One review, as written by Steam user JigenDaisuke, has called the release “creatively bankrupt” due to the retcons that were made to the story of Yakuza 3. “The retcons made to the story of RGG3 with Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties are absolute abominations and an insult to the original game, the entire Kiryu saga, and any fan with even an ounce of critical sense,” they wrote. “Not to mention all the content removed in favour of reused minigames from other more recent entries (a Kiwami classic) and the recasting (another Kiwami classic).”

Another user, jack, has called out the studio for having cast Teruyuki Kagawa in the role of Goh Hamazaki, since the actor has been accused of sexual misconduct, while also criticizing the studio for having made too many changes to the story. “Sexual assault allegations from one of the cast members,” they wrote. “Changing too much stuff from the original and leaving too much out. Rushed and unpolished, frequent crashes on my system. IDK how to feel about this, but it’s not great.”

On the other hand, there are also quite a few positive reviews. As noted by Steam user Slifer Slacker, Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties is “a mixed bag of good and bad, not gonna lie. [sic]”

“Story-wise is divisive, I have no qualms with it,” they wrote. “It definitely took a hit with the way it’s promoted; it won’t get much flak if it were advertised as the start of a new timeline. If not, the tweaks cause a lot of problems for the next games, especially 4.90% definitely was an improvement except the epilogue, which causes lots of problems since it’s different from the OG.”

Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties was released across PC, PS5 , Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, just last week. As its name might imply, it is a remake of 2009’s Yakuza 3, bringing up to modern standards through the Dragon Engine, which was first used for Yakuza 6: Song of Life. Along with a retelling of the base story, it also features Dark Ties, which gives us a deeper look into the motivations of Yoshitaka Mine.

Interestingly, executive producer at RGG Studio Masayoshi Yokoyama has said that we won’t see any more Yakuza games with the Kiwami titles moving forward. While it doesn’t mean that we won’t see remakes of older games like Yakuza 4 or 5 down the line, he has said that they will no longer fall under the Kiwami label. This is because the studio is taking a new approach with the overarching lore of Yakuza.

“Some of the games we’re working on have already been announced, but including the ones we’ll be making going forward, I think Yakuza Kiwami 3 will be the last one, and the Kiwami line will come to an end,” said Yokoyama last week. “I don’t think it’ll continue as the Kiwami series anymore. I think a different series will begin.”

For more on Yakuza 3 and Dark Ties, check out our review.

This guide for Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties is all about grinding for Training Points quickly and efficiently.

Miyazato Training Place

Hundreds of Training Points are waiting to be earned from a huge selection of challenges in the Training List. This is accessed at the Miyazato training place.

This training place has multiple tiers to rank up through, and unlocks hundreds of challenges with their associated Training Point rewards clearly mentioned right alongside.

Eventually, successive Promotion Exams become accessible, as well as more opportunities to Practice, earn, and spend Training Points on new Abilities for Kiryu to use in combat.

That is everything there is to know about earning Training Points in Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties.

This guide for Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties is all about grinding for money as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Antique Plate Trading

Plates abound in Yakuza, and you can find them in containers or earn them as rewards. There are also the Forbidden Plate and Forbidden Plate Kiwami to be found in the Morning Glory General Store.

Whatever your source, just take your wares over to the Pawn Shop to exchange them for all the yen you could ever spend.

Bounty Hunting

With up to 6-figure sums as rewards, these bounty hunting hit jobs might just be worth your time once you have the skill to undertake them. Difficulty plays a big part with some of the targets, but the cash rewards are commensurate with it.

Despite starting out fairly low in terms of awarded yen, Reapers are also one of the earliest methods to build up wealth in the game, and there are almost three dozen targets to hunt down.

Coliseum Battling

These multiple round fights revolve around completion speed to determine your ranking, and by extension, your payout as well. The faster you emerge victorious the better, but don’t stress out trying to achieve S-rank, as you can plainly see that the multiplier isn’t worth sweating over.

Hell’s Arena

The Dark Ties specific minigame known as Survival Hell is an opportunity to farm large amounts of yen, and does not necessarily have to be seen through to the end in order to keep your winnings.

