Happiness Is Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties

First and foremost, I am not going to harp on about the elephant in the room that has lots of people up in arms. It’s been consistently addressed, and I went into Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties with the same love I’ve had for the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series despite it. Kiryu Kazuma is my hero, The fact that one of the villainous voice actors is being labeled a real life villain for his actions feels apropos. Kiryu can be mean to him, and then the Snake Flower Triad can torture him. Now, let’s all forget Hamazaki exists and talk about a glorious reimagining of an already stellar game.

RGG Studios’ re-imagining of the early Yakuza installments has been an absolute joy for me. Not only have they been given updated graphics so they fall more in line with the forward momentum of Like a Dragon, but it goes well beyond the graphics. There are new side quests, fun new characters, new mini-games, and a whole new fighting style that falls seamlessly in line with Kiryu’s badassery. So, let’s take a look at my love letter to Majima Goro… I mean… Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties. Buckle up, friends. This is gonna be a long one.

Kiryu Being the Best Dad He Can Be In Yakuza Kiwami 3

The fact that Haruka has been an active part of the games since Kiryu found her in Yakuza Kiwami is one of my favorite things about his character. Here is this man, who knows how defining it can be growing up an orphan, and he becomes the father Haruka deserves. In Yakuza Kiwami 3, he loves being a dad so much, he decides to run an entire orphanage in Okinawa, raising a group of kids who need all the love he has to give.

Okay, I’m gonna let ya finish, but the answer is no. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with an ex-Yakuza like Kiryu wanting to use his muscle to protect and nurture little foundlings. And they need it in Kiwami 3, let me tell ya. A huge part of the game’s plot hinges directly on Morning Glory, the Okinawan orphanage Kiryu leaves Kamurocho with Haruka to manage.

Morning Glory Is the Happiest Little Sad Place In Okinawa

There’s a beachfront house where Kiryu cooks special meals and bento boxes for the orphans. He gets to tend to the garden and harvest fruits and veggies. He can go fishing on the beach, catch bugs with his net, and even turn bug-catching into a fun game to bond with the kids over. There’s a sewing machine where Uncle Kaz can craft with the kids. Everything they grow and create can be sold to the neighbors to help fund the orphanage, making it an even better place for the kids to call home. He also gets to test his smarts, helping them with their homework.

Each of these activities helps raise his bond level with the individual kids. The original Yakuza Kiwami 3 had some orphanage stuff, but it is so much more focused in the reimagining. It’s similar to Like a Dragon: Ishin!‘s home system, right down to strengthening his bond his bond with the kids. He’s already TOP DAD in Haruka’s book, so his time is spent building the same strong rapport with the other kids.

The object is to earn the kids’ trust and get them to open up, so he can be the proper father figure they deserve. Some of these bonding scenes are so touching, and they don’t break from Kiryu’s badassery at all. Some punk tries to kidnap his girls at the market? He’ll kick their ass straight into the ocean. His little boy’s best friend has a monster for a dad? He’ll kick his monster dad’s ass, too, and then call the cops.

If RGG combined the home system with Ichiban’s resort management system in Infinite Wealth, I would probably never leave my house again. Just sayin’.

Yakuza Kiwami 3 Makes Ryukyu & Kamurocho Even More Fun to Explore

No matter how many games RGG makes in the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series, running around Kamurocho will always be a good time. General mini-game activities are still all over the place there, like bowling, mahjong, casinos, darts, pool, etc. The fact that I can invite Kazuma’s friends, like Majima, Rikiya, Tsubasa, and Akko-san for a friendly night out bowling or for karaoke makes the experience more fun.

Purgatory is still active at this point in the game, with Majima running the underground scene and the Florist carefully monitoring the city for threats. There’s the classy casino, and, of course, the fighting arena, where Kiryu can prove himself through 9 escalating stages of battle to win a secret addition to the Ryuku Haisai Girls’ gang for completing the final battle.

All-in-all, Kamurocho is its gritty, slightly raunchy and damn near despicable self, and we wouldn’t want it any other way. That being said, it is a lot less raunchy than Kamurocho-past, which I’ll reflect on a little more when getting into some of the upgrades to Ryuku’s night life. Overall, the evolution of the series has seen it mature quite a bit over the last few installments. Now, that maturity is reflecting in the changes seen in the remastering of the old titles. The humor is still silly and a little bit immature, but Kiryu is trying hard to be a more responsible guy these days, and it shows in Kamurocho’s night life.

