Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii Devs Shared Details of Its Creation

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, a spin-off of Like a Dragon series that follows the story of Goro Majima as a pirate who was shipwrecked on a remote island in the Pacific and lost his memory, is scheduled for February 2025. In a recent interview, Masayoshi Yokoyama, the game's Executive Producer, and Hiroyuki Sakamoto, the Like a Dragon Series, the game's Chief Producer, discussed the title's development.

Masayoshi Yokoyama shared that for some time, he wanted to make a game called Like a Dragon: Tuna, in which Kazuma Kiryu, as a tuna fisherman, embarks on a sea journey to fight against fishing boats. The idea wasn't realized, but the sea-themed concept transformed into a game about pirates.

The upcoming game has Goro Majima as a protagonist, while Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name featured Kazuma Kiryu as a main character. The producer noted that spin-offs with changing protagonists allow players to follow the story from different perspectives. He also compared the game series to an "all-you-can-eat restaurant" with a wide range of courses and spin-offs with "well-balanced, good-proportion meals."

Yokoyama also shared that Majima was not the most conventional choice for a protagonist, as he is unpredictable, and his actions sometimes don't correspond to his emotions, which is confusing. " To make him a protagonist, we only had two options: amnesia or travel back in time. Without amnesia, Majima wouldn’t have worked as a protagonist."

The spin-off's gameplay features a new feature: jumping, which is a drastic change, according to the developer. As he shared, this new mechanic was added because "the character Majima looks good while jumping."

The reveal trailer of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii appeared recently. However, it turned out that some plot details were disclosed ahead of the official reveal, with the leaks that appeared back in May, but no one believed them to be true then.

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