Yakuza Kiwami 3 review: Blurring the line between remake and rewrite

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has been revisiting Kazuma Kiryu’s early adventures with a run of remakes, and Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties continues that project. The new version of 2009’s Yakuza 3 looks great and adds sidequests and minigames, but its repeated attempts to tie older events to Like a Dragon and Infinite Wealth feel overwrought.

At times the game resembles the Special Editions of Star Wars, where new elements are awkwardly dropped into finished scenes, and that heavy-handed revision can be distracting. The Ryukyu chapters start slowly; Kiryu’s life at the Morning Glory Orphanage and the island’s smaller map leave the early hours feeling thin compared with Onomichi or Honolulu in other entries.

Kiwami 3 pads this section with two major minigames: Bad Boy Dragon, a convoluted turf-war mashup that borrows mechanics from several prior spin-offs, and a more charming Daddy Rank sequence that has Kiryu cooking family dinners to bond with the kids.

yakuza 3, kiwami 3, kazuma kiryu, gotoku studio, ryukyu, morning glory, daddy rank, bad boy, minigames, onomichi