Yakuza 3 Review: A Powerful (if Unrefined) Tale of Kindness and Empathy
Yakuza 3 focuses on protagonist Kazuma Kiryu’s new leaf as he starts an orphanage in Okinawa, finally distanced from his past experiences with the yakuza. The following story focuses on Kiryu giving lessons to his orphaned kids about what it means to be kind to one another before he ultimately gets roped back into the yakuza. Yakuza 3 is a reminder that a strong, heartfelt story is enough to keep players engaged with a title, even if its gameplay is rough around the edges. // Image: SEGA
In the medium of video games, some franchises are simply impossible to explain to others beyond simply recommending others to play it. For far too long, the Yakuza was an obscure franchise in the West, resulting in the series staying niche for longer than it deserved to. In the late 2010s, when the West finally received the localizations of Yakuza 0, Kiwami, Kiwami 2, and 6, the series rightfully exploded in popularity and gained the recognition of having some of the greatest storytelling in all of gaming.
As someone that entered the series with Yakuza 0, the prequel entry of the series that introduces Kiryu and Majima’s characters before the events of the first Yakuza unfold, I was blown away. The tense grittiness of the main plot, mixed with the often absurd and hilarious situations of the substories (Yakuza’s equivalent of “side quests”) gives us a chance to see characters exemplify their personalities in a bevy of different scenarios. Because of the variety in the situations we see in the main plot and substories, Kiryu and Majima stand as some of the most well-defined, lovable dorks that I’ve had the pleasure of playing as in any game.
Yakuza 0’s incredible storytelling and character development coerced many Western series newcomers to dive into the other titles in the series to see what they’ve missed out on. These new Western fans, myself included, had a lot of content to get through. Yakuza Kiwami and Kiwami 2, remakes of the first two entries delivered even more of what made so many fall in love with Yakuza 0. Both games delivered amazing stories, strong characters, all the while having fun, if relatively simple combat and a variety of side content and minigames to keep completionists well-occupied. Now having played the first three titles in the chronological order, I wanted to continue watching Kiryu’s story unfold through the rest of the series.
2019’s Yakuza Remastered Collection gave people an opportunity to do just that. This collection (originally released on PlayStation 4 and soon to be ported to PC and Xbox consoles in January 2021) has remasters of the series’ PlayStation 3 titles - those being Yakuza 3, 4, and 5. Keep in mind that these are merely HD remasters of titles with revised localizations - they were not remade from the ground up as Kiwami and Kiwami 2 were.
While I have previously spaced out my playthroughs between Yakuza titles, I intend on playing through all titles in the Yakuza Remastered Collection throughout this year. With that said, the first title I will be looking at in this collection is Yakuza 3. Having played more recent titles in the franchise, Yakuza 3 will technically be the oldest game in the series that I’ve played thus far. With that in mind, how does the title fare? Has it aged gracefully, or do the more modern entries make it tough to come back to? Let’s take a look!
Now completely done with his past with the yakuza, Kiryu opens up an orphanage in an effort to be a father figure to orphans - just as Shintaro Kazama was to the orphaned Kiryu. Yakuza 3 features many scenes with Kiryu, the kids at the orphanage, and their intertwined relationships. While definitely causing the game’s pacing to be all over the place, seeing Kiryu and the kids at the orphanage interact with each other provides some of the game’s most emotional, moving scenes. // Image Captured on PlayStation 4 Pro
While the story in the Yakuza franchise thus far has focused primarily on protagonist Kazuma Kiryu being caught in the crossfire of yakuza family wars and conflicts, Yakuza 3 features Kiryu escaping criminal life in favor of starting on orphanage in Okinawa, one of Yakuza 3’s two primary settings.
