Yakuza 3 Remastered Reviews

You know it's a good franchise when the worst game in the series is average in quality. Unless you're going for 100%. Then it's terrible.

getting into it is tough but the combat is more fun near the end of the game

This one was a really rough one because the age REALLY shows but the story was really nice. It's definitely the oddball in the main 6 mostly because of all the orphanage stuff but I personally think it's charming and does a great job of showing Kiryu's values and morals moving forward as well as some weaknesses. The villain of the game(whom I shall refrain from naming for spoilers) was one of my favorites in the series especially the ending was really well done. Totes recommend

[h1]Yakuza 3[/h1] [h1] 8/10 [/h1] [h2] Better than Kiwami 1 and 2, but not there yet [/h2] The storytelling is an improvement from Y1 and Y2, but it still struggles with organically progressing the plot, fleshing out the plotlines that introduce, and offing characters when they just started to show potential. Despite that, Yakuza 3 is the best attempt at trying to match Yakuza 0 storytelling so far, providing an overall entertaining story with top-notch performances and art direction, and some pretty high moments. Gameplay-wise, it’s more of the same as previous entries. The enemies block a little bit more, but you can still beat the game by randomly spamming attacks and weapons, and carrying a whole pharmacy in your inventory. It wasn’t a hard game overall, especially because at this point you already beat 3 entries so you are an experienced yakuza fan; Kiwami 1 was way harder and more annoying. I don’t think Yakuza 3 is a must-have game, but it was the first entry that made me enjoy the Kiryu saga again since Yakuza 0. I hope this improvement in my enjoyment means the franchise storytelling will finally FLY again in Yakuza 4.

I continued my playthrough of the Yakuza franchise, which was highly recommended to me, by diving into Yakuza 3 Remastered. Though slightly disappointed with the whiplash; it wasn't too horrible for a remastered of a PS3 engine. I truly enjoyed the nostalgic experience of playing the game. I loved every moment spent with Kiryu as he tried to be a better father figure for his orphans. However, I was disappointed by the lack of Majima; I found myself fearing what might happen around every corner. On the other hand, I was not disappointed with the writing—every scene was so well-crafted. I’ve never felt more emotionally affected by certain characters and their portrayals. If I were to have a saying for this game, it would have been "I don't kill people!" or "Quit fucking blocking you goddamn cowards! Why do you block every damn attack I do!. Now that all that business is finished, I wonder what’s next for Kiryu’s orphanage adventures!

Blockuza 3, an underrated entry in the series. As the 3rd installment in the series, it obviously brings in so much more than the past 2 games, *IF* you played the originals. If you are coming from 0, Kiwami 1 and 2, then you may feel sudden whiplash in regards to visuals, content and gameplay. With that said, this game has one blatant issue: It's difficulty. Enemy AI is the definition of annoying, as they block everything, and refuse to attack you unless you are getting jumped by 5 other dudes already. It does feel like a drag sometimes, but it does teach you how to exploit grabs, block strings, and to bait enemies. Once you figure out the game's dance, the rest of the series is a cakewalk, trust me. The soundtrack is once again a 10/10, a trend this series follows and never under-delivers. The story is also got a great hook, but falls a tad bit short. These games aren't known for the plot, but for the characters anyways. I would not recommend this game as a starting point, but I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who has played the previous titles, and wishes to continue with Kiryu's tale.

