Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is a game that I’m stunned even exists. In the AAA gaming space, it’s so rare to see a franchise just let loose with a genuinely absurd premise. Yet with action-adventure game Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio pulls it off with such unabashed confidence that you really just have to respect it.

And still upon reflection, it’s a premise that manages to make perfect sense for protagonist Goro Majima. For the most unhinged of the series’ legendary yakuza - a guy who’s previously had success running a cabaret club and a construction company - taking up the mantle of a pirate captain and sailing the high seas in search of lost treasure is something he’d probably do in a heartbeat. With or without the amnesia he’s struck with at the start of this game.

It’s a concept that elevates Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii from any old spinoff to a truly memorable adventure and one that absolutely stands out confidently against the backdrop of the long-running series. It’s still a Like a Dragon title through and through - with an abundance of minigames, side quests, and a massive open hub to explore - but the backdrop of piracy and treasure hunting makes Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii one of a kind.

Setting the stage

Six months on from the events of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, we find Majima washed up on the beach of a remote island off the coast of Hawaii. Near death and with little in the way of memories to his name, he’s mercifully saved by a child named Luke, who lives on the island with his dad and older sister.

Over the course of the first chapter, Majima repays Luke’s kindness by helping the island deal with a rather major pirate problem. And we’re talking pirates in the strictest sense: galleons outfitted with powerful cannons and menacing sails, staffed by salty treasure-hungry sea dogs. It turns out the whole thing is quite the racket in the waters surrounding Hawaii (in the Like a Dragon universe at least).

After a stint doing errands on the island, it’s not too long before Majima gets a pirate ship - the Goromaru - and a ragtag crew of his own. And so properly begins an adventure that successfully weds a Treasure Island-esque narrative with Like a Dragon’s political and faction-based intrigue. While it’s not as big on throwing you wild curveballs as the mainline series, it’s a tale that’s nonetheless entertaining and thrilling from start to finish, with an absolutely phenomenal finale to boot.

White whale, holy grail

Gameplay and exploration in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is split into two distinct segments, those being land and sea. When you’re ashore, it’s perhaps unsurprisingly like most other Like a Dragon titles; Majima gets to fully explore the city of Honolulu (returning from Infinite Wealth) and engage in all kinds of minigames, side stories, and combat.

As in prior entries, clueless goons are more than keen to make a beeline for Majima should they spot him out and about, which is where his two distinct combat styles come into play. I’ve covered them extensively in my previews beforehand, but what you need to know is that the Mad Dog and Sea Dog styles offer incredibly unique ways to engage your foes.

Mad Dog is closer to the Majima you expect. Wielding his iconic knife, he employs rapid attacks, a powerful gap closer, throws, and more. It’s ideal for whittling down a single target or a small squad of baddies. Sea Dog is the more interesting of the two, as Majima dons his pirate garb, wields two cutlasses, and has access to a flintlock pistol and a hook. It’s much better suited to the larger-scale fights you’ll have during story missions and deck battles.

Overall, Majima feels exceptionally powerful here, to the point where the Normal difficulty setting was honestly quite a breeze. Throw in some hilariously strong Heat Actions, Mad Dog’s Doppelganger mode, and Sea Dog’s Dark Instruments (both available via the chargeable Madness Gauge) and we have what is certainly among the most overpowered move sets in series history.

But by Davy Jones is Majima such a joy to play as. Whether it’s blasting away entire scores of lads with a charged flintlock shot or wreaking havoc with a giant ethereal chimpanzee (no, really), combat rarely feels like a drag. Enemies aren’t necessarily pushovers though, with some types wielding spears or shields to counter specific abilities.

However, as powerful as Majima feels, you’ll still need to play smart. That’s especially so when you chase after Honolulu’s bounty targets - a piece of side content that provides plenty of cash with which you can use to invest in upgrades for Majima and his ship.

Those spear guys can poke you out of the air, for example, while shielded foes will need to be robbed of their protection with the hook before significant damage can be dealt. And that’s before we’ve even gotten to kickboxers, gunners, tigers, bears, and enemies that drop a grenade on defeat. Believe it or not, they’re actually worse than the tigers and bears.