Okinawa Is All About Kiryu Settling Down and Embracing His Daddy Era

Ryuku was cool before, but it was still a little on the seedy side. In the original Yakuza Kiwami 3, Kiryu spends time working in a local hostess club. He recruits prospective hostesses off the streets, then turns them into the best companions on offer in the club. It was a far cry from the Sotenbori Hostess Club showdown in Yakuza Kiwami 2 or Majima’s efforts to run the most respectable club in Sotenbori during Yakuza 0.

The thing is, Okinawa is where Kiryu Kazuma has come to settle down and be a proper father to Haruka and the kids at Morning Glory. He’s stepping away from the slightly unsavory activities he might have had fun with in the past, and dedicating his time to raising kids. There’s even a hilarious scene where he finds a super dirty magazine just lying around on the beach. In classic Kiryu fashion, hilarity ensues as he tries to find a way to hide it, only to be caught.

So, what replaces the previously sexier side of Ryuku? Neighborly fun. Kiryu spends time training in a new, Okinawan fighting style with his new friend, the owner of  the local izakaya, Chura.  He also takes on the task of empowering young women instead of exploiting them at the hostess club. Joining the girl gang of his friend’s daughter, Tsubasa, Kiryu becomes one of The Haisai Girls’ biggest supporters and allies. As they face-off against the Tokyo Night Terrors gang in a variety of confrontations that scale in difficulty alongside the Haisai Girls’ infamy, Kiryu’s reputation as a Bad Boy Dragon rises.

One Underlying Theme Quietly Dominates Yakuza Kiwami 3’s Reimagining

Like I said above, it’s a more mature Kiryu Kazuma we’re seeing here. He dedicates himself to being a good father. This means distancing himself even further from the life he leaves behind. Unfortunately, once a yakuza, always a yakuza. No matter how hard Kiryu tries to leave that part of his life behind and settle down, it always draws him back in. Those of us who have played further in the series know how hard this will later come back to bite him, and it’s heartbreaking.

Yakuza Kiwami 3 expands on what was seen in the original game. It feels like there is so much more reflection on the fact that as a yakuza, he’s never going to be the stable home his kids need. It’s easier when you’ve got one traumatized kid who already knows what you’re about. Now, he has a whole orphanage full of little lives he needs to protect.

Kiryu Will Never Not Answer the Call

There are several times he has no choice but to answer the call. People from his old life need him, and he is so used to running off to help, he leaves his kids at home to do what he does best. He knows he shouldn’t, but he does. Again and again. At one point, as he’s chasing down the bad guy, the game’s main BBEG shows up at Morning Glory with a bunch of thugs. They shoot the younger adults in charge and land one in the hospital, then drag the other adult off to torture and kill him. Kids are injured in this cut-scene, stricken physically by the real monsters in the game.

And then, they take a bulldozer to the orphanage, leaving the terrified kids with an injured Rikiya and Mikkio outside in the cold. We all know Uncle Kaz is a superhero. Had he been there, Mine’s reign of terror would have ended at Morning Glory, and the orphanage would still be standing. But Kiryu has not yet learned that in order to be the dad those kids deserve, he has to cut ties with his past for good. That isn’t actually possible.

Yakuza Kiwami 3 Remains Almost Entirely Unchanged Plot-wise

As with every RGG game, it’s super easy to get caught up in the side missions and mini-games and forget to play the actual game for a while. Even still, the original plot for Yakuza Kiwami 3 carries out with very few major changes. The construction of the resort and military base still drive the main plot, and Mine with Black Monday are still the primary antagonists.

There were some character updates, like Rikiya’s voice actor and character model. Originally voiced by Tatsuya Fujiwara, Show Kasamatsu replaced the original voice and visual representation for Rikiya. I’ve seen mixed reactions to this, with some calling it a questionable, change. For many, Rikiya was the best character in the original Yakuza 3, but his appearance in that version does feel severely outdated. I think Kasamatsu did a great job bringing Rikiya to life in a new light. I don’t really prefer one over the other. Both representations work in their respective versions of the game.

