As featured in the March Issue of Mage Magazine, Jordan reviews Yakuza Kiwami 3, the third title in the Yakuza series from RGG Studio.

The Switch 2 launch year has been a good opportunity to re-familiarize myself with the Yakuza series, games that have always been enjoyable to me even if I didn’t always see them through. The middle entries, namely Yakuza 3 through 5, are a bit of a blind spot for me; I’ve really only dabbled with them as limited time offerings on PlayStation Plus.

Kiwami 3 caught my attention not only for the chance to finally finish the third game for the first time but also because of the bundled-in side game, Dark Ties, which follows the exploits of the central antagonist for Yakuza 3. I had the chance to focus my attention on Dark Ties in the Yakuza Kiwami 3 review for Nintendo World Report, but now I want to hone in on Kiwami 3 specifically, which charmed me with its simplicity, conciseness, and sunny new setting.

Not to dwell too much on the narrative, which is an element that doesn’t always hold much of a draw for me with this series, but a major plot thread is Kiryu retiring from the Yakuza to care for the children residing at an orphanage in Okinawa. When the orphanage’s land is threatened by a new development, Uncle Kaz leaps into action.The beach-y keen Downtown Ryukyu serves as a wonderful foil to the familiar urbanity of Kamurocho; it’s fun to see folks walking around in Hawaiian shirts and casualwear instead of formal suits and skirts. Ryukyu is much smaller than Kamurocho, but it was a nice change of pace to be able to sprint across town in seconds instead of minutes.

I couldn’t get into the new weapon-based fighting style that’s introduced when Kiryu leaves Tokyo, but I found myself in a Pokemon-inspired trance trying to collect all of the LaLaLa Friends by exchanging phone numbers.

Even the bounty hunting mini-game, where tough opponents wait on street corners for your challenge, enticed me with its major cash rewards. I did enjoy the early biker brigade brawls due to the sheer number of participants, but eventually I fizzled out on them.

There was so much to do at the Morning Glory Orphanage that I could see myself losing dozens of hours to doting on the children and tending the grounds, but for this playthrough I largely skipped these activities. Once again, Yakuza Kiwami 3 has managed to offer something for everyone in terms of its optional content, which has always been a point of pride and a strength for the series. Kiryu might not choose his own grueling, fisticuff-filled adventure, but you certainly do.

Given the largely excellent performance of the Switch 2 releases of Yakuza 0 through Kiwami 3, I’ve really been glad to be able to play these games both on TV when possible and portably when my kids want to watch YouTube or Netflix. The steady stream of ports and day-and-date releases has me hopeful that at the end of the day, we’ll see every game in the franchise, including the Judgement duology, come to Nintendo’s latest platform. With Studio RGG announcing Kiwami 3 as the last remake, I am curious what the future holds specifically for Yakuza 4 through 6 in terms of a Switch 2 release.

I can’t speak to whether the remake is worth another go around if you played the original, but given how much content there is to experience, including the very worthwhile Dark Ties expansion prequel, I’m definitely recommending the whole Yakuza Kiwami 3 package for fans of the series. When there’s no shortage of old and new games to discover and rediscover, this veteran gamer tends to really appreciate a streamlined adventure with lots of optional content. And I can usually find a solid 20 hours to smash a bicycle on some gangster’s face, sock a few dingers, or catch up on classic Sega arcade games.

Review Score