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Forum - View topicGAME: Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties Game Review
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mdo7
 Posts: 8241 Location: Katy, Texas, USA |
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Other then the interesting review. I would love it if some of our resident gamer Youtuber that specialize in comparing multiple versions of the same game to give Yakuza Kiwami 3 the same analysis comparing the graphic and gameplay to previous release of Yakuza 3 (both the PS4/Xbox One/Windows PC, and the original PS3 release). I'm waiting for AustinSV, Digital Foundry, and others to compare all 3 versions.
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AiddonValentine
 Posts: 2978 |
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The doubling down on Kagawa is gross and boneheaded. Will pass as I have no interest in further enabling a creep
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LinkTSwordmaster
 Posts: 818 Location: PA / USA |
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That sounds like the sort of tone I usually take in the comments section when something turns up subpar. 
To date, this marks a sad day for the series because whether you loved or hated any one particular Yakuza title more than others, you were always getting a package that was trying to top its previous outing. I have some issues with the shifting or removal of content in Kiwami 2, but I think it would be hard to argue that it wasn't the definitive version of that game in most aspects. With Kiwami 3 in particular, I have to move from "I'm buying this without question, they've never let me down!" to "Now I have to scrutinise everything the same way Capcom keeps tripping all over themselves with DRM and performance problems, or buy it in the bargain bin". And that's before you go reading into the insane stuff surrounding the cast for the game. There's a thin veiled line that was providing Yakuza a "benefit of the doubt" sort of separation from being regarded/laughed off the way I hear yearly Ubisoft releases regarded, and I think Kiwami 3 may have been the straw that lost the camel his magic. They've been running on fumes for a while, and I think this is only going to draw more negative attention to that particular fact. |
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Greed1914
 Posts: 5381 |
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Sounds like what I expected after the prior re-releases. A mixed bag where some things are genuinely much improved, and others leave you wondering why they thought it needed changing.
There are three characters with recast actors. Are these new guys such big names that it warrants changing the characters? On top of the problems with the particular actor for Hamazaki spoiler[ the character also is in Yakuza 4, so now he looks different.] Unless these particular actors are such big deals that they can move copies, it seems totally unnecessary compared to the prospect of giving a reason for people who have played the original a reason to skip it. I'm curious what they've changed in the story. I've currently played Yakuza 0 through 6, and would say that 3 was the weakest in terms of story. That said, I think the problems were less to do with the story as a whole, and more to do with relying quite a bit on telling you these various things were related in a pretty clunky way. Basically, it's stuff that could be fixed through expanding on it, rather than changing it. The additions around Morning Glory sound good. It almost felt like an afterthought at times in the original, even though it was key to the whole plot. My hunch was that it replaced the host club minigame, and that is an unqualified improvement. That version of it was slow, did an awful job of explaining how to do it, and just wasn't fun. Plus, this fits better with the main concept of the whole game. Also, I said this elsewhere, but the delisting of the previous version flies in the face of the idea that a remake doesn't replace the original. It does when the companies behind them choose to bury their own creations. I'm sure someone at Sega decided that 3's presence would hurt sales of Kiwami 3, and they've just gotta remake that dev budget right now. Last edited by Greed1914 on Mon Feb 09, 2026 1:34 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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tintor2
 Posts: 2725 |
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A lot of leaks the people released felt like the director's cut of 0 where somebody somehow survives to a car exploding but I still can't tell if the leaks are correct. Playing as Mine kinda feels progressive for RGG Studio since he might be the first homosexual protagonist of the series. However, I recall the character being kinda horrible in 3's story regardless of motives. Still, the whole Kagawa thing sure is harsh. Liking the game will feel like admitting I still like Rurouni Kenshin.
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FanGamer24
Posts: 320 |
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None of the changes in Directors Cut made the game worse. Were the new cutscenes unnecessary? Sure but claiming they somehow made the game worse is beyond silly.
