What a weird game Yakuza 3 is.

At first I did not plan to play this entry and the rest of the Kiryu saga since I was slightly underwhelmed by Kiwami 1 and especially 2, coming off the near perfection of a ride that Yakuza 0 was. The fanbase is also real vocal about this game not being good, so I was a bit cautious going into this old entry that only got a remaster rather than the Kiwami treatment of 1 and 2.

The story here, while miles ahead of 2 and slightly less trope-y than 1's efforts for me, is really good but very underdeveloped in some parts. Honestly, the Okinawa sections were the highlight for me the entire story, only dragging a bit when trying to leave Okinawa the first time. The setting was so chill and a nice change of pace from the always busy and dingy streets of Kamurocho, and I'm definitely gonna get more out of it in premium adventure. I know people have gripes with the kids and Okinawa taking away from the usual, balls-to-the-wall, yakuza story, but I love dad simulator and chapter 11 made me cry! The energy here is definitely more lowkey compared to the others and I respect what the devs were going for with it, even if the results are real convoluted in the end.

The combat is....not great. I've seen the memes of enemies always blocking in this game, and they were real true for sure! The first half is brutal without having a lot of Kiryu's combat unlocked and it gets better once you get there, but man it sucked. To cap it off, enemies just straight up run at you randomly and you can't run from them either. It's not the absolute worse as I had some fun later in the game, but I was going through the motions in most enemy encounters despite the upgrades.

Also in this game are chase and pseudo stealth sequences in the main and some side stories. I didn't encounter much of the latter, but the former has a few spread throughout the main story. The execution isn't bad but feels way too loose and strangely hard at some points. I feel like the NPCs were just tripled whenever I did them and you cannot upgrade your run meter until almost near the last third of the game, where only one sequence is left and it's not meant to be won. Definitely almost ten years too early since the judgment series nailed these mechanics later on.

The villains here are pretty weak, except for Mine. Kanda and Hamazaki, despite his role in the next game, were a real drag as they didn't really amount to much in the game. Mine has some shine in the last half, but his motivations were messy to say the least. Wish we got more of him. The CIA is real random too, but I enjoyed Richardson at the end. He really was coked up on Metal Gear Solid vibes and added more absurdity to the last chapter. I also loved Rikiya and liked Mikio and Nakahara as additions to the cast, besides just having the kids who I also liked.

As for the side stories, they were pretty enjoyable and some very satisfying. A few did get repetitive with the same premise of Kiryu getting tricked by someone and then fighting them to get money back. Regardless, there were a cool set of side stories in the game, even the weird couple one.

Back to what I said at the beginning, Yakuza 3 is just a very weird game to me. It kept me in way more than Kiwami 2 and didn't get too ridiculous as Kiwami 1, and when this game hit me in the emotions, it hit hard. The core of a Yakuza game is still here despite the change of pace, but the game is brought down hard by its gameplay and a few undercooked plot decisions and directions. Definitely not as bad as many people say it is, it's a good time.

Edit: In thinking back on this entry after playing through the rest of the Kiryu saga and....not having that great of a time, I think this and his section in 5 might be where I find Kiryu to be his most interesting. Idk, the ruminations on brotherhood, masculinity, trust and relationships, and other relevant topics just hit hard here and in 5 for Kiryu. Makes me want a Kiwami 3 even more to fully flesh out this game because damn the rushed production undercuts so much of the good shit here.