A little summary by the amateur reviewer.
Ryu Ga Gotoku (Like a Dragon) 3 known as Yakuza 3 in the west, was released at an awkward time in the west along with Final Fantasy 13 and God of War 3 (two other games I own) last year. You could say the game fell under the radar.
I personally hated the Yakuza 3 demo when I played it in 2009 and 2010 due to the fact I didn’t know how to play it, I didn’t know the controls or what I was doing. Usually with some demos you get a tutorial which tells you some of the basics but in the Yakuza 3 demo (and Yakuza 4 demo) the devs throw you into the game without much explanation. The Yakuza demos were mostly for the fanbase.
Around this time last year after work, I popped into my local Gamestation, I thought to myself spend some cash on cheap games. I purchased Rachet and Clank: A Crack in Time and Yakuza 3. I thought to myself give this game another try, it might be average or I might like it like Killzone 2 (I hated the controls in the Killzone 2 demo but when I borrowed the game I appreciated it and enjoyed the game as a whole).
I didn’t really care about the characters or story up until Chapter 2. I was strolling down the Sunshine Beach and saw a fishing rod, I thought give it a try and to my surprise I was enjoying fishing even though I kept getting useless items such as the umbrella. The game drew me in; I was wondering what else is there in this game. Playing golf in the third chapter was annoying but actually fun once I got the hang of it. The game was getting fun and surprising in terms of content, it was a rewarding experience.
Now to review the game as a whole.
The game and the whole series in general is mostly classified as a Japanese GTA. Some say Action/Adventure, some say it’s the spiritual successor to Shenmue (a game I have never played). I think it is a Japanese Role Playing Game due to the storytelling and the battle and levelling up system.
Story: I’ll give a brief summary and won’t spoil the story. The story in Yakuza 3 continues from the ending of Yakuza 2, Kazuma Kiryu (Kiryu Kazuma is what you be hearing throughout the game cutscenes when people are talking to him or about him) the fourth chairman of the Tojo Clan is the main character you play in the game. He settles down with Haruka (His childhood friend’s/lover’s child) in Okinawa and runs an orphanage away from his past lifestyle/background. It may have seemed like a peaceful lifestyle until the land they live on is threatened, they are given an eviction notice. The land issue is related to some of the members of the Tojo Clan, some of the local Yakuza organisations and two ministers. Kazuma is drawn back into the whole situation with more issues linked to his past background.
The summary of the story may sound confusing or boring, but the story does have some twists and betrayals which give it a crime action theme and makes it interesting overall.
The characters in the game have a personality; you may think what am I on about. The way the characters are portrayed/presented makes you like or dislike them for example one character from the game called Tamashiro, he is a cold blooded villain which you despise, the tone and attitude he shows towards people makes you dislike him as a whole.
There are also heartwarming events during the story. Some people may hate the orphanage parts in Yakuza 3 but I enjoyed it (second and third playthough it gets annoying). You see a great bond between the characters throughout the game similar to Heavy Rain.
Graphics: The cutscenes in Yakuza 3 are very detailed, the facial animations are great. You see great expressions from the characters whether they are angry or emotional. The technology used at Sega for faces is impressive. Some of the characters in the game (especially the hostesses in Yakuza 4) look like their real life counterpart. The game has some pacing issues when it goes from cutscene to text based dialogue with the in game graphics (not as bad as Yakuza 4).
The scenery in the game is impressive; you see a lot of colourful billboards. The setting in Yakuza 3 is based on a place in Okinawa and Tokyo’s Shinjuku Kabukicho. The environments in the game look very detailed and similar to their real life counterparts.
The bad thing about the graphics are the in game graphics (not the cutscenes). The textures can look horrible in some areas, mostly clothing on NPCs. Also you get a lot of NPCs popping in out of nowhere when running around (well it’s loading the assets in the game). There is jaggies present but not as bad as Infamous 1.
The framerate is stable most of the time unless you walk down Nakamichi St. you see some slow down.
Sound: The soundtrack fits the tone of the game very well. Hidenori Shoji, the main composer of the series did an excellent job. The soundtrack ranges from Rock to some Funk and Jazz.
The sounds you hear when walking around makes you feel like you are there, from the store jingles to the taxi horn.
You can ignore this part if you want.
[The Butterfly City song in the Japanese intro of Yakuza 4 was cut due to licence. What is surprising to me is that Yakuza 2 had 2 or 3 songs from a popular artist which wasn’t removed in the west versions. Yakuza 2 was released in 2006 in Japan and 2008 in the west. In Yakuza 3, the track Loser and two other songs were removed as well due to licence (I presume).]
Gameplay: Although this game is a brawler, it does have a JRPG (Japanese Role Playing Game) feel to it as you encounter random punks/ thugs on the streets who want to pick a fight and you get experience points, which you can use to upgrade your character's abilities (health, heat bars etc). This can be a bad thing as the punks act like the random monster encounter in Final Fantasy and Pokemon. The battle system is very brutal, sadistic but yet very satisfying. You get a certain item when completing the locker keys, which you get no encounters when exploring. You can learn moves from other NPCs in the game which is useful and make you feel like a badass.
There is an exploration part in this game which you can do during or after completing the game. You can do 100 sub missions which are separate from the main story and mini games.
