At this point, I’ve reviewed several titles from RGG and the Yakuza series. Starting from Lost Judgement, Ishin, Man Who Erased His Name, and so on. It actually places me in this kind of strange place where I know the series quite well, but at the same time, not too familiar with its many characters and stories, as I never started on the original trilogy. So when they’re referencing some plot point that isn’t really covered by the provided summaries. I’m just left with question marks floating over my head.
What I do know is the trend they’ve been following with how they’ve been improving their craft, title after title. And it really does carry over every release, both figuratively and in this case, quite literally. How they’ve iterated on combat styles, how they’ve balanced out action and drama, along with their signature brand of silliness.
So I’ll be reviewing this remake more on how they’ve progressed their formula based on their more recent titles. Rather than comparing it to the older version we originally had on hand. I mean, for one thing, I wasn’t able to play i,t so asking me to make that comparison is a lost cause.
One thing that genuinely surprised me is how much of the newer Yakuza content made its way into this remake, making it a far more robust offering than I had originally anticipated. I kind of see it the same way as I do the Resident Evil 4 remake. Despite all the nice little add-ons found on Yakuza Kiwami 3, it’s still the same old adventure with you playing as Kiryu inside. So, for those who are already familiar with the original game, I’ll be focusing on what I find to be newer in this remake rather than going over what’s already known about the original game. Also, I’d like to note that this game comes bundled with the spinoff title, Yakuza Dark Ties. Now, a lot of these two games are quite similar, so I’ll be dedicating a section in this review to point out what makes Dark Ties different. Anyway, let’s have a closer look at Yakuza Kiwami 3.
Production (4 / 5)
The shift in visual fidelity is immediately apparent in the character models, which look fantastic—not just their faces, but the entire body. Their expressiveness is able to come through with their facial expressions. And while nothing too complex is going on with the clothing, they generally pass in terms of completing the picture.
The environment isn’t quite as flashy and updated, though. While the overall maps and settings have definitely been touched up, they haven’t received the same painstaking care as the main cast. If you look closely, you’ll quickly figure out that some of them are just straight-up blocks with a texture on them. Still, it’s nothing that would really ruin your experience of the game unless the level of detail for your street pavement is a determining factor for your enjoyment. Pairing this with their rather smart use of light sources, locations look vibrant and easy to recognize as you get more and more familiar with Okinawa and Kamurocho.
RGG studio definitely has more of its craft tuned towards the night. The high noon sunlight in Okinawa can make certain areas look completely washed out. While this might be an intentional choice to reflect the bright, tropical setting, it can sometimes feel aesthetically distracting. In contrast, the nightscapes and city environments of Kamurocho look convincing, and complete the sleazy atmosphere of Kiryu’s stomping grounds.
The English dub is also a pleasant surprise. While I was able to warm up to the English performance for Pirate Yakuza, Yakuza Kiwami 3 goes further in a direction that I like. To the point that Yongyea’s performance as Kiryu has become something I’m actually ok with and not tearing my hair out listening to. He may have finally found his stride in the role, knowing when to keep expressions restrained, while still able to pull off the serious silliness Kiryu’s comedy is known to be. No, I haven’t tried listening to him sing yet; let’s take baby steps here. Apart from that, every voice that I’ve encountered in this title is really into their roles, and they are clearly enjoying themselves when I listen to their performances. The casting also feels like a solid lineup as the voices they bring to the characters match well. And yes, I’m not going to deny that characters like Majima and Kiryu are pretty difficult to translate to another language, but their earnest effort towards doing a good job is definitely showing better results than the last time I listened to them.
Furthermore, the localization team has taken a throwback approach, incorporating honorifics and specific Japanese terms into the English script. This is, in my opinion, the best way to handle localization, even if it causes a slight awkwardness in flow at certain points. It preserves the unique cultural texture of the narrative. There’s no direct way of translating concepts like ‘Aniki’ between yakuza members, nor are certain honorifics just for formality. There are also some Okinawa terms and dialects thrown in there that I believe enrich the experience. And in my opinion, it also helps serve as a sort of cultural middle ground that makes the audience more receptive to the specific contexts that the characters exist in.
Mechanics (3.5 / 5)
When it comes to Yakuza, you’re never going to avoid having to brawl with thugs on the street, gang leaders in some more obscure locations within the city’s underbelly, and other strange individuals who offer you a challenge. And with that, the good old brawling fighting style is there that everyone is quite familiar with. Focused on boxing out opponents in a 1-on-1 fight.
