YARRRRRGH THERE BE TREASURE!!!! I LOVE BOOTY!!!! I PLUNDER KIRYUS BOOTY YARGHHHHHH!!!! I BE A HOMOSEXUAL, YARGHHHHH!!!

As far as my love for Yakuza goes, it ends here. Something went seriously wrong during the development of Pirate Yakuza, and it shows in nearly every aspect of the game. Since Lost Judgment (2021), which I still consider one of the best titles in the franchise, we've seen a strong decline in storytelling - LJ being one of the best (and sadly, last) games from the series that had an amazing plot. This is my biggest concern about the series, because I always felt that story is so great it could be a standalone show (NOT an adaptation like the Prime show, which was awful). This game's story had nothing in common with the rest of the series. It felt generic (with the plot of Madlantis), and poorly written. Minami, Nishida and Saejima were thrown there without making much sense, like cameos of some kind. Changing their faces to an entirely different people, wouldn't make a difference. And that's probably the worst thing about the whole game. We play as "Majima", but this isn't even him, because of amnesia. He always plays the good guy here, a noble person. We don't see any character developement throughout the game.

Then there's the gameplay. If I had to place it on a tier list, it would be next to Ishin gameplay, which we all know was not satisfying and felt like a chore. Here, we also get sponge enemies that absorb damage. Sure, you can upgrade Majima to deal more damage, but enemies don't really respond to the damage you're dealing. I am sick of pre-baked animations where I attack with a knife, and the enemy does his little "turn-around" animation with his hands up. When the knife wasn't THE MAIN ATTACK STYLE, the animations weren't playing as often as here. Also, there are very little heat actions, and building up heat for them takes 3-5 business days. Or you can just drink 3 beers, then you build it up with two hits. Completely broken, and not in a fun way.
I must say that the knife fight style is pretty awesome, though. Sadly, the Pirate style isn't. It's slow and doesn't allow you to avoid gun shots. How can my gameplay be fun if I'm getting hit by guns all the time?

The last thing I want to talk about is the graphics. Majima textures look like they were never upgraded past HD stage. Playing in 4k? Forget about it. Shaders look good only at night, since playing in the daytime makes most of the world seem bland, without shadows whatsoever. What happened to the real SSAO options? Why Lost Judgment looked stunning at both day and night, and Yakuza PIrate can't? This is just my opinion, but Yakuza 0 looked way better, and was consistent in the graphics.

I have no idea what happened during the last few years of developement. The most baffling thing is just how empty the game feels. The plot is a blur of generic encounters and forgettable NPCs. Shaders and textures look like from PS3 era (literally! besides the cutscenes, but there aren't many of them). Plot seems dull, running around doing nothing. The world lacks energy, and the gameplay — beyond the re-used Infinite Wealth mechanics — offers little reason to stick around. There is an addition of ship fights, that are so repetitive, you don't even want to continue them in order to finish the story.

Going forward, it's not looking well. We have no announcements on other games from the series. We get Yakuza 0 Director's Cut with cutscenes that may not make much sense (like key characters coming back to life without reason or even a slight possibility of it). Also we get the additional minigame that will be dead in a week or so. No new content like substories, better graphics, better anything. Just slap another 50$ price tag and we're golden.

Overall, I am honestly heartbroken. For me this game was trash, and I'd love to erase my memory of it.
The story is hollow, the gameplay uninspired, the visuals dated, and the passion? Completely gone.

A significant step backward for the franchise.

This game is so ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ sick ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. Just a fun silly pirate adventure with everyone's favorite one-eyed knife wielding lunatic. Combat is really good, side content is exceptional, and the story is light and charming (all be it a bit basic). Definitely not as gritty or serious as the other RGG games, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Absolutely worth picking up if you have any interest in the Like a Dragon series.