''Yakuza 3'' is a 2009
action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres.
Definition
An action adventure game can be defined as a game with a mix of elements from an action ...
developed and published by
Sega
is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...
for the
PlayStation 3
The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...
. The third main entry in the ''
Like a Dragon series'', 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.
A remaster containing all
cut content was released in Japan on August 9, 2018, and worldwide on August 20, 2019, for the
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...
, and on January 28, 2021, for
Windows
Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
and
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...
. A sequel, ''
Yakuza 4
is a 2010 action-adventure game developed and published by Sega for the PlayStation 3. The sequel to ''Yakuza 3'' and the fourth main installment in the ''Yakuza (franchise), Yakuza'' series, it was released in Japan in March 2010 and internat ...
'', was released on March 18, 2010, in Japan.
Gameplay
Features
''Yakuza 3'' introduces
PlayStation Network Trophies to the series with 45 trophies (50 in the Eastern releases). It adds four gameplay elements:
*Seamless Battle (シームレスバトル ''shimuresu batoru''): Seamless Battle is a
streaming
Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...
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 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
A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This radio ...
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
is a Japanese video game producer, director and designer. He was the chief creative officer for Sega until 2021 when he became creative director. He went on to be the general director of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, and later became a member of t ...
's own blog.
*First Person View: When pressing the
DualShock 3
The DualShock (originally Dual Shock, trademarked as DUALSHOCK or DUAL SHOCK, with the PlayStation 5 version as DualSense) is a line of gamepads developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment (formerly Sony Computer Entertainment) for the PlayStati ...
'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
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
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of films exhibited at cinemas and video works (su ...
.
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
In the eastern releases, the main story is complemented with 123 unique
side stories called "sub-scenarios" ("substory" in the original version, ''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
A bounty hunter is a private agent working for a bail bondsman who captures fugitives or criminals for a commission or bounty. The occupation, officially known as a bail enforcement agent or fugitive recovery agent, has traditionally operated ...
sidestories are located in
Kamurocho, the remaining five in
Ryukyu
The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Geography of Taiwan, Taiwan: the Ryukyu Islands are divided into the Satsunan Islands (Ōsumi Islands, Ōsumi, Tokara Islands, Tokara and A ...
.
Twenty
minigame
A minigame (also spelled mini game and mini-game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short game often contained within another video game. A minigame contains different gameplay elements and is often smaller or more simplistic than th ...
s are available within Adventure mode. These are
aromatherapy massage (eastern releases only),
darts
Darts is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, projectiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dartboard.
Point ...
,
pool
Pool may refer to:
Bodies of water
* Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming
* Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings
* Tide pool, a roc ...
,
karaoke
is a type of interactive entertainment system usually offered in nightclubs and bars, where people sing along to pre-recorded accompaniment using a microphone.
Its musical content is an instrumental rendition of a well-known popular song. I ...
,
bowling
Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...
,
mahjong
Mahjong (English pronunciation: ; also transliterated as mah jongg, mah-jongg, and mahjongg) is a tile-based game that was developed in the 19th century in China and has spread throughout the world since the early 20th century. It is played ...
(eastern releases only),
chinchirorin,
shogi
, also known as Japanese chess, is a Strategy game, strategy board game for two players. It is one of the most popular board games in Japan and is in the same family of games as chess, Western chess, chaturanga, xiangqi, Indian chess, and janggi. ...
(eastern releases only),
chō-han,
koi-koi,
oicho-kabu
is a traditional Japanese card game that is similar to baccarat. It is typically played with special ''kabufuda'' cards. A ''hanafuda'' deck can also be used, if the last two months are discarded, and French-suited playing cards, Western playi ...
,
roulette
Roulette (named after the French language, French word meaning "little wheel") is a casino game which was likely developed from the Italy, Italian game Biribi. In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various grouping ...
,
poker
Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...
,
blackjack
Blackjack (formerly black jack or ''vingt-un'') is a casino banking game. It is the most widely played casino banking game in the world. It uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as " twenty-one ...
, ' (eastern releases only), ',
batting cage,
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...
,
surf fishing
Surf fishing is land-based game fishing while standing on the shoreline or wading into the surf zone. A general term, surf fishing may or may not include casting a lure or bait, and refers to all types of shore fishing – from sandy and rocky be ...
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
As with the previous games, the is available. An illicit
mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world.
In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...
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
K-1 World Grand Prix, also known as the K-1 ''WORLD'' GP, is an elimination kickboxing tournament that was originally held annually from 1993 by the K-1 organization, under the ownership of the Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG). Each year, ...
; gameplay is similar to fighting games
Toshihiro Nagoshi
is a Japanese video game producer, director and designer. He was the chief creative officer for Sega until 2021 when he became creative director. He went on to be the general director of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, and later became a member of t ...
previously worked on such as ''
Virtua Fighter 5
is a fighting video game developed and published by Sega. It is the fifth installment of the ''Virtua Fighter'' series. The original version was released in July 2006 on the Sega Lindbergh arcade system board with a number of updates before h ...
'' 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 Boxer most commonly refers to:
*Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing
* Boxer (dog), a breed of dog
Boxer or boxers may also refer to:
Animal kingdom
* Boxer crab
* Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans
* Boxer snipe ee ...
Maxim Soldatov ,
kenpō
is the name of several martial arts. This term is often informally transliterated as "kempo", as a result of applying Traditional Hepburn romanization, but failing to use a macron to indicate the long vowel
In linguistics, vowel length is ...
Bruce Ebinuma ,
puroresu
is a Japanese term used for professional wrestling in Japan, professional wrestling in and outside of Japan. The term comes from the Gairaigo, Japanese pronunciation of , which in Japanese is abbreviated to “puro” ( - “pro”) & “resu” ...
Daiji Hiyama , Keigo Kanno and Masaki Hatae . Orders can be given to these partners using the
DualShock 3
The DualShock (originally Dual Shock, trademarked as DUALSHOCK or DUAL SHOCK, with the PlayStation 5 version as DualSense) is a line of gamepads developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment (formerly Sony Computer Entertainment) for the PlayStati ...
's arrow keys.
Completing the story mode unlocks 35 additional Battle Missions gathered in a bonus mode called . The first competition has 10 missions and is called , the second has 5 missions and is called , the third has 10 missions and is called , and fourth competition has 5 missions and is called . Completing these four competitions unlocks a fifth competition called the 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 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 added through DLC, only available in a special edition of the game in Europe, and as a preorder bonus in North America. In Survival Battle Kazuma Kiryu must find and defeat the ,
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
Boss may refer to:
Occupations
* Supervisor, often referred to as boss
* Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier
* Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization
* Fire boss, ...
characters plus
Goh Hamazaki
Japanese video game developer Sega's ''Yakuza (franchise), Yakuza'' media franchise, known as ''Ryū ga Gotoku'' (, lit. "Like a Dragon") in its native Japan and other Asian territories, features an extensive cast of characters. This article ...
, 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
Goro Majima (Japanese: 真島 吾朗, Hepburn: ''Majima Gorō'') is a main character in Sega's ''Like a Dragon'' video game franchise, previously known as ''Yakuza'' outside of Japan. He first started off as one of the secondary antagonists of ...
against 7 teams of bosses and bonus characters such as Kazuki, Yuya, Goh Hamazaki and Komaki.
Completion
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 (lit. "vagrant keys") and was only Bronze level in the Eastern releases. As a mixed game including elements of the
sandbox game
A sandbox game is a video game with a gameplay element that provides players a great degree of creativity to interact with, usually without any predetermined goal, or with a goal that the players set for themselves. Such games may lack any objec ...
and
RPG
RPG may refer to:
Military
* Rocket-propelled grenade, a shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon
**''Ruchnoi Protivotankoviy Granatomyot'' (Russian: ''Ручной Противотанковый Гранатомёт''), hand-held anti-tank grenade laun ...
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 , a.k.a. "Mysterious Hitman",
a returning character from the spinoff
and a secret boss available since the original ''Yakuza'' title.
In ''Yakuza 3'', Jo Amon's weapon is dual
light sabers.
Plot
Setting
Unlike ''
Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan!'' (the previous game in the series, released only in Japan), which was a
Miyamoto Musashi
, was a Japanese swordsman, strategist, artist, and writer who became renowned through stories of his unique double-bladed swordsmanship and undefeated record in his 62 duels. Miyamoto is considered a ''Kensei (honorary title), kensei'' (swo ...
-based spinoff set in
Edo
Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo.
Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...
-era
Kyoto
Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...
, this installment continues the adventures of
Kazuma Kiryu from ''
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media (by request of the police) call them , while the yakuza call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ''yak ...
'' and ''
Yakuza 2''. The game takes place both in Kamurocho, a fictional version of Tokyo's
red-light district
A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex industry, sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are found. In most cases, 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
is the Cities of Japan, capital city of Okinawa Prefecture, the southernmost prefecture of Japan. As of 1 June 2019, the city has an estimated population of 317,405 and a population density of 7,939 people per km2 (20,562 persons per sq. mi.). ...
's Makishi. It includes real life landmarks such as the Ichiba Hondori
(linked to Mutsumibashi Dori and
Heiwa Dori) covered
shopping arcade
An arcade is a succession of contiguous arches, with each arch supported by a colonnade of columns or piers. Exterior arcades are designed to provide a sheltered walkway for pedestrians; they include many loggias, but here arches are not an esse ...
renamed in the game as well as the popular shortened , the famous entertainment strip called , the
Okinawa Monorail Kencho-mae Station as or the
Mitsukoshi
is an international Department stores in Japan, department store chain with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. Its holding company, Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings, is a member of the Mitsui, Mitsui Group.
History
It was founded in 1673 with the (sho ...
department store () 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
A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...
-shaped
karaoke box
A is a type of karaoke establishment commonly found in Asia, the United States and Canada. It originated in Japan, and is now popular worldwide, particularly in Asia. Karaoke boxes consist of multiple rooms containing karaoke equipment, usually ...
has been modeled and renamed "Kamuro Castle", and north-west Kamurocho
love hotel
A love hotel is a type of short-stay hotel found around the world operated primarily for the purpose of allowing guests privacy for sex. The name originates from "Hotel Love" in Osaka, Japan. Although love hotels exist all over the world, the ...
Hotel Åland has been recreated in Kamurocho hotels quarter as the Hotel Tea Clipper.
Characters
''Yakuza 3s main characters are
Kazuma Kiryu (
Takaya Kuroda
is a Japanese actor and voice actor from Tokyo, Japan. He is affiliated with Axlone, and was formerly with Mausu Promotion and 81 Produce.
He is best known for his bass voice, which has usually seen him cast in villainous roles such as the vo ...
) and
Haruka Sawamura (
Rie Kugimiya
is a Japanese voice actress and singer. She is best known for her voice performances in anime, which include Alphonse Elric in the '' Fullmetal Alchemist'' series, Kagura in '' Gintama'', and Happy in '' Fairy Tail'' and '' Edens Zero'', and ...
), with
Rikiya Shimabukuro (
Tatsuya Fujiwara
is a Japanese actor. Internationally, he is best known for his leading roles as Shuya Nanahara in the '' Battle Royale'' films, Light Yagami in the ''Death Note'' films, Kaiji Itō in the ''Kaiji'' films, and Rikuhiko Yuki in Hideo Nakata's '' ...
) 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
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
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
and
Osaka
is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...
, it switches gears and sends Kazuma Kiryu to the rural
Ryukyu Islands
The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Geography of Taiwan, Taiwan: the Ryukyu Islands are divided into the Satsunan Islands (Ōsumi Islands, Ōsumi, Tokara Islands, Tokara and A ...
of
Okinawa
most commonly refers to:
* Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture
* Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture
* Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself
* Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...
, 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
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
born (December 28, 1941 – August 10, 2020) was a Japanese film, stage, and television actor.
Life
He graduated from Aoyama Gakuin University. Watari belonged to the karate club at university. He made his screen debut in 1964, in Isamu Kosu ...
), rests. They are joined by Kaoru Sayama (Yū Daiki), who leaves for the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. Kiryu accepts custody of an orphanage in Okinawa, hoping to raise orphans like Kazama raised him. Before leaving, he enlists Goro Majima (
Hidenari Ugaki) to assist Daigo Dojima (Satoshi Tokushige), Kiryu's successor, in his duties as Tojo Clan chairman.
Six months later, Kiryu has settled into the orphanage and is dealing with eviction notices from the Ryudo Family, who own the land the orphanage is built on. He confronts the boss's right-hand man, Rikiya Shimabukuro, and meets the clan's patriarch, Shigeru Nakahara (
Shigeru Izumiya
Shigeru Izumiya (泉谷 しげる ''Izumiya Shigeru'', born May 11, 1948, in Aomori, raised in Meguro, Tokyo) is a Japanese poet, folk singer, actor, tarento. He established the record company For Life Records with Takuro Yoshida, Yosui Inoue, a ...
). Nakahara informs Kiryu that the land is wanted for a seaside
resort
A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that aims to provide most of a vacationer's needs. This includes food, drink, swimming, accommodation, sports, entertainment and shopping, on the premises. A hotel ...
. 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 stolen. Kiryu travels to Kamurocho and meets Osamu Kashiwagi (
Shunsuke Sakuya), Kazama's successor, who is assassinated. Fleeing, Kiryu is rescued by his old friend Makoto Date (
Kazuhiro Yamaji
is a Japanese actor and voice actor affiliated with the Seinenza Theater Company. He has been married to Romi Park since 2020.
Filmography Live-action films
* 2000: '' Whiteout'' (Takayoshi Yoshikane)
* 2001: ''Inugami'' (Takanao)
* 2004: '' Ka ...
), 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
is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...
triads, and Tsuyoshi Kanda (
Hiroyuki Miyasako
is a Japanese comedian, television presenter, actor, voice actor and plays the boke in Ameagari Kesshitai. His partner is Tōru Hotohara. He is represented by Yoshimoto Kogyo. Miyasako won the award for Best Supporting Actor at the 28th Hochi ...
), 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. Majima explains that Hamazaki got him the contract. Majima's associate, the Florist of Sai (
Yoshiaki Fujiwara
is a Japanese professional wrestler, trainer and wrestling promoter. He is famous for his long career in wrestling, having worked in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE (ZERO-ONE), and the two incarnations of shoot style pro ...
), 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
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
operation to eliminate an arms smuggling group known as "
Black Monday
Black Monday refers to specific Mondays when undesirable or turbulent events have occurred. It has been used to designate massacres, military battles, and stock market crashes.
Historic events
*1209, Dublin – when a group of 500 recently arriv ...
", and Nakahara's attacker is senior CIA operative Joji Kazama (Shintaro Kazama's brother, also voiced by
Tetsuya Watari
born (December 28, 1941 – August 10, 2020) was a Japanese film, stage, and television actor.
Life
He graduated from Aoyama Gakuin University. Watari belonged to the karate club at university. He made his screen debut in 1964, in Isamu Kosu ...
). 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
A bullring is an arena where bullfighting is performed. Bullrings are often associated with the Iberian Peninsula, but they can also be found through Iberian America and in a few Spanish and Portuguese ex-colonies in Africa. Bullrings are ...
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. 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
is a Japanese voice actor and narrator. He is affiliated with 81 Produce.
Biography
Miyake wanted to become a voice actor after admiring an actress. After attending the Amusement Media Research Institute and joining 81 Produce, he replaced se ...
) 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
A post-credits scene (also known as a stinger, end tag, or credit cookie) is a short teaser clip that appears after the closing credits have rolled and sometimes after a production logo of a film, TV show, or video game has run. It is usually ...
, Kiryu is revealed to have survived as he rests at the orphanage.
Development
The game's default video output is
720p
720p (720 lines progressive) is a progressive HD signal format with 720 horizontal lines/1280 columns and an aspect ratio (AR) of 16:9, normally known as widescreen HD (1.78:1). All major HD broadcasting standards (such as SMPTE 292M) includ ...
HD graphics rendering at a resolution of 1024x768 without
anti-aliasing Anti-aliasing may refer to any of a number of techniques to combat the problems of aliasing in a sampled signal such as a digital image or digital audio recording.
Specific topics in anti-aliasing include:
* Anti-aliasing filter, a filter used b ...
but it supports
1080p
1080p (1920 × 1080 progressively displayed pixels; also known as Full HD or FHD, and BT.709) is a set of HDTV high-definition video modes characterized by 1,920 pixels displayed across the screen horizontally and 1,080 pixels down the sc ...
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, partially unveiled ''Yakuza 3''`s development at the 2009 Game Tools & Middleware Forum seminar held in Tokyo on June 15.
''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.
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.
Thus, 360 characters were produced following a "one person one body" philosophy and a three-day-per-body target schedule.
As a comparison, the production of ''
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media (by request of the police) call them , while the yakuza call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ''yak ...
'' on
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
took ten months and had no more volume.
The series' production pace is one game per year since the original ''
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media (by request of the police) call them , while the yakuza call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ''yak ...
'' in 2005.
CS1 used a slogan to describe the game's graphics: .
Magical V-Engine
As with the previous PlayStation 3 ''Ryū ga Gotoku'' game, main characters have their face scanned through
Cyberware
Cyberware refers to technology that integrates directly with the human nervous system, typically through implants or interfaces that enable communication between machines and the body.
Once largely a concept within ''science fiction'', cyberwar ...
's head & face color 3D scanner (model PS).
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;
3D model bones are made of 107 meshes with 64 used for the body and the remaining 43 used for the face.
In addition, the PlayStation 3 employs advanced graphics technologies without
LOD
Lod (, ), also known as Lydda () and Lidd (, or ), is a city southeast of Tel Aviv and northwest of Jerusalem in the Central District of Israel. It is situated between the lower Shephelah on the east and the coastal plain on the west. The ci ...
, texture size 512×512
front buffer with 512×512
back buffer, diffuse map and normal map, multi map (
ambient occlusion
In 3D computer graphics, modeling, and animation, ambient occlusion is a shading and rendering technique used to calculate how exposed each point in a scene is to ambient lighting. For example, the interior of a tube is typically more occlude ...
, specular mask, 8-bit specular power RGB) within cutscene.
These Event Scene cinematics fully exploit Sega's in-house facial expressions engine called Magical V-Engine.
This engine is based on a unique "wrinkle shader" technology
that allows for advanced facial animation from voice recordings alone.
By animating based upon not only the phonetic lip syncing but tone, the software can emulate the basic human emotions in full facial expression.
Audio
''Yakuza 3'' outputs uncompressed or compressed audio, respectively
Linear PCM 2ch/5.1ch (
stereo
Stereophonic sound, commonly shortened to stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configurat ...
or
surround) and
Dolby Digital 5.1
Dolby Digital, originally synonymous with Dolby AC-3 (see below), is the name for a family of audio compression technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories. Called Dolby Stereo Digital until 1995, it is lossy compression (except for Dolby True ...
surround.
Cast
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 with
Cyberware Inc.'s latest scanner.
These include returning voice actors
Takaya Kuroda
is a Japanese actor and voice actor from Tokyo, Japan. He is affiliated with Axlone, and was formerly with Mausu Promotion and 81 Produce.
He is best known for his bass voice, which has usually seen him cast in villainous roles such as the vo ...
(as
Kazuma Kiryu),
Rie Kugimiya
is a Japanese voice actress and singer. She is best known for her voice performances in anime, which include Alphonse Elric in the '' Fullmetal Alchemist'' series, Kagura in '' Gintama'', and Happy in '' Fairy Tail'' and '' Edens Zero'', and ...
(as
Haruka Sawamura),
Hidenari Ugaki as (
Goro Majima
Goro Majima (Japanese: 真島 吾朗, Hepburn: ''Majima Gorō'') is a main character in Sega's ''Like a Dragon'' video game franchise, previously known as ''Yakuza'' outside of Japan. He first started off as one of the secondary antagonists of ...
), and TV actor Satoshi Tokushige (as
Daigo Dojima).
New cast additions to this entry of the Yakuza series are:
Tatsuya Fujiwara
is a Japanese actor. Internationally, he is best known for his leading roles as Shuya Nanahara in the '' Battle Royale'' films, Light Yagami in the ''Death Note'' films, Kaiji Itō in the ''Kaiji'' films, and Rikuhiko Yuki in Hideo Nakata's '' ...
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
Ronny Yu Yan-Tai () is a Hong Kong film director, producer, and movie writer. He has worked on both Hong Kong and United States, American films. He is mostly known for his work in the American horror film, horror genre, such as ''Bride of Chucky ...
's ''
Jet Li is Fearless'', actor
Tetsuya Watari
born (December 28, 1941 – August 10, 2020) was a Japanese film, stage, and television actor.
Life
He graduated from Aoyama Gakuin University. Watari belonged to the karate club at university. He made his screen debut in 1964, in Isamu Kosu ...
as
Joji Kazama famous for his yakuza roles in
Seijun Suzuki
, born (24 May 1923 – 13 February 2017), was a Japanese filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter. His films are known for their florid visual style, absurd humour, and a playful rejection of traditional film grammar. He made 40 predominately ...
's ''
Tokyo Drifter'', Kinji Fukasaku's ''
Graveyard of Honor'' and
Takeshi Kitano
, also known as in Japan, is a Japanese comedian, actor, and filmmaker. While he is known primarily as a comedian and TV host in his native Japan, he is better known abroad for his work as a filmmaker and actor as well as TV host.
During hi ...
's ''
Brother
A brother (: brothers or brethren) is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a family, familial relationship, it is sometimes used ende ...
'', singers and ''
tarento
Television personalities in Japan, known as in Japanese, are celebrities who regularly appear in mass media in Japan, especially as panelists on variety shows. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, bankable stars in the United States were descri ...
''
Shigeru Izumiya
Shigeru Izumiya (泉谷 しげる ''Izumiya Shigeru'', born May 11, 1948, in Aomori, raised in Meguro, Tokyo) is a Japanese poet, folk singer, actor, tarento. He established the record company For Life Records with Takuro Yoshida, Yosui Inoue, a ...
as Shigeru Nakahara and George Takahashi as
Goh Hamazaki
Japanese video game developer Sega's ''Yakuza (franchise), Yakuza'' media franchise, known as ''Ryū ga Gotoku'' (, lit. "Like a Dragon") in its native Japan and other Asian territories, features an extensive cast of characters. This article ...
, voice actor
Akio Ōtsuka
is a Japanese actor, voice actor, and narrator from the Tokyo Metropolitan area. He is attached to Mausu Promotion.
The astringent and calm quality of his deep voice has landed him many roles in films, dubbing, animation, and video games. He i ...
as Ryuzo Tamiya, ''tarento'' Daisuke Miyakawa as Mikio Aragaki and Hiroyuki Miyasako as
Tsuyoshi Kanda.
Soundtrack
The ''Ryū ga Gotoku 3 Original Soundtrack'' (HCV-452) was published by
Wave Master
is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several multi-million-selling game franchises for arcades and consoles, including ''Sonic the Hedgehog'', '' