Here are 15 details well worth knowing about before buying Yakuza Kiwami 3 + Dark Ties on its February 11th release date.

A Ground-Up Remake of 2009’s Yakuza 3

Yakuza 3 originally released in 2009, and both the original version and its later remaster are often considered the black sheep of the franchise. Common complaints ranged from its clunky, block-heavy combat to the stilted pacing of the orphanage chapters. Kiwami 3 appears designed specifically to address those points, and then some. Built entirely within an upgraded Dragon Engine, the remake features modern HD visuals, improved animations, and entirely original modes. Cutscenes have been re-done and certain story beats have been restructured for more even pacing. On top of that, the game introduces a brand-new side story campaign in Dark Ties, which stars a fan-favorite character.

Orphanage Simulator

While the orphanage busywork was a pacing killer in the original Yakuza 3, these sections are completely overhauled to be more optional and engaging in Yakuza Kiwami 3. First, the minigames actually look feature-complete and, well, fun now. You can test Kiryu’s cooking skills in a Cooking Mama-like minigame, join the kids in a sewing battle, go fishing, and more. There’s a new bond system appropriately called ‘Daddy Rank’ too. As you complete these activities, you unlock substories for each child resulting in new cooking dishes and crafted items to sell at the market. In short, it’s a sim-like layer that contrasts the darker story to the game.

Motion Capture and Recast Voices

Helping enhance the dark tone further are some new reworked cutscenes. Now, we don’t quite know the placement of these new scenes or how the pacing will result from it all, but the overhaul signals a direct response to criticism of the original game’s uneven storytelling. Both the Japanese and English voice casts have been recast, with fresh motion capture performed by the new actors. Several characters, including Goh Hamazaki, Rikiya Shimabukuro, and Shigeru Nakahara, have been visually remodeled to resemble their new Japanese voice actors. This decision has understandably sparked some debate among longtime fans.

Bad Boy Dragon Mode

Another huge side activity that we will easily find ourselves lost in is the Bad Boy Dragon biker gang. In a similar vein as Pirate Yakuza, Kiryu leads the charge of a crew of, not pirates, but biker girls. Gameplay combines massive brawls against waves of up to 100 enemies with high-speed motorcycle segments where you capture enemy territory. You can recruit new members, upgrade bikes, and strategically organize a gang of over 20 units. The emphasis on scale and positioning should appeal especially to fans of musou-style games, adding a tactical layer to the familiar Yakuza combat loop.

Hell’s Arena

Accessible through Mine’s separate campaign, Hell’s Arena introduces multiple combat-focused modes. I’m especially intrigued by the new Survival Hell dungeon race. As the title suggests, you race through a perilous dungeon filled with traps and treasures. There’s a boss waiting for those skilled enough to survive the gauntlet, so you’ll need to pick up treasures and special survival weapons along the way to succeed against the last hurdle. Organizing a group of mercenaries helps your odds too. But the underground fight club is actually the main attraction of Hell’s Arena. These are composed of one-on-one brawls knocking out an opponent within a time limit. I’m all for a goofy tournament fighting arc, so Hell’s Arena should provide on that front.

Combat: Miyazato Dojo

Kiryu’s story unfolds primarily in sun-soaked Okinawa, And with the new territory comes new ways of fighting. Kiryu must enter the tutelage of master Miya-san at the Miyazato Dojo. It’s here where you learn the Ryukyu fighting style, which includes a whole fresh progression system and technique. Part of the journey to becoming a Ryukyu kobujutsu master is acing the exams set by Miya-san. Do this and you’ll eventually learn secret techniques that will prove useful throughout the rest of the game.

Combat: Ryukyu Style Explained

But what exactly is Ryukyu fighting? It’s essentially Kiryu’s new weapon-based fighting style for the game. There’s 8 Okinawan weapons featured in this style. These are shield (tinbe), spear (rochin), tekko (knuckledusters), tonfas, nunchaku, and even a wooden oar. These aren’t just pieces of equipment though, they’re baked into a dedicated system. Weapons can be swapped on the fly using hotkeys, allowing players to chain attacks seamlessly in a way reminiscent of Sea Dog Style. This fluidity stands in stark contrast to the slower, more defensive combat of the original Yakuza 3.

Merging of the Two Fighting Styles

You won’t just be weaving between weapon types, but fighting styles in general. The familiar Dragon of Dojima fighting style can be swapped seamlessly with the new Okinawan Ryukyu style. Dragon style has been enhanced with new finishers and loads of additional environmental destruction elements that you can use to your disposal against foes. To unleash the new finishers, you must charge up and activate Dragon Boost, a new powered-up state for Kiryu that essentially turns him Super Saiyan. Everything from ground-breaking pile drivers and long-distance throws are enhanced during a Dragon Boost.

