As a standalone title, Yakuza 3 is good. As a part of the Yakuza series it is one of the weaker ones, especially coming from Yakuza 2.
The story is one of the weakest I've played from the series so far. The events take place on a grander scale but it doesn't hold nearly as much weight as Yakuza or Yakuza 2.
The gameplay is decent by itself, but coming from Yakuza 2 is a drastic downgrade overall. From the start, Kiryu is much slower than he was in two and the hits don't feel as if they have nearly as much impact, both coming from the sound design as well as the actual damage the attacks do. Even when fully upgraded the combat isn't nearly as fast and that's not even brushing on the enemy AI which has a switch between piss easy and irritating with no real balance between them. Enemies will either job to all of your attacks and go down quickly or they block everything and you can't hit them at all, not rush combo nor grab and you have to wait until they swing at you before you can counter and actually start to do damage. It's at its worst around the start of the game where you don't have said counters to get around those particular enemies.
The bosses are generally better balanced later on in the main story but participating in any of the optional bosses, be it through the hitmen substory or otherwise are usually really gimmicky and frustrating. All of this is without even touching on the problems that the PC port brings.
Where this game shines the most is in its side activities. The game has more minigames than any of the games before it and as a result there's a lot more to do than in previous installments, adding staples to the series such as karaoke, pool, and darts along with various other games. It gives a lot more things to do and gives a bit more purpose and feeling to walking from one location to another.
Okinawa in general feels like a pleasant vacation spot in this game, especially helped by the amazing view that Morning Glory has on the beach and compared to Yakuza and Yakuza 2, this game looks amazing. Rightfully so, being on the PS3 as opposed to the PS2. Walking around both Kamurocho and Okinawa feels much better than it did in the previous installments, a lot of which is because of the atmosphere both cities give off along with the new behind the back camera angle that helps with the flow of walking around town.
As a whole, the game is good. It's another installment in the Yakuza franchise and what it does add on top of the previous installments are interesting and cool, like the minigames being expanded on, but the downgrade in general gameplay loop this game has from Yakuza 2 along with the weaker story leaves it suffering as one of the weaker entries in the series.
The story is one of the weakest I've played from the series so far. The events take place on a grander scale but it doesn't hold nearly as much weight as Yakuza or Yakuza 2.
The gameplay is decent by itself, but coming from Yakuza 2 is a drastic downgrade overall. From the start, Kiryu is much slower than he was in two and the hits don't feel as if they have nearly as much impact, both coming from the sound design as well as the actual damage the attacks do. Even when fully upgraded the combat isn't nearly as fast and that's not even brushing on the enemy AI which has a switch between piss easy and irritating with no real balance between them. Enemies will either job to all of your attacks and go down quickly or they block everything and you can't hit them at all, not rush combo nor grab and you have to wait until they swing at you before you can counter and actually start to do damage. It's at its worst around the start of the game where you don't have said counters to get around those particular enemies.
The bosses are generally better balanced later on in the main story but participating in any of the optional bosses, be it through the hitmen substory or otherwise are usually really gimmicky and frustrating. All of this is without even touching on the problems that the PC port brings.
Where this game shines the most is in its side activities. The game has more minigames than any of the games before it and as a result there's a lot more to do than in previous installments, adding staples to the series such as karaoke, pool, and darts along with various other games. It gives a lot more things to do and gives a bit more purpose and feeling to walking from one location to another.
Okinawa in general feels like a pleasant vacation spot in this game, especially helped by the amazing view that Morning Glory has on the beach and compared to Yakuza and Yakuza 2, this game looks amazing. Rightfully so, being on the PS3 as opposed to the PS2. Walking around both Kamurocho and Okinawa feels much better than it did in the previous installments, a lot of which is because of the atmosphere both cities give off along with the new behind the back camera angle that helps with the flow of walking around town.
As a whole, the game is good. It's another installment in the Yakuza franchise and what it does add on top of the previous installments are interesting and cool, like the minigames being expanded on, but the downgrade in general gameplay loop this game has from Yakuza 2 along with the weaker story leaves it suffering as one of the weaker entries in the series.