Yakuza Kiwami 3 + Dark Tie Hand-Down – Dragon Engine Still Provides Beautiful Remakes

I still can't believe this actually happened. Long-time Yakuza fans finally removed all the sad tweets drafts after the recent Ryu GaGotoku summit because Yakuza Kiwami 3 is real and from what we can see, it offers more ways than anyone would expect.

After Kiwami 1 and 2, I played the original Yakuza 3 because I wanted to experience the series in chronological order, but it ended up being a challenge when the series was technically poor after two gorgeous dragon engine remakes. Yakuza 3 was released in 2009 and from a modern perspective, the gameplay feels very broken and outdated now. The difficulty zooming felt unfair in the boss fight, and for the most part I ended up pounding the buttons strongly in the fight, hoping to eventually break the obstacles and get annihilated with just a few hits. Outside of the battle, the game feels slow and clumsy. I wanted to enjoy Kiryu downtime in Okinawa, but the delayed interaction almost ruined my experience, not to mention when the gaming industry couldn't fully figure out what the kids looked like, let alone those early 00s faced with models.

But the game has one of the most heartfelt stories in the legend of Kiryu, saving myself for me and having memorable characters that still flock to today. My experiences can be frustrating at times, but those rare, peaceful moments of time Kiryu spent with orphans and his relationship with other Yakuza 3-exclusive characters remain the biggest highlights of my entire series.

I've been desperately hoping for Yakuza 3 to be reshaped since my playback process, because I know if the studio can update graphics and gameplay, it's easy to be one of my favorite games. When I finally sat down to demonstrate this remake, I wouldn't lie and I cried. Not only did the Yakuza Kiwami 3 end up getting the dragon engine processing it deserved, but the additions proved once again that RGG brought a lot of love into its remake.

Yakuza Kiwami 3

Admittedly, our demo has a short lifespan, but it gave me a glimpse of what the Kiwami 3 expects 3. We start with one of the game's opening moments: Kiryu left Yakuza completely and is now living in Okinawa with Haruka, now living with Haruka, at Morning Morning of Morning glorory, orphanage of orphanage of Kiryule grow orphan. However, the continual expulsion of Kiryu from the Ryudo family pushed Kiryu to the city's Ryudo family office, where he met Rikiya and Mikio, who had been monitoring the orphanage. This brings us straight to the combat tutorial.

Since this is a remake, the game brings us back to Kiryu's signature dragon's battle style dragon, but also adopts a new ryukyu style inspired by Okinawan martial arts. In the new combat style, Kiryu is equipped with eight different weapons, each with accused attack. The battle is largely similar to previous Kiwami games, but it's fun to test new weapons and combos in Ryukyu style. Of course, nothing beats my favorite classic kiryu power dynamics: beat every enemy with a bike.

After the battle sequence, we were free to roam the city for a few minutes, happy to indulge in some nostalgia while walking up the streets of an Okinawa car that has been updated in a new engine. There wasn't much exploration in the demo except for the basic activities beyond karaoke and eating in different restaurants. However, I did spend most of my time customizing a new phone. I love that the Kiwami 3 retains Kiryu's “Razor” phone, this time you can add charm, jewelry and customize the background. I made his phone pink with jewelry and heart charm, which will add a good feel when you get all these fun revelations again.

One change of my remake on the fence is Rikiya's new face. In the original Yakuza 3, Rikiya has a more young, somewhat innocent look that complements his naive personality and Okinawan roots. His softer, more casual look is more appropriate than the typical Yakuza character, but has now been replaced by the face of his new voice actor Sho Kasamatsu. Since he's used to his new look like a sturdy Japanese actor, it would be weird to hope that the romp (and painful) interaction between him and his “Aniki” Kiryu will bring the same emotions. I'm really looking forward to how they play a specific hotel site. After a glimpse of the remake, it's time to check out the biggest surprise in the studio: Yoshitaka Mine gets his own game called Dark Ties.

Dark tie to move

Finally, there is a Yakuza game where you can play the actual Yakuza! In addition to the full remake, Kiwami 3 also adopts a completely independent game with a focus on the main rivals, the Yoshitaka Mines, and the activities that led to the plot of Kiwami 3. Comparing with Majima Saga in Yakuza Kiwami 2, it's a separate story that is accessible in the main menu, but it's an actual full-length game. I don't think anyone would expect RGG to offer a one-off villain throughout the playable story 15 years ago, but the studio continues to impress me as they are launching meaningful content and providing a lot of fairs and love for their fanbase's favorite characters.

In Dark Relationship, My Businessman is a businessman who wants to make connections in the Yakuza world. We have to watch an opening cutscene where my existential crisis crisis, where he is going after his current business. After witnessing the loyalty of the Tojo family members to the Chairman and our boy Daigo Dojima, my decision he will do everything he can to connect with him. He then received a tip from a private investigator about Yakuza recently released from prison: an arrogant, perverted opponent with Tsuyoshi Kanda. I think the first thing in the opening scene was: “Wow, I'm so beautiful in this game.” His face design is slightly different from what Yakuza Isshin did, but my fans will definitely use fan editing to trash time, which is likely included.

Shortly after the cutscene, we tested my fighting style in the battle tutorial. My style is a unique blend of air and “shooting boxing” moves that trigger his dark awakening. This pattern is triggered by combining a chain-shaped heart under his health bar and when activated it makes me powerful. I couldn't help laughing at the stupidity of calling his profession “Dark Awakening”. Mine is a little known for her emo, so my actions only make sense.

After the battle tutorial is over, we are free to explore Kamurocho. Like all Yakuza protagonists, my mine can also participate in mini games like golf, baseball, and gambling. I was glad to hear Shido Nakamura again, so obviously the first thing I did during the free meeting was to go straight to karaoke. I can't tell RGG is making all the protagonists Vas Sing Karaoke a cheer or punishment for them, but damn it sounds pretty, even with Kanda's pictures, I sound pretty. Sorry, this fan disappointed MineDai fans.

I finally got left on a cliff after I finally met Kanda, but I can't wait to see what else we'll get in his story and how it leads to Chiwami 3. Considering that we are getting the full background of my relationship with Kanda and Daigo, when we finally saw their conclusions in Kiwami, my reaction was important. The meme is finally out.

I am very much looking forward to spending time with Kiryu in orphanage with orphanage and witnessing him in a more tranquil environment, which I am very much looking forward to, except for all the stupid content and moments of my favorite Yakuza 3 characters. Normally, I don't care about video games' remakes – they give me something different except for the updated graphics, but RGG continues to pull out beautiful, remade titles with new content. We are getting closer to a remake of the studio’s full library, and despite some smaller, sometimes worthy of mention, these Kiwami titles prove that Rgg cares about its fan base and hopes newcomers have the best experience in Kiryu’s full story.