ANALYSIS
TITLE: Yakuza 3 Remastered
AUTHOR: Daniel Villagrasa
RELEASE DATE: 01/28/2021
DEVELOPER: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio
PUBLISHED BY: SEGA
GENDER: Beat em up
GAME DESCRIPTION
A year after the Kanto-Kansai war, Kazuma Kiryu and Haruka Sawamura have left the dangerous streets of Kamurocho behind and are in charge of the Morning Glory orphanage on the island of Okinawa. Despite his efforts, Kiryu’s dark past threatens to involve the orphanage in a deadly power struggle between the Tojo clan and the political world.
Yakuza 3 is a complicated game for many reasons. In its initial context, it meant continuing in some way the story that established Kiryu as the main character of the saga and that after the shocking end of Yakuza 2 he saw more than ever that the witness had to pass. In our case and in that of the thousands of players who have landed in the saga thanks to Yakuza 0 and the Kiwami, Yakuza 3 implies returning to a 2009 game. Is it worth doing? We tell you about it in our analysis of Yakuza 3 Remastered for Xbox One.
Yakuza 3 Remastered is not a remake like the Kiwami, but we are facing an adaptation of the original game at a 1080p HD resolution (regardless of whether you play in One or Series X | S) and 60 fps. The first obstacle that we will find will be its graphic section and that is that I will not deny that returning to a 2009 game at this point (despite the improvement in image quality) is somewhat heavy. In addition, this game will be the one you are going to play after Yakuza Kiwami 2, which has the Dragon Engine and graphics at the level of what we expect from a AAA game.
The engine used by Yakuza 3 is not the one in Yakuza 0 and the seams are noticeable everywhere but if we manage to adapt in its first hours we will not have more problems.
The other Kiryu
Until now, the saga had revolved around Kiryu and the Yakuza. Yakuza 3 takes many risks and dares to completely change the foundations of the saga for most of the story and it is something that the fans never came to forgive. Yes, today we have to consider Yakuza 3 as a necessary game, but if you have loved the saga until now, Yakuza 3 can make you change your mind very quickly.
Make no mistake, Yakuza 3 is not a bad game, but it is a bad Yakuza game. The plot begins a year after a war that almost ended with Kamurocho in which the Omi Alliance and the Tojo Clan fought with everything with Kazuma Kiryu running the Morning Glory orphanage with his goddaughter Haruka.
Kiryu goes from being fully involved in a power struggle between the most powerful and terrifying mafias in Japan to taking care of orphaned children on the shore of a beach. And yes, Yakuza 3 is expressly like that, it is a game that seeks to tell the player that Kiryu is fed up, that he has been through a lot and that now what he wants is to take care of orphaned children like him. He has already lost many companions and with the decisions, he made in Yakuza 2 he left the fate of the Tojo Clan in good hands.
Much of the main plot of Yakuza 3 will be focused on meeting new characters related in one way or another to the Morning Glory orphanage, located on the island of Okinawa and solving the problems that children have. We will also have problems and we must defend them, but yes, we must recognize that Yakuza 3 is a Bajona tremendous in that regard.
Of course, then a certain event turns the tables and forces Kiryu to put away the colored shirt and put the suit back on, that’s when Yakuza 3 shines again and leaves us epic moments, but maybe it’s a bit late.
A huge step back in gameplay
The Yakuza Kiwami 2 gameplay has very few drawbacks, in fact, the 3 Yakuza that were available so far on Xbox had the most worked gameplay of the saga, but of course, as I mentioned before, going back technically also implies in what playable. Yakuza 3 Remastered has not touched up the original gameplay and the truth is that I would have appreciated it.
We are facing a Beat em Up, so if you come from Yakuza: Like a Dragon, you are going to enjoy the typical gameplay of the saga, but the truth is that the movements feel rough and the most important fights do not help either. There are too many “tank” enemies that will block each and every one of our attacks and it will be infuriating to defeat them.
On the other hand, the improvement of abilities and characteristics of Kiryu is quite crude (although less confusing than in Yakuza 0) and we do not have as many movements and combinations as in Yakuza 0 and the remakes of 1 and 2. So yes, the fighting in Yakuza 3 they are not as fluid and entertaining as in the installments that we had until now on Xbox.
Even so, do not worry, although the plot is much looser than what we are used to and the gameplay is rough, the content of Yakuza 3 Remastered is typical of Yakuza: a multitude of fun secondary (special mention to Kiryu practicing English), minigames everywhere, strange ways to learn skills… The fact is that we are facing a Yakuza with all the letters in that aspect. And yes, we can also fish.
A fair remaster
It is quite peculiar, but one always thinks that older games are the ones that would benefit the most from a remaster, but the reality is that improving only resolution and performance in a 2009 game makes us see the seams present in their day in a way clearest.
It does not matter if you play it on Xbox One or Xbox Series X | S, since the game does not have specific improvements, not even on Xbox One X, so we will be limited to 1080p and 60 fps. The only improvement you can find on Xbox Series X | S is the reduced loading times, which are already quite fast on Xbox One.
Unfortunately Yakuza 3 Remastered comes to us, like Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza Kiwami 2, in full English with Japanese voices. If I hadn’t bothered you too much before, then neither should I. A pity, since Yakuza: Like a Dragon, we can enjoy it in our language.
Analysis of Yakuza 3 Remastered for Xbox One
Yakuza 3 Remastered is the worst game of the Yakuza saga, consequently also of The Yakuza Remastered Collection that has just arrived on Xbox Game Pass. That does not mean that it is a bad game, be careful, but it is a very peculiar title and that it can lose players along the way.
In Yakuza 3 we find a different Kazuma Kiryu that is not so entertaining, but it does serve to develop the character and lays the foundations for many things to come. Kiryu knows that the life of Yakuza will not end well and wants to separate, grow his family and be an ordinary person, unfortunately, we all know that those stories never end well.
THE GOOD
+ Being able to follow the journey of the Dragon of Dojima on Xbox
+ A very daring game
+ Deepening the characters of Kiryu and Haruka
THE BAD
– Game slow and tedious in some moments
– Accustomed to the previous Yakuza it can get very boring
– The gameplay is quite unfair due to the types of enemies
– A remaster that is limited to improving image quality and performance