Improving Mine’s skillset will naturally improve his survivability in this hellscape, and eventually you should be able to power through all the way.

Those are all the best ways to grind for yen as fast as possible in Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties.

Grand Theft Auto 6

Rockstar’s upcoming return to Vice City is easily the biggest open-world release on the horizon, and the perfect candidate to start off the list. Grand Theft Auto 6 promises a living, breathing world packed with dynamic NPC routines, reactive law enforcement, and an unprecedented level of environmental detail. The dual protagonists inspired by the adventures of Bonnie and Clyde look to be a promising storyline filled with several emotional moments. Of course, missions, side activities, and emergent mayhem are also important pillars of the experience – so we are definitely looking forward to this one.

“Some of the games we’re working on have already been announced, but including the ones we’ll be making going forward, I think Yakuza Kiwami 3 will be the last one, and the Kiwami line will come to an end,” said Yokoyama (as caught by Reddit user Dastanovich). “I don’t think it’ll continue as the Kiwami series anymore. I think a different series will begin.”

He went on to hint at a new approach to remaking some of the older games in the Yakuza series that would potentially bring them more in line with the current storyline of the franchise.

Spoilers for Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties, and Yakuza 6: A Song of Life below.

“And not something like Like a Dragon 9, but rather a new series on a different line, with a different meaning,” he said. “That might be something you’ll understand once you play Yakuza Kiwami 3. So with that in mind, I’m thinking about the future—about long-term planning, or where things are headed.”

In mentioning Yakuza Kiwami 3, Yokoyama is referring to the renewed presence of the Daidoji faction that shows up in the remake’s story. The faction only made its debut in Yakuza 6: A Song of Life, playing an important role in tying up its story and allowing Kiryu to essentially fake his death so that Haruka, her child and boyfriend, and the rest of the orphans at Morning Glory can go on to live their lives without being targeted for retribution.

The latest entry—Yakuza Kiwami 3—saw the involvement of the Daidoji faction with some changes made to the original story of Yakuza 3. This indicates that Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio might be looking to reimagine the storylines of the remaining Yakuza games before the story of Yakuza 6 kicks in to have the faction play a bigger role. The Daidoji also played a major role during the events of the most recent mainline entry in the series—Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.

Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties is slated for release today across PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2. The title offers a retelling of Yakuza 3’s story, as well as a brand new glimpse into the background of Yoshitaka Mine through Dark Ties. Along with modernized visuals and gameplay, it also brings in new side activities and mini-games, as well as a variety of new karaoke songs for both Kiryu and Mine.

For more details about Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties, check out our review, where we gave it a score of 8 out of 10 thanks to the modern combat systems and more fresh take on the city of Ryukyu, Okinawa.

I spent quite a bit of time on Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties on the PS5. That said, most of my time with Kiryu’s part of the game was largely spent exploring Okinawa, getting to grips with his new combat style, and partaking in several new side activities. With Dark Ties, I was more tempted to focus purely on the main story itself. It is worth noting that, while they are ostensibly part of the same package, Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties are both distinct games, each with their own save slots and progression independent of the other. In fact, I’d highly recommend you to finish a playthrough of Kiryu’s story before touching Dark Ties, since, like even the game itself warns you, there will be plenty of spoilers in Mine’s part of the game. Now, since Yakuza games are known for the twists and turns their stories often take, I will not be spoiling anything from the mid-to-late-game plot.

"The story of Yakuza 3 has always been a great one. However, a major complaint of the original has often been its poor early-game pacing."

Yakuza Kiwami 3 picks up the story right where Yakuza 2 left off. Daigo Dojima has taken up the position of the chairman of the Tojo Clan. The whole clan is still recovering from the events of Yakuza 2, and especially from the damage caused by the Go-Ryu Clan led by Ryuji Goda and the Korean Jingweon Mafia. Kiryu, however, has decided that enough is enough, and leaves behind the yakuza life to run the Morning Glory orphanage in Okinawa; far away from the crime-ridden alleys of Kamurocho.