Loads of Combat Techniques

Of course, merging between these two fleshed out combat styles brings with it a ton of variability. By combining two fully realized fighting styles, Yakuza Kiwami 3 boasts what the developer has described as the largest library of attack techniques in the franchise’s history. The sheer variety encourages experimentation and makes combat encounters far more dynamic than before.

New Minigames

Of course, not everything in the original Yakuza 3 has been preserved for the remake. A number of minigames have been removed, but in return, many more take their place. You’ve got your established minigames like karaoke, batting cages, billiards, darts, and various arcade games like UFO Catcher. The big additions are the orphanage minigames and dedicated photography quest. Mine has his own set of minigames to have fun with too. Mine’s campaign introduces Kanda’s Damage Control, where you act as Kanda’s PR agent. Kanda’s Damage Control is structured by an overarching ‘Good Deeds’ story, civilian side quests, and a checklist of accomplishments within the ‘Damage Control Challenge’.

A New Story Expansion

Dark Ties is a full story expansion centered on Yoshitaka Mine, one of Yakuza 3’s most compelling antagonists. Not only can you play as Mine, which has been a pipe dream for fans for years, but you explore his past through an even seedier underground district of the Kamurucho. It’s going to be fascinating to watch his descent into the criminal world and see from his point of view before his meeting with Kiryu in Yakuza 3 proper.

From Short Film to Game

Mine’s popularity prompted the studio to expand what was originally envisioned as a short film into a fully playable side game. The developer has been on record citing Mine as a top 5 favorite character in the series. This campaign is described as one of the darkest stories in the franchise to date, deliberately contrasting Kiryu’s more hopeful story in Yakuza 3.

Mine’s Unique Combat Style

In fact, Mine’s story is so dark that his combat style needed to be called ‘Dark Awakening’. Well, maybe there’s a different reason for the name, like high-risk/high-reward precision strikes so emblematic of Mine’s style. The swift aerial strikes stand out the most with this fighting style, but the Dark Awakening State push him into overdrive with extraordinary speed and precision. Mine’s fighting reminds me of a dragoon/ninja, and I couldn’t be more stoked to try it out.

Start Selection

Upon launching the game, you can choose whether to begin with Kiryu’s main story or jump directly into Dark Ties. This flexibility allows returning fans to experience the new content immediately, while newcomers can save it as a companion piece after completing the core narrative.

Dark Ties Spans 8-11 hours

Based on developer comments and hands-on previews, Dark Ties is expected to run between 8 and 11 hours, depending on side content engagement. Its scope is comparable to The Kaito Files and Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, which offered similarly focused, standalone narratives. According to a developer interview cited by Sportskeeda, Dark Ties is roughly the same length as Like a Dragon: Gaiden, positioning it as a substantial expansion rather than a brief add-on.

PC Specs

On the lower end, Yakuza Kiwami 3 remains fairly accessible for modern PCs. First, you’ll need to save up 58 GB of space for memory. The minimum requirements require an Intel Core i3-8100 or AMD Ryzen 3 2300X paired with 8 GB of RAM and a GPU of either a GTX 1650, Radeon RX 6400. Higher-end setups require the beefier Intel Core i5-8700K or AMD Ryzen 5 2600X, alongside 16 GB of RAM, and GPU of RTX 3060, Radeon RX 7600.

In a video shared on Twitter, Yokoyama briefly spoke about the studio’s plans leading up to the series’ 20th anniversary a year from now, which, in addition to several announcements and updates, will, of course, also include the launch of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii in February.

“19 years have passed since the first game in the series was released in Japan, and today marks the start of the year leading up to the 20th anniversary,” Yokoyama said. “First, early next year on February 21, 2025, we will release Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.

“Set in Hawaii after the events of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, the title sees the series’ famous character, Goro Majima, going on a rampage as a pirate. It features a refreshing story and exhilarating battle action that can be enjoyed even if you have no experience with the latest or previous titles.”

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio likes to release new games in the Like a Dragon franchise at a pretty steady pace, so it wouldn’t surprise us to see the developer announce more upcoming instalments in the coming months- especially to celebrate the series’ upcoming 20th anniversary. Perhaps another remake might also be on the cards?

For now, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is due out on February 21 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

Happy Like a Dragon Day!🐉

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio Director and Executive Producer Masayoshi Yokoyama would like to share a message to commemorate this occasion🎉

Thank you continuing to support us and the series🙏 pic.twitter.com/mCNJ9nGg2s

— RGG Studio | Like a Dragon & Yakuza Series (@RGGStudio) December 8, 2024

Like a Dragon: Yakuza will be split across two timelines – 1995 and 2005 – with the former seeing a young Kazuma Kiryu falling into the Japanese criminal underworld, and the latter seeing him released from prison after an extended period of incarceration.

