Top Early Game Crew Picks for Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii

In *Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii*, assembling the perfect pirate crew is crucial for progressing through the game's story efficiently. Early in the game, during Chapter 2, you'll find yourself in Madlantis, a Pirate Sanctuary known for its Naval Colloseum battles. Here, you'll delve deeper into the backstories of your initial crew members, Jason and Masaru, learning about their disbandment due to a betrayal in the Colosseum battles. To move forward, Goro must enhance his ship and expand his crew to participate in these naval contests, which requires both financial investment and new recruits.

The Coliseum plays a pivotal role in *Pirate Yakuza*, presenting players with a challenge: earn $10,000 to repair the ship and recruit five new crew members to advance the main storyline. To help you overcome this hurdle quickly, here are five crew members you can recruit with minimal effort:

Nickelle Kidman

Nickelle Kidman, a playful nod to Nicole Kidman, is an actor you'll find lounging by the Honolulu beach. To enlist her, your crew, the Goro Pirates, must achieve a two-star rating. By the time you meet Nickelle, you should already have this rating from completing the main story missions up to this point. If not, you can easily earn it through treasure hunting, street fights, or naval battles.

Hammerhead

Hammerhead, located on the second floor of the Honolulu shopping center, can be recruited after defeating him in a fight. This method is one of the quickest ways to add members to your crew, and Hammerhead's relatively low health makes him an easy target for those needing to fill their ranks swiftly.

Kenzo

Kenzo, a ship hand found at the Honolulu beach dock, can be persuaded to join either by offering him raw materials gathered during your adventures or by paying him a few thousand dollars. Given the abundance of materials and money from treasure, recruiting Kenzo is both quick and beneficial for your crew.

Lucas

In Madlantis, you'll encounter Lucas, who challenges Goro to a fight after a humorous exchange. Although his melee weapon makes him slightly more formidable than Hammerhead, Lucas should pose no significant threat after the boss fights you've already conquered in the preceding chapters.

Obispo

Recruiting Obispo involves dining at his restaurant in Honolulu. By engaging in local battles to lower your health and then purchasing meals at his establishment, you'll need to repeat this process five times to convince Obispo to join the Goro Pirates. While slightly more time-consuming, this method remains simpler than recruiting other members with more demanding requirements.

While *Pirate Yakuza* offers a variety of crew members with potentially higher stats across the islands, these five are your best bet for early recruitment to progress through the story quickly. As you delve deeper into the game and face tougher challenges, you can focus on acquiring more specialized crew members.

These are the top crew members to recruit early in *Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii*.

*Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii* is available now on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.