Yakuza Kiwami 3 was meant to properly remake the 3rd entry of the beloved Yakuza series, however they only re-broke it by making things worse for everyone. There also seems to be drama in the Steam reviews suggesting there is something more nefarious at play involving a sexual scandal, but leaving that aside we will focus on core issues pertaining to the game itself and what it gives to players who were looking for an experience that feels loyal and stays true to what the original entry truly was. Unfortunately, let’s say you are better of playing the original game instead of this watered down version.
Yakuza Kiwami 3 cuts content
Not only did they cast a sexual abuser as an actor who actually confessed his crimes, Teruyuki Kagawa, but they have also removed ton of things from the game that gave it personality and even special plot lines. It seems that today’s line of remakes tends to focus on cutting down stuff instead of restoring it, the re imagining part is mostly seeing how much they can remove without people noticing. This is why I always urge everyone to play the original games, because you are essentially playing sub par versions each time you buy a modern remake.
Yakuza Kiwami 3 feels like watching a cut down action flick where the directors decided the best thing to do was remove all of the good parts while adding a ton of unnecessary things that don’t mesh well with the style. It truly is futile to thread on something that while it wasn’t perfect, it was way better than whatever we got right now. There’s also frequent crashes and performance issues, and a clear sense that this project was rushed to completion so they could finally pull the plug in the Kiwami series. While Yakuza Kiwami 3 was the last of the remakes, hopefully we can see something new and good in the future.
