I have been pretty giddy to play Yakuza 3 since the remastered collection was released, I even made sure to pre-order it. The quality of the story and gameplay of Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza Kiwami 2 were fantastic and hoped that Yakuza 3 would be the same. This was my first time playing Yakuza 3 so curious to see how the story of Kiryu Kazama would progress.
I love eating a tasty sausage (easy now), there are so many varieties and you can rarely go to wrong unless you go for the super cheap ones. I fancied sausages and mash the other day, so picked up some Tesco Finest Pork Sausages. Now they weren't bad but nowhere near the same quality, I had got used to with O'Flynn's Gourmet Sausages. Now maybe O'Flynn's had simply spoiled me with the taste and flavours of their sausages or maybe Tesco Finest Sausages weren't as good. Playing Yakuza 3 Remastered I found myself asking, what kind of sausages was I eating?
The direction of the story is very different from the previous ones in the series. One side of the story sees Kiryu Kazama in Okinawa running an Orphanage, Morning Glory, with his adopted daughter Haruka. It is so sweet watching them take care of the orphans cooking, keeping house, dealing with childhood problems and different prejudices. The other side sees a change in the Tojo Clan and being on the brink of war and a sinister force at work which is far beginner than before. Kiryu is forced back into the troubles of the Tojo Clan while also trying to keep Morning Glory and its orphans safe. This time though can Kiryu really do it all or will it all come crashing down?
While there are many great elements to the game my favourite was those focused on Morning Glory, see Kiryu in a more fatherly light was really nice. There was a level of simplicity about it that was hard not to love. The Tojo Clan storyline was good but lacked a certain something and did draw me in like the other games stories had. The substories were a little shakey, where there were ones I enjoyed they did not seem as fun as the others, Okinawa substories were great for the most part but those in Kamurocho just did not have the same appeal.
Overall the stories lines were not bad but in some ways, I wish they had created a shorter game than just focused on Okinawa and the Morning Glory Orphanage rather than trying to cram so many things into it.
Visuals
The visuals....mmmm.....I.....hmmm. Getting to enjoy a new area was great and felt fresh and fun. However, the visuals were nowhere as good as they could or should have been. Obviously, there was serious remake/remaster of the first two games as they were on the PlayStation 2 and would have looked really poor if they had not. That being said I feel Sega really dropped the ball with Yakuza 3. The visuals look like an early PlayStation 3 game and while side by side comparisons of the original versus the show improvements they just are not enough. Honestly, perhaps they rushed the release due to working on Judgement and being concerned some would be released on the PlayStation 5 and would fail without serious work.
I hate to bash on a game's visuals but it hard to ignore them, perhaps I was just spoiled by the others but consistency is key and Yakuza 3 is certainly lacking that element.
Music
Thinking back on all the Yakuza games I have played so far there is a distinctly Sega sound to it. There are these fun tracks combined, guitar riff infused tracks along with epic battle tracks. Many of the sounds of Sega are created by Japanese composer Hidenori Shoji. He is a rich body of work including not only the Yakuza Series but also; Sega Tour Car Championship, Project X Zone 2 (and when 3 is released might be the only reason I buy a Nintendo Switch), and Sonic All-Star Racing to name but a few.
As always there are number of great tracks even though it feels like one of the shortest soundtracks to date. Some standout tracks for me were; 'Fly', 'Howl Of The Dragon', 'Urgency', 'Pure Malice', 'Lyricism Without Tears' and 'Fish On'.
Overall it is a fairly solid soundtrack and while it is not my favourite one of the series it did not make it any less enjoyable.
Gameplay
As always in Yakuza games there is a lot to discuss in terms of gameplay, let's start with the big one, combat. The fighting element is fun and will feel familiar to those how have played the others in the series. There are a couple gripes I had, firstly fighting does not feel as robust as the other remastered Yakuza games, and the levelling up system. The more you fight, complete mini-games and sub-stories the more experience points you can gain. That makes sense, what does not make sense is that often you have to pick between upgrading between two abilities, for example, you can increase your health or improve the damage you do when throwing an enemy. This way of levelling up made no sense to me and is something that was unnecessary to incorporate into the game. On the plus side, there is a new way you can acquire fighting abilities, one of these by capturing people having crazy things happen to them and then blogging about it.
There is a host of mini-games including; fishing, mahjong, massage (you read that right), running, and a number of others. Then, of course, there are the classic substories, they are usually quite quick to complete and pulls you away from big responsibilities and just helping people in their day to day life, from the simple to the bizarre.
Hostesses Bar. This is an element I have really enjoyed in the series I love managing the clubs, the fun stories of the hostess and the competition in other clubs. Sadly, this was missing this time around. Instead, you get to visit hostess bars and try to win over the hostesses. That part to me seems a little bizarre, you pay a lot to be there, you are kind of expected to give gifts and to answers their questions the way they want. Now it could be just me but if you are paying to be there with them surely they should just go along with whatever you like or are into (unless it is demeaning or all-out rude). Instead, you are pretty much courting them with no guarantees they will like what you say or do. So why would you not either go to an escort or try to get with a real girl especially considering the effort you have to put in with a hostess. I am not sure if this was put in because this is how it actually works in Japan or if Sega just wanted to go in a different direction, in either case, it was not for me.
Overall the gameplay isn't bad but certainly has some shortcomings, while of course, I understand the need to change things up but as the old adage goes, if it ain't broke why try to fix it?
Final Thoughts
So, after nearly thirty hours how did I feel? A bit underwhelmed. The story had some great elements in it but felt like they tried to cram in too much. The visuals were a huge downside and hope that Yakuza 4 and 5 look a lot better. The music was reliable as always and while it was not my favourite to date in certainly is not bad. The gameplay was a little hit and miss, risks were taken that did not pay off and the combat was a little weak by comparison of the other games in the series. Overall this one slides in with a 3 out of 5
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