Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties from SEGA and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio brings us a revamped and expanded take on the PlayStation 3 classic. Learn more in our Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties review!
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Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties from SEGA and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio brings us a revamped and expanded take on the PlayStation 3 classic. Yakuza 3 was originally released in Japan in 2009, followed by releases in North America, Europe, and Australia in 2010. It’s now 2026, and it’s the perfect time to dive back into an adventure in Kamurocho that has been upgraded and improved with a jump to the Yakuza 6 engine – that would be the Dragon Engine – making for a better-looking game that manages to shine on Nintendo Switch 2.
You can definitely say that I’m a fan of the Yakuza franchise. I’ve previously gotten a chance to work on a Yakuza Kiwami review on PlayStation 4. I also took sequel Yakuza Kiwami 2 for a spin in 2018. I did a Yakuza 5 review on PlayStation 3 when the game was released in 2016. I also did a Yakuza 6: The Song of Life review. Then there’s Yakuza: Like a Dragon and its nod to the Dragon Quest franchise. I got to play and review spin-off Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name. And then there’s the quirky but fun Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii on PlayStation 5. The only game I haven’t played yet is Like a Dragon: Ishin!, which ThaRaven403 reviewed on PlayStation 5, so hopefully it’s one that gets a Nintendo Switch 2 release as well.
I previously had a chance to review Yakuza 3 on PlayStation 4 back in 2020, thanks to our Yakuza Remastered Collection review, which, as the name suggests, included remastered versions of Yakuza 3, Yakuza 4, and Yakuza 5, so I was more than ready to dive back into Yakuza 3 for a familiar yet different experience. Right after booting up the game, you’re given the option of picking between playing Yakuza Kiwami 3, or taking on the Dark Ties part of the package.
Yakuza Kiwami 3 uses the story from Yakuza 3, and that means we’re going to be exploring Kamurocho, the Yakuza series’ take on Tokyo’s red-light district Kabukicho, as well as Downtown Ryukyu, which is located in Naha, Okinawa. After the events of Yakuza Kiwami 2, things are now different for Kazuma Kiryu. Having taken a step back from the life of the clan, he has settled in Okinawa, where he works on running an orphanage along with his adoptive daughter, Haruka Sawamura. Together, they work hard to provide a home and a life for several kids in need.
Unfortunately, peace can’t last in the world of Yakuza. Kazuma Kiryu must jump into action after the Tojo Clan’s Chairman is shot by someone who was supposed to be dead. It turns out that the land on which the orphanage stands is wanted for the development of a seaside resort – you know, because greed and capitalism – and Kazuma Kiryu is not going to have any of that.
And then we have the Dark Ties content. This is a brand-new tale featuring Yoshitaka Mine from Yakuza 3, which acts as a prequel. Yoshitaka Mine is an agent of the Daidoji Faction, a former lieutenant and interim chairman of the Tojo Clan, the former chairman of the Hakuho Clan, and the former captain of the Nishikiyama Family… as well as the main antagonist for the main story in Yakuza 3. After leading a successful startup company, he dove into the world of the yakuza after losing everything.
This is the story of how Yoshitaka Mine got involved with the Nishikiyama Family, his rise through the ranks, and the events that led to his role in Yakuza Kiwami 3. As expected, Dark Ties is not going to be a huge experience like Yakuza Kiwami 3, but you’re still looking at a handful of hours of main content, along with some extra side content and activities to complete here and there that can add some extra hours on top depending on how deep you go.
You can choose between three difficulty options for taking on this journey: Beginner, Standard, and Professional. The Beginner difficulty setting is best recommended for those of you who want to take on the game without worrying too much about the combat. The Standard difficulty setting is the one recommended for most gamers, since it’s been balanced to offer the standard experience with a good challenge without feeling unfair. As for the Professional difficulty setting, it’s the one that experienced gamers should pick, since the combat will push you to your limits, with any mistakes made costing you dearly.
While taking control of your character, you’ll be using the left analog stick, and you’ll use the right analog stick to move the camera around as needed. You can sprint by pressing and holding down the B or ZR buttons. Press the A button to interact with points of interest, objects, or other characters. Press up on the D-Pad to activate the camera, which you can use to take special screenshots by adding different filters and effects. You can even take a selfie or two if you want to!
For combat, you’ll be using the left analog stick to move through an area as you use regular attacks by pressing the Y button and strong attacks by pressing the X button. You can combine these to perform combos. Grab an enemy by pressing the A button. Once you’ve grabbed someone, you can attack them by pressing the Y button or throw them by pressing the A button. Press the R button to hold a fighting stance as you move around. You can then press the B button for a quickstep to try to avoid incoming attacks. Time it just right, and you can counter your enemy with a powerful attack right as you get out of the way!
If you meet certain conditions, you’ll get to land a critical attack that will deal some extra damage. This can happen when you perform a perfect quicksteo, attack right after breaking an enemy’s guard, attack a stunned enemy, use some attacks during Dragon Boost, attack an enemy from behind after you’ve unlocked the upgrade ability, or perform a staggering attack – ditto.