RGG now has a habit of developing a new, unorthodox fighting style for every new title they produce. I call this the “gimmick style.” This time around, it’s based on Kobudo. Where your default gear is a small shield and a short spear. Which, based on what the game told me, are traditional weapons in Okinawa. To contrast against the brawler style, this makes it easier to take on groups of enemies all at the same time. And Kiryu just decides to become Manji from Blade of the Immortal and become a walking arsenal of Okinawan Weapons. Apart from the ones I mentioned, you also get an oar (aka eku), a pair of sais, the tonfa (aka tunka), and brass knuckles. It’s kind of a zany style that asks you not to think too hard about how he’s able to carry all that. But it’s also useful and not too complicated, so no real complaints from me about that.
I also would like to commend how the heat action system isn’t as difficult to use as Pirate Yakuza or Man Who Erased His Name. Both of these titles had rather strict windows for heat actions I wanted to use, and had moments where Kiryu (or Majima) would be animation locked by something else and couldn’t simply swap to the heat action right away. The same goes for dodging, blocking, and pulling off combos. The combat almost feels like it flows now, except against boss characters that have the ability to not flinch.
Now, how you get to learning more heat actions, along with techniques, is a bit different this time around. To gain more HP and attack power, you simply pay for those upgrades with money. But for everything else, you need to get learning points. Think of it as a completely separate experience point resource. Which you can only gain by gaining achievements that Yakuza Kiwami 3 has set out for you. What are these achievements? Aside from your predictable running around for a certain distance or hitting and defeating enemies enough times. A lot of it will be about playing and winning mini-games, experiencing side-stories, or taking on challenges. In other words, by playing the game and enjoying its content!
Content (5 / 5)
So everyone’s caught up by now that the Yakuza series knows that this pretty much has TV Drama writing. Meaning characters will at many points sit around in one place and talk a lot. And you will get many of these 10-20 minute cutscene medleys along the starts and ends of chapters. So if you decide to bee-line the critical path of the story, you will run into this quite often, and I must ask you to slow down. Because rushing through the story of a Yakuza game is no way to enjoy it.
That being said, pacing certain pain points for my previous game experiences, like tutorials, is noticeably improved, a direct carry-over from the refinements seen in recent titles like Pirate Yakuza. In fact, many successful features from the newer games have been directly tacked onto Yakuza Kiwami 3. You can say hi and make friends on the street with the social network function. On the complete opposite of that, you can get into large-scale brawls with a biker gang of your own in Grand Battles. If you’re up for finding some quick cash, you can hunt for Reapers and collect their bounty for defeating them. And maybe if you chance upon some key spots around the map as you wander about, you can take photos of key locations for your photo rally.
All of the above side-content I mentioned is available in Infinite Wealth, and it seems to have carried over to the next two titles that followed after it. So it looks like these things are here to stay.
Beyond these newer additions, the remake includes all of the original game’s content, updated with modern graphics. The highlight mini game of this title is managing an orphanage, with the focus squarely on building emotional bonds with the children. But I could also tell that they decided to revamp the cooking mini-game with the improvements they’ve made with Pirate Yakuza. However, my favorite one would be the sewing mini-game, which is actually more of a racing game in disguise. It’s probably one of the sillier presentations within Yakuza Kiwami 3.
The side content is well-integrated, as completing one task may result in contributing to other parts of the game. Completing certain sub-stories will award training points, unlock new gear for Kiryu’s phone, or even allow you to recruit new members for your biker gang. This makes progression a layered endeavor rather than isolated experiences. It helps that many of these tasks are designed to be quick, often playing out like little 20-minute adventures. So none of them feels like they’ll be a distraction that lasts too long.
Now I’ve been refraining from talking about the characters or the story. I unfortunately feel like some of the writing isn’t as coherent after I spent a bit of time thinking about it. But it’s the sort of thing that you can suspend your disbelief on since these inconsistencies aren’t really central to the plot. Most of the stories are really more about the growth of the many characters you’ll meet as you play the game, where I’ve already pegged Rikiya as my favorite.
