Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties Review

Though it had a healthy following prior, it’s arguably the Yakuza series’ PS4 entries – in particular its soft story reboot across Yakuza 0, Kiwami and Kiwami 2 – that launched its meteoric rise. So it’s no surprise that SEGA and RGG Studio would want to return to that thread almost a decade later with another major remake in Yakuza Kiwami 3, especially in a post-Yakuza: Like a Dragon landscape where the studio has settled into a very particular and mostly successful template for each entry. And while that makes this overhaul of Yakuza 3 feel almost like an entirely new game, it also threatens to make it feel too familiar.

For the benefit of those who’ve yet to play through Yakuza 3’s story, here’s the gist. Everyone’s favourite impossibly-strong ex-Yakuza chairman, Kiryu, is enjoying his new life as the caretaker of a beachside orphanage on the island of Okinawa, but his peace is short-lived as a resort development campaign threatens the orphanage’s immediate future. Naturally, things quickly become more complex as the land grab reveals itself to be wrapped up in conspiratorial global politics and a violent power struggle amongst Kiryu’s former Tojo Clan, subsequently dragging him back to Tokyo to be wrapped up once again in a deadly series of events.

There’s a lot to like about what goes on across Yakuza 3’s main plot, in particular how well it establishes its key players and how much tension and drama it draws from a whole lot of Dudes in Suits Sitting and Scowling. It remains a bit of a divisive entry though, having admirably attempted some big departures in pacing and throwing a lot at its bombastic ending.

One of Kiwami 3’s greatest successes is in how it elevates this story, then, through a massive uplift in presentation as well as a number of changes that improve flow, enrich character writing and add dramatic weight. Without outright spoiling anything, crucial supporting players like Rikiya have some of their key development better surfaced in this remake, while whole sections have been removed, replaced or redoubled.

This is especially clear among the first few chapters, where Kiryu’s time at the Morning Glory orphanage is transformed from what was originally a much-maligned slow burn into a compelling subsection of game. This time around, Morning Glory represents a kind of life sim element, not unlike some of the major side content we’ve seen in later series entries. Here, you’re tasked with keeping things running by gardening, cooking, fishing, helping the kids with homework and sewing, and fulfilling requests from Okinawan residents to keep the facility flush with operating cash.

The benefits of all this work are twofold. For one, there’s a lot of levity gained through hanging out with the kids and playing some truly goofy minigames (the sewing stuff is wonderful), ahead of what is one of the more grim Yakuza stories. And then getting to know this paternal side of Kiryu, seeing what these kids mean to him and watching him master the domestic life he was never afforded, remains as potent as the original text without stalling the opening of the game quite as much. It’s a less challenging delivery, which comes with its own criticisms, but it works.

Not every sore point in Yakuza 3’s story has been remedied with Kiwami 3, mind, with the most attention paid to already-popular characters and events that RGG might be able to pull from again in future. The order of a handful of sequences are different, the translation has been tidied up in minor ways, but otherwise things unfold pretty much as they always have… save for something I definitely can’t give away that, at face value, massively betrays an important character’s role in the game’s ending.

Though Kiwami 3 sticks largely to the same story beats as the original Yakuza 3, it gains impact through the modern visual treatment. Yes, the Dragon Engine is starting to look rough in some areas, but the quality of story scenes here is great. The most pivotal moments are recreated shot-for-shot in stunning detail, but a lot of the interstitial stuff that was previously text-only is now fully shot and acted too. The new likeness models for certain characters are a mixed bag – Rikiya’s look and acting are a much better match for his character this time around, for example, while RGG Studio has knowingly cast a disgraced actor with a history of sexual abuse to take up the role of Goh Hamazaki, even going as far as attempting to justify it based on parallels to the equally-slimy character. Ew.

Combat has been overhauled in Kiwami 3, granting Kiryu two distinct fighting styles and bringing the action more in line with modern brawler entries. The Dragon of Dojima style is the more familiar of the two, with Kiryu’s staple hand-to-hand moves, quickstepping, Heat Actions and the ability to pick up scattered objects or enemy weapons and use them temporarily.

The Ryukyu style is something a bit different, adding a collection of traditional Okinawan weapons to Kiryu’s repertoire. Rather than manually switch between them, each is tied to some form of button press or combo, meaning you can effortlessly bust out nunchaku hits, tonfa blows and sweeping eku swings all in rapid succession, and your defensive capabilities are bolstered by a shield that can block gunfire and allow for devastating parries. It’s all a lot of fun, and goes a long way to alleviating the tedium of fighting Yakuza 3’s still fairly block-happy foes.

With new styles come new skill trees and upgrades, and a new sensei to tutor Kiryu in the Okinawan ways. Miya’s combination izakaya and dojo becomes a new de facto base of operations in Ryukyu, one of many updates to the exploration and side content in the Kiwami version of Yakuza 3. A tight review lead time means I haven’t quite experienced every bit of side content, but a fair few places and characters have been left on the cutting room floor in favour of all the new features, which are largely cribbed from the post-Ichiban Like a Dragon catalogue. It rubs off a little of the unique edge of Yakuza 3, but if you’ve stuck around with the series you’ll slip right into this one with a good sense of familiarity.

