2 reviews liked by aduro18


clank: we should focus on saving innocent people
ratchet: KILL YOUR SE-

Last week I finished Judgment, using it as a palate cleanser of sorts after 0-K2. I was eager to see what Yakuza 3 had to offer after hearing about Okinawa and some varied opinions on the story / whole experience. Although at first I found myself sort of unsure of how I felt, I came out really positive on it.

I know that some people really don't like the story and, in retrospect, I can see why, but it totally worked for me. Excluding 0, 1 and 2 are basically variations on the theme of inner yakuza politics and war, with 2 being the more mature and interesting look at those themes, IMO. 3, on the other hand, is this absolutely over the top romp that integrates all these different things. While, yeah, there is a guy who gives you 20 minutes of exposition halfway through the game, I think it does genuinely do a good job balancing the grounded, intimate story of Okinawa and Morning Glory against the insane outer story. It reminds me a lot of Takashi Miike's film Dead Or Alive 2: Birds, which may have been the inspiration for Kiryu's retreat to the countryside as well as the presence of the "vibes".

Graphically, there's obviously a large drop from the Kiwami engine and especially from the Dragon Engine, but Yakuza 3 has some standout parts regardless. While this is probably the overall blandest Kamurocho I've played, the neon lights have a signature glow, the HUGE number of people on the streets are a welcome addition, and the skyboxes are really pretty. But aside from Kamurocho, Okinawa is absolutely gorgeous, and Ryukyu is probably the best explorable area in the series yet. The shops, the street, Kiryu's hawaiian shirt, they all add to the incredible vibes of the first half of this game.

Aiding the insane vibes are the cast of characters. The whole Ryudo family is a treat, with Rikiya obviously being the star of the show. The kids of Morning Glory, while slightly annoying at times, are endearing, and their problems serve as a nice contrast to what Kiryu usually deals with. Haruka's role is really well done too, as she becomes the adult when Kiryu isn't around, which is a good evolution of her story. The new characters in Kamurocho are slightly mixed, since Kanda is basically just a rehash of Shimano with some new quirks, but Mine is just fantastic. Easily one of the best antagonists / new characters in the series, up there with Ryuji for me, maybe even better. [Name Expunged] is sort of a dumb inclusion, but that just adds to the over the top story, so he gets a pass.

The combat is one of the weakest parts, but it's not unbearable. Since this game isn't a Kiwami, it's obvious how little there was in the upgrade tree originally, and how you don't have that many options in combat. The essence moves are neat, and Tiger Drop is very strong in this iteration, so there are some things to take the edge off.

Substories and minigames are a mixed bag. Some of the substories are fantastic, like the acting school one (which has a full-on cutscene ending, not something you really saw in K1 or K2) as well as some of the stuff around Ryukyu. Minigames were pretty bleh though. Coming off Judgment didn't help, but it's mostly stuff that was in 0-K2, which made it feel fairly same-y (granted, Yakuza 3 originated several of them). Cabaret, for example, is downright awful by comparison to its 0 / K2 iteration. Revelations, though, are a great addition that add a good amount of zaniness to the world and give a compelling reason to learn new moves.

Yakuza 3 is probably the most off-kilter of the games I've played so far. Its combat is the weakest, it's the least attractive, and the side stuff didn't engage me all that much. On the flipside, the story ramps up the insanity, the new characters are good, and the vibes are second to none. I sort of treated this as just a Story+ run, clocking only 25ish hours (the least in the series for me), but that was honestly probably the best way to experience it for me, especially since the upcoming games are significantly longer. All in all, Yakuza 3's "experience" is superior to its gameplay, but that's just fine by me.