Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii

Another really good experience and experiment by RGG. Pirate Yakuza fills the role of beat em ups perfectly and, since its been 3+ years since I played one, I forgot just how good the combat can be in these games. I certainly recommend it, though Ive waited for a steep discount, and I suggest you do as well. 8/10 Could have been a more controlled story, but gameplay is always king with these games. ==== There is a very core and tight experience here that I really enjoyed, but I do have some complaints that I found, in agreement with others that Ive seen: - The intro is too long, roughly 5 hours before you get let free to roam around. (Could be cut to 3.) -Similarly the main story is a little dragged out. [spoiler] There is too much cross, double cross, redemption, betrayal for every single stupid a z z character. [/spoiler] And I feel like they could have tightened it up and shaved off a couple more hours. Bringing a straight main quest play through to 12 or so hours rather than 16 or so. - [spoiler] The final act is really bad, like the final boat fight is garbage. The final two antagonists, havent done sh 1 t the whole game and now they show up in a very unearned way. [/spoiler] -The reason Id prefer a tightened up experience is because the new things get worn our very quickly, as fun as they are. -Combat AI is actually going backwards and you can have 10 of your crew staring at one guy not doing anything. Similarly they will watch 5 people beating on your ass, and do nothing. They are BARELY more than buffers for you to get around to killing every one else. -Gun AI are spammy and overturned and over used. Even with grapple they will run to the ends of the earth, and might as well have automatic weapons with how often/fast they fire. -Last Ill spit some straight up heresy. [spoiler] STOP! BRINGING! KIRYU! INTO! EVERY! GAME! At the nd I rolled my eyes, because it was such a good story without having ANYTHING to do with mainland Japan. But oh noooo!! Cant have a game without having this looming shadow in it. [/spoiler]

不錯~~~

its fun to play

재미있어요

good game. Sadly the combat and pacing are very ass compared to the other DE games. Mods can fix this however

Very silly but if you came here expecting anything else I don't know how to help you,

:mhwilds_OK:

Facilmente nella top 2 peggiori titoli della serie, ma comunque un piacevole titolo da giocare se amate la consueta valanga di attività da svolgere (in larga parte riciclate da 7 e 8) e un bel combat action che è forse l'unica vera ventata di freschezza. Le sessioni in nave stancano abbastanza in fretta ma non diventano mai del tutto tediose. Carino il sistema di potenziamento con skill sbloccabili e equip (anelli).

Is Goro Majima as a swashbuckling pirate captain a wild, entertaining concept? Absolutely. But beneath the funny hat and the peg-leg aesthetics, this spin-off is a bit of a mixed bag. If you are coming into this expecting the next narrative masterpiece in the series, you might want to temper your expectations. [b]► WHAT WORKS: The Ground Combat[/b] The saving grace here is definitely the core gameplay. Moving away from turn-based RPG mechanics back to real-time brawler action feels fantastic. The new Sea Dog style is great, letting you swing cutlasses, shoot flintlocks, and use a wire hook to zip around. Add in the dedicated jump button for some crazy new aerial juggle combos, and the basic combat feels fast, fluid, and genuinely fun. [b]► WHAT'S JUST OK: The Ship Combat[/b] While sailing around on the Goromaru is a neat novelty at first, the actual ship combat is average at best. It's a very shallow system that quickly devolves into a repetitive loop: you trade a few cannon shots, board the enemy vessel, and beat up the captain. It lacks the depth of other pirate games and turns into a bit of a chore by the end. [b]► WHAT FAILS: The Story & Characterization[/b] Let’s be honest: the narrative is the primary reason many of us day-one buy Like a Dragon games. As fans, we are entirely used to the franchise being wonderfully absurd, and our suspension of disbelief is constantly tested to its absolute limits. But this game pushes it a step too far. The entire plot relies heavily on the amnesia trope—a narrative device that is already incredibly overdone in media, but here, it's just poorly implemented. Because Majima spends so much time not knowing who he is, he feels completely "off," hollowed out, and stripped of the chaotic brilliance that makes him iconic. It ultimately proves that he struggles to carry a game as a solo main character under these weak writing conditions. If you want to see Majima handled correctly as a co-protagonist, Yakuza Zero remains the absolute gold standard for how to do him right. This spin-off, unfortunately, misses that high-water mark entirely. [b]► SUMMARY & VALUE[/b] You get great brawler gameplay wrapped up in a weak plot with mediocre naval mechanics. [i]Verdict: Recommended ONLY at 50% off. Wait for a heavy discount, skip through the weaker plot points, and just enjoy it as a fun, brain-dead action playground.[/i]

Super fun, and worth seeing through to the end of the story. Games from this developer somehow always surprise me; in how much detail they pack into somewhat smaller environments and how much energy they put into the scripts and characters. There's a little bit of jank, and the opening hour or two takes a bit to get used to the controls. Sometimes combat in large groups can be frustrating as enemies with guns will stun you from afar and your CPU team mates aren't super aggressive (but they do help). It's also common to be attacked while you're hitting an opponent, so you can get sort of stun locked in groups that you're slashing with a sword; instead of stunning them or pushing them back when you hit them. The ship combat feels a bit janky and could've been better, and I didn't like the boost gates dominating the sea maps. It was pretty fun though. I probably would've preferred having speed upgrades and no boost gates; rather than routing through "lanes" to get between points of interest on the sea. There are tons of fleshed out mini-games, including an actual 3D kart racer with (I believe) 9 unique tracks. Another has the player racing around a city on a bicycle performing tricks while delivering food. There's also a bunch of other games like casino games, mahjong and others. There's also about 5 vintage Sega arcade games such as Virtua Fighter 3, Fighting Vipers 2 and a Sega racing game. The entire games are included, so you can just whittle away hours gaming within the game. There are also around 15-20 Sega Master System games (the pre-cursor to the Sega Genesis). Ultimately it's insane how much energy they put into certain aspects of this game; and at other times I wish they would've put in a bit more, such as a bit more polish to the combat and ship mechanics.