While the first few months at the orphanage go by relatively smoothly, with Kiryu growing into his new role as the father figure for the children, he is invariably drawn back into the underworld thanks to a strange real-estate dispute. The affable head of the local Ryudo family, Shigeru Nakahara, owns the land on which Morning Glory was built, and is being pressured by forces beyond his control to sell it off. At the same time, Daigo is also facing pressure from several members of the Tojo Clan to partake in this real-estate deal. Things come to a head when both Nakahara and Daigo are shot as part of this deal, and Kiryu must trade in his cozy tropical outfit for his trademark suit as he’s pulled into a web of Tojo power plays and forces well beyond Okinawa.

The story of Yakuza 3 has always been a great one. However, a major complaint of the original has often been its poor early-game pacing. Quite a bit of time is spent simply living life in Okinawa before the story truly kicks off. Once it gets going, though, it also happens to be one of the more convoluted plots in the series, and ultimately ends up involving even forces from the governments of Japan and the US. Kiwami 3 doesn’t really help much with the pacing issues if you’re simply focused on mainlining the story. It does, on the other hand, offer a lot more side activities that help you feel some true ownership over Morning Glory, which in turn helps to raise the stakes of the story for the player. Staying true to series tradition, the more serious elements of the plot are balanced by the substories, which often add a healthy amount of absurdism, comedy and sincerity to counterbalance the otherwise convoluted and grim main story.

Dark Ties, being a new addition, is an interesting beast in its own right. In the original, Mine’s rise feels abrupt to the player and Dark Ties reframes that climb by letting you inhabit the steps he took to earn his position, we actually get to experience just how he achieved this with our own eyes. It offers plenty of fun moments, especially when Tsuyoshi Kanda is involved. However, ultimately, this expansion on the story doesn’t really end up adding too much to the overall plot. What made Mine a fun antagonist to begin with was his personality, and the mystique of how he even got to his position in the main story only added to his “cool” factor. While Dark Ties thankfully doesn’t take much away from this, I don’t really think it was particularly necessary either. Ultimately, it’s just “more plot” for after you’re done with the main Yakuza Kiwami 3 campaign.

"The story of Yakuza 3 has always been a great one. However, a major complaint of the original has often been its poor early-game pacing."

The traditional gameplay loop of Yakuza is well-preserved in Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties. You’re often going to find yourself roaming around Okinawa or Kamurocho, either heading to the next main story mission or stopping in the middle to partake in side activities like substories, arcade games or karaoke. Some of these might end up with you having taken quite a bit of damage, which means that you’ll want to find a restaurant to heal up before deciding on your next activity of choice. Of course, most gameplay will be taken up by combat, since you will also end up being accosted by thugs in either of the cities.

The combat system has been revamped quite well, and long-time fans of the series will recognize the evolution in Kiryu’s gameplay from Yakuza 6 to Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name to Yakuza Kiwami 3. The Dragon of Dojima has never felt better to play, and while he may no longer be at his peak, having entered into his 40s, he can still hold his own in just about any fight. Along with his usual combat style, Kiryu now also has a weapons-based one that makes use of traditional Okinawan weapons. This new style offers plenty of utility, since your combos decide just what weapons you’ll be using to attack. Ryukyu Style leans into traditional Okinawan weaponry, giving Kiryu a more technical, weapon-forward moveset that complements the revamped Dragon of Dojima style. I personally quite enjoyed using the bleed-inducing combos as well as the guard breaking moves offered by the new style. The former helped whittle down massive boss health bars, while the latter provided some reprieve against enemies who just love to block all your attacks.

The combat in general feels like a major upgrade over the original Yakuza 3, which often suffered from prolonged fights because of just how impenetrable enemies’ defenses would often be. While they never suffered from bloated health pools, even the most low-levelled thug had the propensity of just endlessly blocking your attacks until you eventually got lucky. Kiwami 3 not only doesn’t have this happening nearly as often, but also gives you more tools to deal with blocking enemies, like the aforementioned guard break in the Ryukyu style. You can, of course, switch between the Dragon of Dojima: Kiwami and Ryukyu styles at will, which makes the combat flow even better. My time with the game was spent on its Professional difficulty setting the highest one available when you start a fresh game and none of the fights ended up feeling unfair. There were some annoying encounters, especially when gun-toting enemies were involved, but they still ended up being reasonable to deal with thanks to the new indicator letting you know when you’re about to get shot.

