Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii hits Xbox consoles later this week on February 20th, meaning reviews for this upcoming SEGA spin-off are starting to hit the web as we speak.
Here at Pure Xbox, we've managed to throw together an early 'hands on' feature for this one, but plenty of full scored reviews are now available online as well. We'll link to our thoughts, alongside a batch of those scored reviews below.
VG247 (5/5)
"RGG’s also embraced visual customisation in a more in-depth manner than it ever has before here – not just with your ship, but with putting together custom outfits for Majima that’re mix-and-matchable, rather than rigidly set. You’ll spend most of your time in your getup of choice, ticking off suitably piratey sub-stories and goals in order to recruit new crewmates, as well as hunting down bounty targets pulled from IW’s array of different enemy categories to beef up your bank balance in refreshingly ungrindy chunks."
TechRadar Gaming (9/10)
"Don’t be put off by its absurd name or ridiculous premise; Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii provides a sincere and heartfelt adventure that successfully marries the series’ penchant for engaging power struggles with high-octane swashbuckling action. For existing fans, it’s a superb follow-up to Infinite Wealth. And for newcomers, it’s an excellent onboarding experience thanks to its myriad of fun and accessible gameplay systems."
The Gamer (9/10)
"Pirate Yakuza goes all in on making Majima the most charming, endearing, and downright loveable rogue he’s ever been, taking everything 'Majima' and ramping it up to a million.
TechRaptor (8.5/10)
"Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii brings Goro Majima's unique brand of loony brutality to a treasure-hunting adventure. The levity of the overall adventure makes it easy to sink into this game, and despite repetitive ship combat, the hand-to-hand action makes it a blast to play. And with a conclusion worth seeing, the overall narrative makes this another success in Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio's repertoire."
IGN (8/10)
"Propelled by a breezy and often completely bananas treasure-hunting tale, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is a delightful spin-off that seamlessly shifts between street thuggery and skulduggery. Majima’s Sea Dog stance is one of the most fun and flexible fighting styles I’ve enjoyed in the series to date – at least in its classic, combo-based form – and I welcomed the challenge of carefully balancing my crew lineup in order to survive the many turbulent naval battles."
Eurogamer (4/5)
"A raucous, absurd spin-off that manages to still feel like a first-rate Yakuza game despite the leftfield setting and delightfully unhinged plot."
Push Square (7/10)
"A thoroughly enjoyable side game that looks to offer familiar Like a Dragon action with a swashbuckling twist, Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is a flamboyant distraction between mainline entries. The story doesn't compare favourably to the mainline entries and the new island areas quickly become repetitive, but the novelty of Goro Majima at the helm of a pirate ship never quite wears off. Stay for its frenzied action and jolly pirate ship battles and you'll have a good time."
GameSpot (7/10)
"Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii puts the spotlight back on Goro Majima for an uneven swashbuckling adventure that delights more often than it disappoints."
Digital Trends (3/5)
"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."
VGC (3/5)
"Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is an amusing, if underwhelming way to kill time before Yakuza 9, but considering the speed at which RGG is releasing new games in the series, you probably don't have to wait that long for the next traditional entry."
It seems that, on the whole, folks are really enjoying this new Like a Dragon game from SEGA! At the time of posting, we're looking at a Metacritic score of 80 and an OpenCritic rating of 81 - which are very, very respectable scores for this bonkers Xbox spin-off.
Excited about this one, Pure Xbox readers? Tell us if you're picking this game up down below!
Comments 9
RGG Studio is one of the few out there that delivers consistently entertaining games these days.
My PS5 copy will be waiting for me on Friday, and will also pick it up for XBox on disc down the road, as I like supporting these folks.
Another RGG banger. I don't know if I'll play it Day 1, but still looking forward to it.
@dskatter Nice to know I'm not the only one who buys multiple copies of RGG games on multiple platforms.
This is one of those IPs that just prints its own money, and it appears as though it almost always pays off for the dev.
@TheBeardiest I’m not alone!
I do the same for Persona games as well, because I’m an idiot.
They’re too cool for game pass now I guess.
If I have to pay real money (or rewards points!), I’ll wait for the mainline, turn-based games. I’d have played this on game pass tho.
I’m gonna pass on this one as I am stepping away from the series but I am happy for those that enjoy it.
@dskatter 😂 I have Persona 5 on the Switch and PS4. Almost bought the PS5 version a couple of times but ultimately couldn't pull the trigger.
@TheBeardiest I have P5 for PS4, and P5R for PS4, PS5, Switch and XBox.
Don’t ask me about every other physical release for PS4/XBox/3DS/Switch for the other games, because I only have so much free time in my day.
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