yakuza 3 - 9/10
father of the year simulator that filters the weak
please note: this is a game i have reviewed multiple times! the prior versions of this review will be included below. enjoy!
this is the third review that i'm giving to this game, the third time that i've logged it on this site, and probably, what, like the sixth time playing it through, in totality? here goes nothing, i'll try my damndest to compose my thoughts.
this game's combat is the perfect evolution from the prior two games. where you started yakuza 1 definitely clunky and oddly vulnerable and weak and clawed your way up, yakuza 2 begins with you having nigh all of the upgrades to make kiryu more nimble from the prior game. yakuza 3 similarly continues this trend, and it makes kiryu feel like a brick shithouse from the word go. it is a dream to smack the shit out of people, especially with the most maneuverability and options to do so thus far. most of the fun combos i got up to in this game at the start were quite literally direct translations of my strategies in yakuza 2, but i eventually pivoted to another thing - wallbounces. holy shit. i know that these are far more busted in a later entry (how i love your stupidity, yakuza 5) but they are most assuredly no slouch here. beat an enemy into a wall, see their stupid wile e coyote ass slam into it, and beat the shit out of them.
furthermore, i feel like weapons feel so much more well-integrated this time. people complain about this game being "blockuza" - you ever wondered why there's a whole-ass guy who gets heavily telegraphed to you who teaches you weapon techniques? them shits tear through guards like no problem! beat the shit out of some dudes with kali sticks, or a big-ass pole, or whatever you'd like! of course, the random on-street props to use as impromptu weapons return, complete with a whole new suite of heat actions to find. i didn't feel discouraged by the enemies being so block-heavy when i knew that it was a chance to try out fun toys and break their guards, knees, and spirits all in one go. i feel like my favorite setpiece in the game for this is probably the kanda hotel chase, i really super love the whole vibe of that section.
favorite overall gameplay bit though? that damn mine fight. FUUUHUUCK. fighting that fucker made me remember why i fell in love with this game all over again, the culmination of a game's worth of twists and turns. that moveset, the ability to quick-switch styles on you, to mix you up - there's a reason why they've ripped the dude's moveset off for like, three different bosses in the judgment series alone, man, it kicks ass. it's such an electric fight, even having what i think is the first thing you can truly classify as a dynamic intro in the series, and it's a damn stunning one at that. that jumping pose is iconic. mine, himself, is iconic! i truly love his character, how he's this seemingly ruthless business type, but has this diehard affection for daigo, this overwhelming need to be seen and loved by him, tripping over himself to do right for him, to idolise him, ultimately resulting in everything at the hospital, and his final sacrifice which i still hold to be the hardest yakuza death to date. he straight piledrivered that fucker off of the goddamn millennium tower, man, that shit rocks.
that is pertinent to something, though; a lot more of the camp is injected into yakuza 3. whether it be that shot of kanda emerging and swimming behind kiryu like a hippo, the relationship between kiryu and rikiya when they're just milling around kamurocho, or them literally having the antagonist destroy an orphanage and slap a child because he's just such a heartless bastard, i fucking love it all. not only is it camp and entertaining, but it's deeply crucial to the character of not only kiryu, but the series itself, i would argue. these games would kinda have nothing for kiryu to do after this if it wasn't for the orphanage, and it certainly wouldn't have the same kind of drive for him to continue on trying to do good by them. yakuza 3 very valiantly adds a whole lot of stuff to the series, whilst honing its craft from the prior two entries' groundwork. want more of the character drama from yakuza 1? the orphanage is here, with elaborate slice-of-life little complications for kiryu and his kids to muddle through. want more of the crime drama from yakuza 2? this game's got that in spades, turned all the way up to 11 - the camp is even more present here. the whole thing with black monday and andre richardson might be seen to some as yakuza going far too international with its plot (at least before they thought it was cool), but i think that it's the perfect cap-off to this little trilogy of beginnings. hell, haruka is more important here than she ever was in yakuza 2, as well, it's wonderful for returning fans to see her get further development, and rather nice on its own merits as it lends the game a fair wealth of saccharin-sweet lovely moments between her and kiryu early on, with her presence lending additional stakes to later events as the game proceeds.
speaking of the kids, kiryu is such a wonderful father figure(/uncle kaz) to all of the children. the little glance around the table when he sits down to eat curry after helping eri on the beach, with a warm smile on his face, the camera positioned on the right side of the table so he faces us, the audience with that true blissful joy about him, enjoying his life as a civilian - oh, it's perfect. it grounds kiryu thoroughly in this placid, tranquil role as a parent, and despite his children having problems and qualms, his experience through life navigating these obstacles can shine through and he can help them, and in turn he feels as though he can atone for what he later describes to nakahara as "finding ways to make people's lives worse" when he was a yakuza. this is a strong theme with this game, this idea of repenting and atoning for earlier sins with helping in the present; off the top of my head, there's this, nakahara, kashiwagi's hla, joji being there for kiryu and aiding him, and to contrast, things like mine cutting ties and becoming more callous with kanda and eventually even daigo, and hamazaki throwing kiryu's wish for his redemption back in his face. the theming with this game, as with the best yakuza plots, is laid thick and heavily throughout.