"The combat in general feels like a major upgrade over the original Yakuza 3, which often suffered from prolonged fights because of just how impenetrable enemies’ defenses would often be."

No discussion about Yakuza games is complete without discussing its substories, and both Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties don’t disappoint in this regard. There are plenty of things to do throughout Okinawa and Kamurocho, and as I previously mentioned, the substories often add some much-needed levity to the story. The mini-games don’t really get deep, and while there are certainly rewards for playing them, these aren’t aspects of the game you have to touch in order to progress. Along with the classic slate of arcade games, the new ones added as part of running Morning Glory are at least fun enough to play a couple of times, even if you ultimately decide to never return to them.

The Morning Glory activities even have their own progression system, where doing chores around the orphanage and partaking in the children’s substories will result in Daddy Rank increases. Many of these activities involve mini-games of their own, be it games of Dragon Reversi essentially just reskinned Reversi or fishing and sewing. Through these, you can craft brand new items that can then be sold at the Morning Glory Market. The money you make here can then be used to make further improvements to the orphanage, helping further improve the lives of the children. While a fun experience by itself, all of the Morning Glory activities are ultimately optional, and aside from the first time you have to engage with them, can be safely ignored if you would prefer to get on to the main story. Training Points and money earned here can also be used to further fuel Kiryu’s own progression. It also helps make Morning Glory feel much more like a real, lived-in space.

Another major side activity involves joining a biker gang. After running into a group of characters Kiryu can join their group in their efforts to ensure that the rival gangs encroaching on Okinawa don’t ruin the town of Ryukyu. While also largely divorced from the main story of Yakuza Kiwami 3, the Bad Boy Dragon activities, as they are called in-game, are quite a bit of fun thanks to the colorful cast of characters you get to engage with. You can even partake in massive brawls against more than a hundred enemies at the same time. These no-holds-barred battles will have you riding through the battlefield on your own (customizable) bike as you go from fight to fight, using every tool at your disposal. Bad Boy Dragon also goes a bit deeper by allowing you to manage finer details of the NPCs, from their flags and outfits to their motorcycles, and even their squad setup.

"The Morning Glory activities even have their own progression system, where doing chores around the orphanage and partaking in the children’s substories will result in Daddy Rank increases."

On the more emotional side of things, Yakuza Kiwami 3 has no shortage of moments that can get you misty-eyed, whether you’re simply spending time at Morning Glory or stumbling into one of the game’s smaller, unexpectedly heartfelt side stories. Yakuza Kiwami 3 manages to strike a fine balance between the comedic and the heartfelt substories, and few ever end up feeling like simply being filler material to pad out playtime.

The character progression in Yakuza Kiwami 3 is largely tied to your money, and a new currency Training Points tied to how many side activities you partake in. Due to this, trying every single activity at least once is quite beneficial. Not only will it often reward you with more money, it will also definitely give you more Training Points to go further down the techniques tree where you can learn new moves for both of your combat styles. While money gives you some early-game techniques, it eventually only becomes useful for raising your health and damage stats. Training Points, on the other hand, is important if you want to do more than just spam the light and heavy attacks a few times, with the skill tree’s offerings ranging from new Heat actions and combo finishers, to entirely new moves. Despite this, however, there’s never any need to grind out either money or Training Points short of wanting to 100% the game.

Dark Ties, on the other hand, is a more focused experience. You’re not going to stumble into substories or new activities while roaming around. Rather, they are all tied into the Kanda Damage Control system, where Mine essentially runs a PR campaign to improve Tsuyoshi Kanda’s public image in the community. Substories and activities through this aren’t particularly deep either, and the main goal of the entire system is to unlock Drink Links through which you can learn more about both Kanda and Mine as they work their way up the Nishikiyama family ranks.

"You’re not going to stumble into substories or new activities while roaming around. Rather, they are all tied into the Kanda Damage Control system"

When it comes to the main story missions, both Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties don’t really stray too far from what the series has typically been. You’ll often have long, drawn-out conversations before getting into a series of fights, with the missions ultimately culminating into a boss fight that often marks the end of a chapter. It never really feels repetitive or boring, however, since both Kiryu and Mine are quite fun to control during fights, and the writing is incredibly strong, making just about every scene at the very least interesting, if not downright entertaining.

