Between naval combat, swash-buckling, and summons, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio is having fun with the premise of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yazuka in Hawaii.
It’s wholly intentional, as chief producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto noted in a recent preview event for the title (attended by TheGamer). “After the events of Infinite Wealth, we were thinking ‘What did Majima do after that?’ It’s Majima, he’s in Hawaii, it’s this tropical island.
What is the weirdest, silliest, funnest thing that we could ever do that people would enjoy doing? And we were like, ‘That sounds like a pirate to me’.
It wasn’t like we’d been thinking about this for a long time. It was more, ‘Let’s use the pieces we’ve got and stick it all together’.” Sakamoto advised players to not think too much about it all, citing Rich Island, where Majima first awakens with memory loss, as a good example. “It’s a fishing island, but there are a bunch of people there who are pirates from the Age of Discovery.
Don’t ask, it just is.” The same goes for Mad Dog Style, which allows Majima to create shadow clones. “You’re probably asking yourself, ‘When did Majima learn to do ninja split-off duplicates?’ Well, it’s Majima, don’t ask.