and even when he shifts to kamurocho, and the more violence that approaches him... he never really loses that cool. he never shifts into yakuza 6 mode kiryu, where he just sort of indiscriminately is upset and impatient at virtually everything no matter what. no, he's this sort of chill, wise guy who will try to have a conversation with you before he locks fists with you; if you have a compelling reason for why you're fighting, he'll happily hear you out, he'll not curse you out, he'll try to understand, because he actively does not want to cause any more hurt unless it is absolutely required of him. he is only set into action by the shooting of daigo, and the appearance of a man who appears similar to his father that he saw die in his arms - both of these things are emotional sore points to him already, as even in this game he is clearly showing that yakuza 2 brought with it a strong relationship between him and daigo, and obviously that moment in yakuza 1 is yet another fueling of the raging inferno that is kiryu's internal survivor's guilt. and yet, none of that ever makes him snippy or rude to anybody, he just wants answers and to help people who he genuinely believes can be better. and that's the kiryu i love, man! his code of honor in the yakuza was that strength mattered above all, and now that he's a civilian, he has no need to adhere to that; ergo, he wishes to use his own strength to help the misguided, help the weak, help those that need it. this is why he extends an olive branch out to hamazaki, which has dire consequences. this sequence itself is an illustration, a dire display of how kiryu's civilian life cannot be. no matter what, despite him just wanting to help, despite him just wanting good things for good people, the yakuza life will always catch back up with him, some bad actor or other will always appear to take advantage of him or outright attempt to kill him, and that's a consistent melancholy that will hang over the rest of this series going forward.
that's another wonderful thing about yakuza 3. just as it neatly wraps up a trilogy, it feels like a breath of fresh air; we've established a great many new details about the world, hopped up a generation of console, and had our grandest plot yet! it feels just as much like a conclusion as it does an evolution, a celebration of both past and future. you may even say it's an attempt to make good on the past, and promising a better future.
yakuza 3 is a beautiful game. i think i may still currently prefer yakuza 2, but it's honestly so close as to be a matter of which way the wind's blowing and which side of the bed i woke up on. even a Loser like me can see that it's pretty Fly.
i'll see myself out.
playing this game again... yeah, no, sorry, if you can't get along with the orphanage section of this game, you actually just fundamentally do not understand what kiryu's character arc or plot is supposed to be in this game, inherently. that and i suppose you must just have an incredibly short attention span that must be satiated with non-stop pulse-pounding action at all times, as opposed to having a focus on one of the key selling points that this franchise has always boasted; a glamorous recreation of the locales it features, and the ability to live vicariously through whoever you may play as in order to explore and live there.
the average citizen is not going to want to get embroiled in yakuza plots at the drop of a hat, and he will attempt to help and protect his children, either from the plot or from menial tasks that get in their way as developing human beings. kiryu is attempting to live that life. if you do not comprehend this and the reasons that it needs to exist for gameplay and story reasons alike, then you do not understand the story and i don't wish to talk to you.
mogs yakuza 6 for representing the actual kazuma kiryu in a plot that matters worth a damn and is felt through the series. easy pickings.
i won't even comment on blockuza 3 accusations seeing as if you haven't attempted to experiment by pressing the quickstep button twice, you likely won't start now.
this game gets way, way too much hate for it's combat. and i just don't know how it happens; does nobody use the lock-on and just... dodge behind somebody when they're blocking and hit their back? i genuinely have never ran into the blockuza 3 shit in any capacity that wasn't immediately solvable. i do not get it.
i also really like this story! the slice-of-life orphanage stuff with the kids is a little slow on repeat playthoughs, but i feel as though it serves as the perfect contrast to when the plot does hit full steam and shit starts flying - personally, i love it, and i do like getting to see that kiryu has seemingly settled down, and just wants to raise these children, but the ever-unsettled kamurocho pulls him back in yet again, and despite this, he warmly smiles as he enters the place, happy to be there. i just love it. i love this dad kiryu who cracks shitty jokes to his kids in some dialogues, and can still kick ass. that's just the first four chapters, too - there's even more to be enjoyed later, complete with that yakuza wacky bullshit yet still deathly serious tone.
slept on, frankly. i adore this game, warts and all.