User Reviews

Yakuza 3 is the third main entry in the Japanese action-adventure video game franchise and was released in early 2009. The game has however aged surprisingly well thanks to fluid controls, fascinating locations and addicting story. The main story takes roughly twenty hours to complete but finishing the entire game with its numerous intriguing side stories could take more than one hundred hours. This game certainly offers value for money.

One interesting element here is that the game takes place in two completely different locations. Players will explore a more detailed map of Kamurocho in downtown Tokyo than ever before. As a contrast, the second and brand-new location is a fictional area named Ryukyu in Okinawa that impresses with sandy beaches, charming tourism locations and beautiful weather.

There are also more characters than ever before. Aside of charismatic protagonist Kiryu Kazuma and his closest allies such as adopted daughter Sawamura Haruka and adventurous young criminal Shimabukuro Rikiya, this game features up to three hundred sixty unique characters that offer much diversity and entertainment.

This game offers more three distinct modes. The adventure mode refers to more than one hundred unique side stories such as bounty hunter missions. Players also get to experience twenty dynamic mini-games varying from batting cage over karaoke to surf fishing. The event mode refers to cinematic sequences that are progressing the main story and add up to almost five hours of entertainment. The battle mode allows to access the Underground Coliseum where illicit mixed martial arts events are taking place. Another separate element worth mentioning are the numerous coin lockers available at both main locations where players can access creative, ridiculous and useful items.

The main story offers many twists and turns in the franchise's most ambitious approach yet. There are conspiracies and rivalries involving criminal families, foreign arms dealers, corrupted members of the police force, shady politicians and even mysterious members of secret agencies. The story of this game could easily make for three seasons of a captivating action-thriller television series and deserves to be discovered in depth.

The soundtrack to this game is also more diversified than ever before. This includes songs that can be heard and sung in the game but also tunes performed during the credits in the Japanese version.

As you can read, Yakuza 3 has aged particularly well and purchasing the boxed set of remastered versions including the third, fourth and fifth main games is highly recommended. This game is on the same high-quality level as the other instalments as only minor elements should decide which game you actually appreciate most. In my personal case, I have particularly liked the colourful locations in Okinawa and the tense story in this memorable game. Thirteen years after its release, it certainly wouldn't be exaggerated to call this game here a genre classic that is worth being discovered and rediscovered.

Keep in mind that I played Yakuza 3 Remastered on the Xbox One, so the visuals and look to it will look better than it originally did. Yakuza 3 (2009) Remastered was a fun video game to play from beginning to end, even though it can be difficult at times, but I like the challenge when playing it.

The Japanese voice cast do an excellent job voicing these characters, like the main character you play as Kazuma Kiryu. I liked Kazuma Kiryu and what he is trying to work towards, which is making sure his orphanage he is running the kids inside are safe, and that the land of Okinawa is not taken over by other crime divisions. Plus, I liked Kazuma Kiryu's relationship with his adopted daughter Haruka and the other kids at the orphanage.

The open world gameplay is cool when walking around places like Okinawa and Tokyo, with a lot of places you can go to if you are not following the story. There are people to talk to and get new abilities, and there are lots of side missions that are strange but funny that will keep you distracted for a while till you finish the game. Also, there are minigames that are fun, but some that are difficult to figure out and control.

The fighting mechanics are simple but fun to control, the new abilities you get are cool to use, and when running around Tokyo you will run into a lot of thugs or Yakuza goons that you can fight. The boss fights are especially difficult, depending on what difficulty mode you are in, and can take a while to defeat. Plus, what was fun was that you can pick up random objects during fights and use them as weapons against your opponent.

Yakuza 3 (2009) Remastered was fun to play and challenging to complete, so if you are looking for a challenge then you might like this game, even if you like fighting games. The game can be funny from time to time, and the voice acting can be entertaining in certain cutscenes when watching them play out. I would recommend it unless you do not like these kinds of video games.

I took this game with me on a half year long trip abroad so I wouldn't get homesick. Rural summers in the company of children and Tokyo night life among yakuzas somehow coexist in a single cohesive storyline deeply rooted in its meticulously recreated miniature Japan. I missed an opportunity to go to Okinawa, and am currently outside of Japan, but this game is the next best thing.

The game spends a good portion of the plot developing your relationship to the new characters, which might throw you off a bit until you reach that point when events call you back into action, and your new "family" becomes what you fight for. And the ass-kicking business has never been this good. I played through the fourth game, which introduced three new playable characters and entirely new points of view on the plot along with distinct fighting styles, making for an awesome experience, but I still don't mind coming back to play the third game.

Yakuza 3 is the true peak of Yakuza. All characters are very multi-layered when they need to be, and simple when they need to be. The game's best character, Rikiya Shimabukuro, is a perfect example of the beautiful simplicity that this game uses so well: he's perfectly kind, with no qualms about it. The game is visually great, and is definitely a series high like no other.

After playing Kiwami, Kiwami 2 and 0, I found this entry extremely disappointing for multiple reasons.

The story is actually good even though it starts SUPER slow, for the first couple of hours you are just wondering what you are actually playing. But the main problem of this game is the combat, it is just unfair. The upgrade system is horrible, you get into so many random fights and last so long because either everyone is attacking you at the same time or so consistently that you can't do anything, the enemies block so much and you miss so many hits. So the combat is awful, but the story is so short that you can't enjoy anything for long. Definitely a miss in the franchise.