Much of the time spent in Okinawa focuses on the children at Morning Glory, the orphanage established by Kiryu after departing Kamurocho, Tokyo. During this time, the game slows down and focuses on telling smaller scale stories between Kiryu and the children at Morning Glory. Some involve kids taking money from each other, others include a character discovering a potentially fatal allergy, and one includes a child being bullied at school. A commonality between these smaller conflicts is that they ultimately resolve through Kiryu teaching or encouraging lessons about kindness towards one another. These conflicts, while temporarily causing a divide between the children of the orphanage and/or their peers, result in characters ultimately learning to treat one another with respect, kindness, and trust in addition to having a greater appreciation for one another. This is something that will be a far cry from the adult characters Kiryu will encounter later on in this story.
In the series thus far, Kiryu has resonated with audiences because of his empathy and nobility towards others. Despite being surrounded by the worst of the what the criminal underworld has to offer and often in the very face of death, Kiryu never relents to display kindness, bravery, and trust towards the dangerous characters found in prior titles. What makes Kiryu’s character shine so brightly is that his character proves to be a light that illuminates the prevalence of darkness and danger in Kamurocho. We see in the first two Yakuza titles that Shintaro Kazama, Kiryu’s father figure, played an integral in teaching Kiryu the values of kindness towards others, while unfortunately causing Kiryu to eventually fall into the yakuza underworld. Kazama’s example, however, inspired Kiryu to exemplify and teach kindness to others, even when walking a life path that’s filled with brutality and strife.
Having a decent chunk of the game take place at Morning Glory gives Kiryu an opportunity to exemplify his nobility and kindness in a different capacity. Instead of serving as a contrast to the more formidable characters seen in the main plots of previous Yakuza titles, we see Kiryu passing on his own values to a new generation. When Kazama passed on his values to Kiryu despite them having no blood relation, the bond that they shared with each other was nevertheless strong and helped mold Kiryu into the noble person that players around the globe fell in love with. In a very pleasant instance of a passing of the torch, Kiryu now finds himself as the one that’s playing an integral role in giving the children of Morning Glory an opportunity to turn into kinder, more noble people that will grow into adults as kind and noble as Kiryu himself.
We see this most notably in the character of Haruka, the oldest child at the orphanage and a returning character from Yakuza 1 and 2. While admittedly not having much screen time in the second entry, Haruka formed a relationship with Kiryu during the first game due to her being separated from her mother, putting Kiryu in a position of taking care of her during the events of the first Yakuza title. By the time of Morning Glory being established Yakuza 3, we already see how much Haruka has grown from Kiryu’s influence. She almost acts as a second caretaker for the orphanage despite being a child herself. Later on in Yakuza 3, she even resorts to getting into deals with local yakuza just to help provide funds for the orphanage (a late game plot thread that ultimately results in being a misunderstanding about the finances of the orphanage). Nevertheless, we see that Kiryu is already making a difference in teaching his values of kindness to a new generation through Haruka’s selflessness in addition to the various children of the orphanage learning valuable lessons of such benevolence from Kiryu in their day-to-day lives.
However, just as Kazama ultimately caused Kiryu to get involved in the yakuza, the same fate ultimately happens to Kiryu and Morning Glory, although in a different capacity. Over time, Kiryu forms a friendship with the local Ryudo family. After assisting with the hardships that the family faces, it gradually becomes apparent that a military base and vacation resort is in talks of being built in Okinawa, some of which is to be built on the very land where Morning Glory stands. In addition to that, this resort is supposedly associated with yakuza funding. Determined to ensure that the children still have a place to call home and worried that this may be specifically targeting Kiryu, Haruka, and their livelihoods, Kiryu embarks on a journey to protect his orphanage and uncover the yakuza responsible for attempting to evict those that live in Okinawa.
This section of the game sees Kiryu returning to Kamurocho, the setting shared among all main Yakuza titles. Returning to Kamurocho about a third of the way into the story could be considered when the game finally “gets good” and starts providing content more familiar to those acquainted with other Yakuza games. It’s also here that we see a striking contrast between the wholesome, lesson-learning dynamic of the children at Morning Glory and the unforgiving criminality and danger of Kamurocho. While we spent so much time engaging with the kids as they learned lessons of kindness to become better people, we now find ourselves interacting with various yakuza within the Tojo Clan that have abandoned any semblance of kindness towards others long ago. We’ve left a place where growing and learning kindness is possible - we now find ourselves in a setting where kindness is foreign.
