concludes a saga of joy, betrayal, and redemption — a saga that has nothing to do with the rest of the game.

This throwaway side mission is vintage Like a Dragon (formerly known as Yakuza in the West). It’s completely detached from the game's main plot, and yet, it's emblematic of why I play Like a Dragon titles. For me, this series isn't about central narratives or gameplay; it's about getting swept up in bizarre tangents. These games are playable versions of weird stories a quirky friend might share over coffee, and Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is no exception.

Even the minigames are strange. This game has me delivering pizzas, going to batting cages with exploding targets, and playing pirate poker all within a few minutes of gameplay. Then, whenever I wrap a minigame, I get swept up in another quirky side mission. It could be about learning to communicate with my pet tiger or helping an old man in a sweaty mascot costume take pictures with women. I never know what’s next until I press play.

Image source: Gamesplanet

In this sense, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is an excellent pick-up-and-play game. If I have fifteen minutes to spare, I can boot it up, experience a weird bite-size story or play a wacky minigame, then move on with life. It’s a wellspring of endless variety to snack on as I see fit.

With that said, when I want to sit down and really dig in, the game is ready for me. There is a primary narrative and core gameplay loop hidden inside Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii that sustains a lengthy campaign. The story stars fan-favorite yakuza Goro Majima, who forgets he’s a gangster and discovers a talent for piracy. It’s not meant to be deep fare, but it has endearing themes about stepping outside one’s comfort zone and finding identity.

The narrative’s tied together with the series’ famous beat-em-up combat. At its core, the game’s a flashy button masher loaded with outrageous special moves, and just about every narrative conflict can be solved with over-the-top hand-to-hand violence. The conflicts that can’t be handled with fisticuffs get resolved via pirate ship combat, i.e. floating around while lobbing cannonballs at people’s heads. Whether I’m piloting Majima’s fists or his ship, the action is swift and high-impact.

Image source: Gamesplanet

But as fun as the combat and primary narrative are, they’re not what sticks with me when I think back on my time in Hawaii. It’s the bizarre side missions and minigames that spring to mind. I reminisce about the comedic duo I met by stumbling into a random coffee shop or the time I convinced a cow-obsessed recluse to join my udder-ly amazing pirate crew. I think back to how much Fantasy Zone I played on the in-game SEGA Master System.

Therein lies the real charm of both this Like a Dragon game and the series as a whole. Everyone will have a different experience. Some folks play for the soapy central narrative. Others play for the high-octane button-mashing combat. But a large segment of fans subsists purely off the game’s overwhelming number of digressions, racking up dozens of hours doing nothing but engaging with the franchise’s oddity-filled maps. These folks will have more hours in a single minigame than some players have in their entire playthrough. And that’s the camp I fall into. So, if you need me, I’ll be putting off pirate and yakuza duties to go make more weird friends in Hawaii.

You can pick up Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii right now on Gamesplanet.