Yakuza 3 (2009)

(Played with Yakuza 3 Restoration mod and also quickstep patch)

This game is really good. I think it gets a bad rep for the fact many people play the game after playing Kiwami 2, rather than it being a smooth progression of what was established in Yakuza 2... and that's a really big shame.

Yakuza 3 is my favourite game since 0, it really is, I will not be mentioning it since I'm playing the series in release order. It's yet another refinement of the formula set up in the first and second game with combat, but a total breakaway from everything before it. It's a short game. It's not super eventful. What it makes up for in that department is rather character development, specifically for Kiryu.

In Yakuza 1 & 2 Kiryu just... doesn't feel like much of a character yet. Sure, there's character beats and stuff being set up (Kaoru, Date, Nishiki, and Yumi), but those games really only established him from really a surface level. 3 really digs deep into his character a really shows a different side of someone. It humanizes Kiryu a lot. I love it for that.

Though something I will say is the plot doesn't feel like much... the early game is dedicated to Kiryu and the orphanage which is probably a turnoff for a lot of people since it doesn't dig as deep into raw action. It has those moments where things do get crazy, but it's just a much more mellow game just about until the final handful of chapters.

This game is SHORT AS HELL. I think if I didn't interact with any of the side content it would be the shortest game in the series for me.

Gameplay wise, there's not much to say, it slows things down from Yakuza 2. Though it's still flexible in the same way as it, not very stiff like 1. It has nice refinements, but its very clearly taking the reins of 2 and not really trying to really go super deep into anything new. A lot of this game's value is its story...

AND IT'S KILLER SCORE!!! This game's soundtrack is so goood. The opening movie's "Loser", the many combat tracks, "Jikan yo Tomare", "Fly", so, sooo good.

I really enjoy the inclusion of Okinawa. I just wish it was a bigger area and maybe more was centralised in there.

First up, there is no way you people are completing this game in 30-something hours—LOL. All these games drag on and on and on. There is so much to do (as always), and I only did about half of it.

I'd say my playthrough was at least 60+ hours. I managed to do most of the side quests (102 of them—I loved these, maybe even more than Yakuza 0!). There were 330 total completion items (about half) that I endured myself to complete. (Geez, these games are long.) Also, most of the minigames are even worse than I remember from the other games (that fishing minigame is awful) and I didnt spend much time with them at all. The fighting is pretty bland/basic and repetitive; you do learn some interesting moves, but on easy there is little you have to do most of the time except spam main and heat attacks.

The story is lackluster compared to the other two I played (Yakuza 0 and Yakuza 2). It's not really that different or interesting—same city, same kinds of activities. I'd knock it a star below the other two entries I've played, as the story and other elements felt a bit lacking (the hostess minigame was also a dud for me). But it's also a bit like playing the same game for the third time too so, it didn't woo me as much, maybe.

Still, I found it worthwhile for the side quests, the Revelations, and exploring the city!

(Also, I have no idea how I managed to find fewer than half of all the locker keys...)

Coming into this game I had a lot of concerns over it being dated and just feeling like a huge step back from 0, Kiwami, and Kiwami 2. But honestly after the first few hours I got used to the combat and the graphics/feel of everything. I feel like the remaster felt pretty good all things considered. The story was also good enough to keep me engaged with everything. But honestly, at its core this game just doesn't feel as good as the others. And yeah I guess that relates a bit to it being dated but overall I just feel like this game is missing a lot of that substance that made the others so enjoyable. And this goes down to everything here, the story, the characters, the combat, the substories, the minigames, it all just feels like a weaker version of everything that came before, in a way that I don't think would be fixed by a simple remake of the game. But maybe I'm wrong, and maybe it's just emblematic of it being the true third entry in the series, one that came out on a new console, requiring the team to focus on a lot more than the game itself.

Idk, overall it was very enjoyable but there were a lot of times I just didn't feel like I was having a lot of fun. Still has that Yakuza goodness which kept me happy overall but I'm hoping the future entries start bringing back some of that quality to everything. I gave this a 4 but this is really more of a strong 3.5 lol.

This one was rough, coming from Y0, and the two Kiwami games.

