During the latest Xbox Partner Showcase, Sega and RGG Studio put out a new trailer for Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii and highlighted the ship-based combat. This is the upcoming spinoff game in the Yakuza / Like A Dragon franchise staring long-time character Goro Majima. And while it returns to the action-brawler combat style of previous entries, the trailer emphasized side content and new features for the series.
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It'll heavily feature naval combat akin to Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag where you control a ship and fight it out on the high seas while blending in action gameplay when boarding enemy ships. Similar to Like A Dragon Gaiden from 2023, it will feature a new hub area called Madlantis where you can engage in minigames and tournament-style battles. It's fitting for the seemingly ridiculous pirate theme while also tying the existing space of the Hawaii map made for Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth.
"While naval battle will be new, real-time action combat will still play a significant role in the game. In addition to Majima’s Mad Dog style focused on speed, agility, and knife fighting, he also has a Sea Dog style where players can dual-wield cutlass short swords, pistols and other pirate tools in combat," Sakamoto said. "We encourage players to mix-up attacks by switching between both styles and getting a feel for the fast, fun kind of action that is unique to Majima, as well as the ability to do air combos to deal even more damage. We hope that players will enjoy the fighting combat just as much as the new naval combat, which we will unveil more details about in the near future."
Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii Screenshots | October 2024
Xbox Wire, the official Xbox blog, published an extensive interview with lead producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto, and while he wasn't able to share many details about naval combat, he outlined the many other features that fill out the game and several new story elements. Separately, RGG studio director Masayoshi Yokoyama said that because development is progressing "more smoothly than expected," Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is being moved up by a week to February 21 (likely to avoid clashing with the heavily-anticipated Monster Hunter Wilds, which is set for February 28).
Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is set to launch for PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series X|S, and PC. Catch up on all the trailers and reveals with our roundup of everything announced for the Xbox Partner Showcase.
Michael Higham is IGN's Tech Editor.