Waterworld

Majima’s as much a terror out at sea, if not more so. Captaining the Goromaru is the other half of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, and it’s unlike anything we’ve seen from the series yet. Well, perhaps besides the vehicle combat of Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise, but that’s obviously even more of a spinoff than this game is.

There’s a ton to do out on the high seas, with exploring the vast waters surrounding Hawaii and other notable locales forming a good chunk of the playthrough. You can engage in ship battles, explore uncharted islands for lost treasure, and even undertake a massive side story that has Majima and crew taking down the Devil Flags - a notorious pirate armada.

One thing to note is that content with the Goromaru is noticeably harder than anything else in the game. Enemy ships can pack a punch, especially those of higher ranks. So, you’ll need to do some groundwork in order to make your ship as powerful as possible. That’ll come in the form of scouting new crew members you can find dotted around Honolulu, as well as upgrading the ship’s durability and firepower.

Your shipmates will also level up when they’re staffed on the ship, and certain members can provide unique First Mate or Squad Leader buffs if they’ve been assigned to those positions. Such buffs include increasing damage you deal to an enemy ship’s stern, or increasing the number of times you can shoot out a smokescreen to obscure enemy vision while you resuscitate downed crewmates or put out hazards like fires or poison mist.

You’ll also be able to take your crew into the Madlantis Pirates’ Coliseum, a substantial bit of side content where you’ll engage in ship battles of escalating difficulty. Defeating the enemy ship will then transition you to a deck battle, where your entire crew faces off against the enemy’s on their own ship. It’s a genuine thrill to see so many characters clash against each other in combat like this, and while it can get quite messy and nonsensical, it’s still great chaotic fun.

Manning the Goromaru is a part of the game that I found to be the most engrossing. Ticking off content and participating in minigames to unlock new crew members always feels fulfilling, and definitely incentivizes you to try out activities like Dragon Kart, Crazy Delivery, and the usual smattering of side activities to unlock even more goodies.

There are a few stubborn barnacles to deal with out on the ocean, though. Engagements with enemy ships can get quite lengthy later on in the game, which does add to overall sea travel time. And while the Goromaru can boost and make use of air currents to sail swiftly, the simple act of traveling from A to B can still take a good chunk of time. Especially when you’re constantly running into other fleets.

The sea is also the only place in the game where you’ll experience notable performance drops (at least I did on the PS5 review version I tested), especially when inclement weather such as rain storms get involved. It’s nothing horrible or unplayable, but definitely worth noting if you’re playing on console.

Should I play Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii?

Play it if...

Don't play it if...

Accessibility

The accessibility options in Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii are something of a treasure trove, too, with plenty on offer to accommodate gamers of all stripes.

Some highlights include options for automatic quick time events, stick control swapping, reducing the motion of waves out at sea, thorough subtitle options (including backgrounds and character names), and three distinct color vision assistance settings (deuteranopia, protanopia, and tritanopia). Full button configuration is also supported.

How I reviewed Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii

My full playthrough of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii took 25 hours to finish on PS5, playing on an LG CX OLED TV with the DualSense Wireless Controller.

While I finished the main story, the Goro Pirates side story, and tackled the majority of available side content, this was by no means a completionist run. If you’re going for 100% - that’s fully completing all side content including the exhaustive challenge list - expect to sink in anywhere between 30-40 hours.

First reviewed February 2025

Early on in narrative adventure game Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1, you find yourself in the maximalist milieu of its protagonist’s cluttered bedroom, circa 1995. After fiddling with the pin art board and pilfering through a collection of shiny VHS tapes, my eye was drawn to the off-brand Tamagotchi on Swann’s desk.

As I admired the familiar chunky design, marked delicately by little scratches, the screen came to life, and new options appeared on screen: Play, Feed, Eat. Like an archaeologist, I marveled at the unnecessary meticulousness of this moment — there was no need for Lost Records to include a fully-playable pocket pet, yet here I was, cleaning up its poop like any good teenager would.

