Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties

During Covid I was out of work for six months. During that time, lockdowns were happening and so I took that as a perfect opportunity to catch up on my videogame backlog. Well, the backlog once again went unfinished because, instead, I played a game called Yakuza 0, which still to this day is one of my favorite videogames of all time.

I fell in love with all the characters, the storytelling, the setting, the music—everything. I needed more. So, then I played through Yakuza Kiwami and then Kiwami 2. Then the HD Remastered collection came out so I played through 3, 4, 5, then bought 6 and finished that. I played through the whole Yakuza series up till that point while in Covid lockdowns.

However, out of the entire series there was one game which, to me, was a very tedious experience. That was Yakuza 3. I loved Kiryu's arc with the Morning Glory kids but wasn't a fan of how it was mandatory throughout the story. I played through all the games on hard difficulty, and the enemy AI in Yakuza 3 is absolutely atrocious, to the point where enemies will block everything, forcing you to play the game like Mortal Kombat 2 from the arcade where you have to cheese and exploit the enemy AI in order to beat them.

I couldn't finish this game fast enough. So, here we are in 2026, and RGG Studios has released Yakuza Kiwami 3. Much like Code Veronica for the Resident Evil series, Yakuza 3 to me was the one game in the series that was in need of a remake the most. Now that remake is finally here and, well, we got an okay remake to an okay game. 

Picking up right where Yakuza 3 leaves off, already Kiwami 3 has me upset because if you are going to retcon parts of this story, I'm very disappointed to see they didn't retcon one of the biggest injustices with this series and that's how the amazing character from Yakuza 2, Kaoru Sayama, was completely written out of the series as soon as Yakuza 3 starts by having her say her goodbyes to Haruka and Kiryu and have her get sent overseas to work in America.

With her out of the way, Kiryu is ready to begin his new life away from all the Yakuza nonsense in Kamurocho to open an orphanage in Okinawa. Skip ahead a few months and Kiryu is doing just that. Living in Okinawa, running an orphanage called Morning Glory, and taking care of a group of orphaned children. And boy wouldn't you know it, this small plot of land that the orphanage is sitting on just so happens to be part a brewing conflict between Yakuza clans and the entire Japanese government.

Yeah, it was at this point in the series where the story, for me, became secondary. The characters and their arcs and development are still good, but when the story starts dealing with global government conspiracies is when I start to check out. Where I really started to get frustrated in the original game was with the Morning Glory orphanage itself. 

Now I absolutely adored seeing Kiryu being a father to these kids, helping them with their problems, giving them life lessons, but that wasn't the issue to me. The issue is that the side missions for the kids were mandatory for the main story, which brought the pacing of the game to a screeching halt. Never do I want to play a Yakuza game where, for a long time, I'm locked out of being able to explore the town and do what I want.

Thankfully that has been fixed in Kiwami 3. All of the Morning Glory stuff is still there but now it's been turned into its own optional management minigame. Around Morning Glory there are various activities you can participate in. You can plant vegetables in a garden which then can be used to cook meals for the kids. You can also play Reversi with the kids and do bug catching contests. You can also sell some of the vegetables and food from the cows and chickens at the request of the local grocer. Doing so raises your "dad rating" and will unlock character stories for all of the kids. This is where you can have your one-on-one sit-down with kids and help them with their problems. 

Now it wouldn't be a Yakuza game without a large number of minigames and side activities to do, and Kiwami 3 is no exception. You've got your typical batch of minigames from every Yakuza game like Mahjong and Karaoke, so you'll always have something to do.

My favorite addition to Kiwami 3, however, is Kiryu's management minigame "baddies battles" where you manage an all-female gang in huge battles against various other battles around the city. You can recruit new members to your gang by helping them throughout the city. Afterwards you can take part in what are called "Rumbles." This is where you have three or four squads of gang members in a Dynasty Warriors-style battle where you have to take strongholds and work your way up to taking the enemy base. This is where both gangs will clash. These are amazing as you will have upwards of 30 or so characters on screen at once all battling it out.  

Now the most fun part of the Yakuza games in my opinion was always the combat. Being able to beat thugs to a pulp with flashy martial arts is always a blast, and you've still got that in Kiwami 3. One of the most infuriating things about the original Yakuza 3 was horrific enemy AI that would block everything, which made you have to exploit the AI in order to defeat them.

Well, that problem is not here in Kiwami 3. But it really feels like the combat has been stripped back a bit here. You still have your combos and whatnot, but it feels like you don't have much in the way of variety, as I found myself doing all of the same combos and attacks for most of the game. You still have your heat actions as well, but they are kind of few and far between. You can unlock more abilities and heat actions, which are done via money, and earning money is pretty quick and easy in this game, so you won't really feel the need to grind until you get to those final skill tree slots where you'll need a ton of money for an ability.

My other big criticism is, I think, something to do with the lighting system that they used. I'm not sure if this was intentional or not, but there is this really noticeable blue filter on the screen when you are walking through the city during the day. It's not game ruining by any means but it sure is noticeable. 

