One of my first entry points to the Yakuza series was Yakuza Kiwami, which is a remake of the original PS2 game that started it all. I greatly enjoyed my time with it and would later also play the follow-up remake, Yakuza Kiwami 2, with the plan to later continue my franchise playthrough with the remastered version of Yakuza 3. For one reason or another, I never got around to diving into Yakuza 3 Remastered, but my patience ended up being rewarded when RGG Studio announced that it would be remaking the third entry in the series with Yakuza Kiwami 3.
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After having now played Yakuza Kiwami 3 in its entirety, I’m generally quite happy that this ended up being my entry point to the game. With a great story, improved combat system, and diverse side content, this is another solid remake from RGG Studio. Despite my enjoyment, I still have some larger concerns about some changes made with Kiwami 3, and its bonus campaign, Dark Ties, doesn’t bring enough to the table on its own.
Rating: 4/5
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Combat, particularly Ryukyu Style, is fantastic | Dark Ties campaign alone doesn’t warrant a purchase |
| Some of the best and most diverse content in the Yakuza series | Story changes/retcons are confounding for both new and old players |
| Tells a more character-focused story centered around Kiryu |
Yakuza 3 Is One of My Favorite Stories in the Series
One of the best components of Yakuza 3 is its narrative, which is somewhat smaller in scope and more character-focused than the games before it. After finally leaving his Yakuza life behind, Kazuma Kiryu relocates to the island of Okinawa, where he opens an orphanage and begins taking care of children. Kiryu’s life as “Uncle Kaz” inevitably ends up clashing with his past, which makes for a more personal conflict than before.
From beginning to end, I thoroughly loved Yakuza 3’s story. It still has the same penchant to go off the rails at times like other games in the series do, but it also feels much more grounded, which I liked. New characters like Rikiya, Nakahard, and the children of Morning Glory bring out new sides of Kiryu that are rarely seen, while villains such as Kanda and Mine are some of the more memorable antagonists in the franchise.
The most bewildering aspect of Yakuza Kiwami 3 is that RGG Studio ends up changing the game’s ending in a pretty major way. This tweak to the story not only presents issues for longtime fans of the series who are now dealing with a retcon of sorts, but it also prompts confusion for newcomers like myself. My natural inclination after finishing Yakuza Kiwami 3 was to quickly jump into Yakuza 4. However, with that game’s story deviating from the one I just experienced in Kiwami 3, I’m now left wondering if I should even do that. On a long enough timeline, I hope and imagine RGG Studio will explain why it made some of these changes, but for now, I’m a bit frustrated that the developer opted not to make this a more straightforward remake of Yakuza 3.
Yakuza Kiwami 3 Has Some of the Franchise’s Best Combat and Side Content
Combat has always been a highlight of the Yakuza series, but I think it’s at its peak in Yakuza Kiwami 3. The new Ryukyu combat style introduced in Kiwami 3 is specifically one of my favorites that RGG has created. This style gives Kiryu control of a variety of different weapons, all of which have diverse playstyles. Some of these weapons are more defense-centric, while others are great for crowd control and let you smack around multiple enemies at once. Bouncing between all of the weapons in Kiryu’s arsenal in rapid succession makes gameplay more engaging than ever.
When you’re not beating thugs to a pulp, there’s a lot to do in Yakuza Kiwami 3 off the beaten path that’s just as entertaining. Many of the substories in Kiwami 3 are hilarious and heartfelt, although RGG Studio has removed a sizable portion of them that were present in the main game for reasons that are unclear. The Bad Boy Dragon side activity, which sees Kiryu helping out a gang, is also very combat-focused and chaotic.
Far and away the best side content in Yakuza Kiwami 3 centers around the Morning Glory orphanage. This management sim aspect of the title sees Kiryu looking to raise money and build relationships with the children at the orphanage by doing various tasks that include farming, fishing, sewing, and even completing homework. Although these tasks are relatively simple in nature, I still loved pouring time into each of them in the pursuit of raising my “Daddy Rank.” I easily lost almost 10 hours to this aspect of Yakuza Kiwami 3, but it’s something I don’t regret in the slightest.
Dark Ties Is an Unneeded Expansion That’s Still Fun
Perhaps the biggest selling point of this remake is that it comes with an entirely separate campaign called Dark Ties. This game puts players in the shoes of Yoshitaka Mine and chronicles his rise through the Yakuza ranks to where he’s introduced in the events of Yakuza 3. Mine’s backstory makes for an interesting one that further contextualizes much of what happens in the main game, and to that end, I enjoyed it.
As a playable character, though, Mine feels somewhat disjointed. His combat style doesn’t have a great sense of flow, as some of his main attacks aren’t very cohesive with one another. His “Dark Awakening” ability is also relatively boring, as it essentially just boosts his power and allows him to pull off some unique attacks for a limited period of time. Much more could have been done to make Mine fun to play.
Outside of the main story in Dark Ties, there’s also not much side content of note. Many of these secondary additions to the campaign are bland and ask players to do everything from beating up specific enemies to fetching a bag of chips for a certain denizen of Kamurocho. The one highlight on this front is Survival Hell, which is a combat-focused arena with roguelike elements. Completing different runs in Survival Hell while continuing to level up and earn new rewards makes for a great gameplay loop and proves that RGG Studio could probably create a full-blown roguelike game if it really wanted to.
Yakuza Kiwami 3 isn’t a perfect remake by any means and comes with some more notable drawbacks than the Kiwami games before it. Still, I can’t deny that I thoroughly loved my time with Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties, even in spite of some hiccups along the way. If you’re like me and still haven’t gotten around to playing Yakuza 3, I think this is a fantastic way to experience the game.
Yakuza Kiwami 3 + Dark Ties will release this week on February 12th for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC. An advance copy of the game on PS5 was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
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