Yakuza 3 more like... Blockuza 3 haha gottem.
Real talk though, I played through this game between a work trip so some elements of the story early on are a little lost on me but overall, this was decidedly the most mediocre and lukewarm Yakuza experience I've had thus far. The story is, good-ish in that it keeps you engaged in the typical Yakuza "But wait! There's more!" but the over-arching narrative of the Resort and Military Base installations was a little lost on me... I thought it was a good attempt to sew more dissidence and betrayal into the Tojo Clan infighting but got lost in the fact that there were way too many cooks vying for power throughout the game's short run time that weren't completely compelling. By far and away the worst element of Y3 to me was the orphanage segments which from what I understand in reading peer reviews is a little bit of a hot button issue. While I understand the intent is to develop and further Kiryu's humanity and transition away from the Yakuza orginzation lifestyle, the gameplay loop involved is extremely monotonous at times and is overall boring. Chasing the kids around Okinawa to make sure they're okay, making sure they're doing their homework, playing baseball with them, checking on them being bullied was just lame from a gameplay standpoint and took away from the gravity that a Yakuza story usually brings. While it didn't "ruin" the game for me per se, I felt like it greatly reduced enjoyment that I had in the series previously.
Characters overall were again a strongsuit and saving point in Yakuza 3 for me. Mikio, Nakahara, Mine (in a sort,) and Rikiya were all great new allies for Kiryu that brought something refreshingly new to the narrative. Returning members of the cast like Daigo, Yuya, Date, and the Florist all return with their charm and respective histories that made the series great thus far. Fighting/combat was alright, I cranked the game to easy as a recommendation from just about everyone I'd talked to about Yakuza 3 and it was 100% a good decision. The amount of combo-ing into blocks from normal enemies to bosses is enough to drive a grown man to tears.
In all, Yakuza 3 is a necessary evil. Chronologically speaking I had to recommend this game to one who is making their way through the legendary beat 'em up franchise, but it's a tough play because of the orphanage segments and poor combat.
Real talk though, I played through this game between a work trip so some elements of the story early on are a little lost on me but overall, this was decidedly the most mediocre and lukewarm Yakuza experience I've had thus far. The story is, good-ish in that it keeps you engaged in the typical Yakuza "But wait! There's more!" but the over-arching narrative of the Resort and Military Base installations was a little lost on me... I thought it was a good attempt to sew more dissidence and betrayal into the Tojo Clan infighting but got lost in the fact that there were way too many cooks vying for power throughout the game's short run time that weren't completely compelling. By far and away the worst element of Y3 to me was the orphanage segments which from what I understand in reading peer reviews is a little bit of a hot button issue. While I understand the intent is to develop and further Kiryu's humanity and transition away from the Yakuza orginzation lifestyle, the gameplay loop involved is extremely monotonous at times and is overall boring. Chasing the kids around Okinawa to make sure they're okay, making sure they're doing their homework, playing baseball with them, checking on them being bullied was just lame from a gameplay standpoint and took away from the gravity that a Yakuza story usually brings. While it didn't "ruin" the game for me per se, I felt like it greatly reduced enjoyment that I had in the series previously.
Characters overall were again a strongsuit and saving point in Yakuza 3 for me. Mikio, Nakahara, Mine (in a sort,) and Rikiya were all great new allies for Kiryu that brought something refreshingly new to the narrative. Returning members of the cast like Daigo, Yuya, Date, and the Florist all return with their charm and respective histories that made the series great thus far. Fighting/combat was alright, I cranked the game to easy as a recommendation from just about everyone I'd talked to about Yakuza 3 and it was 100% a good decision. The amount of combo-ing into blocks from normal enemies to bosses is enough to drive a grown man to tears.
In all, Yakuza 3 is a necessary evil. Chronologically speaking I had to recommend this game to one who is making their way through the legendary beat 'em up franchise, but it's a tough play because of the orphanage segments and poor combat.
4 Comments
Sounds like 5 is peak so hopefully you enjoy that a bunch
@Nancyfly Yeah I tried not to be a debbie downer but the orphanage stuff definitely was the biggest detractor, which is a shame 'cause I really did love other elements! I actually was chatting with a friend about 4 last night, I'm really loving it. Currently on the finale chapter, somewhere between a 4/4.5 stars for me at the moment, will have to see how it ends! Really digging the four protags.
@NOWITSREYNTIME17 Yeah I'm looking forward to it too, though I'm getting a little sad because I've come to realizing I'm getting pretty close to running out of Kiryu content XD Hopefully will get to 5 after RE8 DLC/Bayo 3.
Nancyfly
1 year ago