Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii actually leaked months ago, but it was so ridiculous nobody believed it was real
Madlantis was right in front of us the whole time
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Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii was revealedearlier today, setting up the bizarre story of fan-favorite Goro Majima donning buccaneer cosplay and sailing the high seas. In the wake of the announcement, people are suddenly starting to remember that an accurate outline of the entire game actually leaked months ago - it was just so ridiculous nobody believed it was true.
The old leak originated from a 4chan post back in May, and given the impossibility of verifying information on that forum - anybody can hop on there and make whatever claims they want - nobody paid it too much mind. I mean, come on, we’re looking at claims like: “story has Majima becoming lost at sea and losing his memory which results in him getting involved with a pirate feud.” Who’d believe it?
Except, of course, it all turned out to be true, from Majima’s starring role to the fact that there’s a swashbuckling fighting style. The leak even claimed that the “central areas include reusing Hawaii, the ‘Madlantis’ island, and new hub area that acts as a base.” That’s a level of specificity that’s impossible to put up to pure coincidence.
Screenshots of the leakare all over social media right now, and you can follow that link if you want to see it for yourself, but be warned that there are a few details in there that have not yet been officially revealed.
The leak itself seemed so ridiculous - and so impossible to verify - at the time that it didn’t take hold, but there were a few people who remembered it. In advance of the Ryu Ga Gotoku Summit, another round of much vaguer leaks seemingly pointing at the new Like a Dragon gamebegan to circulate, and a few users were brave enough to just straight-up call this a pirate game ahead of the reveal. For once - and possibly only once - listening to a 4chan leak managed to pay off.
After 13 Yakuza games and 20 years, Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is finally adding a jump button that could open up some wild minigame potential.
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Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He’s been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.
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