Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties Reviews
Yakuza Kiwami 3 provided a beautiful remake with excellent gameplay, excellent side content, excellent variety, and excellent graphics, along with excellent technical performance without any issues.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Yakuza Kiwami 3 is, to say the least, very dark and truly not something I enjoyed playing. As Mine you encounter your entry way into the Yakuza by stopping him from assaulting a woman. Not to save the woman but to gain an entryway into the Yakuza. You spend Yakuza Kiwami 3 befriending a violent creep and one of the plot points and mini games is the management sim where you rehabilitate Kanda’s image to becoming something of a hero.
As may be clear from my review, Yakuza Kiwami & Dark Ties 3 is a game of extremes. On the one hand, the combat certainly shines with the addition of the Ryukyu style and brutal finishers. The emotional bond between Kazuma and his daughter Haruka, in turn, creates some beautiful scenes. Unfortunately, the game misses the mark in other areas. The story around the orphanage in Okinawa gets going slowly and lacks the necessary passion to really captivate. In addition, you drown in an overwhelming amount of mini-games and side activities that often feel like cheap activity therapy. In short: great action, but a disappointing and slow plot.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
Yakuza Kiwami 3 isn’t a perfect remake by any means and comes with some more notable drawbacks than the Kiwami games before it. Still, I can’t deny that I thoroughly loved my time with Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties, even in spite of some hiccups along the way. If you’re like me and still haven’t gotten around to playing Yakuza 3, I think this is a fantastic way to experience the game.
“Yakuza Kiwami 3” boasts great presentation and much needed improvements over the original game combat system. Sadly, it does very little to improve the inconsistent narrative. If anything, it makes it worse in some areas. Is the worst remake I ever played? No, far from it, but I would rather play the original “Yakuza 3” — or at least its remastered version — rather than the remake.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties was always going to be a hit with me as a fan of the series. A lot of the amendments to modernise the game and make it more fun and interesting have hit the spot with me. Although its not the strongest story in the series, coupling it with the Dark Ties side story brings an interesting dynamic on the story which I enjoy. But a horrifically bad casting choice has completely tarnished the game and left me with mix feelings.
Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties arrives with the thankless mission of revisiting one of the saga's most divisive chapters while at the same time proving that RGG Studio still knows how to honor the legacy it built.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Yakuza Kiwami 3 definitely succeeds in what it set out to do: bringing a beloved entry in the series to a new generation on the current systems while giving longtime fans a polished reason to revisit Kiryu’s story. The visual improvements, detailed recap system, and fluid/simple combat make the experience welcoming and entertaining, while the series’ signature blend of intense drama and absurd humor remains as charming as ever. At the same time, some elements, like the Dark Ties chapter and main character development, feel like missed opportunities to dig deeper into the emotional core of the story. Still, thanks to its engaging combat, memorable characters, and improved presentation, the remake stands as a solid entry in the franchise. It may not reach the heights of the very best Yakuza titles, but it’s a worthwhile journey for both newcomers and returning fans.
Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties is an interesting, but very controversial package. The recasting issues, changes to the series’ continuity, and massive drop in sidestory quality were disappointments, something I rarely see in a RGG Studio game, but there’s no denying that, when it comes to gameplay and content, this game is an exponential improvement over the original. The combat mechanics are near-pristine, the heartfelt moments with the orphans are still adorable, and the Dragon Engine keeps on impressing with ultra-detailed worlds to explore, and tons of elements onscreen at any given time.
Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties is yet another excellent installment in a saga that has now spanned more than twenty years. The remake of the ill-fated third chapter in the adventures of Kazuma Kiryu reworks the gameplay, story, and content to make it a fresher and more appealing product. Not only is the main campaign now more fun and fluid to play, but the brand new appendix dedicated to Yoshitaka Mine adds a touch of extra variety to an unquestionably solid package. Much has been said about the controversies surrounding the title (mainly related to narrative and casting choices, as well as new content that in some cases has replaced older content), but honestly, it seems to us that they are talking about everything except the validity of the title itself. The saga will inevitably have to deal with the near future and all that it entails. But returning to the Morning Glory orphanage after all these years couldn't be more comforting.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Yakuza Kiwami 3 is a safe and superficial remake that's just another way for SEGA and RGG to release their anual Yakuza/Like a Dragon game. I do not recommend buying this its lackluster Dark Ties expansion, but, if you've never played Yakuza 3 before, this is not a bad way to do it, even if it's growingly clear that when Toshihiro Nagoshi left the studio in 2021, the series' creativity left with him.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
“Even an unambitious Yakuza can be trusted.”
Review in Finnish | Read full review
I’m somewhere in the middle, I’m curious as to what the team will be doing moving forward, but a tad weary at the approach. Like a Dragon as a franchise will likely continue indefinitely, but Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties will probably be remembered as an inflection point amongst the fanbase.
"A Remaster That Respects the Spirit of the Original" Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties succeeds in delivering an enhanced version that retains the essence of the original experience while significantly improving combat and side content. The Dark Ties chapter adds a new narrative dimension that expands understanding of the game world, while the open world and diverse activities bring a sense of life and interaction. However, the remaster suffers from visual inconsistencies in some technical elements and occasionally inconsistent voice acting.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Yakuza Kiwami 3 delivers a polished return to familiar settings, with improved combat and presentation, but it also suffers from pacing issues and content cuts. Dark Ties, meanwhile, struggles to justify its inclusion, offering a filler‑heavy side story that adds little to the overall package. Still, there is plenty of fun to be had, even though some odd decisions dampen the mood.
Review in Finnish | Read full review
Despite the controversy and the plethora of missing content, I still had a pretty great time during my nearly 40 hours with Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Tides. It makes some unnecessary changes, that’s for sure, some of which are quite disappointing (including the needless retcons at the end that will have serious ramifications for Yakuza 4‘s story), but the combat’s so much better than the original’s that it’s hard for me to be too cross about it.
Kiwami 3 is a complicated homecoming; while the Dragon Engine overhaul finally fixes the original's sluggish combat, it sacrifices a wealth of legacy side content in the process. The "Dark Ties" prequel adds needed depth to Mine, but uneven visuals and significant cuts make this remake feel more like a lateral move than a definitive upgrade.
The substories and main story were what made me keep playing Yakuza 3 Remastered, as after playing Yakuza Kiwami 2, the gameplay felt somewhat like a slog to me. Yakuza Kiwami 3 changed both of these reasons in ways that I mostly disapprove of, plus the character changes, but it made the gameplay considerably better, and added a lot of side content that was enjoyable, so it balanced it out. In short, Yakuza Kiwami 3 is a decent game for both newcomers and returning players, but I’d advise the former to play the original before this version.
Yakuza Kiwami 3 on Xbox Series X is a brilliant remake that preserves the tone and atmosphere of the franchise, whilst modernising the experience. If you’re a die-hard Yakuza fan like myself, then you’ll love this one. Having this as a double release with two different angles shows just how talented and strong Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio are. Kiwami 3 will offer you a huge feast of content with an engaging storyline, plenty of action, turf wars, and more. Dark Ties is a shorter campaign, which will take around 15-20 hours to finish, which is a welcome addition when Kiwami 3 takes around 60-70 hours.
Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties is a much-needed remake in the Yakuza series, offering the fans a boatload of new content and streamlining some of the most controversial sections of the original game. With the addition of richer visuals and the excellent Dark Ties expansions, and despite some overly aggressive cuts and mandatory pace-breaking side activities, the final result is definitely a game that the series' fans shouldn't miss.
Review in Italian | Read full review