This level of detail is redolent of developer Don't Nod's first two Life is Strange games, which solidified the studio’s reputation as new wave masterminds of segmented narrative. There have been many Don't Nod and even some Life is Strange games in the time since, but the key creatives behind that initial diptych have yet to deliver a successor, until now.

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is a new IP that explores the uncanny, messy nature of humanity from a stylized and period-specific perspective. So far, it’s an adventure dripping in tactile nostalgia and pithy mystery that evolves the ethos of the games that came before it. Evoking Life is Strange’s episodic approach, Lost Records: Bloom and Rage is split into two parts, with the second tape coming in April 2025.

In Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1, four friends who vowed never to speak after an undisclosed incident are summoned back to their hometown when an ominous package arrives in the mail. You play as Swann, an anxious forty-something who must face the events of the troupe’s ‘lost summer’, rekindling their dormant relationships to understand why the parcel arrived after all this time and what could be inside.

To do this, you’ll rummage through gorgeously curated midwestern dioramas, jumping between 1995 and 2022 to pick apart set pieces and choose lines of dialogue, with the story molding around your version of events. The decisions you make in the past and present weave together as the story unfolds, ensuring each choice feels loaded regardless of what you’re doing. In Velvet Cove, appearances are deceiving, and the liberating break the friends have since put behind them obscures an otherworldly backbone waiting to be unearthed.

Swann’s teenage self is also equipped with a trusty camcorder that you’ll use to film the events of the summer as they unfold, a unique mechanic that helps to distinguish Lost Records from its peers. As you explore, you can pull out your trusty device on a whim to capture precious moments and create idiosyncratic memoirs. You’ll often be prompted to film certain scenes, too, with that footage showing up during cutscenes, cleverly immersing you in the 90s fantasy.

Be kind, rewind

The basis of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1 is rewarding exploration. If you search hard enough in your reckless friend's garage, you might find the crude placement of perfume samples meant to hide the scent of weed. Or, if you wander deeper through an abandoned park, you might stumble upon some choice graffiti that illuminates the small-town mentality and class dissonance present in Velvet Cove. Not every nook and cranny hid something shocking, and oftentimes, the small clues served to illuminate the complexity of the townsfolk, blurring the lines between what I thought it meant to be a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ character.

Looking for such hints is helped by the overarching mystery of Swann’s amnesia, which weaves the spirit of investigation into the main plot. As such, combing through each room or open space feels natural and less game-like, with my attention drawn to Swann’s actions instead. Whether I’d scoured a room or not, I never felt as though I was missing something, with Don't Nod consistently giving me enough information to push forward.

This sense of immersion is helped by the stellar voice acting delivered by the Lost Records cast. There’s distinct naivete and softness as the younger versions of their characters chat, which rubs against the awkwardness as they reconnect as their older selves. Lines are delivered with patience and intent, and I relished watching their tones shift as the summer played out, as they became a closer, more flirty group. This shift is also accompanied by an atmospheric soundtrack that blends its original score with a smattering of licensed cult tracks (including Cocteau Twins) to great effect.

Despite how magical and freeing Lost Records can feel, Don't Nod doesn’t shy away from the harsher elements of humanity either, and handles them with care. As a teen girl, Swann doesn’t fit the ‘skinny’ mold, an issue that comes up cruelly for them throughout Lost Records. While visceral performances summoned plenty of emotion from me, I found the quieter teenage disaffection of Swann and their group to be equally as moving. This is particularly true for the case of Swann’s friend Nora, whose brash aesthetic and attitude act as a mask for insecurities about their troubled home life.

Of the leading group, the firecracker Kat is perhaps the most intriguing, with much of the story centering around their homelife, their polar opposite sister Dylan, and her disaffected but strangely magnetic boyfriend Corey, who appears to bully and accost the girls. Kat’s struggles seem simple, as punk beliefs wrestle with traditional family values. It would be easy to settle on Kat’s situation as one-dimensional family trouble, but Lost Records subverts these expectations considerably and did well to reframe my experiences with its cast of murky heroes and villains.

What’s in the box?

