Video Games

The worst part of the Pirate Yakuza reveal is knowing I can’t get a Majima Pop-Up Pirate

Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku revealed the next Yakuza game, Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, but only Japanese players can get a Majima-themed Pop-Up Pirate

Josh Broadwell

Sega/RGG

Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku revealed the next Yakuza game, officially called Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, with pre-orders open now, and that makes me sad. Not from anything I saw in the Pirate Yakuza trailer – quite the contrary – or any major disappointment with the idea of pre-ordering a game, though I never splash out early for games anymore. It’s because only Japanese players can pre-order Pirate Yakuza and get a Majima-themed Pop-Up Pirate, and that’s just not right.

Pop-Up Pirate might mean little to you if you’re under a certain age, but from the 1970s through the 1990s, it was a staple in the “trigger board game” category. There’s a little pirate guy in a barrel, and your job is to poke little plastic swords through it and hope you don't hit one of the triggers inside. If you do, he flies out of the barrel, and you lose.

TOMY, the original Pop-Up Pirate maker, is making the Majima Pop-Up Pirate as well, which is a lovely little touch. Okay, sure, I could just import the Japanese version of the Pirate Yakuza special edition, but that’s a lot of extra time and money. Might as well just put a tricorn hat and paint angry Majima eyebrows on a regular Pop-Up Pirate at that point.

I’m (mostly) joking here, but Sega, please. Let me pay you for the Majima Pop-Up Pirate.

Pirate toy woes aside, RGG’s latest is a spinoff from Infinite Wealth that takes place a year after Ichiban and Kiryu’s Hawaiian escapades. Majima is the star this time. No retirement for him, unlike Kiryu. He washes up on an island with no memory and eventually gets in a fight with some yakuza pirates, because of course he does. 

That fight – back to action, unlike Ichiban’s turn-based adventures – eventually leads him to a ship of his own, a crew, and a run-in with the ruler of Madlantis, a haven for scallawags. Madlantis looks like a chaotic disaster, as you’d expect from a pirate HQ, and I’m wondering how much it’ll end up like The Castle from The Man Who Erased His Name – a hub area with some side quests and substories branching out from it. How much time you spend there is unclear from the Pirate Yakuza trailer, but it looks like some of the time, you’ll also be getting up to naval hijinks and punching people on at least one of the Hawaiian Islands.

Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii launches on February 28, 2025, for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam. You can pre-order the standard edition, a deluxe edition that comes with character customization packs, or a physical collector’s edition for console that also gets you an eyepatch, flag, pin, and six inches of acrylic Majima (it's a stand, just so we're clear).

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Josh Broadwell
JOSH BROADWELL

Josh is a freelance writer and reporter who specializes in guides, reviews, and whatever else he can convince someone to commission. You may have seen him on NPR, IGN, Polygon, or Rolling Stone shouting about RPGs. When he isn’t working, you’ll likely find him outside with his Belgian Malinois and Australian Shepherd or leveling yet another job in FFXIV.

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