The following section contains story spoilers for Yakuza 3.
The gritty, unkind nature of Kamurocho is perhaps best exemplified by Tsuyoshi Kanda, a partriarch of the Nishkiyama family recently released prison following a sexual assault charge. After the shooting and hospitalization of Tojo Clan chairman Daigo Dojima, the event that kicks off the events of the plot, Kanda stops at nothing to try and claim Dojima’s tenure for himself. Additionally, we become acquainted with Yoshitaka Mine, the cold, cynical interim chairman following Dojima’s hospitalization. While having a great amount of respect for his predecessor, Mine is so convinced of Dojima’s doomed health that he attempts to end Dojima’s life out of mercy.
In the game’s final confrontation, we see a conflict between Kiryu’s idealism and philosophy of improving others through kindness and Mine’s cynicism that fuels his beliefs that all people are inherently selfish and greedy, convinced that people only treat others kindly for the sake of monetary or political profit. As their philosophies and fists clash, Kiryu prevails in the final battle and we see Mine finally be convinced of the effect that genuine kindness without ulterior motives has on people. For most of the game, the only growth and learning willingness to be kind towards others was only exemplified by the orphaned children of Morning Glory. Thus far, we’ve exclusively seen the adults of Kamurocho and the yakuza world be cold and grueling towards one another, exemplified by Kanda’s relentless desperation to claim a position of power to himself, ultimately resulting in his death.
But at the climax of Yakuza 3’s story, we finally see an adult learn the value of selflessness. Mine, convinced for so long that others will only ever kind towards others to achieve some kind of ulterior motive, finally understands that Daigo Dojima and Kiryu’s displays of kindness aren’t methods of attaining money or power - their kindness and willingness to have a familial bond with others were genuine attempts for greater understanding and camaraderie with their peers. Acknowledging this, Mine sacrifices himself to bring an end to Black Monday, the arms dealers that were the true reason behind the Okinawa resort plan that threatened Morning Glory, ending the threat to Kiryu’s livelihood at Morning Glory.
As strong as Yakuza 3’s theme of kindness and family beyond blood are, Yakuza 3’s finale is as strong as it is because of unapologetically anime it is, and I mean that in the best way possible. To put my analytical lens away for a moment, Yakuza is always at its best when it embraces very anime-esque tropes and moments. The final confrontation plays a full rendition of the song that’s used in the game’s intro that plays every time the player boots the game. Despite Kiryu fighting Mine to stop Mine from killing the vegetative Daigo Dojima, Daigo suddenly awakens from his coma and shoots the leader of Black Monday when he confronts both Kiryu and Mine. Through these very anime and soap opera-esque plot twists, Yakuza 3’s finale was one that kept me at the edge of my seat. It stands on one of the most exhilarating climaxes of the series thus far while still sharing very valuable themes about the impact that kindness has on others.
This concludes the discussion of story spoilers for Yakuza 3.
Combat in Yakuza 3 is arguably when the game feels the most dated. Dodging enemy attacks followed by attacking from behind the enemy is the only way to effectively deal damage in many of the game’s encounters. This causes combat to often feel clunky and slow, a far cry from the improve combat seen in later Yakuza entries. // Image Captured on PlayStation 4 Pro
The most notorious aspect of Yakuza 3 is its pacing, a consequence of the story’s overall direction. The first third of Yakuza 3 is almost entirely dedicated to Okinawa, which features the Morning Glory and Ryukyu locations. The player can engage in a few substories in this section, have a couple combat encounters, and engage in a few minigames such as the always-pleasant karaoke minigame, but the player’s options are decisively few in number during this point in the game. It can be argued that not much happens in the first third of Yakuza 3’s plot, as it focuses so heavily on smaller scale stories involving the children of Morning Glory that don’t always feel connected to one another nor connected to the main plot.
