I fell in love with the Yakuza series about two years ago. Played through 0 and the Kiwami remakes and they blew me away! Yesterday I finished Yakuza 3 for the first time and, despite some unresolved and questionable plot points, I think it’s a great entry in the series. Being the first “modern-era” Yakuza game and not having much of a great reputation over the internet, I seriously expected it to be a train wreck, but was pleased to see it’s just as wholesome as I wanted it to be. Granted, the combat system is repetitive and at times frustrating, but the rest is pretty solid for a 2009 game.
The best part of the game has to be the beginning of the game. Contrary to the other Yakuza games I’ve played so far, it starts very slow-paced and in a brand-new location for the series, which was very refreshing to see. Also, Kiryu being finally portrayed happy with his new family is really heartwarming and reveals a side of him that had been teased many times in the past and that gets finally realized.
I’ll stop here because otherwise I would spoil the whole game and that wouldn’t be fair for those who are yet to play it. Yakuza 3 can’t really compare to Yakuza 0 or the Kiwami remakes for obvious reasons, but I feel is still well worth the time invested and it would of course be foolish to skip it.