Though the game’s core premise and its timelines hue closely to the game franchise’s first instalment, Amazon says the upcoming adaptation will tell stories “that games in the past have not been able to explore.” Check out the trailer below for a glimpse of what it will have in store. 

Like a Dragon: Yakuza is set to premiere on October 24, with its first three episodes dropping together, and the remaining three arriving at a weekly clip afterwards. 

That’s as per series director Ryosuke Horii and lead planner Hirotaka Chiba, who said in a recent interview with Automaton that the Like a Dragon series, as it’s now known, is going to continue telling stories focused on “middle-aged guy things”.

“We are middle-aged guys ourselves… so I guess that’s the kind of target audience we’re going for, probably,” they said.

Horii went on to talk about how it’s this very aspect that gives the series a unique identity. “I think that this is precisely one of Like a Dragon’s selling points. In Yakuza: Like a Dragon, everything starts with three unemployed middle-aged guys being like ‘Let’s go to Hello Work.’ They have a different air about them than a group of young heroes would, complaining about back pain and the like. But this ‘humanity’ you feel from their age is what gives the game originality.”

Chiba chimed in with an example as well, pointing to a conversation in the game where a character mulls over whether or not to drink beer on account of being worried about his uric acid levels.

“For example, there’s a conversation where Adachi is conflicted about whether he should drink beer or not because he’s worried about his uric acid level,” he said. “We’re making the hearty talks of middle-aged dudes our identity, rather than youthfulness.”

Horii went on to add that though the Like a Dragon series has certainly seen an influx of new fans and demographics, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio doesn’t intend to change the way it makes its games.

“We have had a large increase in new fans, including women, which we’re truly happy and grateful for,” he said. “However, we don’t plan to do anything like deliberately changing conversation topics in order to cater to new fans. That would make us unable to keep talking about things like uric acid levels… [laughs]”

Similarly, Horii says that though the franchise has found a much larger international audience in recent years, that hasn’t impacted the way RGG Studio goes about its creative process.

“Our policy as creators has not changed,” Horii explained. “We are very grateful for the recognition we have received from overseas fans and new, younger players, but we will not change our policy of creating games, which is based on our personal ideas of what’s fun.”

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio will be announcing its next game later this month at Tokyo Game Show, so stay tuned for updates on what the developer has planned next.

Now, the first trailer for the series has been revealed, offering us our first look at Ryoma Takeuchi as Kazuma Kiryu, what Kamurocho will look like, and more. As per the trailer’s YouTube description, the series is going to tell an original story that we haven’t experienced in past Yakuza or Like a Dragon titles. 

“The series depicts the lives of fierce yet passionate gangsters and people living in a huge entertainment district, Kamurochō, a fictional district modeled after the violent Shinjuku ward’s Kabukichō, that acts as the backdrop of the gameplay,” the description reads. “Like a Dragon: Yakuza showcases modern Japan and the dramatic stories of these intense characters, such as the legendary Kazuma Kiryu, that games in the past have not been able to explore.”

Like a Dragon: Yakuza premieres on Amazon Prime on October 24. It will consist of six episodes, with the first three premiering together. Meanwhile, Like a Dragon developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio will announce its next game at Tokyo Game Show this September. Read more on that through here.

Described as an original story based on the games, the live action series – titled Like a Dragon: Yakuza – will star Ryoma Takeuchi as Kazuma Kiryu, with Masaharu Take and Kengo Takimoto serving as directors and Sean Crouch and Yugo Nakamura having written the story and screenplay. Yasuhiro Yoshida and Kana Yamada are credit for the Japanese screenplay, while Erik Barmack, Roberto Grande, and Joshua Long are named as executive producers.

“I am truly honored to be given the opportunity to play the role of Kazuma Kiryu, a beloved character and the game series,” said lead actor Ryoma Takeuchi. “I strongly felt that I was willing to put my life on the line. Audience will enjoy the show’s human drama and conflict that unfolds around Kazuma Kiryu. Moreover, please take a look Kiryu’s intense fighting scenes with the Dragon tattoo on his back.”

“I have poured out my heart, soul, and the experience that I have garnered over 35 years into Like a Dragon: Yakuza,” said director Masaharu Take. “The unbridled passion, talent, and countless hours of efforts from the entire team have helped bring this spectacular story to life in the form of a riveting series that will be launched this year, the year of the dragon. Please look forward to Kazuma Kiryu, played by Ryoma Takeuchi.”

