Similar to Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased, Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is a short spin-off of the main series, though it has plenty of content, albeit very familiar content. Players control Majima, the mostly pleasant version as he does have a kid following him around all game. The story is silly, which is no surprise, and it's quite easy to become overpowered early, making this one of the easiest games in the series on the normal difficulty. None of the story battles were tough, while one of the optional fights was a bit frustrating.
None of the game is set in Japan; the biggest area is Hawaii and that's the same as Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. In Hawaii you can play, or replay most likely, many of side activities long-time fans have already done before. There are some arcade games, Sega Master System games, UFO catchers, darts, billiards, Sicko Snap, Dragon Kart, Crazy Delivery, mahjong, shogi, karaoke, some gambling card games, batting (hitting barrels instead of a homerun board), closest to the pin and bingo golf, more quizzes at the vocational school, and photos to take for Alo-Happy Tours. I might have missed something, though I'm sure you get the idea. This game also has Drink Links, a cooking mini-game, and bounties to collect for extra money, and Majima will eventually acquire a rope hook that he can use in combat, as well as to locate hidden treasure chests, fish, and capture bugs.
The combat is the main difference between Infinite Wealth and Pirate Yakuza when exploring Hawaii, Whereas Infinite Wealth is turn-based, this is an action game. Of course, being a pirate, you have a ship and there are a few small areas to visit, including a tiny island where the game begins, a very small bit of Nele island, and a pirate paradise that has a colosseum with ship and deck battles. The way the boat exploration works is a little disappointing. You simply pull up a menu and choose a destination, and from there you can sail between locations in that one spot, it's not a connected world. Ship combat is simple but entertaining, though as I said above, it's easy to be overpowered so you can best the enemies quite quickly in most cases. There are a few battles that could be challenging, depending on your ship upgrades, but for the most part, it should be smooth sailing.
Through my one and I expect only play through, I played for more than 50 hours and completed just about everything. I got all the bounties, all the ship and Majima upgrades, all the pets (they live on an island, kind of pointless), and recruited and leveled up every crew member I think. I purchased the deluxe edition (only about $4 more than the base edition on sale), but it really wasn't worth it because I rarely activated the music and I don't know that I used any of the DLC cosmetic stuff. The one deluxe edition highlight was the extra crew members, and while they are strong, they aren't really needed. It's a fun game without too much new content for fans of the series, so despite enjoying my time with it, I can only recommend it when it's half price or less.