If I were to point out a problem with the content, it is that even if they’re making marginal improvements with every iteration. It’s hard to point out anything truly new and unique, the more this happens. And the sheer amount of busywork that the content offers starts feeling a little meaningless. I mean, sure, ringing up a phone or catching a few bugs on the way to my next objective isn’t really a big deal, and I’m free to ignore it. But I’d rather have these newer systems have a deeper function within the title itself, rather than the equivalent of pressing a counter to make a number go up. Not all of the content is like this, and I found most of it pretty engaging in the end, but I’m also a bit concerned about RGG’s creativity and what feels like an aversion to trying something different. Though I have to admit, Dark Ties is probably a step in the right direction.
Features (4 / 5)
Beyond the main game, Yakuza Kiwami 3 offers several quality-of-life improvements and bonuses:
Having three dedicated Auto Save slots is a handy feature, providing peace of mind if I ever screw up on saving over the wrong files (this has happened before). Along with that, you can also play the usual multiplayer mini games off the title screen.
Perhaps the biggest value-add is the inclusion of the free spin-off title, Dark Ties, which stars Yoshitaka Mine.
On Yakuza: Dark Ties
This spin-off is a fascinating bonus that lets players experience the misadventures of Mine and Kanda. The core dynamic feels straight out of an old-school good cop/bad cop movie, but with a unique Yakuza twist. Mine is portrayed with the calculating intelligence of a Light Yagami (Death Note), while his counterpart, Kanda, is closer to a phenomenon than a sentient being, akin to Frank Reynolds (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia).
Dark Ties is set before the events of Yakuza Kiwami 3, detailing Mine’s ruthless climb through the underworld ranks. Calling it a Yakuza game might be a stretch, though, as it feels pretty stripped down compared to its contemporaries.
For starters, Mine only has one fighting style, which I find pretty clunky to work with. Considering combat is one of the bread and butter of the Yakuza games, I found fighting enemies a bit frustrating with the limited and unintuitive move list he had.
It didn’t help that there’s a survival dungeon to go through as side content. It feels like it inherited many of the features found with Like A Dragon: Isshin, but with worse buttons to work with.
When you finally get around to playing with its open world, Dark Ties focuses on doing Damage Control for Kanda, who has less than a desirable reputation around Kamurocho. Good deeds are meant to campaign for Mine’s boss, and that can range from helping a person find a ring, to managing a few strikes in a bowling alley, and even toughing out a challenge in a secret underground dungeon.
I’ve only spent a few hours with it, but the crazy banter and stories between Kanda and Mine are what’s most compelling about the game. Watching Kanda throw his weight around like it doesn’t matter, and Mine considering if he’s made a grave mistake with his life, is what keeps me going with Dark Ties. So it helps that you get a lot of it most of the game.
Conclusion
Yakuza Kiwami 3 / Dark Ties is a far more complete and robust package than I originally expected a remake to be. The level of refinement RGG Studios has achieved in combat is evident. In the end, this is a map marker game with a TV drama on top, but they’ve managed to sneak in so much other content to play through while keeping it from being overwhelming. And yes, the English dub and localization are things I truly do appreciate from this title.
But you know what else isn’t in the game? God rays, reflections on the water, occlusion, or whatever other technical term I probably haven’t come up with for the grail of next-gen graphics. It loads the interior of a building I’m entering instantly. It doesn’t crash for whatever reason. I don’t need to sign up for an online subscription or an account. And it appears a game is perfectly capable of being something fun even without all of that.
This game is a powerful display of how you don’t need the newest tech or the fanciest engine to put together something that people can genuinely enjoy. What truly elevates this title is the personal touch, the willingness of the studio to share its creative vision through its work, and the subtle, meaningful improvements that result from years of accumulated experience. RGG Studios consistently seeks to make the best game they can think of, and it shows here.
No, of course it’s not a perfect game. There’s some janky camera movement if you put yourself in a bad position. I don’t think half of the cutscene conversation has to be that long. And I think that having to go through a pause menu to access your phone has to be completely overhauled. There are just some issues here that are so fundamental within the engine that I’m not expecting a fix or improvement on these ends.
But despite all that, I believe that this game is one you should try out, especially if you haven’t really experienced a Yakuza game before. Because I think people need to be reminded that not every game has to be online.
Yakuza Kiwami 3 / Dark Ties has a lot more going for it than its history, and shines like a finished back tattoo, scoring a 4 out of 5.
Releasing on February 12. Available on PS4, PS5, XBOX Series X/S, and on PC.