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| Yakuza 3 | |
|---|---|
 North American cover art | |
| Developer(s) | Sega CS1 R&D[a] |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Director(s) | Daisuke Sato |
| Producer(s) | Masayoshi Kikuchi |
| Designer(s) | Kazuki Hosokawa |
| Programmer(s) | Tetsuya Kaku |
| Artist(s) | Kazuki Hosokawa |
| Writer(s) | Masayoshi Yokoyama |
| Composer(s) | Hidenori Shoji |
| Series | Yakuza |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | PlayStation 3PlayStation 4
|
| Genre(s) | Action-adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Yakuza 3 (Japanese: 龍が如く3, Hepburn: Ryū ga Gotoku 3, "Like a Dragon 3") is the third main entry in the Like a Dragon series, released for the PlayStation 3 in 2009. It was developed and published by Sega.[1][2] It was released in Japan and South East Asia on February 26, 2009, and in North America and Europe on March 9, 2010, and March 12, 2010.[2] A remaster containing all cut content was released in Japan on August 9, 2018, and worldwide on August 20, 2019, for the PlayStation 4, and on January 28, 2021, for Windows and Xbox One.[3][4] A sequel, Yakuza 4, was released on March 18, 2010, in Japan.[5]
Gameplay[edit]
Features[edit]
Yakuza 3 introduces PlayStation Network Trophies to the series with 45 trophies[6] (50 in the Eastern releases).[7] It adds four gameplay elements:
- Seamless Battle (シームレスバトル shimuresu batoru): Seamless Battle is a streaming data-based loading-free system that allows the game to directly connect the adventure mode and the battle mode (called "Kenka") without the usual loading black screen.
- Chase Battle (チェイスバトル, cheisu batoru): Chase Battle is a new battle mode which replaces the regular brawling (Kenka) with a running sequence set within a certain area. Both the chaser and chased have a stamina gauge that decreases naturally as the character runs, by being hit with a thrown object or by colliding with a passer-by. When the stamina gauge is empty the exhausted character stops the chase. During the game a minor character, Mack Shinozuka, will train Kiryu to improve his running performance.
- Revelation (天啓, tenkei): Ten revelations, spread throughout the game, will allow Kazuma Kiryu to learn new Heat Actions (ヒートアクション) in Adventure mode; it is similar to the system introduced in the previous game Ryū ga Gotoku: Kenzan!. This time Kazuma uses the built-in camera on his cell phone to record new moves and techniques. These are acquired through hints and incidents spotted in First Person View. Learned Heat Actions are posted on Kazuma's personal blog, called "Kamuroblo", which uses the same template as general director Toshihiro Nagoshi's own blog.[8]
- First Person View: When pressing the DualShock 3's R3 button during the adventure mode, the standard third person view switches to a brand new first person mode. This perspective allows a better observation of the streets and people, but looking some people in the eyes using First Person View will provoke them and they will attack. First Person View is disabled in some indoor places and at certain angles.
Event Mode[edit]
The main story spans twelve chapters plus a prologue. As with the earlier games, each chapter is preceded by a cinematic, called an "event scene", which later becomes available in the Gallery mode. Skipping these scenes using the Start button can only be done after enabling the scene-skipping option in the menu, which is switched off by default. The western version of Yakuza 3 features 295 minutes of cutscenes according to the BBFC.[9]
Six sub-scenarios ("Date's Pride", "Two Fathers", "Hometown Girl", "The Finishing Touch", "Silver Screen Dragon", and "Murder at Café Alps") are special missions featuring "event scene" cinematics.
Adventure Mode[edit]
In the eastern releases, the main story is complemented with 123 unique side stories called "sub-scenarios" ("substory" in the original version, サブストーリー sabustori). These sub-scenarios are divided into two classes: Mission and Hitman. There are 103 standard missions, some of which are made up of different episodes, and 20 hitman sub-scenarios. Fifteen of these bounty hunter sidestories are located in Kamurocho, the remaining five in Ryukyu.
