Yakuza Kiwami 3 runs a soap opera into the ground

I tend to avoid long-running TV shows unless the end is in sight, and after spending time with Yakuza Kiwami 3 and its bundled side-game Dark Ties, I’m thinking I should apply the same rule to games. The remake of Yakuza 3 is divisive, and while Dark Ties promised to flesh out villain Yoshitaka Mine, it turns out to be more filler than revelation.

Dark Ties fills roughly six hours with a tongue-in-cheek PR-agency minigame in which Mine does damage control for Tsuyoshi Kanda, interspersed with cutscenes and a few boss fights that tie back to Yakuza 3. Much of the time is spent on routine activities — darts, karaoke, brawls and rote side-stories — and while it includes a playable Game Gear, it also retcons moments from Yakuza 3 in ways that feel misguided.

The result recalls the padded middle seasons of some TV series: a promising franchise that slips into filler.

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