The next game in the popular Like A Dragon franchise was announced during a live stream by Rya Ga Gotoku, and this one features Goro Majima … as a Pirate! The next game is titled ‘Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii, and the 6 minute trailer that followed is as campy and spectacular as the title itself!
The game looks to be set in the same world that the previous game Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth was set, as mentions of Hawaii, nuclear waste and Palekana from Infinite Wealth also find mention here. The trailer starts with Goro Majima sitting on a suitably grand chair and talking about how the situation came to be, and that all this happened around 6 months back. We then see him washed up on ‘Rich Island’ near Hawaii, where he is saved by a little boy and his companion – a cute looking tiger pup, and the story picks up from there. Apparently, we will get to see Goro Majima attack and capture ships and live the Pirate lifestyle in his own trademark, unique way.
There will be a Mad Dog – the classic Yakuza combat style that we have seen before, and a new Sea Dog – where Majima will wield dual cutlasses, firearms and a chain hook. The combat will not be turn-based as in the previous two Like A Dragon games, and this one looks to be a return to the frantic, fast-paced combat of the earlier Yakuza games.
The game will have three main region hubs – Hawaii, Rich Island and Madlantis to explore, and will have all the distractions in terms of side activities and side stories that the franchise has become so popular for.
Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii will release on Feb 28, 2025 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One & Xbox Series S/X.
The studio has built a strong reputation for combining great, complex storylines with twists, backstabs, and redemption arcs for its characters with some insane combat and whacky, goofy subquests. The most recent games in the franchise introduced the new protagonist Ichiban Kasuga, and gave a glorious send-off to Kazuma Kiryu, who took the mainline Yakuza games right from Yakuza 0 to Yakuza 6: The Song of Life.