And yes, for anyone who adores Majima as much as I do, the best scene in the game is still there. You know the one I’m talking about, with the pink dump truck rescue. Still one of the best Yakuza cut-scenes every made. Overall, I am satisfied with the game’s changes, and the things that stay the same are the ones that feel like they matter. The bonds, the brotherhood, Kiryu’s moral values… That’s what makes a Yakuza game, and it’s all in there.

Dark Ties Is Yoshitaka Mine’s B-Side, but What If He Had His Own A-Side?

I’m not going to disparage Dark Ties, but I will say I wish it was longer. That’s not to say it isn’t a fully-fleshed story, but it could have been more. It took me all of 11 hours to finish Dark Ties, save for a few unfinished battles in the Hell dungeons. That’s a generous amount of time to spend on a 3 Chapter adventure, but I’m something of a Yakuza completionist. I have also been known to get sucked into mahjong far longer than any one person should.

Mine’s side story, exploring how he meets Kanda and uses him to make his way into the Yakuza, is compelling. We see the first time he encounters Dojima Daigo, and the sparks that ignite in his mind as he tries to wrap his head around how one man amasses such dedication and loyalty. Mine is such a complex character, and without Dark Ties expanding his backstory significantly, it is harder to really wrap your mind around his motivations.

One of the great things about RGG games is how well it shapes antagonist motivations. Even when you have a character who is just pure evil, there’s often a reason that explains it. Because I already played Yakuza 3 ages ago, I played Dark Ties first. I wanted to see how it shaped Mine’s complexity, and I feel like it does a decent job giving his character even more depth. His obsession with Daigo, the bond the two of them built, it all feels so much clearer now.

The Deep Dive Into Tsuyoshi Kanda No One Asked For

Kanda is one of those despicable characters you spend an entire game hoping you get to kill. Mine proves his shortsightedness by meeting Tsuyoshi outside the prison on release day… serving a sentence for sexual assault, by the way. From the moment they pair up, we really get to see just how naive Mine is at first. He uses Kanda, sure, and he spends a lot of time rolling his eyes and muttering under his breath, but Mine definitely falls for Kanda’s brotherhood speeches. Loyalty. What a crock.

One of the mini-games steering the plot in Dark Ties is raising Kanda’s reputation from abysmal to shining. Kanda isn’t lifting a finger to make that happen, which means Mine setting out and doing good deeds on Kanda’s behalf. The one great thing Dark Ties does is explain how and why Mine was even working with Kanda in the first place. A high-class villain like Mine associating with a baseless thug like Kanda feels weird, but gaining insight into their relationship changes things.

I will say, a longer, Mine-only game would not be unwelcome. Just sayin’. Considering his re-appearance at the end of YK3 with Hamazaki, I’m hoping more Mine shenanigans are in the works.

Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties Is a RE-Masterpiece

 

 

The graphics in Yakuza 3, even the re-mastered version, feel… wonky by today’s standards. When playing the re-mastered version, I made constant jokes about blocky Kiryu-chan and Majima’s exaggerated facial expressions looking so silly. The characters, the scenery, it all looks so much cleaner now that it is on the same graphics level as the newer Like a Dragon games. It adds a sense of continuity to the series as a whole, which has me hoping Yakuza 4 and 5 get the same treatment in the future.

The combat also feels so much clunkier in the earlier versions. The new system uncomplicates things, making for a far more streamlined combat experience with two models to choose from. Both Mine and Kiryu get some intriguing new moves, and an interesting system that provides them with a boost beyond heat actions. I like it.

Regardless of the complaining and controversies all over the gaming world, I remain an unflinching Yakuza/Like a Dragon fan. If I stop loving everything that might have something questionable associated with it, there won’t be anything left in the world to enjoy. There are so many positive components that balance out the things everyone’s up in arms about. It makes it pretty easy to ignore that which enrages others.

Haters always gonna hate, and there is pretty much nothing I hate about Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties. In fact, there is so much more I wish I could go on and on about, but I’ve already been typing for days. My finally take: definitely worth spending new-game PS5 prices for a re-imagined game I already played. 100%

VOID RATING: 9/10