I have always admired “Like a Dragon” for its masterful tonal balance. Since it first appeared in the West as Yakuza on PS2, each game has told a heartfelt but harrowing story amid the criminal underworld while leaning heavily towards consistent absurdism. Kazuma Kiryu risks his life to save everyone he cares about, but in his free time he can also go diving off the coast of Hiroshima to fight basking sharks.
One moment you're bursting into tears, the next you're jumping for joy, and miraculously all of these different tones blend together perfectly. Our heroes may be on the run from the law and trying to thwart evil syndicates that want to murder them, but that doesn't stop them from enjoying a cheeky round of karaoke at night. This balance is even more pronounced in spin-off titles like Dead Souls, where a zombie apocalypse is juxtaposed with a similar level of dramatic seriousness and the campy nature of the urban open world.
However, it works well, and when it comes to Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, it will work the same magic again.
It's a pirate's life for you, me and especially Goro Majima
Last week RGG Studio hosted a Dragon Direct to show off more of what we can expect from Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. As expected, the studio leans heavily on the completely absurd idea of fan-favorite character Goro Majima washing up on a random beach before quickly deciding to become the ultimate pirate lord. Majima is a man who takes every task given to him incredibly seriously, and so it doesn't take long until he's rocking with the locals, boarding his own pirate ship and traveling the seven seas.
Pulling the pirate map after a game is set in Hawaii is a stroke of genius and shows RGG Studio's talent for reusing assets and characters to tremendous effect.
Aside from Sea of Thieves, we don't have many modern blockbusters that capture the beautiful clichés of the Golden Age of Piracy and the thrill of clashing swords with other sailors or stumbling upon untold amounts of loot. Pirate adventures don't have to be complicated, as long as they convey the ironic foundations that define the genre.
I'm talking about walking planks, firing cannons, ambushing enemy ships or blowing them to pieces, and singing sea shanties with my crew as the sun sets. It presents a simple beauty that RGG Studio understands, whereas Ubisoft's Skull and Bones doesn't. That explains why so many people in the chat pulled it during the Direct.
After spending the better part of a decade in development hell, Skull and Bones launched last year to critical and commercial apathy. What began as a captivating and contemporary expansion of the naval combat seen in
Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag turned into a misguided attempt at live-service piracy whose greedy intentions were incredibly transparent.
Nobody cared, and in the end it was clear that Ubisoft wanted to get out of this mess and forget about it. What hurts most is that Skull and Bones could have been the game that Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii tried to be, but it was designed to be another live service blockbuster in an already saturated landscape .
Skull and Bones could have been the ultimate pirate video game
The atmosphere and characters wouldn't have been nearly as ridiculous, but there was little that could stop Skull and Bones from fulfilling the pirate fantasy of assembling a crew, sailing across the ocean to find hidden treasure, and feeling like an unstoppable badass while doing it to feel. But it failed and remains a harsh blot on Ubisoft's legacy.
I can't help but think of the game it could have been if production hadn't been so troubled or if Ubisoft hadn't been determined to turn Skull and Bones into an all-out cash octopus. At least RGG Studio is picking up the pieces and having a lot of fun doing it, because Pirate Yakuza looks like a lot of fun.
The game shows what a premium pirate experience can be without abusing live service elements for maximum profit, and how building a crew, finding treasure and attempting to stake your claim to the seven seas is possible in isolation and can even be realized as part of a Like a Dragon without feeling out of place. In fact, I would argue that it fits exactly that. Like Dead Souls before it, Pirate Yakuza understands the appeal of throwing familiar characters into silly scenarios and connecting the dots with a central narrative centered around a beating heart.
It takes our childhood fantasy of being pirates and translates it into the form of a video game, and I can't think of a better take on the genre.