Now to address the elephant in the room, which is one of the biggest controversies this game dealt with since it was first announced: Three of the characters from the original game have been recast with new actors. Two of which I am perfectly fine with, including Rikiya. Yes, I know that may be a spicy hot take but, honestly, his portrayal of the character didn't bother me at all.

What is really concerning is the casting of actor Teruyuki Kagawa as Goh Hamazaki. For those unaware, the actor was accused in 2022 of horrific sexual assault allegations. So, the fact that they cast him in this game is pretty gross. Now, in terms of this review, I am reviewing Yakuza Kiwami 3, not RGG Studios, so it's going to be up to the consumer to decide if this is something they want to support with their hard-earned money, but I can totally understand why anyone would not want to buy this for that specific reason. 

But of any and all complaints I could have for this game, the biggest comes when we get to the ending of the game—which I won't spoil—but, needless to say, I'm not happy. The Yakuza series isn't any stranger to absolutely wacky and ridiculous storytelling. This series has all of the tropes and drama from even the most off-the-rails soap operas. Over the course of this series, we have seen numerous characters being brought back to life, long lost twin siblings, Kiryu bleeding out for like 30 minutes while the main villain drops endless exposition and much more.

However, what they did with Kiwami 3 completely alters the course of the series canon to the point that, if they continue this remake series, Yakuza 4 is going to be a completely different game now. Worse, the way they justify this is completely ridiculous, even for this series. And when players are rightfully confused are all asking, "How?!" the game then has the audacity to tell the player, "Is that really what's important right now? Don't think about it." 

The game also comes bundled with "Dark Ties," a much smaller prequel game that focuses on Yoshitaka Mine and his rise to become the seventh chairman of the Tojo clan. Mine has his own fighting style and a system called "Dark Awakening" where the more you attack enemies the more you fill up your three heart icons. Consume these to deliver more powerful and brutal attacks.

Mine's fighting style is a mix of boxing and MMA, so, unlike Kiryu, he can't pick up and use weapons or grab opponents, but he can Judo throw them to the ground and follow up with a ground attack. He also has arial attacks by holding down the circle button. Mine will launch a flying kick and you can combo that into more attacks in the air. Honestly, I found Mine a lot more fun to use than Kiryu, in terms of the battle system, as I found there were a lot more options and freedom. 

Dark Ties is nowhere near as long as the main game. But if you want to 100% this game, it will take a good chunk of time. Mine has his own exclusive minigames, one of which is a new underground fight club much like the coliseum, although this one is a bit more sinister. This fight club is something straight out of The Hunger Games or Squid Game, where the billionaire elites watch people fight to the death for the chance to win a large sum of money.

There are two different modes of play here. One of which is a lot like the Yokohama Underground from Like a Dragon 7 where you make your way through procedurally generated dungeons, fighting enemies, and looking for the exit so you can make your way to the next floor. The catch here is that you get one shot to complete the dungeon. You will accrue lots of cash and rewards as you make your way through the dungeon and if you choose to leave or beat the boss at the end of the current section, you get to keep everything. Lose however and you lose everything. 

There is also another minigame exclusive to Dark Tides called Kanda Damage Control where you have to help Kanda repair his image by doing a bunch of good deeds around town. That is where you get your 100% completion list as a lot of these tasks involve just helping people on the streets by beating up thugs harassing them, completing minigames, eating everything at restaurants, beating up random people on the streets, and more. 

Now it is kind of gross that we are trying to help repair the image of a man as absolutely despicable as Kanda, but knowing his fate in the main Yakuza 3 game? Yeah, I don't mind helping him out. He gets what he deserves in the end.  

To be perfectly honest, as I mentioned at the start of this review, Yakuza 3 is probably my least favorite game in the series, so I really wasn't expecting much from Kiwami 3. I did, however, get somewhat of what I wanted out of this: I can now play a version of Yakuza 3 where I am not constantly tearing my hair out due to the always-blocking AI that forces me to find exploits to cheese the AI for the entire game. And a game where the Morning Glory stuff is now a side quest that I can do on my own time instead of being forced into it.

The management minigames included here are a lot of fun. The story, for the most part—retcons aside—is still about the same. I think, however, with this release, that Yakuza fatigue is starting to set in. We have been getting these games yearly for some time now and the formula for the game itself is starting to wear thin.

I am used to these games reusing so many assets but, at the same time, getting the same minigames, like the batting cages, mahjong, karaoke, the casino, and playing these games over and over again, game after game, is getting old.

So, is Yakuza Kiwami 3 a good game on its own, not taking into the account the original game? Sure, but by that same token, there are a lot of other games in the series that are much better than this as well. To be perfectly honest, I can't really be surprised. Yakuza 3 is probably the most divisive game in the series and, honestly, Yakuza Kiwami 3 just seems like a mediocre remake of, in my opinion, an already mediocre game.