First, I want to point out that this is a very outdated game. As this is a game and game engine from 2009, so even though this is a [b] remaster [/b] and NOT a [b] remake [/b], I still really enjoyed it. However, this also makes me only want a Kiwami 3 even more. I really enjoyed the story of this game, just like any other Yakuza game so far, but the game itself is brought down by it's old engine and mechanics. Now for the more in-depth review: This was still an amazing experience of the Yakuza franchise. Like I said earlier, I really enjoyed the story like so many other previous Yakuza games I've already played. However, for me, the gameplay is by far the weakest out of all the ones I've played so far, and seeing gameplay from future games, I'll likely stay that way too. Plus the absolutely massive amount of substories in this game is absurd. I mean, 119 substories in total. 119. No doubt if they ever make a Kiwami 3, I hope that will be drastically reduced to a more reasonable number. Focusing on the gameplay, it's very rough. I can excuse most of it, since it's an old game, but those blocks are absurd, especially for boss fights. Obviously it's been a meme in the Yakuza community for a long time already, with things like "Blockuza 3", but I still wanted to mention it. The fighting itself wasn't too bad outside of the blocking, but there was no way to increase attack damage with skills and also quickstep barely worked, which is another big issue I had with fights. I also thought it was hilarious that encounter fights end with the guy looking like he just took multiple gunshots (though Kiryu's fists are their own bullets in a way). [spoiler] Anyway, once again another amazing and surprisingly short story. I absolutely loved it, mainly because of how heartwarming, endearing, and sometimes how hilarious it is. Kiryu is awesome as always, Haruka is adorable as always, but I only really did focus on the story since the gameplay was not my favorite. Not gonna lie, starting off, that Chapter 2 Izumi scene got to me. Plus, the Ayako scenes from Chapter 10. Actually such adorable scenes, that alone gives Kiryu the best dad ever award (as if he wasn't already with Haruka). Saki's story is also so wholesome with Nakahara, Saki suddenly yelling during the bull scene was so awesome. Can't forget about the adorable Mitsuo and Riona story, so amazing. The rest overall was really enjoyable as well, in the end though, it was just showing how amazing Kiryu is, going great lengths to keep his orphanage for the children. Nakahara, Rikiya, and Mikio are amazing characters as well, I thought Rikiya was such a funny guy with Kiryu, seeing Kiryu crying over Rikiya hurt so much. It was also really awesome seeing Daigo again as well even if it was brief, especially seeing how much he's grown from previous games. Mine was a well made antagonist and character too, Haruka slapping Mine was so peak, Mine slapping Haruka back made me so furious though. The chapter 12 scene with Haruka and Kiryu arriving in Kamurocho also killed me, I continue to love Kiryu and Haruka's adorable father-daughter relationship. The whole idea of Black Monday was nothing to write home about, but it wasn't bad at all. I feel the whole thing with Joji Kazama just came out of nowhere, especially with no other mention or hint that Shintaro Kazama had a brother in previous games, so it did feel out of place and odd, but that also wasn't bad. The story overall was definitely average compared to previous games, with almost all of my enjoyment coming from the more heartwarming and endearing parts with the characters and the orphanage. [/spoiler] A minor, one-off thing I did want to bring up was the character profile and relationship tree. I loved it, and it honestly makes me so disappointed that it was never brought back in newer games (as far as I know). One of the smallest features of the game, yet still massively impactful in my opinion. In the end, I went into Yakuza 3 thinking it was all going to be subpar and not that enjoyable, but I was massively mistaken. Outside of the old gameplay and engine limitations and the finicky combat issues, I really enjoyed the story, and especially loved the heartwarming and endearing parts of the story, and I definitely appreciate the life lessons it conveys, like most games in the franchise so far. Even as the "worst" of the Yakuza franchise, it was beyond my expectations, and definitely was an amazing experience.

It's peak. It's Peak. It's Peak. The combat is barely playable but oh my god it's peak

This game is, generally, considered one of the black sheeps of the series. It was, also, my very first Yakuza game, about 15 years ago. And, I gotta say... this has aged better than I expected! First of all, the good: The plot is very good. It feels less rushed than the previous game's plot, and the new characters are cool. Unfortunately, the good characters and developments of the previous game were simply left behind, but still, it's a solid plot. The combat is a mixed bag: I really, really like the less-physics based combat here. It feel more solid and precise than the Dragon Engine games, in some ways. However, the enemy AI and balancing here is incredibly frustrating. It's not even hard, it's just a bit boring, how much they block and tank your hits sometimes. There are ways to go around it, but this also makes the combat a bit repetitive at times. There's also A LOT to do here, for better and worse. Not every minigame is a winner, but the ones that are, are pretty fun. Some series staples had their first iteration on this game, and it kinda shows: Most of the minigames are ok, but need a lot of work and polish to really reach their full potential. Overall, not a bad game. It has both higher and lower points, but it surprised me, how solid it is.

Its the worst Yakuza ive played yet. 0, K1, and K2 were absolutely amazing, so this one was pretty tough to get through. The combat feels weird and clunky, and not it the fun Kiwami 1 sorta way. The story was pretty good though, and Mine was one of my favorite characters in the series so far. Im only recommending for people who dont want to just watch the cutscenes on YouTube like I wish I had.