Twenty minigames are available within Adventure mode. These are aromatherapy massage (eastern releases only), darts, pool, karaoke, bowling, mahjong (eastern releases only), chinchirorin, shogi (eastern releases only), chō-han, koi-koi, oicho-kabu, roulette, poker, blackjack, Answer & Answer (eastern releases only), UFO Catcher, batting cage, golf, surf fishing and Boxcelios. 2-player support for some of these mini games and an expansion for Answer & Answer are added through DLC, as well as main menu direct access in the eastern releases. However, the quiz minigame's expansion was eventually removed from the western release and 2-player support became a time limited DLC exclusive to the North American release's Challenge Pack. Challenges like Mack Shinozuka's training, Inner Fighter 7 and Haruka's Request aren't considered either mini games or side stories.
Beating the game in "Hard" mode unlocks the "Ex-Hard" (extreme hard) extra difficulty level. Completing the game in any difficulty mode will create a "cleared data" save file and unlock "Premium New Game" and "Premium Adventure". The first allows to restart the game with all accumulated money, items, experience levels and fighting techniques. The latter is a free-run mode dedicated to exploration and completion as it doesn't include the main story, with only sub-scenarios remaining (though a small number of missions will only appear at a certain point in story mode, and cannot be triggered in Premium Adventure). Extra game contents are added through DLC.
Battle Mode[edit]
As with the previous games, the Underground Coliseum (闘技場, Tōgijō) is available. An illicit mixed martial arts competition sponsored by Majima is held in the area beneath Kamurocho Hills, formerly Purgatory. The arena is inspired by real life Japanese cage fighting competitions such as K-1 World Grand Prix; gameplay is similar to fighting games Toshihiro Nagoshi previously worked on such as Virtua Fighter 5 and SpikeOut. Single Tournament has 50 unique international fighters (a minor character with its own profile) and 11 grand prix tournaments to choose from. These 3-round competitions have various rings, rules and difficulty levels; the different types of tournament are Exhibition Tournament, Street Fight GP, Breakout GP, Heat GP, Bounding GP, Bomber GP, Golden Glove GP, Weapon Master GP, Hyper GP, Magnum Force GP and Maximum GP. Tag Tournament is a two-partner team match including 20 unique teams. Each team is made of paired Single Tournament fighters enhanced with a special duo attack. There are 2 available grand prix named Tag Match GP and Twin Dragon GP. Three Single Tournament fighters and two Encounter Battle characters will join Kazuma Kiryu's "Team Dragon" ("Team The Dragon" in the original release) as tag partners once he finds them in the Adventure Mode; these are boxer Maxim Soldatov (マクシム・ソルダドフ), kenpō Bruce Ebinuma (ブルース海老沼), puroresu Daiji Hiyama (桧山 大治), Keigo Kanno (神野 慶吾) and Masaki Hatae (波多江 真幸). Orders can be given to these partners using the DualShock 3's arrow keys.
Completing the story mode unlocks 35 additional Battle Missions gathered in a bonus mode called Final Competition (究極闘技, Kyōkyoku Tōgi, Ultimate Contest). The first competition has 10 missions and is called "Melee Competition" (乱戦闘技, Ransen Tōgi), the second has 5 missions and is called "Showdown Competition" (対決闘技, Taiketsu Tōgi), the third has 10 missions and is called "Trial Competition" (試練闘技, Shiren Tōgi), and fourth competition has 5 missions and is called "Cooperation Competition". Completing these four competitions unlocks a fifth competition called the Final Competition (究極闘技, Kyōkyoku Tōgi) which has 5 missions. Completing all 35 missions with an "S" rank, the highest rank possible, unlocks a special item delivered by Bob Utsunomiya, which is a talisman called the Fighting God's Talisman ((闘神の護符, Tatagami no Gofū) that, when equipped, permanently maintains the Heat Gauge at maximum level.
Once story mode is completed the player can start a Premium Adventure and meet a hidden minor character (a clairvoyant woman) who allows access to four exclusive modes (専用モード, Senyō mōdo) added through DLC, only available in a special edition of the game in Europe, and as a preorder bonus in North America.[10] In Survival Battle Kazuma Kiryu must find and defeat the "Last Boss" (ラスボス, rasu bosu), Yoshitaka Mine; eight bonus bosses are disseminated within Kamurocho. In Survival Onigokko, Kazuma Kiryu is chased by Bob Utsunomiya in Kamurocho, with ten missions to complete in 3 minutes. All Star Tournament is an extra Arena single tournament that involves all 8 boss characters plus Goh Hamazaki, the latter of which can only be fought in this mode. All Star Tag Tournament is an extra tag tournament that pits Kazuma Kiryu and his fighting partner Goro Majima against 7 teams of bosses and bonus characters such as Kazuki, Yuya, Goh Hamazaki and Komaki.