That means Photo Tours are here, in both towns, as is the Street Surfer (though it’s a hilariously janky-looking prototype given the timeline). You’re able to dress Kiryu up in a huge variety of clothing – yes, you can bring back his original red Okinawan Yakuza 3 fit pretty much right away – and make friends with civilians by greeting them in the street. The original’s Reapers are back, though simplified, and all the usual minigame suspects are here like golf, bowling and karaoke. My favourite new feature is the ability to accessorise Kiryu’s flip phone with stickers, rhinestones, charms, wallpapers and ringtones, making this easily the most authentic late 00s game around.

Another brand-new subsection of the game is Bad Boy Dragon, which sees Kiryu meet a struggling all-girl biker gang named the Haisai girls, led by Miya’s own daughter, and inspires them enough to be invited into a chairman position in the group. In a setup that’ll no doubt be familiar to series followers, this kicks off an ongoing mission for Kiryu to recruit new Haisai Girls around Okinawa, building and training up powerful squads to take on rival biker gangs in large-scale skirmishes.

On top of regular Rumbles that represent straightforward clashes between opposing groups, there are also Turf Wars. In these, your squads fight across maps made up of different lines, and you back them up by racing around on a motorbike, mowing down rival fighters or joining in with your fists and special abilities. It’s incredibly silly, but good fun. Mostly it’s cool to see some gals get a spotlight that isn’t via some skeevy massage parlour or hostess bar minigames. It’s a little unfortunate that most of the Haisai Girls recruiting is done through frequently coming across women being attacked on the street, but it’s a net positive in the end, I suppose.

DARK TIES

But wait, there’s more! Along with the rehash of Yakuza 3, this package deal also includes a brand-new story, completely separate from Kiwami 3, making up the Dark Ties equation of the title. This short spin-off of sorts puts players in the shoes of Mine himself, set prior to the events of Yakuza 3 and chronicling his beginnings with the Tojo Clan and rise through the ranks.

The bulk of Dark Ties is spent working alongside Kanda – the same Kanda we see commit some pretty horrific acts of sexual violence in the main Yakuza 3 story. After being released from prison, Kanda takes a liking to Mine and enlists his assistance in helping restore his name among the Tojo Clan and clean up his overall image. And so Mine, shrewd as we know him to be, becomes a reluctant partner to Kanda in an effort to stake his own claim among the yakuza.

Despite being an entirely original sub-game, Dark Ties has surprisingly little new to offer. I love a succinct experience, but across four short chapters you’ll simply revisit the age-old rhythm of watch a cutscene, get into a brawl, run around Kamurocho for a bit, repeat. The four-to-five hour runtime is padded out in the usual ways, with a smattering of substories, exploration challenges and fights earning you karma points in the Kanda rehabilitation effort, and yet another coliseum to fight through – this time with some rogue-like-ish twists.

It’s the tried-and-true Yakuza offering in a tidier package, and that’s perfectly fine. But Mine is a genuinely interesting character with a different suite of talents and worldview to Kiryu, that could’ve made for a more unique gameplay approach. Simply stuffing him into the same template is the easy road. The pervasive throughline of helping a vile, sexual predator disingenuously clean up his public image is also a bit of a misstep that does nothing to help RGG’s own case in doing a similar thing in real life with its actor choices.

Kanda’s actions are painted as patently evil, for the most part, and there are attempts to show how the familial systems and hierarchies of something like the Yakuza trade respect and community for the facilitation of vile acts. There’s a genuinely interesting idea here, creating a discomforting dynamic between the player and their on-screen allies, but any potential nuance is ruined by the way your active participation in it is gamified and played off for laughs.

If you can make it past all that, Dark Ties is a decent, deeper look into Yakuza 3’s fantastic antagonist, and a fleshing out of the events of the end of that game as a treat for those who’ve seen it all already. But like the tweaks to Mine’s story in the main game (which I obviously can’t talk about), the way his character is presented feels too confused to give us any salient takeaways.

Final Thoughts

Yakuza Kiwami 3 has the unenviable task of not just bringing a dark horse entry in the franchise to new audiences, but bringing it to audiences unready for the edge of the original PS3 version. That might not go down as the preferable choice for devoted Yakuza appreciators who’ve already endured or enjoyed said edge, but it’s the one that was made. And, aside from the pervading sense of familiarity to the last few games, RGG Studio has met this particular brief well enough, leveraging what players expect from a modern entry to present it in the best light.

Dark Ties, meanwhile, feels like a miss. It’s not the main event, and it’s a welcome slice of original content, but there’s not much to gain from it outside of a few more hours of game and more Kanda than anyone asked for.

Reviewed on PS5 // Review code supplied by publisher

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