The remastered graphics still look extremely dated. Movement is weird & jerky with no inertia. Fighting is clunky & takes forever because enemies block 90% of your attacks. And you can't avoid random encounters. The hostess club minigame is an extremely-not-fun version of what they did in Y0 and Kiwami 2. And while some people loved Okinawa, the roughly one-third of the game you spend babysitting the orphans there just bored me to tears.

Luckily, the quality quickly picks up again in Y4, from what little I've played.

Also, I'm not sure it really counts as a spoiler (given that the rest of the Yakuza games exist) but Kiryu sure does seem to "die" at the end of every Yakuza game, and then immediately come back to life.

Pros:

• Okinawa summer vibes
• Simple story that doesn't require much memorization
• Amount of cutscenes in substories

Cons:

• Its not a Kiwami 3
• Not much of Okinawa; I'd prefer the game to be set entirely in Okinawa. To make the location much larger. I've had enough of Kamuroch at this point.
• Lack of music and ambient during world eploration
• Its not a Kiwami 3

I love Yakuza games, but I can't lie about how disappointing this installment was for me. The gameplay is so repetitive and dull, that it really left a lot to be desired. A majority of the missions are incredibly boring, especially chasing after children and checking up on their lives; not amusing at all. I did like the role Kiryu played as a father figure to all the kids and the bond the game tried to portray, it was sweet and added a lot to the stakes of the story. I also found a certain character's death to be emotional and well done! The villains and "bosses" were also pretty distinct and unique in their own way, so another positive. Overall, the story was just weak with way too much melodrama, but what truly held the game back was the gameplay and its lack of innovation.

I was spoiled having only learned about how amazing the Yakuza series was after watching the Giant Bomb Quicklook of Yakuza 0. Now having completed Yakuza 0, Kiwami and Kiwami 2, Yakuza 3 Remastered is a major downgrade compared to those games.

Unlike Yakuza 0 or the Kiwami games, Yakuza 3 remastered uses the original engine and fighting mechanics. Coming from those games and playing Yakuza 3 is rough. The camera is unwieldy and constantly needs to be adjusted and the combat isn't as enjoyable due to the limited move set and bosses who tend to block constantly.

The main plot is a slow burn. At this point in the Yakuza saga, Kiryu has retired from the Yakuza and is running an orphanage with Haruka in Okinawa. The first 3 hours involves Kiryu being a good dad. After this extended prologue, the story picks up but unfortunately it is filled with character cameos who make brief appearances only to disappear afterwards.

The side stories are okay, there are a few goofy and silly ones ie: helping a dad get stacked ice cream cones across the street to his family, but most of the side stories involve someone getting cheated with a combat encounter afterwards.

The new mini-games are golfing and the Hostess club. The golfing is standard video game golf. The hostess club is not the same as running the hostess club in Yakuza 0 or Kiwami 2. The mini-game has you manage one hostess at a time. It is a lot more RNG based and it is easy to get patrons that are difficult to please due to the stats on your hostess. The game also doesn't do a great job explaining which apparel increases which stat.

Yakuza 3 is the weakest Yakuza game I've played thus far. Even so, the combat still has the devastating Heat actions that are fun to watch and the story is still as melodramatic as ever with intense staring and long conversations. Also it wouldn't be a Yakuza game without a shirtless fight at the end on a rooftop.

My Yakuza Ranking:

1. Yakuza 0
2. Yakuza Kiwami 2
3. Yakuza Kiwami
4. Yakuza 3 Remastered

It feels like Yakuza 3 is the black sheep of the family, as far as I know. Oddly enough, this was the one that clawed me back to the series.

I'm not gonna lie, this game's definitely not the easiest one to like, but I found it amusingly charming.

For starters, the time you spend in Okinawa felt like a welcome change of pace. The character development Kiryu went through in the past three games paid off and it's nice to see him doing things other than the same repetitive stuff he was doing before, as slow and mundane as his new activities are.

And while we're threading its slow beginnings, we're presented with well-written dialogues and a nice detailed story, with an amazing build-up. Characters are remarkable, chapters are filled with thrilling moments and little to no bullshit, aside from a few leaden points, like the heinous chapter 10.