Completion[edit]
The quest for the disseminated 100 coin lockers (half of them hidden in Kamurocho, the others in Ryukyu) is rewarded with the "Key Collector" Silver PSN Trophy. The latter was called "Kagi no Hōrōsha" (鍵の放浪者) (lit. "vagrant keys") and was only Bronze level in the Eastern releases. As a mixed game including elements of the sandbox game and RPG genres, Yakuza 3 includes a "Completion" feature that sums up what percentage of the game was actually completed by the player.
Only 100% completion (Completion + Sub-Scenario) will unlock the final mission involving a recurring hidden all-black character named Jo Amon 亞門 丈 (Amon Jo), a.k.a. "Mysterious Hitman",[11] a returning character from the spinoff[12] and a secret boss available since the original Yakuza title.[13] In Yakuza 3, Jo Amon's weapon is dual light sabers.[14]
Plot[edit]
Setting[edit]
Unlike Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan! (the previous game in the series, released only in Japan), which was a Miyamoto Musashi-based spinoff set in Edo-era Kyoto, this installment continues the adventures of Kazuma Kiryu from Yakuza and Yakuza 2. The game takes place both in Kamurocho, a fictional version of Tokyo's red-light district Kabukicho, from the first two games, and in a brand new location called Ryukyu.
The area of Okinawa where the story takes place is a fictional area, based upon Naha's Makishi. It includes real life landmarks such as the Ichiba Hondori[15] (linked to Mutsumibashi Dori and Heiwa Dori) covered shopping arcade renamed "Karyushi Arcade" (かりゅしアーケード, karyushi ākēdo) in the game as well as the popular Makishi Public Market shortened "Public Market" (公設市場, Kōsetsu Ichiba),[16] the famous entertainment strip Kokusai Street called "Ryukyu Street" (琉球通り, Ryūkyū Doori),[17] the Okinawa Monorail Kencho-mae Station as "Ryukyugai-mae Station" (琉球街前, Ryūkyūgai Mae) or the Mitsukoshi department store (Okinawa Mitsukoshi) which kept its actual name as part of the game's tie-in policy.
Compared with the earlier episodes, the Kamurocho area has some minor changes with additional backstreets and landmarks. South-East Kabukicho's European medieval castle-shaped karaoke box Royal Castle Bldg. (王城ビル) has been modeled and renamed "Kamuro Castle", and north-west Kamurocho love hotel Hotel Åland has been recreated in Kamurocho hotels quarter as the Hotel Tea Clipper.
Characters[edit]
Yakuza 3's main characters are Kazuma Kiryu (Takaya Kuroda) and Haruka Sawamura (Rie Kugimiya), with Rikiya Shimabukuro (Tatsuya Fujiwara) as a supporting character who can accompany Kiryu. Additional castings total up to three hundred and sixty unique characters, appearing in both the main story and over a hundred different sub-scenarios.
Story[edit]
Unlike previous episodes, the story is not written by Hase Seishu; instead, it was primarily penned by writer Masayoshi Yokoyama. Yakuza 3 takes a departure from the first two games with its choice of setting: instead of focusing on the gritty cityscapes of Tokyo and Osaka, it switches gears and sends Kazuma Kiryu to the rural Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa, where he runs the Morning Glory Orphanage ("Sunshine Orphanage" in the English PS3 version) with his adoptive daughter Haruka Sawamura (who calls him "Uncle Kaz").
Plot[edit]
 | This section's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (April 2021) |
In February 2007, after ending the war with the Omi Alliance, Kiryu and Haruka visit the cemetery where his adopted father, Shintaro Kazama (Tetsuya Watari), rests. They are joined by Kaoru Sayama (Yū Daiki), who leaves for the United States. Kiryu accepts custody of an orphanage in Okinawa, hoping to raise orphans like Kazama raised him. Before leaving, he enlists his rival, Goro Majima (Hidenari Ugaki), to assist Daigo Dojima (Satoshi Tokushige), Kiryu's successor, in his duties as clan chairman. Majima agrees, after Kiryu defeats him.
