Kazuma Kiryu: the world’s dad.
Friends, I’m ready to be Kazuma Kiryu again. I admit it: I kind of smoked the whole pack on Yakuzas 0 through Kiwami 2, playing them almost back-to-back and in such quick succession that, when I booted up the remaster of Yakuza 3, it felt like gazing at the single remaining profiterole on the plate after a bacchanal of candies and chocolates. I couldn’t do it. My Yakuza journey ground to a halt.
From the hands-on time I’ve had with Kiwami 3, it’s a remake that doesn’t reinvent the original, but—like the two Kiwamis before it—polishes it to a shine, bolts on some fantastic new nonsense in substories and activities, and acts as a glitzy refresh for a generation that, perhaps, didn’t get to it back in 2009. Meanwhile, Dark Ties—a bonus Gaiden game releasing with Kiwami 3 that has you play Yakuza 3 villain Yoshitaka Mine—acts as the wholly new red meat to draw in those of you who already know Okinawa like the back of your hand.
But don’t let me undersell it: Kiwami 3 looks absolutely gorgeous and plays wonderfully. It just, you know, does those things much in the same way Kiwami 2 did. It’s still a pleasure to charge about Okinawa dispensing righteous violence to anyone who looks at you askance, the series’ trademark mix of high drama and screwball comedy still hits just right, and having it all remade in the Dragon Engine, glistening and golden? I’m more than happy to take it. I think I’m finally gonna beat Yakuza 3.Orphanised crime
My demo consisted almost exclusively of running around Okinawa as Kiryu, but let me quickly get you up to speed on the plot anyhow. Having gone through quite a bit in the previous three (chronologically) Yakuza games, hardened organised criminal Kazuma Kiryu has settled down to run an orphanage, which is what Al Capone would have done had cruel fortune not struck him with syphilis and tax evasion charges.
Shadowy fellas want to tear down Kiryu’s bucolic child ranch and, hey presto, off Kiryu goes to put an end to that.
And off I go, in my demo, to Okinawa, which looks gorgeous. I’m still stunned by how great these games look, with their lush pallets and detail-stuffed worlds, and Kiwami 3 is no different. It was four minutes and 48 seconds into my demo that someone tore off their shirt to reveal a lavish yakuza tattoo on their back, and I could have looked at it for hours.
But a man tearing his shirt off means one thing—combat, and it’s here that Kiwami 3 reveals its first addition to its Yakuza 3 framework: Kiryu has two combat styles.