“We are thrilled and extremely excited to announce the Amazon Original action-drama Like a Dragon: Yakuza, based on the popular Japanese game series,” said James Farrell, Head of International Originals, Amazon MGM Studios. “The unfettered appeal for Japanese content from within Japan and other parts of the world has been growing exponentially. While Prime Video Japan continues to offer a variety of content across genres, adapting an internationally popular game franchise that has such deep resonance and layered characters presents a unique charm and makes for an extremely compelling watch. We are committed to augmenting our content library and are confident that Like a Dragon: Yakuza will strike a chord with audiences all over the world.”

Like a Dragon: Yakuza will consist of six episodes, with the first three episodes premiering on Amazon Prime on October 25, and the remaining three on November 1.

Talking about the success seen by Sonic the Hedgehog thanks to the movies and the recent slate of games, as well as a host of collaborations, Utsumi talks about the franchise, and how Sonic is being revived.

“We just revived Sonic in a big way, not only through games but also movies and TV shows, and actually Sonic is in Roblox too,” Utsumi said. “And we’re working closely now with Lego. So now Sonic is reviving.”

“We have other major IPs and, I cannot say too much about it but we are thinking of reviving other classical Sega IPs too,” said Utsumi. “Right now there are two big IPs other than Sonic. One is Persona. And also our Yakuza titles. Yakuza is really unique. But that big one is also coming next year too.”

“But also, as I say, we are trying to be in a lot of different kinds of business areas, like Roblox, movies. All these IPs can be somewhere else other than games soon.”

In mentioning Yakuza, Utsumi is, of course, talking about the Like a Dragon franchise, which recently saw its name changed from the traditional Yakuza titles to Like a Dragon with the release of Like a Dragon: Ishin! earlier this year.

Sega is currently gearing up for the release of its next major Like a Dragon game, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. The company is also getting ready to release its next game in the Persona franchise, Persona 3 Reload, which is essentially a complete remake of the original Persona 3.

Why exactly has that change been made though? Speaking in an interview with IGN, RGG Studio boss Masayoshi Yokoyama talked about the same, and explained that the Western title of the last mainline Yakuza game – Yakuza: Like a Dragon (which was called Ryu Ga Gotoku 7 in Japan) was essentially a trial run for the change.

“In [Yakuza 7], it was Yakuza: Like a Dragon, and so we figured if we release this game suddenly out of nowhere with no Yakuza in it, people would be like, ‘What’s this game? What’s going on with this?’” Yokoyama said. “The response to the Like a Dragon name seemed pretty good, so it gave us the confidence to take out ‘Yakuza’ and just go straight on with Like a Dragon.”

Yokoyama went on to explain that the series isn’t necessarily focused on the Yakuza anymore, even though it does still focus on underground crime, which also explains why the developer decided to change its Western name.

“Story-wise too, we are talking about criminal underworld, but we’re not talking about Yakuza, really,” he said. “So it just makes sense for us not to include them in the name. If we carry through the accent, we’d be Yakuza: Ishin! It’s not Yakuza: Ishin! That’s not what it’s about. So Like a Dragon: Ishin! makes more sense.”

The franchise has a number of games launching in the next couple of years, with Like a Dragon: Ishin! and Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name launching in 2023 and Like a Dragon 8 due out in 2024.

The livestream will happen next week on Sega’s Twitch channel- on September 14 at 19:00 JST / 10:00 UTC / 03:00 PT to be precise. The developer doesn’t give any indication as to what the stream will entail, but the assumption is that new upcoming games will be announced.

The first name that comes to mind is, of course, Yakuza 8. We’ve known for a while now that the next Yakuza title is in development, and perhaps Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio is ready to formally unveil it.

Details on the game have been scant up until now, but RGG Studio has previously confirmed that like Yakuza: Like a Dragon, the next game in the series will be a turn-based RPG. It’s also been confirmed that it’ll be set several years after Like a Dragon, with Ichiban Kasuga returning as the protagonist, and that a new town will also be introduced.

Of course, RGG Studio confirmed earlier that it was working on multiple unannounced projects simultaneously, so there’s a second upcoming project takes the stage at the upcoming stream as well. Either way, we’ll be covering it live when it happens, so stay tuned for more updates.

https://twitter.com/RGGStudio/status/1567830960133099520

Now, however, we seem to have gotten our first brief glimpses of it- though not through official channels, interestingly enough. As spotted and reported by Famitsu, MMA fighter Mikuru Asakura recently uploaded a video (which you can check out below) in which he tours RGG Studios.

The video not only showed off-screen images from the game showcasing a number of familiar characters (including Ichiban sporting a new hairstyle), but also featured Sega president Haruki Satomi confirming that the game will feature a new town as well. The aforementioned Asakura will also appear as a character in the game.

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has previously also confirmed that the next Yakuza game will be another turn-based RPG, similar to Yakuza: Like a Dragon.

The developer is currently also working on multiple unannounced games besides Yakuza. Read more on that through here.