Preview: It’s Mine’s Time to Shine in Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties

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You never forget your first.

For many players, Yakuza 3 was their first experience with the Ryu ga Gotoku series.

This is mainly because, in Western regions, it was the initial game in the series to be launched on Sony’s then-new console, the PS3.

Some content was unexpectedly cut from the 2010 version, such as the hostess club minigame. SEGA explained this was due to limited development time and a lack of faith in the game’s potential, which, it’s worth noting, appealed to a very small audience at the time.

The 2019 PlayStation 4 remaster brought back all the activities that were missing, and now Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties is looking to build on that experience with a brand-new expansion. This will expand the adventure in exciting new ways.

We had a chance to try out about 20 minutes of the new Dark Ties add-on at the Tokyo Game Show, and it’s tough to really say how helpful a short preview like this is for a game like this one.

Breaking news: this game feels and functions much like a Yakuza title, even though it’s built using the franchise’s newer game engine.

Playing the original Yakuza 3 today really shows its age, so rebuilding it with the Dragon Engine is a great foundation – although it has unfortunately led to some debated choices regarding the voice cast.

Let’s start with Dark Ties: what exactly is it? It’s a complete side story that shows how Yoshitaka Mine became the main villain in Yakuza 3.

In the game’s story, we meet a well-dressed businessman going through a mid-life crisis. He’s become strangely fixated on Daigo Dojima, a powerful member of the Tojo Clan.

In short, he chooses to partner with Tsuyoshi Kanda, a former convict, and the game begins as the somewhat overweight and lecherous character arrives in Kamurocho, eager to enjoy the area’s entertainment districts.

Kanda is broke, and when he sees an attractive woman walking through the red-light district, he makes a rather unpleasant decision to pull her into an alley. Mine steps in, and we get a glimpse of his brooding and intense fighting style.

During our quick hands-on, we noticed two important things about how the character plays: pressing and holding the attack button lets him leap onto an enemy’s chest, using them as a launchpad for powerful attacks from the air.

As Kiryu fights, he also develops his Dark Awakening abilities. These let him “unshackle” three hearts from his health bar, essentially activating an overdrive mode. Yakuza 3 is set in 2009, so it’s likely Mine was listening to bands like Taking Back Sunday around that time. It adds a nice touch of realism to the story.

The demo let us try out other fun side activities in Dark Ties, like singing karaoke and taking pictures in the Club SEGA arcade. (Interestingly, Atlus actually *used* to create these kinds of games! Yes, the Atlus!)

So, that pretty much wrapped up our Dark Ties demo – it felt promising and should help develop the characters in Yakuza 3 really well.

By the way, we also had a quick chance to visit Okinawa and play through the main story campaign.

If you’re familiar with the original game, you might remember spending the first few hours helping Kazuma Kiryu manage his Sunshine Orphanage by the ocean. We liked it when it first came out, but looking back, it probably took a little too long to get going.

We don’t anticipate SEGA making significant changes to the original game, but they’re likely counting on Kiryu’s new Ryukyu Style combat stance to introduce some welcome variation to the gameplay.

I only got to check out the tutorial so far, but it looks like Kiryu can use a bunch of different weapons, and they’re all based on the history of Okinawa. It’s really cool to see that cultural influence in the combat! Seriously, the variety is awesome.

The game is enjoyable, and the fighting is much improved thanks to the roughly 15 years of development SEGA has had to build upon the original Yakuza 3.

Okay, so if you’re like me and really loved the PS3 version, you might not be thrilled with some of the character redesigns. I noticed it especially with Rikiya. They based his new model on voice actor Sho Kasamatsu, which is cool, but it kinda lost that whole innocent, youthful look his original design had. It just doesn’t feel as naïve as I remember.

To be honest, we don’t worry too much about small details. We’ve played so many of the Yakuza games since the third one that the specifics are a bit fuzzy. But your experience might be different.

We’d be quite surprised if SEGA doesn’t deliver with this one. Based on our hands-on time, it appears to be a very strong reimagining of a particularly memorable game in the series. It seems like a solid return to form.

These days, the franchise isn’t full of surprises – except for the really good RPG games, of course – but it consistently delivers a solid experience. Plus, with the Dark Ties expansion included, you’re getting a lot of value for your money.

Have you played the original Yakuza 3 on the PlayStation 3? Or was your first time with the story on the PlayStation 4? Are you planning to play this Yakuza Kiwami 3 remake? What are you most looking forward to experiencing in it? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

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2025-09-30 02:08