The west version of Yakuza 3 had no hostess clubs, mah-jong and shogi (Japanese chess), AnswerxAnswer quiz mini game and some substories missing compared the Japanese version which caused an uproar amongst the Yakuza fans. At the time I didn’t have much interest due to the demo, but it is bad Sega left out some of the stuff in Yakuza 3. In Yakuza 4 the hostess clubs are back, the only thing that got cut was AnswerxAnswer quiz mini game.
Finally…
I enjoyed what I got out of my money; it was my game of the year last year. It would have been Heavy Rain but I put a lot of hours (over 100) into Yakuza 3, it was a rewarding experience. I did put 137 hours into MGS: Peace Walker (due to repeating missions for weapons and rank) but Yakuza 3 was a fun game. This is a man’s game just like Yakuza 4 and God of War 3, Kazuma Kiryu is a great character from Sega, he is a badass.
If you like Japanese games from the PS1 and PS2 era get this game. If Final Fantasy XIII was disappointing to you (I found the characters boring in FF XIII), you should have got this game. Yakuza 3 had the story, characters and exploration if you thought FF XIII was going to have it. If you have a PS3 and a PS3 fanboy get this game, the Yakuza series is a great third party exclusive from Sega. If you liked Sega games back in the day try this game, no matter what console you own I wish people experience a great Japanese game filled with content.
I will do a Yakuza 4 review once I get a chance to complete it.
Thanks for reading.
GF365: "For a story to be compelling and engaging, a great villain is mandatory in most cases – be it a novel, movie, or video game. Of course, there’s a multitude of wonderful, brilliantly written villains in video games. Do keep in mind that this is our opinion. So, here’s our list of the best villains in video games, ranked in no particular order. We’re limiting our list to games since 2005."
Handsome Jack Borderlands 2
Andrew Ryan Bioshock
Vaas Montenegro far cry 3
Glados portal 2
My internet connection
No List of good Villains in Video Games is complete without Handsome Jack and Geese Howard. In other words..this list is bs.
When Yakuza 3 was brought West for the PlayStation 3 back in 2010, SEGA infamously cut a sizeable amount of side content from the game. This content, which was available in the Japanese version of the release, was removed because SEGA basically didn't think it would gel with Western audiences -- or at least, that was the publisher's explanation. The cut content included over 20 side quests, several minigames, and a whole hostess club management system.
Fortunately, that cut content is now restored in the Western release of Yakuza 3 Remastered, which just hit PlayStation 4 digitally.
There are certain recurring themes people can expect from video games intended to build ambiance, especially in RPGs. No sooner do you enter a new area or attend a new academy, then someone lets slip there are seven unsolved mysteries to discover. Inevitably, the main story or an extended series of sidequests sends you looking after each one. However, people may not realize exactly how extensive this story element is and why it is such a valuable inclusion in games.
Sorry for the long review, I hope you enjoy it (probably you won't enjoy it) lol.
Good game, good review. I for one didn't play Yakuza 3 that much, it got pretty boring pretty quickly. Yakuza 4 is different though, man I'm loving it. The variety of character keeps it fresh, and the lack of host clubs in Yakuza 3 was a bummer (enjoyed them in the first game, haven't played the second).
If Yakuza 3 is a 8.5, then Yakuza 4 has to be a 9.5. It's just that good.
Good review. I have this game- i bought it nearly when it came out actually, but sadly I just never got into it. Mostly because, at the time, I bought 4 games at once, played all those first and then by the time I rolled around to Yakuza 3, there were more games I kept getting and it just has ended up sitting on the shelf.
But i'm inspired to really give it another go!
Good and in-depth review Peoples_Champ. I think you covered just about everything that's really important to say. Although one thing to note, is that for people just getting into the series, it would be good to mention that there are those in-depth recap videos at the beginning of the game about the events in Yakuza 1 and 2. That aside, you definitely hit the important areas of the game and explained everything well.
Personally, this was pretty much my GOTY last year. It's been a long time since I've so thoroughly enjoyed a story in a game as I did with this. I love the vast amount of side-content that can keep you busy for weeks, such as the fighting arena, gambling halls, all the mini-games, the Hitman Missions, the post-game exploration and new game+, etc. And as a character, Kiryu easily has become among my top three favorite protagonists in a game.
Now I got into the series around the time Yakuza 2 was localized, partially due to hearing some stuff about how Kojima and Nagoshi (Yakuza's creator) were drinking buddies and would discuss ideas together. That instantly stuck me as cool, and raised my interest on these games. I had heard and seen some stuff on Yakuza 1 prior to that, however the way it was shown and marketed made the game look like a much more bland and uninteresting game than it is. Especially with the GTA references that were made. The only real similarities between GTA and Yakuza I've ever seen, are that they are both open-world games, in which case, Yakuza is also like every other sandbox game out there.
Anyway, when I finally got around to trying the first game out myself, I was instantly hooked. I couldn't believe that I had been missing out on the series up to that point. Yakuza 3 and 4 both became day 1 purchases for me. What you mention at the end of your review is very accurate. For anyone that really enjoys good story and character development, for anyone that likes games with a Japanese feel and/or culture influences, and for anyone that just wants a really long and fun game and enjoys action RPGs, this is definitely an amazing game series to seriously check out. Here's hoping Of The End will be on-track for a localized March-April release in 2012.
are truely manly games lol. i love them both, but yakuza 4 more because of it's refined mechanics and style. the music,characters,setting,and story was awesome the whole way through. it had the best ending i have ever witnessed in a video game in my entire life. i'm ready for yakuza 5.