The story of Dark Ties is quite a bit more subdued than Kiwami 3. Aside from the loud, brash Kanda, every character in Mine’s story feels more reserved and sinister. Interestingly, despite being a much shorter experience than the main campaign, Dark Ties also ends up feeling like it has similar pacing issues to Kiryu’s adventure. The start is incredibly slow, and you’ll do little more than getting into fights between long cutscenes for quite some time. Thankfully it does eventually open up, giving you more options to explore Kamurocho and maybe hang out at the arcade.

Dark Ties does feature one interesting side activity that purely focuses on Mine’s combat prowess: the Fight Club. While it’s largely what you might expect, with a series of escalating fights, the Survival Hell mode of the Fight Club kicks things up a notch by presenting fights with different conditions. This mode even ties into Mine’s character progression, since rewards can include new moves as well as money that can be used to further push the character’s capabilities.

"The story of Dark Ties is quite a bit more subdued than Kiwami 3."

Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties feels like a technically competent game. The visuals are fantastic, making full use of the PS5 hardware and RGG Studio’s own experience with its in-house Dragon Engine. Both Kamurocho and Okinawa look breathtaking, especially at certain times of the day when the lighting is just right. Frame rates are also fantastic, and I never experienced a single slowdown or even hiccup throughout my time with the game. Developing Yakuza games has essentially become a precise science for the studio, since I also couldn’t find any issues with animations, either during combat or the story-heavy cutscenes. Continuing the trend, audio is also fantastically done, and the Japanese voice acting is some of the best I’ve heard from the series outside of Ichiban’s adventures in Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Be it quiet fury or tender moments, Kiryu’s voice actor Takaya Kuroda has once more done a phenomenal job, and the same could be said for every cast member.

Ultimately, Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties is a phenomenal game, and a great way to experience the story for the first time without having to deal with the original’s more archaic elements. It also makes for a great way to start the Yakuza franchise for series newcomers, since it offers optional recaps of previous entries’ stories. However, I would still argue that Yakuza 0 is a much better game to start with in that regard. Thanks to its strong writing and gameplay, it’s basically a no-brainer for fans of story-centric games and fast-paced brawlers.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

Highlighting features unique to the Steam version of Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties, it introduces a host of changes that could make it the definitive way to experience Kazuma Kiryu’s tryst with Black Monday. From Trading Cards to a host of graphical upgrades that include support for Frame Generation, uncapped frame rates and Ultrawide Monitors, this one’s shaping up to be a trip down memory lane that Yakuza fans won’t want to miss.

The new upgrades showcase a fluidity to the game’s combat that the original version and its remaster cannot hope to match. Meanwhile, the reworked cutscenes and new fighting styles are sure to have you finding new ways to take down anyone unfortunate enough to be at the receiving end of Kiryu’s punches. There’s also Dark Ties and the chance to play as Yoshitaka Mine in a prequel detailing his rise.

With less than ten days to go before you get to dive in, this is shaping up to be a remake that could erase the title’s past mistakes and cement its place among the franchise’s best additions. It will be available for PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2 – head here for more details.

Resident Evil Requiem

The big one, the main event, the raison d’être for many survival horror fans. With the long-awaited return to Raccoon City, a fusion of first and third-person perspectives, and Leon S. Kennedy looking more fly than ever, Resident Evil Requiem is simply the game to watch out for in February. It’s been a long time coming – can you believe Resident Evil Village was almost five years ago? – but based on everything we’ve seen thus far, it will be worth the wait and then some. Look for its launch on February 27th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

Nioh 3

“Let’s have a dream of everlasting peace,” said Tokugawa Ieyasu, probably, to which his younger grandson probably said, “No.” With a Kyoto beset by Yokai and no other options, it’s on Tokugawa Takechiyo, the rightful heir to the title of Shogun, to travel back in time and fix things. But even as it incorporates new open-field elements for non-linear exploration, seamless switching between Samurai and Ninja styles, and all kinds of nasty new enemies, Nioh 3 retains that addictive hack-and-slash gameplay and masocore difficulty that we know and love. It’s available on February 6th for PS5 and PC, with a free demo available for both now.

Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined

The art style, the music, the visual overhaul – everything about this screams old-school adventure. Granted, this isn’t the first “different” edition of Dragon Quest 7, but the developer isn’t just aiming for fancier graphics – it’s also streamlining the original story, adding new content and bringing quality-of-life features (like instantly defeating lower-level enemies in the field). Couple this with new activities and the new Moonlighting system for combining Vocations, and Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined could be the best possible version yet when it launches on February 5th.

Romeo is a Dead Man

Say what you will about Suda51 games, but one thing is for sure: You never know what to expect. So the concept of Romeo is a Dead Man, where one Romeo Stargazer dies, revives, and hunts criminals across space and time with the special Dead Gear? Not exactly on everyone’s bingo card. Nevertheless, the surreal presentation, bloody hack and slash combat – with a delightful assortment of weapons to wreak havoc – and over-the-top bosses will more than suffice when it launches on February 11th for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.

BlazBlue Entropy Effect X

If you enjoyed Dead Cells, then BlazBlue Entropy Effect offers one of the more low-key enjoyable – and addictive – rogue-lite side-scrolling experiences out there. For its console release, however, 91Act is going bigger, adding a new story centered around the Sea of Possibility, with Ace seeking the Shards of Possibility to save the world. If none of that matters to you, don’t worry – Entropy X adds Naoto Kurogane as a new playable character alongside new bosses, enemies, stages, and more.

Mario Tennis Fever

I’ve got a fever, and the solution? More Mario Tennis from Camelot. I don’t think any campaign can ever match up to Mario Tennis: Power Tour, but Fever’s set-up of having Baby Mario and friends re-learn their tennis skills is at least somewhat enticing. Beyond that, the real hook is the new Fever Rackets, each with unique abilities called Fever Shots that can turn the tide of a match. Couple that with “Mix It Up” Mode’s unique twists and a whopping 38 playable characters, and Mario Tennis Fever could maybe, probably, be a sleeper hit when it launches on February 12th for the Switch 2.

Ride 6

Arriving about two and a half years after Ride 5, Ride 6 makes the jump to Unreal Engine 5 while packing over 250 bikes. The usual stars appear, but this time, players can also take Baggers and Enduro Bikes onto the track. And if you prefer something a little more free-form, off-road tracks finally properly debut in all their dirty glory. Couple all this with a new Career Mode, RIDE Fest, which sees you going up against Legendary bikers in their category of choice, and Ride 6 is looking packed ahead of its release on February 12th.

Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties

A visually improved version of Yakuza 3 probably would have been enough, but RGG Studio went the extra mile by revamping the combat mechanics, adding new activities (including managing a gang of bikers), progression systems, and even a whole new side story focused on Yoshitaka Mine. All this for just $69.99. Are we a little worried after the demo was rated “Mostly Negative” on Steam? Well, sure, but maybe there will be some improvements, at least visually, before its launch on February 12th for PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2.

Reanimal

How do you create something that’s somehow even more disturbing than Little Nightmares? Tarsier Studios apparently has the answer with Reanimal – a story about two siblings seeking to find their friends after an unknown event has brought overwhelming horrors into their lives. The mood, the aesthetic, the isolationism – it’s all here but darker and more expansive. Launching on February 13th for Nintendo Switch 2, PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X/S, Reanimal invites you to pick up the pieces of a fractured home, or die trying.

ASTROBOTANICA

Even after years of the same crafting, harvesting, farming, and building in this genre, ASTROBOTANICA’s premise has me intrigued. It’s set during prehistoric times, but this isn’t a Far Cry Primal situation. Instead, you’re an alien named Xel, who must study and collect plants to tolerate the atmosphere. From there, hijinks with neanderthals, mysterious sights, six skill paths, and more await. Of course, it won’t all be accessible – ASTROBOTANICA launches into early access on February 16th for PC – but it still promises dozens of hours of exploration.

Styx: Blades of Greed

Why send in an orc to tear down the front door when you could send, well, an orc to rob everyone blind? Styx returns in his third adventure, this time with a crew and a hankering for Quartz. Three massive sandboxes await, and based on the multi-level Wall, where you can jump down chimneys to infiltrate kitchens and poison meals, or mind control guards to do a flip, there are a lot of options for stealth sandbox fun. It’s launching on February 19th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC.

