Yakuza 3
Playtime 80.8 Hours
Let me preface this by saying I really enjoyed playing this game. However, I will be talking about all this game has to offer, and from there, you'll understand why I have so much criticism for this game.
If you know anything about this game, is that the combat is not nearly as fun to play as Yakuza 0, Kiwami or Kiwami 2. This is true. It's a downgrade, and you should avoid playing on Hard difficulty. I recommend Normal difficulty and learning moves at the Dojo. I only died twice in this game and that was because of some early-game cheese bosses.
The combat is not bad, it's just not nearly as good as the games you are more familiar with. You just get used to a pattern fairly quickly. Grab, throw, grab, combo. This will be your go-to combination for most of this game. Apart from that, learning the Tiger drop makes bosses much easier, though don't expect it to be much help when fighting street thugs.
That being said, the heat actions are probably my favorite throughout the series, and the method of unlocking them is a load of fun as well.
This is one of my favorite stories in the Yakuza series so far. It is my second favorite from 0, 1, 2 & 3, and has my favorite villain in the series. It's amazing how much you can go from thinking 'Oh this guys kind of cool' to 'Screw this guy' to 'Please, I don't want this man to die, I am begging you.' A lot of the characters in this game are fantastic. They are all interesting in their own ways and you really build a connection to them over the story. That being said, the game has a slow start.
Kazama Kiryu has tried to retire for the nth time, and he's running an Orphanage by the beach in Okinawa. While I didn't have a problem with this at first, it becomes a bit of a drag when dealing with non-Yakuza-related plot points that simply aren't as interesting. When this game focuses on Yakuza-related content, it thrives. When it is focusing on the kids Kazama is looking after, it's boring. Another slight criticism I have is that Majima isn't in this one as much as the previous 3, but I am biased on this because he is one of my favorite characters.
The music is also stellar. While I'm not a fan of the battle music of this game, The track that takes place in the hospital and the roof's hospital has made it become one of my favorite moments in the series.
Outside of combat, there is a total of 119 side stories. Instead of Sotenbori, you get to explore Ryukyu in Okinawa. The map is much smaller but still has plenty to do. The sub-stories aren't much different to the standard ones seeing in the previous games. Mostly fun & whacky adventures. However, there are a few character-heavy side-stories with cutscenes that are definitely worth playing because they add character development to these characters and you get more attached to them as well.
This game is filled with minigames, with most being awful. Fishing is fun once you understand how to play. Massage mode is low quality in terms of gameplay. Golf & Baseball are not fun to play. Darts is one of the most frustrating minigames to play and Pool is one of the hardest minigames I have ever played in a game. The CPUs for these two games are some of the strongest & most broken CPUs I have ever played against, and what makes it worse is the absolute abysmal aiming system for these 2 minigames!
Karaoke, while the tracks are not as good as the previous games, is fun in the same way the previous games are. There's a fun enough shooting game in the Arcade I enjoyed playing (even if it was simple). The Claw Machine Bowling's physics are stupid & broken, the variations of Poker play like any other, I never got a good grasp of cee-lo, cho-han, koi-koi, oicho-kabu, and Mahjong. I do enjoy Shogi and I had fun playing that.
The Coliseum is another big side event, made a lot easier by spamming Tiger Drop. It's a grind certainly, but it's not nearly as hard as the Ultimate Match mode, which has varying levels of combat-related challenges.
The hostess stuff is not nearly as interesting as the Cabaret clubs as well. It is not interesting and a complete grind to go through to 100%. The minigame is the most boring thing to play and shouldn’t have been made in the first place. I also really dislike the Hostess side-quests. I do not consider any of this to be canon, purely because this is not how Kazama Kiryu has ever acted in any of the previous games.
While most of these minigames are very bad, they are not mandatory and can be ignored. However, as someone going for 100%, this is an awful experience.
The game is filled with a brilliant story with lukewarm combat. I enjoyed a lot of the substories but hated the large majority of the Minigames. It really is gutting that this game didn't get the Kiwami treatment, because it really would have made it shine. It definitely wouldn't be considered the worst in the franchise. The majority of my time hasn't been completing all the minigames yet as I still have to finish every substory and I enjoy that.
However, then there are achievements like 'Break Ace' which is to pot the nine ball on the first shot that literally took hours to complete.
If you are a fan of this series, I really recommend playing through the main story. Easy might be the best experience so you don't suffer through 'Blockuza', but for the love of all things holy, do not try and 100% this game! Anyone that does or is trying is absolutely crazy. In order to have the best experience in ‘Legend’ difficulty, you need to change your framerate from 60fps to 30fps to prevent people from instantly blocking all of your attacks. Don’t go through the same experience I did!