This especially feels harmful to the pacing of the overall plot during the last fourth of the game’s plot, which sees Kiryu return to Okinawa. There’s a rather pressing sense of urgency due to Kiryu needing to protect a politician that may be under attack after a meeting convenes. Kiryu is told over the phone that the meeting is expected to go all day, which then opens the door for Kiryu to spend the day with the kids of Morning Glory. The urgency of the plot suddenly takes a backseat as the next hour or so of story progress is tied to more smaller-scale stories with the kids of Morning Glory that don’t feel connected to the main plot. Keep in mind that these smaller-scale stories are required for main plot progression and are not side quests.
This means of story progression is excusable in the game’s long opening because it does a greater wonder of character building for Kiryu and the rest of Morning Glory. It introduces us to the emotional core of Yakuza 3 - that of the effect the kindness has on people. Additionally, the smaller scale stories of Morning Glory at the beginning of the game occurred before the more urgent, action-packed plot of the main game really kicked in. Having to suddenly return to doing such small scale stories when the story is into its third act severely hurts the pacing, and legitimately deflated any immediate urgency and tension that the plot instilled in me.
Another issue of the game’s pacing is the entire chapter at the game’s halfway point devoted fully to providing exposition and revealing information to Kiryu and the player. Most of this chapter features a few characters sitting across from one another, giving an exposition dump that provides context for all of the events of the game’s plot thus far, and gives a clear direction for the rest of the game’s narrative. Delivering exposition in a meaningful, engaging way is always a tricky endeavor, but Yakuza 3’s method of delivering exposition to the player - a scene that lasts over half an hour, mind you - stumbles in its sheer dryness.
So yes, Yakuza 3 has clear issues in its pacing and delivery of expository information that’s vital to contextualizing important events in the plot. Despite that, Yakuza 3’s plot still proved to be an overall enjoyable tale. Ryu ga Gotoku Studio, especially as they would continue improving in the decade after this game’s original release, is truly gifted in regards to their storytelling prowess, and I think that can still very much be seen in Yakuza 3 despite its flaws. There are aspects of this story that still absolutely land and make the story overall worth the playtime of the game. Yakuza 3’s plot, while certainly having its lows, has highs that still more than warrant a playthrough.
In addition to the story’s occasionally questionable pacing, a common criticism of Yakuza 3 is its overall gameplay. With this being the oldest Yakuza title I’ve played, I was expecting the gameplay to not be as polished as later entries in the series. Even with those lowered expectations, I was legitimately surprised at how dated many of Yakuza 3’s gameplay systems feel. One of the most immediately apparent dated systems is the tiny inventory space that Kiryu has access to. Things such as weapons and armor - vital equipment that’s encouraged to be used throughout the game - takes up slots in Kiryu’s already-limited inventory. Moreover, some substories require certain items to be in Kiryu’s inventory, which forces the player to engage with the game’s clunky inventory management system, in which the player can only move items in and out of a storage system at designated save points scattered throughout the game. It’s a common occurrence in Yakuza 3 to pick up an item or receive an item from the lockers - the keys to opening them being a returning collectable - only to be immediately asked to put either the acquired item or another item already in Kiryu’s inventory into storage. This clunky inventory management often discouraged me from ever removing items from the storage that the player has to go out of their way to access. Moreover, I was also discouraged from completing the few substories that required certain items to be in Kiryu’s immediate possession.
On the topic of substories, one of the Yakuza Remastered Collection’s inclusions is the addition of question marks on the map that indicate where new substories can be accessed - a quality of life improvement that makes the game more consistent with more recent Yakuza entries. The substories themselves do a good job at humanizing the populations of Ryukyu and Kamurocho, often putting Kiryu in odd, often ridiculous situations that require combat, exploration, or simple dialogue options to be resolved. The substories found within Yakuza 3 do a serviceable job providing supplementary story content in the game, though very few substories are particularly memorable. Again, this is clearly an aspect of these games that Ryu ga Gotoku Studio have noticeably improved upon as they developed more Yakuza titles after this game’s release. While the substories aren’t bad by any means, they don’t hit the heights of wackiness, fun, and memorability that substories in later titles will achieve.