No idea why they recasted some characters definitely a weird a choice unless the original actors were just unavailable for some reason. If I have any hesitation in playing this game it’s only because Yakuza 3 was always one of the weaker entries. |
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whiskeyii
 Posts: 2477 |
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Anyone willing to give me a TL;DR for what’s up with this 0 Director’s Cut? I only own the original Yakuza 0 hard copy and mostly stay off Twitter, and only stumbled across the Kiwami 3 news since it coincided with a big figure event happening at the same time ^^; |
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EmeraldSaucer
 Posts: 976 |
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Every new thing I hear about this remake makes it seem worse and worse. Like apparently we've gone from 119 sub stories to 31
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Greed1914
Posts: 5381 |
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I hope they make up for it with quality then. Yakuza 6, for example, had far fewer substories compared to prior entries, but made up for it with most having multiple parts and the whole game, including side stuff, being voice acted. I watched a stream of the demo, and there was a substory that was new, but also using the usual text sans voice over, so it seems like another case of mileage varying on what we get. |
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FanGamer24
Posts: 320 |
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Basically it added 5 new cutscenes that mostly serve to provide closure for characters whose fate were mostly left ambiguous originally. Since these final fates weren’t necessarily death some people flipped out. Beyond that the only other change was the ability to save from the pause menu. They also added new English and Chinese dubs. |
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EmeraldSaucer
Posts: 976 |
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The only one I saw people complain about was spoiler[Lee], which was very much not "left ambiguous originally" and was very much a completely pointless retcon |
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That Little Rapscallion
Posts: 151 |
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Even without the pointless attempt at a "my favorite fictional character would totally agree with my opinions" flex, I feel the revisionism of the Yakuza series going from a problematic boys-only club to a wholesome Reddit chungus series according to some people needs to be studied. I genuinely miss when every gaming outlet and non-fan would trash the series and call it a relic of the past from an era of gaming they wish they could forget. At least that was more honest than pretending these games weren't filled tot he brim with problematic content and made by a guy who is on record saying he doesn't care what female players or overseas players want and he makes games he thinks Japanese men would want. If people are surprised that the developers did not listen to a small group of western complainers and remove a famous actor they liked and wanted for the role then I fear they've not been paying attention to the creators own words. I'm aware Nagoshi left SEGA ages ago but even the current roster of developers helming the franchise have repeated the "this is a game for middle aged Japanese men". comment in the past couple of years. As for if a fictional character like Kiryu would approve: just like who wins in Batman VS Superman; yes, of course. If they write him that way. Fictional characters are beholden to what their writers make them think and do. And that seems entirely plausible given Kiryu's reaction to a large adult man pinning his adoptive daughter to the floor was to just shrug his shoulders and go "Dude was in prison for a long time, I get it, man" I'll be skipping this game not because of an actor but because I dislike remakes in general especially ones that remove content or change things from the original. My only issue is the original Yakuza 3 is not readily available for purchase for people who do not already have it or want to emulate it for whatever reason. I wish any game that wants to put out a remake can only do so if they make the original game available for purchase as well although SEGA seems to be of the mind that you should only have one option (legally) with their remakes and re-releases. |
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EmeraldSaucer
Posts: 976 |
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It's hard to get less ambiguous than "is inside a car as it explodes", hence why nobody up until Director's Cut even considered the possibility of him living. And he was a secondary character who had already served their narrative purpose, with his death being the tragic end point to his story. That was all it needed to be for someone who wasn't a main character, and that bears out because the additional content in Director's Cut for him is completely superfluous and says nothing (because there was nothing more to say on him as a character) |
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Dancing Green
 Posts: 76 |
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George Takahashi retired from acting to focus on music so Hamazaki had to be changed to reflect his new voice actor. Presumably there's a similar reason for why the others change too. Actors die, or retire, or just don't want to come back. The only reason it's more noticeable in something like Yakuza is because they face-scan the characters after the Japanese actor. Although even in games where there is no face scanning remakes and remasters are known for changing the way characters look due to hardware and graphical engine changes just being fundamentally different in addition to remakes going for a different aesthetic style. |
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BadNewsBlues
Posts: 7240 |
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Straw that broke the camel’s back if you will.
Never mind the fact these games have a notable female player base even in it’s home market.
Which is improbable as in some cases the developers may not have the source code to do this hence a new version needing to be made from scratch. |
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