Summary
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaiipicks up roughly whereLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealthends even though it switches protagonists. This time, everyone’s favorite zanyYakuzamember, Goro Majima, is having his own little adventure.
After washing ashore and suffering amnesia, Goro quickly becomes the captain of a pirate ship and sets his eyes on hunting for treasure inLike a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. The game is not quite open-world but there is sailing involved in smaller areas. There are a lot of new mechanics besides sailing to learn so let’s go through how players can make the most of Goro’s mini-episode.
6Money Is More Precious Than Ever
The RPG Elements Are Split
Goro will not earn EXP in battle likea traditional RPGbut that doesn’t mean leveling up in dead in this latest spinoff. When players go into ship battles, recruits do level up with EXP. Goro, on the other hand, can purchase skills in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii with money which will level him up in various ways from stat boosts to unlocking new abilities.
Money is also used in the traditional sense to buy goods at vendors so players have to be more precious than ever about their goods and skills chosen. Two early skill recommendations include the health and attack boosts. If players want to level up their crew more they should seek out ships to fight on the high seas or take them on expeditions to treasure islands which will be further discussed later.
5Choosing The Right Difficulty
Eliminating The Grind
There are threedifficulty modes inLike A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaiiincluding Beginner, Standard, and Professional in the game. As usual in an action game, these difficulty modes can be changed at any time in the menu. That said, to lessen the burden of worrying about items and cash, players should at least start on Beginner.
The Standard mode will force players to grind hard for cash to get upgrades to survive early fights like a deluge of boss battles and Professional is near impossible except for devout action game fans. The harder two modes are worth checking out though but players should make sure and save often before battles. No matter what difficulty players choose, it’s always recommended to save manually often and that goes for any game out there.
4Making The Most Of Plants And Cooking
Wait And Level Up The System Early
One way to alleviate cash troubles is to not use it to buy healing items at shops.Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaiijoins many RPGswith a cooking mini-game set up wherein Goro can take ingredients found in the world to cook dishes. They can heal HP, raise the Heat Gauge, cure status effects, and so on. Be sure to stock up on meal kits then and the best early way to make meals is through growing plants.
In most HUB areas, like Rich Island, there will be planters. Planting a seed will take for time it to grow and it only counts down if players are in the world and not in a menu. So, for example, if a potato takes five minutes to grow, players can’t pause the game in a menu hoping it will be done. They have to watch it grow or do something else in-game and come back.
3Raiding Islands
A Musou-like Mini-Game
When players get control of the ship they will also get the Treasury of Treasures map. This will point out all of Jack the Collector’s treasures which, when found, will give players points and money. Landing on these islands will prompt a mini-game wherein players have to go through a mini-dungeon to fight some pirates and then they can collect a treasure.
The enemy numbers are greater than in normal encounters almost likea Musou gameincluding the recentDynasty Warriors: Origins. Before moving on with the story to a new region, be sure to always wrap up any treasure-hunting excursions presented on the map. And if something does get missed, players can always go back.
2Becoming A Scavenger
Pay Attention To Your Tiger Pal
It’s important more than ever to scavenge for materials inLike a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. This is how players can find seeds to plant, random curative items, or things to sell. They will either look like shining orbs or silver briefcases. These two types will respawn in the world, sometimes within minutes so it’s always good to keep an eye open. Also, players may not know this but Noah’s tiger cub, also named Goro, will catch bugs in its mouth.
If he catches one, Goro will have a glowing gold orb in its mouth and bugs can be cooked from grasshoppers to butterflies. As early as Rich Island, players can jump in the water tofish inLike a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaiitoo. Simply hitting square, on the PS5 controller at least, will catch fish used to prepare some of the better dishes. The aforementioned Tiger version of Goro will adorably accompany players into the water with a little life preserver.
1When You Get To Honolulu, Explore As Much As You Can
And Get Some Rings
Honolulu is the final step in unlocking most of the game’s initial mechanics. This will take about five to six hours to get gear depending on the difficulty level and how much players enjoy scavenging, fighting random enemies, and engaging in ship battles. The task in Honolulu is to make it to the Revolve Bar which is where players will meet Andre Richardson and Kei reprising their roles fromLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealtheven though they appeared before that game intheYakuzaseries.
Before going there though, players should explore the entire city and do away with the black shadows engulfing the map. This will give players a chance to pick up random items, fight even more baddies, discover shops, and unlock fast travel points. One great shop is the White Shore Boutique and players should buy the Hawaiian Silver Ring and the Hawaiian Gold Ring here to equip onto Goro. After following a few more story beats, players will unlock Substories and the ability to actively recruit more shipmates. By unlocking fast travel zones and the map, it will be easier to tackle these Substories and recruiter missions when they unlock.
