Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii | DIRECT | THOUGHTS

''A PIRATES LIFE FOR ME''

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The Like A Dragon direct just passed and was presented to us, which gave us brand new info and a deeper dive into what we can expect when the title launches next month. After watching the direct, I have several thoughts I'd like to share personally and maybe spread a little info for people who might not have watched the direct just yet. In case you wish to view the direct yourself after this or even before, the link is down in the description. So shiver me timbers me matey's, lets talk about just what we witnessed during that direct.

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Like A Dragon Pirate Yazuka in Hawaii seemingly looks like its going to provide us with a quality adventure on the high seas, that takes the series usual formula and gives it a rather different twist to keep the series from becoming bland or dull, which is what they did with Infinite Wealth last year, much to everyone's delight, including myself. I mean getting randomly attacked by a gigantic Jaws like shark out of nowhere? who wouldn't like that? besides Quint, we know he wouldn't. Here in Pirate Yakuza you take on the role of Goro Majima who self appoints himself as a pirate captain, eye patch to go with it and all because honestly, you cant be a pirate without an eye patch, its just the rules, I dont make them, its just how it is. What intrigues me about this setting the most is the genre, that being Pirates, because I absolutely love anything pirate related and judging from what I've seen here in the direct, being able to sail across treacherous oceans and get into some hardcore looking ship battles with other crews, looks just freaking amazing and actually looks way more fun and streamlined compared to other Pirate related titles that have attempted similar mechanics. I wont name names, but if you know, you know, just sayin. On top of looking like it will give you a pretty immersive feeling based off what we have seen of this games in game world thus far, it made me wonder how they'd tackle the overall combat as well, luckily in the direct, we got our answer finally by getting showed the games two different fighting strategies that aims to please two sides of the market that was created within the last few Yakuza games, with those fighting styles learning both to a strategy based combat and an overtop spectacle that you're used to for this series that is really its bread and butter. Only thing missing is giving us karaoke style combat system using rapping, but.. maybe ill eventually get my wish, we'll see.. I mean this series has done FAR crazier things.

Sticking to the combat side of things, Pirate Yakuza introduces two combat styles named Mad Dog and Sea Dog, funny names in their own right, but fitting for what they pertain to at the very least. When using The Mad Dog fighting style, it plays into Majima's more ferocious tendencies, which know what that means, right? ultimate destruction baby. This style allows us as players to unload on enemies with extremely devastating combos and even summon dopplegangers when the Madness Gauge is filled, fulfilling the prophecy of Yakuza giving us our Tajuu Kage Bunshin No Jutsu. Meanwhile with the fighting style introduced with Sea Dog, this is where the title so far for me is looking extremely fun because using this style of combat allows you to dual wield cutlasses and pistols that gives more depth to combat than the games usually allow you to have by allowing for both close combat, ranged attacks and looks like its going to require precision timing in order to completely master the style and I'm all in for that, one hundred percent. Plus it doesnt look like the game punishes you by picking one style over the other as well, at least if i'm not misunderstanding. It looks like you'll definitely be able to switch between both styles of combat even when you're mid battle, adding an new layer of depth and strategy to how you approach combat in this title. Which is amazing and a great quality of life type of addition. Hang on, am I missing something here? I mean this is a PIRATE setting after all, and there's one crucial part missing in that equation... your actual ship. The S.S. Chicky. Ok no, she doesn't get her own ship in this game, but looks like we still don't come up short handed at all with allowing you to engage in navel combat with various amounts of customization features as you sail forth in the Goromaru, your steed of a ship, which does more than just float around the ocean like a Rubber Ducky in bath tub. In Pirate Yakuza, it seems we will be able to customize a crap ton of features on our ship, which is awesome because if you know me, I can spend HOURS just customizing stuff and lose track of time because I find those aspects in gaming so addictive and this game looks like it will be no different with being able to customize sails and armaments, which allows you to look cool as heck, while also kicking a crap load of butt in your sea battles, all of which are done in real time, so no hand holding will be necessary and quick thinking will be rewarded by being the first to get into the proper position for both an attack or counter attack on your enemies. On top of addicting customization, you also get access to crew management that allows you to choose from roughly 100 character to recruit as your sea mates, all of which boast their own unique abilities that can be utilized in cunning strategies. Its honestly astonishing to be honest. I know I'm not as hardcore as most Yakuza fans, but this title to me is shaping up to be one of the most diverse and deep titles in the franchise, at least in my opinion.

Narrative wise, you're destined to explore and find several different locations, all housing their own secrets to discover and find, such as cozy islands, criminal headquarters of Madlantis, etc etc, all showing off different challenges to tackle so that each location makes it feel with your journey as you weave about different adventures that include themes of redemption and searching for memories once lost. Only redemption I'm going to need is me actually steering my ship properly because it seems in every game I play, somehow, someway, I crash my vehicle and most likely, within first ten minutes, I'm going to end up sinking my own ship...its inevitable at this point really. Honestly, from my 100% opinion on this title so far, I think its looking fantastic and Its jumped up to one of my more anticipated games to play this year. I know there's extra incentives right now to pre-order with some cool pre-order bonuses and really cool special editions, which link to those will also be in the description below, but what caught my eye more so than those was the fact that New Game Plus was mentioned. Now that's what I'm talking about. Now I don't have to worry about missing out on any content, should I fail to do it in my first playthrough and can now boot up my new game plus file and continue my pirate antics, making sure I get 100% out of my playtime and that is superb. Definitely a big addition for a game of this size. All in all, again, it looks great, and it definitely shows a lot of promise and hopefully the full game ends up living up to its own hype because as of right now, its well on its way to. So if this game looks like it peaks your interest, make sure to be on the look out for Like A Dragon Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii when it launches February 20th on Playstation 5, Playstation 4, X-Box family of systems and PC.

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