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

In *Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii*, building a formidable pirate crew is crucial to advancing through the game's story swiftly. During Chapter 2, as Goro and his crew venture into Madlantis, a Pirate Sanctuary, they encounter the Naval Colosseum battles. Here, players delve deeper into the backgrounds of crew members Jason and Masaru, uncovering their past betrayal in the Pirate Colosseum that led to the disbandment of their crew. Goro's mission becomes clear: to upgrade his ship and recruit more crew members to compete in the arena. To move forward in the story, players must earn $10,000 to repair their ship and recruit five crew members. To help you progress quickly, here are the best early-game recruits that require minimal effort to join your ranks.

Nickelle Kidman

Inspired by Nicole Kidman, Nickelle is an actor found near the Honolulu beach. To recruit her, your crew only needs a two-star rating, which you can easily achieve by completing the main story missions up to this point. If you haven't reached two stars yet, you can quickly boost your rating by finding treasure, fighting thugs, or engaging in naval battles on the open sea.

Hammerhead

As you explore recruitment options, you'll find three typical paths: paying the recruit, giving them a desired item, or defeating them in combat. Hammerhead, located on the second floor of the shopping center in Honolulu, falls into the latter category. You must beat him in a fight to recruit him. With manageable health, he's an easy target to secure one of the five crew members needed to progress in *Pirate Yakuza*.

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Kenzo

Kenzo, a ship hand at the Honolulu beach docks, can be recruited by either providing him with raw materials you collect during your journey or by paying a few thousand dollars. This makes him a quick and easy addition to your crew, especially since you'll likely have gathered ample materials and cash from treasures by this stage.

Lucas

Located in Madlantis, Lucas joins your crew after a fistfight. His entertaining interaction with Goro leads to a challenge, which, while slightly tougher due to his melee weapon, should be manageable given the boss fights you've already conquered in the previous chapters.

Obispo

To recruit Obispo, dine at his restaurant in Honolulu five times. The area around his establishment is teeming with enemies, so engage in battles to lower your health, then purchase meals. This repetitive task is more tedious but still easier than recruiting others with more complex requirements or higher ratings.

While *Pirate Yakuza* offers numerous other impressive crew members across its islands, these five are your quickest ticket to advancing the story. As challenges intensify and more crew members become necessary in later chapters, you can then focus on recruiting those with superior stats and more demanding recruitment processes.

And those are the best crew members to recruit in the early game for *Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii*.

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