You also have the option of pressing and holding down the L button to guard, so that you can try to block enemy attacks. And no, you can’t block against blades or gunfire! You’ll need to perform a quickstep to avoid those. Pay attention to your surroundings, since you’ll be able to grab some of the items near you to use them as weapons. A traffic cone can help you deal with some extra damage. Hitting someone with a bicycle is definitely going to hurt!
Did you notice the bar that is right below your health bar? That’s known as the Heat Gauge. You can build up energy in the Heat Gauge by landing attacks on your opponents. Once the Heat Gauge has been maxed out, you’ll be able press the X button when a prompt pops up, so that you can unleash a Heat Action to deal a ton of damage. There’s also the Dragon Boost Gauge to the left of the health bar. Once the Dragon Boost Gauge is full, you can press the ZR button to activate a Dragon Boost. After attacking your enemies for a bit, an icon will pop up, and you can then press the ZR button again for a special attack known as a Dragon Finisher.
You can improve your skills by visiting the upgrade abilities section when you pause the action. All abilities are arranged in different skill trees, and you’ll need to unlock and upgrade them as you go along by connecting one ability to another. This will allow you to tailor your character to better suit your gaming style, adding abilities like the haymaker, so that you can unleash powerful left and right hooks during combos, or adding a boost to your overall health so that you can take a bit more damage before being defeated, or add the pick-me-up ability, so that you can grab a downed enemy and bring them to their feet. Oh, and maybe boost your attack power so that you can make every hit count!
In Dark Ties, you’ll have a Shackled Hearts bar below your health bar that will fill up as you land hits on enemies. Once you have at least one shackled heart, you’ll be able to press the ZR button to trigger a Dark Awakening. You can then hold down the ZR button and consume two shackled hearts to boost the Dark Awakening, which means you’ll be able to do a ton of damage to enemies over a short period of time. Combine this with the Heat Gauge, and you can use an extra powerful finisher that can make short work of most enemies – a finisher that can even deal a ton of damage to bosses.
We can’t talk about a Yakuza game without mentioning the different classic games from the extensive SEGA catalog that you can now play. For Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties, the included games are arcade releases Emergency Call Ambulance, SlashOut, and Magical Truck Adventure. On top of these, you’ll also gain access to a SEGA Game Gear portable console that will allow you to play the following 12 games: Columns. Fantasy Zone Gear, Galaga ’91, The G.G. Shinobi, G-LOC: Air Battle, Mappy, Pac-Man, Puyo Puyo, Sonic Chaos, Sonic Drift, Streets of Rage, and Woody Pop. Of note is the fact that three of these games are Bandai Namco releases!
Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties brings us a revamped and expanded take on the PlayStation 3 classic. Yakuza 3 was originally released back in 2009 in Japan, followed by a release in North America, Europe, and Australia in 2010. It’s now 2026, and it’s the perfect time to dive back into an adventure in Kamurocho that has been upgraded and improved with a jump to the Yakuza 6 engine – that would be the Dragon Engine – making for a better-looking game that manages to shine on Nintendo Switch 2. If you’re not familiar with the Yakuza franchise and haven’t played the first two games in the series, you can check out a very handy recap for the story of each game while paying your respects at the cemetery early in Yakuza Kiwami 3.
For Yakuza Kiwami 3, we’re going to be exploring Kamurocho, the Yakuza series’ take on Tokyo’s red-light district Kabukicho, as well as Downtown Ryukyu, which is located in Naha, Okinawa. After the events of Yakuza Kiwami 2, things are now different for Kazuma Kiryu. Having taken a step back from the life of the clan, he has settled in Okinawa, where he works on running an orphanage along with his adoptive daughter, Haruka Sawamura. Together, they work hard to provide a home and a life for several kids in need. Dark Ties content is a brand-new tale featuring Yoshitaka Mine from Yakuza 3, which acts as a prequel. Yoshitaka Mine is an agent of the Daidoji Faction, a former lieutenant and interim chairman of the Tojo Clan, the former chairman of the Hakuho Clan, and the former captain of the Nishikiyama Family… as well as the main antagonist for the main story in Yakuza 3. After leading a successful startup company, he dove into the world of the yakuza after losing everything.
You can customize your experience by choosing between one of the available languages for text (Japanese, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Korean, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Latin American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Traditional Chinese, and American English) as well as one of the three languages for audio (Japanese, English, Chinese). You can also change the blood level between mild and normal, activate or deactivate controller vibration, activate or deactivate automatic QTEs, so that all button inputs during battles and mini-games are completed automatically, and you won’t be able to fail these events even if you press the wrong button or don’t press it on time.
Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties is out on Nintendo Switch 2 with a $59.99 price tag. You can also get the Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties Deluxe Edition for $74.99, which, along with the base game, includes the following:
– LEGENDARY OUTFIT PACK
– LEGENDARY LADS & GALS PACK
– RYUKYU GAL GANG CUSTOMIZATION PACK
– FLIP PHONE CUSTOMIZATION PACK
– LEGENDARY BGM CD SET
And if you already own Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties on Nintendo Switch 2, you have the option of buying the Deluxe Upgrade for $19.99 to get the aforementioned additional content.
Disclaimer
Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties review is based on a Nintendo Switch 2 copy provided by SEGA.