Perhaps my favorite aspect of Lost Records, though, is the variety of choices you can make and how they ratchet up your emotions. Unlike the team’s previous work on Life is Strange, here, the story-shifting decisions don’t appear with an intimidating on-screen chyron.

It’s fair to assume that the repercussions of my actions won’t be fully revealed until Tape 2. However, there were still plenty of instances where I saw my actions immediately play out. For example, in the opening moments, Swann talks to their mum on the phone and reminisces about their old cat: from here on out in the past, from feeding them to cuddles, that is your pet’s name. No matter how big or small the selection felt, a fine-tuned balance of player influence alongside the main linear story made me feel necessary to the plot despite it being moored in a confident overarching narrative.

Lost Records isn't always hazy sunsets, though, with some scenes twisting towards horror. In one particular instance, Swann fell through a window into an abandoned house, the exit guarded by a mystical padlock. Wandering through the dark, with only my camcorder light to guide me, I felt pangs of genuine fear while puzzle-solving. Much of Lost Records revolves around dialogue, and these surprising deviations into thrilling puzzles and spooky tricks kept me on my toes as I moved through the story, which is persistently tinged with menacing magical realism.

A stand-out feature was the intricately modeled characters and carefully curated visual identity in both the past and present. Despite jumping twenty-seven years, Velvet Cove feels trapped in the past, with its water tower adorned with gaudy wooden antlers and the plaid-wearing regulars in the local bar. Rusty chain link fences, cracked cement, and abandoned spaces create a strong feeling that the town has been left behind, a sensation which contrasts against the liberated aesthetic of the girl group who are keen to leave it behind.

Across my playtime I encountered a smattering of technical bugs, such as chugging when scenes would load and, in one instance, a crash. These issues were minor in the grand scheme of the game, and I’m hopeful they will be resolved before the launch. Thankfully, a forgiving checkpoint system meant I never lost that much progress when I did run into problems.

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1 might only be the first half of the story, yet even as I rolled credits, tears streaming down my cheeks, I felt satisfied and deeply curious about the chaos its cliffhanger ending had wrought. I’m keen to dig in and unlock the missing pieces of Swann and Co.'s past, one aberrated camcorder clip at a time.

Should I play Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1?

Play it if…

Don’t play it if…

Accessibility

When you boot up Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1, you can choose the interface text size (small, medium, and large) and toggle on and off subtitles. From this screen, you can also select the size of the subtitles (small, medium, large.) Due to the heavy themes in Lost Records: Bloom and Rage, you’ll also have the choice to turn on trigger warnings.

These warnings include topics such as drugs, tobacco, and alcohol. On this screen, you can also tweak audio dynamic range, choosing between a narrow (little difference between loud and quiet moments, suitable for low-quality sound systems or noisy playspaces), Medium (moderate difference between loud and quiet moments, ideal for most speakers), and Wide (sizable difference between loud and quiet moments, ideal for high-quality sound systems or quiet playspaces)

From the pause menu, under controls, you can toggle on and off vibrations and how the camcorder behaves in the game. There are also options to reduce motion sickness, such as a toggling off head bob, camcorder motion controls, and shifting the camcorder feel between regular, light, very light, and none. You can additionally invert cameras and movements and remap the entire keyboard from this menu.

Where visual effects are concerned, You can toggle on and off motion blur, camera smoothing, and camera shake. From the interface menu, you can also toggle on and off a speaker cue that provides a visual cue for who is talking as well as toggle the persistent reticle in first and third person.

How I reviewed Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1

I completed Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1’s story in around nine and a half hours on my PC. In that time, I searched through each environment and completed most mini montages Swann could film throughout, as well as tested photo mode.

I used an AOC 27-inch QHD VA 144Hz monitor, a Logitech MX Master 3S mouse, and a Logitech G915 TKL keyboard. For sound, I used my external Creative Pebble V2 speakers and Audio Technica ATH-MX50X headphones plugged into a Scarlett 2i2 interface. My GPU is an RTX 3080, and my CPU is an AMD Ryzen 9 3950X.

First reviewed February 2025