Phil Theobald is a co-host on the Player One Podcast and formerly of Nintendo Power and EGM.
Five Kinda Dumb Reasons Why Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii Is My 2025 Game of the Year
by Phil Theobald
So, I’ve always liked the Yakzua/Like a Dragon series… I’ve put a few dozen hours into multiple games in the series over the years, but I never really got into them until Yakuza: Like a Dragon. It may not have been the ideal kicking off point for my sudden increased interest (it’s the eighth entry in the main series, and it features not only a new protagonist, but a complete genre shift), but the eternally optimistic Ichiban Kasuga was the hook I needed to make me a true devotee.
After plowing through that game and its two follow-up titles, Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, I was anxiously awaiting the next entry, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, which looked to lean even harder into the blend of crime world melodrama and off-the-wall wackiness for which the series has increasingly become known.
Pirate Yakuza came out early in 2025 (towards the end of February), but it’s remained at the forefront of my mind all year long. It had everything I wanted out of another LaD adventure: densely-packed locales to explore, an overly complex storyline, bonkers side stories like helping Goro Majima, the “Mad Dog of Shimano,” make it as a video game streamer or getting roped into accompanying a J-pop stan on a tour around Honolulu with his favorite idol, and random diversions like a Crazy Taxi-inspired minigame, kart racing, and playing classic SEGA games at an arcade. Then there’s all the new pirate-centric stuff like recruiting crew members, hunting down treasure, and loads of ship-to-ship combat.
What really makes me love this game, though, is the characters. Goro and his friends (and even his enemies) are such a charming bunch that I found myself actively missing them in the weeks following my playthrough of the game. Even now, I wish I had an excuse to head over to the Revolve Bar to grab a drink, have a chat, and bust out a little karaoke.
All that stuff is well and good, but as I think back on Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii while considering my 2025 game of the year, a few things—a few kinda dumb things—stuck out as big factors in this making the top of my list.
Be warned that there are gonna be some unavoidable spoilers in here. Spoilers about things that I was very happy to experience fresh. So, y’know… consider yourself warned.
Musical Numbers
It takes a couple of hours to play through Pirate Yakuza’s first chapter, which sees Majima, stricken with amnesia, washing up on an island shore. Through pure charm and badassery, he quickly befriends the locals, thwomps some bad guys, and procures a pirate ship and crew to set out for adventure on the high seas. Shortly after shoving off, Captain Majima is chatting with a young crew member and encourages him to continue a little ditty that the boy began singing to himself—“No reason to be embarrassed over some joyful noise.” The game comes completely quiet for a moment before the kid kicks off a full-on musical number as the opening credits kick in.
As the song continues, the entire crew joins in with an elaborate, choreographed dance. I remember chuckling to my wife, who was watching me play the game, “I see it’s gonna be this kind of game.” And boy, is it. The big, dopey grin that this song (which is, of course, about setting out into the unknown to chase your dreams) elicited didn’t leave my face during the 65 hours I spent in the game.
Then, once I reached the game’s finale and was just starting to come down from the high that song triggered, the ending started up, and… and oh lawd, the ending. A glorious, high-energy curtain call that is the perfect capper to this fantastic game. I know some Yakuza fans aren’t into this goofier direction the series has slowly taken over the years, but I eat this sorta nonsense up. More please. Forever and ever.
Noah and Goro
It’s usually a bad sign when a long-running series introduces a new cute little kid to the cast. Old people like myself will be reminded of The Brady Bunch’s Cousin Oliver, but a hip, young gadabout like yourself will think of that time when A.J. and Big Justice started collaborating with the Rizzler. They’re exactly the same thing.
This means I was a little nervous to meet Noah Rich, an asthmatic 10-year-old who discovers Majima at the start of the game. He has an adorable pet baby tiger named Goro, for crying out loud! And yeah, he’s the singing kid I mentioned above. Noah and his deadbeat dad, Jason, join your crew, and Majima becomes something of a second father to the boy.
Instead of being an annoyance or a hindrance, the hopeful and kind-hearted Noah ended up being one of my favorite characters. He serves as a great moral compass for Majima, and I loved seeing him grow as he stepped out into the world for the first time. There’s also a side mission where Majima goes on a date with the baby tiger, and you remember this game is goofy, right?
There are few things I want to see more than some future Like a Dragon game where we find old man Majima in some form of deep trouble, only to be rescued by a 20-year-old Noah bursting through a door, riding atop a fully grown Goro. He’ll call Majima “Captain.” I will immediately cheer and start crying.
Masaru’s Love Journey
One particularly involved side mission has Majima help a lonely crewmate, Masaru, get a date. Thus begins a string of quests to recruit eligible women that culminates in the ladies appearing alongside Masaru on a dating show.
A, like, 30-minute-long dating show.
A live-action 30-minute-long dating show.
It’s so unexpected and so weird. They didn’t even bother dubbing it—even if you’re playing in English, you’ll be watching Masaru’s Love Journey with subtitles. I was absolutely gobsmacked for half an hour straight. And aside from just being… bizarre, it’s genuinely funny. The level of commitment to such a wild bit is unbelievable, and I respect the bejeebers out of it. Top marks all around, everyone, my gosh.
Tomy’s Pop-Up Pirate Toy
In 1975, Japanese toy company Tomy (now Takara Tomy in Japan) released a children’s game that is today known as Pop-up Pirate. The game is comprised of a plastic, spring-loaded barrel into which a pirate figure is inserted. Players take turns inserting small plastic swords into slots on the side of the barrel. One of the slots will cause the pirate to, well, pop up out of the barrel, eliminating the unlucky player from the game. The winner the last player who hasn’t triggered the randomized launching mechanism. The game is still sold to this day, and there’s a decent enough chance that you’ve actually played it.
Over the years, there have been many variations of the game, including licensed versions that replaced the pirate with, say, Darth Vader or Minions. Well, in Japan, there was a special edition of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii (sorry… Ryu Ga Gotoku 8 Gaiden: Pirates in Hawaii) that includes a Goro Majima-themed version of the game. The little swords are replaced with tiny versions of Majima’s trademark dagger, and the pirate is obviously Majima in his full pirate regalia, and it’s such a silly thing to have exist. Did I import this release just to get this dopey little toy even though I had already ordered the U.S. collector’s edition of the game? No, why would I do that? That would be a wast--YES OF COURSE I DID COME ON.
Endless kudos to whatever SEGA employee suggested this idea and got it all the way through the process into production. You are a hero.
Ichiban Cameo
My boy Ichiban shows up for a minute during the ending!
Sure, you can add the lovable dope to your pirate crew via DLC, but that doesn’t really count. Crewmate Ichiban doesn’t interact with you or anything. It’s not, like, a “canon” appearance.
But in the ending? Hey, Ichi’s hanging out and chattin’ and everything. Sure, Majima is great, but it was lovely to see the Hero of Yokohama again, if even just for a minute.
What can I say? Dumb things like this are what cause a game to endear itself to me. There were a lot of great games this year, but none stayed with me like Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.