Six months later, Kiryu has settled into the orphanage and is dealing with eviction notices from the Ryudo Family, who own the land it's built on. He confronts two members of the clan, including the boss's right-hand man, Rikiya Shimabukuro, and meets the clan's patriarch, Shigeru Nakahara (Shigeru Izumiya). Nakahara informs Kiryu that the land is wanted for a seaside resort. Kiryu refuses to close the orphanage, despite Nakahara's threats.
The following week, Rikiya asks Kiryu for help in finding Nakahara's daughter, Saki (Umeka Shōji). Kiryu and Rikiya learn that Saki's mother is working with Tetsuo Tamashiro (Unshō Ishizuka), the patriarch of a rival family, who plans to use Saki as leverage to seize Nakahara's territory. Kiryu defeats Tamashiro and banishes his gang, and Saki returns to Nakahara when her mother rejects her. Nakahara pledges an oath to Kiryu in return. Daigo reveals that Tamashiro was recruited to secure the land in a scheme tied to Defense Minister Ryuzo Tamiya's (Akio Otsuka) "Military Base Expansion Bill". Daigo refuses to involve the Tojo Clan with the resort.
In March 2009, Daigo and Nakahara are shot in separate incidents, leaving Daigo comatose, and the deed to the orphanage is stolen. Kiryu travels to Kamurocho and meets Osamu Kashiwagi (Shunsuke Sakuya), Kazama's successor, who is assassinated by a gunship. Fleeing, Kiryu is rescued by his old friend, Makoto Date (Kazuhiro Yamaji, who informs him of three suspects for Kashiwagi's death: Yoshitaka Mine (Nakamura Shidō II), chairman of the Hakuho Clan, Goh Hamazaki (George Takahashi), a patriarch with ties to the Yokohama triads, and Tsuyoshi Kanda (Hiroyuki Miyasako), who controls Akira Nishikiyama's former gang.
Kiryu and Rikiya interrogate Kanda, and learn he is uninvolved. Date informs Kiryu that Majima has been contracted to build the resort. After a rematch, Majima explains that Hamazaki got him the contract. Majima's associate, the Florist of Sai (Yoshiaki Fujiwara), informs Kiryu that his old enemy, Lau Ka Long (Shinichi Takizawa), is an ally of Hamazaki. Long has Rikiya kidnapped and forces Kiryu to fight him. Rikiya is saved by Nakahara's attacker, who kills Long. Kiryu later meets Mine, who presents him with Kanda's severed head and reveals that Hamazaki has disappeared, and his men have been killed, presumably by the triads.
Tamiya meets Kiryu, and reveals that the Military Base Expansion Bill is part of a CIA operation to eliminate an arms smuggling group known as "Black Monday", and Nakahara's attacker is senior CIA operative Joji Kazama (Shintaro Kazama's brother, also voiced by Tetsuya Watari). Tamiya agrees to stop the resort if Kiryu protects his former secretary from a planned hit by Joji. Kiryu intercepts Joji and defeats him. Returning home, Kiryu finds the orphanage in ruins; Mine had promised Tamashiro a share of the resort for securing the remaining land. Nakahara is trampled by bulls in Tamashiro's bullring hideout. Kiryu defeats Tamashiro, who then fires at him; Rikiya defends Kiryu and is fatally wounded. Joji kills Tamashiro, while the dying Rikiya asks Kiryu to stop Mine.
Joji has a jet fly Kiryu to Tokyo. Kiryu defeats the Hakuho Clan at the hospital where Daigo is being treated, then defeats a rogue CIA team led by Joji's colleague, Andre Richardson (Charles Glover). He locates Mine and Daigo on the hospital roof. Mine reveals that he idolizes Daigo, intending to euthanize him and take over the Tojo Clan. Kiryu defeats him. Richardson arrives with his team and reveals himself to be the leader of Black Monday. Before he can kill Mine and Kiryu, Daigo wakes up and kills Richardson's agents. Richardson attempts to kill Daigo and Kiryu, and Mine, inspired by Kiryu, sacrifices himself to save them by tackling Richardson off the roof to their deaths. Joji and Haruka arrive with a rescue chopper.
Kiryu bids farewell to his friends Kazuki (Hiroshi Tsuchida) and Yuya (Kenta Miyake) as he and Haruka meet before going home. Kiryu is confronted by Hamazaki, who blames him for his misfortune and stabs Kiryu for mine's death before Kazuki and Yuya subdue him. Badly wounded, Kiryu seemingly gives his dying words to Haruka.
In a post-credits scene, Kiryu is revealed to have survived as he rests at the orphanage.
Development[edit]
The game's default video output is 720p HD graphics rendering at a resolution of 1024x768 without anti-aliasing but it supports 1080p mode upscale.
Daisuke Tomoda, CS1 Team (Sega CS R&D) visual artist and character design team leader of the Yakuza series since the original episode,[18] partially unveiled Yakuza 3`s development at the 2009 Game Tools & Middleware Forum seminar held in Tokyo on June 15.[19] Yakuza 3 character designing began shortly after the completion of Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan! in 2008 with a three-week project phase followed by an eight months production.[19] In the end, 110 high polygon characters, for they appear in Event Scene cinematics, plus 250 minor characters, were created by 60 teams producing a dozen characters each.[19] Thus, 360 characters were produced following a "one person one body" philosophy and a three-day-per-body target schedule.[19] As a comparison, the production of Yakuza on PlayStation 2 took ten months and had no more volume.[19] The series' production pace is one game per year since the original Yakuza in 2005.[19] CS1 used a slogan to describe the game's graphics: "Not Reality but Real (リアリティではなくリアル, Riariti de wa naku riaru).[20]
Magical V-Engine[edit]
As with the previous PlayStation 3 Ryū ga Gotoku game, main characters have their face scanned through Cyberware's head & face color 3D scanner (model PS).[20] As detailed at the GTMF 2009, Event Scene cinematics are real-time and render highly detailed XSI 6.5 2.5MB data size characters using 18,000~20,000 polygons each;[20] 3D model bones are made of 107 meshes with 64 used for the body and the remaining 43 used for the face.[19] In addition, the PlayStation 3 employs advanced graphics technologies without LOD, texture size 512×512 front buffer with 512×512 back buffer, diffuse map and normal map, multi map (ambient occlusion, specular mask, 8-bit specular power RGB) within cutscene.[19] These Event Scene cinematics fully exploit Sega's in-house facial expressions engine called Magical V-Engine.[19] This engine is based on a unique "wrinkle shader" technology 皺シェーダー (Shiwa shēdā)[19] that allows for advanced facial animation from voice recordings alone.[21] By animating based upon not only the phonetic lip syncing but tone, the software can emulate the basic human emotions in full facial expression.[21]
Audio[edit]
Yakuza 3 outputs uncompressed or compressed audio, respectively Linear PCM 2ch/5.1ch (stereo or surround) and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround.[22]
Cast[edit]
The game's main characters have their face modeled in 3D after their voice actors, who are Japanese celebrities. Softimage XSI 3D data is obtained by scanning a human head[23] with Cyberware Inc.'s latest scanner.[20] These include returning voice actors Takaya Kuroda (as Kazuma Kiryu), Rie Kugimiya (as Haruka Sawamura), Hidenari Ugaki as (Goro Majima), and TV actor Satoshi Tokushige (as Daigo Dojima).
New cast additions to this entry of the Yakuza series are: Tatsuya Fujiwara as Rikiya Shimabukuro. Who is best known for his role as Shuya Nanahara in Battle Royale and Battle Royale II: Requiem, Nakamura Shidō II as Yoshitaka Mine who featured in Ronny Yu's Jet Li is Fearless, actor Tetsuya Watari as Joji Kazama famous for his yakuza roles in Seijun Suzuki's Tokyo Drifter, Kinji Fukasaku's Graveyard of Honor and Takeshi Kitano's Brother, singers and tarento Shigeru Izumiya as Shigeru Nakahara and George Takahashi as Goh Hamazaki,