Overall, Yakuza 3 has a great story. Surprisingly, I think this is the best time I've had with a Yakuza game ever since the perfect Yakuza 0. Especially since this is the first game in the series that didn't feel overly bloated. Being short and somehow a bit more linear than the others did the formula well. Not to mention the amazing soundtrack, fun mini-games, intense chase sequences and the series' signature hilarious side quests. I mean, come on, Kiryu has a blog now... how can they keep coming up with stuff on point like that?

Unfortunately, Yakuza seems to insist in past mistakes. The fighting in these games are usually make it or break it and this one found the balance not to ruin the whole journey, but it's still riddled with many flaws. Unbalanced boss fights that spam the same moves, Kiryu falls for anything, enemies that rarely get stunned and the overuse of blocking. It's extremely annoying, as usual.

In addition to the fighting system's shortcomings, I felt like a few of Kamurocho's tropes are becoming stale at this point and those cliches can even be seen in its good writing. Like, why EVERYTIME after a battle, somebody HAS to enter the scene and shoot/kill a character? This has to stop!

And what the fuck happened with the dash button? If they included it in the chase sequences, why not give it to us eventually?

I get why people don't like Yakuza 3, but I think the reason they hate it is the reason I like it so much. It's not refreshing in any way, but I feel like it's a step in the right direction towards the end of Kiryu's tale.

This is just rough since I started with Zero and coming straight from Kiwami 2 which has the latest game engine... this leaves a lot to be desired.

Natural because the series just evolved. Better and more diverse combat. Save anywhere, instead of needing a phone booth, as an example of a quality-of-life change, etc. etc...

Regarding the story, I like the characters and the individual stories. The substories are great.... mostly. Any thing tied to a minigame I skipped because I just was not interested in playing clunkier versions of games I already played.

This is the first game, going in numerical order, that I did not do every substory because I did not feel like playing the minigames.

Another issue I have is the creeping uncomfortable politics of the series. In the first Kiwami it felt like they were making Chinese people seem kind of bad since the only Chinese people were mafia folk, but it was nothing compared to Kiwami 2 and how evil and corrupt they make Korean people out to be.

It is not overt but it is there and it did make me feel weird about who the heroes and villains of the main stories were and how they were represented. It did not really cement for me until this one.

There is a character in the story that represents the military and its side of a battle for PM. I thought it was totally going to be the heavy of the story but instead, it presented its Imperialist agenda as the "right" and "just" way of thinking.

This is the first game where I was really at odds with the choices and feelings of Kiryu and I hope it does not continue down this path.

There is an alternate universe where I discovered the Yakuza games as soon as they came out. In that reality, I'm sure I would have adored this continuation of Kazuma Kiryu's saga, the first entry developed for the PlayStation 3. Seen as an evolution of its PlayStation 2 predecessors, it probably would have felt like a tremendous step forward.

Instead, I've been discovering the series for the first time on PlayStation 4, playing in release order for that platform. This makes Yakuza 3, 4 and 5 the most recent. But unlike Kiwami and Kiwami 2, these are not full remakes: They boast improved resolution and localization, but they are, at their core, the same as they were on PlayStation 3. So while Yakuza 3 is the sixth Ryu Ga Gotoku game I've played, it's also the oldest by about seven years.

I think the development team learned a lot in that time.

Don't get me wrong: If you're a fan of Kiryu-san's misadventures in Kamurocho, there's plenty of fun to be had. I enjoyed my time with the game. But almost every aspect I enjoyed has been outdone by its successors:

• Brawling feels two-dimensional and repetitive without styles to switch between.
• City streets feel inorganically populated: Empty streets will randomly flood with aimless NPCs like a scene from World War Z.
• The game's pacing is bizarre. The first half feels like a leisurely, drawn-out prologue, while later chapters sometimes fly by. Certain characters are overemphasized while others feel sidelined. In one later chapter, a huge pile of exposition is conveyed in such a clunky, boring manner that I honestly couldn't help but laugh out loud when I realized what was happening.
• Every mini game or side activity feels worse than it will in later entries. I just couldn't sustain interest, even in favorites like darts or club management.
• The contrast between locations is fun, but Okinawa feels somewhat indistinct from Kamurocho in comparison to Yakuza 6's Onomichi.

If you're interested in experiencing the full Yakuza franchise and you can adjust your expectations for what a "remaster" entails, I think you'll enjoy this rerelease. But if you're new to the franchise, there are at least five better starting points than this!