Of course, the glue that holds Yakuza’s gameplay together is the combat that the player engages in. Whether in story missions, substories, or when simply navigating the streets Ryukyu or Kamurocho, the player will often find themselves battling yakuza, street thugs, and the many other dangerous characters populating the world of Yakuza. For such a common gameplay mechanic, it’s unfortunate that Yakuza 3’s combat is among its roughest aspects. Like most other Yakuza titles, combat prioritizes simple, one-button combos, with another button used for combo finishers that are different depending on when the finisher is done in the basic combo string. Moreover, the player has three weapons that they can equip, along with items such as bikes, construction cones, knives, and even guns that can be picked up in the environment during a battle to find more ways to deal damage to enemies. Whether fighting bare-fisted or with weapons in hand, the player has access to context-sensitive Heat Actions that deal major damage to enemies if the Heat gauge - a bar that gets filled after connecting attacks and successfully guarding incoming hits - is filled to a certain extent.
What I’ve just described is the combat that's the basic structure for most Yakuza games, pre-Like a Dragon, so what exactly is the issue here? In battles with multiple basic enemies, the combat is honestly serviceable. Sure, it’s on the repetitive side, but battles move at a fairly brisk pace, and making use of weapons found in the environment can make battles really quick and satisfying.
The fatal problem in Yakuza 3’s combat takes form in the game’s 1-on-1 battles, specifically in many boss encounters and fights that occur in the Honest Living Association questline that features mostly 1-on-1 fights. Whenever a battle is between Kiryu and a single, powerful enemy, the flow of combat screeches to a halt. During these fights, almost all attacks will be blocked by the enemy, with very few hits connecting. Most boss fights devolve into having to dodge an attack, position Kiryu to be behind the enemy that’s still in their attacking animation, then perform a full combo - this being the only method of consistently inflicting damage without resorting to equipped weapons that can only be used a certain number of times.
This causes combat to lose any sense of pace and bombast. Fights even devolve into 3-5+ minute sessions of waiting for an enemy attack, dodging behind them, then attacking back, and maybe performing a Heat Action after doing two or three full combos, rinsing and repeating. Failing to adhere to this combat style will result in major enemies blocking all attacks, meaning that Kiryu will inflict little to no damage to the enemy. This structure to 1-on-1 fights make fights feel very repetitive and very video game-y in a sense. Whenever I’d be in an intense story-fueled battle, my immersion, tension, and investment in the game’s story would deflate because of the slow battles that made me simply wait for the enemy to start attacking. These felt less like genuine battles and more like tests of patience. I would be okay with a more mechanical approach to combat if there was more variety in enemy fighting styles, requiring different strategies to adapt to whatever patterns bosses and major enemies would have, but that unfortunately isn’t the case. Most boss fights feel the same, requiring the same strategy of dodging behind enemies during their attack animations. By the end of my time with Yakuza 3, this made combat encounters feel even more repetitive than that of other Yakuza titles, all due to the rigidly formulaic, repetitive structure of boss battle encounters.
The unrefined nature of Yakuza 3’s combat and side content extends to the minigames as well, with the Golf and Bowling minigames being a particular stand-out for their janky, off-putting physics. These instances highlight how much Ryu ga Gotoku Studio has improved in the years since Yakuza 3’s original release. // Image Captured on PlayStation 4 Pro
Part of the joy of combat in the Yakuza series is seeing the chaos and bombast brought about by Kiryu and his opponents, and embracing having more mechanically deep boss/major enemy encounters along with some degree of absurdity and over-the-top violence best shown off in Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Later titles tightened the focus on combat, which unfortunately causes Yakuza 3’s combat to feel very restrictive, clunky, and dated by comparison.
Of course, Yakuza is not a game exclusively offering combat as its primary gameplay. Outside of battles, players will have access to the environments of Ryukyu and Kamurocho, both of which offer sights to see, people to talk to, and many side activities to partake in. Having fun diversions through minigames has been a staple in every Yakuza title. And there are a few minigames that are legitimately very fun to play through. Visiting the SEGA Arcade in Kamurocho allows players to play “Boxcelios”, a shoot-’em-up game that’s surprisingly addictive and is a fun distraction.
But most minigames in Yakuza 3 struggle to be terribly engaging diversions because of either slow, awkward structures, or janky, dissatisfying physics. Yakuza 3 offers a club hostess management minigame, including giving makeovers and advice to hostesses. Similar minigames are present in other Yakuza titles, however those play out more akin to strategy games, requiring more concentration on micromanaging stats under a time limit. In Yakuza 3, the hostess minigame primarily devolves into walking around a club, reading what people want in a hostess, then changing a hostess’ outfit to accommodate the desired hostess trait, and…that’s it. It’s a remarkably shallow experience, making it difficult to even qualify as a minigame. It lacks any kind of strategy and micromanagement that other hostess minigames in the series bring.
But some of my least favorite minigames come in the form of the Bowling and Golf minigames. Both suffer from very awkward physics, with the Golf minigame specifically having awkward controls that don’t feel intuitive. Given that the Golfing minigame is one of the only minigames that the player is required to do during story progression, it feels bizarre that this minigame wasn’t given more polish. As is, it feels remarkably unrefined.
In fact, “unrefined” is a term that best describes Yakuza 3. The storytelling, combat, substories, and even minigames mostly feel unrefined. Taking the story as an example, there’s a really good emotional core to Yakuza 3 and the game manages to still pull off a satisfying, strong narrative altogether, but the awkward pacing of the story feels undercooked. At its core, combat feels fine when fighting against minor enemies. However, it’s during the major 1-on-1 encounters when the game feels too slow and mechanically shallow for its own good. Story, combat, and minigames are all aspects that would see more significant refinement over the course of the series.
0, Kiwami, and Kiwami 2 all feel significantly more polished, perhaps due to Ryu ga Gotoku Studio refining and improving their ideas and approach to game design as the years have gone on. They took the foundation that Yakuza 3 establishes, and built upon it, turning future titles into far more polished, satisfying, and well-rounded games. As a result, going back to Yakuza 3 after playing those later titles goes to show how much of a difference refinement can make to a foundation.
As for the version of Yakuza 3 that I played - that being the PS4 version of the Yakuza Remastered Collection -, Yakuza 3 bolsters a brand new English translation and localization that’s more faithful to the original Japanese version, with character names and honorifics now being properly implemented. Additionally, some substories that were originally exclusive to the Japanese version of the PS3 release were included in the remastered release for all territories. Contrasting to that, there is one set of substories that were in the original PS3 release that were entirely removed from all territories’ release of Yakuza 3 in this collection due to the substories in question featuring distasteful, transphobic content. It’s thanks to decisions like this that I can confidently claim that the localization of Yakuza 3 is consistent with the quality of the localizations seen in more recent titles.
There’s very much a strong core to Yakuza 3. There’s nothing explicitly bad or unenjoyable at the game - it just feels like a victim of a series that naturally improved its execution of its ideas over time. Later games refining what Yakuza 3 brings to the table isn’t the fault of Yakuza 3, but it does highlight how unpolished and unrefined Yakuza 3 is as a result.
Despite its unrefined shortcomings, did I enjoy Yakuza 3 and would I recommend it to series fans? Absolutely. While it certainly has low lows, the highs of Yakuza 3 still offer a profound experience that is unlike any other game on the market. Even at its worst, the world, story, and characters of Yakuza still manage to be electric and captivating. The story, while its pacing is definitely an issue, is an incredible example of how much a difference learning and exemplifying kindness to others can make, even in the criminal underworld. Although it’s rough around the edges and feels dated as a result, Yakuza 3 is a game that deserves to be enjoyed as much as the entries that further refined and improved upon it.
Final Grade: C+
Thanks for reading! What are your thoughts on Yakuza 3? Feel free to join the conversation and let me know what you think in the comments or on Twitter @DerekExMachina.