Ys X: Proud Nordics

The original landed somewhat less ideally than I would have liked, especially compared to Ys VIII and Ys IX. Proud Nordics doesn’t look to severely overhaul its combat systems, so much as add new content in the form of the Aland Island and a story revolving around a mysterious Mana user. Regardless, if you’re hungry for more, from arena battles and new bosses to fresh Mana Actions, Ys X: Proud Nordics is worth watching out for when it launches on February 20th for PS5, Switch 2 and PC.

Aces of Thunder

Replaying Ace Combat 7 or diving into Project Wingman to prepare for Ace Combat 8 is nice and all, but what about flight combat in VR? That’s what Aces of Thunder promises when it launches on February 3rd for PC, PS5 and PlayStation VR2. Between an extensive range of WW1 and WW2 aircraft, full HOTAS support, and 15 maps – with War Thunder developer Gaijin Entertainment at the helm – it looks like it could be the most immersive dogfighting sim yet. And while VR is ideal, an optional non-VR mode is also available.

Tales of Berseria Remastered

Why a remaster of Berseria, especially when Xillia 2 is right there? A question for another day, perhaps, but at least it’s one of the more well-received entries in the series. Launching on February 27th for Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, PC, and PS5, Tales of Berseria Remastered adds the usual quality of life options, from turning off enemy encounters to accessing the Grade Shop from the start. You even get a healthy chunk of DLC from the original.

ChromaGun 2: Dye Hard

We won’t be getting Portal 3 anytime soon, but there are plenty of other first-person puzzles worth diving into, such as ChromaGun 2: Dye Hard. Aside from the obvious riff on certain plot elements, the concept of walls attracting objects (sentient or otherwise) of the same color is intriguing. Paint the world red, or blue, or orange, to progress, and hopefully not suffer agonizing death at the hands of many killer robots.

It’s currently rated “Mostly Negative” with only 26 percent of the 1,185 user reviews recommending it. Based on some impressions, the lighting, especially the Kubochi River, looks less than ideal. RGG Studio has responded on Twitter, noting that it will have a day-one patch to address complaints.

“Rest assured, the graphical quality of the demo does not represent the final experience. We plan to have a v1.11 patch available at launch, which will address the lighting issue and other quality concerns in the full game. One specific example is the visual and lighting issues around the Kubochi River area in the Downtown Ryukyu area, which many of you have already pointed out.”

Interestingly, that isn’t the extent of the patch. “This patch will include not just fixes for the issues identified above, but many other improvements,” said the developer. It may not go live simultaneously for all platforms, so keep this in mind if your purchasing decision hinges on these changes.

Could these improvements also influence the combat, especially after many pointed out how the Dragon of Dojima: Kiwami Style feels too easy? Time will tell, but given what leaked via datamining recently (especially with the story changes), it’s safe to say that RGG Studio won’t be able to please everyone.

Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties launches on February 12th for Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC. You can check out our feature for all the details, from new activities to what Yoshitaka Mine offers in his new prequel story.

“I’m not kidding, you could probably clear the game even if you held the controller backwards and pressed the buttons. Probably. It might not result in good play, but at least you’d be able to perform some cool actions,” he said. Aside from talking about the significance of the “Kiwami” tag, Yokoyama noted that with Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties, the team is “releasing everything that we can at the moment.” “From here on, the number may increase if fans tell us more.”

Suffice it to say that there’s an extensive back-catalogue to cover, starting with more recent entries such as Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, and Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. Yakuza Kiwami 1 and 2 arrived for the Switch 2 last year alongside Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut, so you’d think that Yakuza 4 through 6 are on the cards at some point.

It’s unlikely that Yakuza 3 Remastered will make the jump, which could explain why RGG Studio is removing it from standalone purchase and locking it to the Yakuza Remastered Collection. That’s besides wanting to potentially drive sales towards the remake, which launches on February 12th for Switch 2, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Check out everything you should know about it here, or download the free demo (though it hasn’t exactly received the best reception from fans).