Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii review: all schtick, no substance

digitaltrends.com:

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii MSRP $60.00 Score Details Pros

• Fantastic substories
• Great treasure hunting hook
• Fast, fun brawling
• Crew management is engrossing

• Dull story
• Glacial pacing
• Slow sailing
• Repetitive naval battles

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Goro Majima has amnesia.

When the absurdly titled Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii begins, the Mad Dog of Shimano washes up on a beach with his memories left behind in the tide. After a few scuffles with some scalawags, he’s reborn as a pirate. We still get flashes of the eccentric antihero we know throughout his seafaring journey to find a lost treasure, but he’s a man lost in schtick. His long history of eccentric behavior has become a costume robe draped over his true identity.

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Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii finds itself in a similar boat. The beefy spinoff of last year’s Infinite Wealth is an act of cosplay. While most of the pieces that make the long-running series so beloved are there, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio trades in strong writing for pirate pastiche with mixed results. Majima’s nautical adventure is at its best when flashes of memory break through its amnesia, reminding me that there’s more to Like a Dragon than its memeable moments.

Long-winded story

Though Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii presents itself as an action RPG starring Goro Majima, it’s not exactly the wish fulfillment fans are expecting. Since Majima has lost his memories, we’re not so much following the character we know and getting more insight into his unknowable brain. Sure, he’s still a loud mouth foil to the cool and collected Kazuma Kiryu, but we may as well be following a completely new character. The story only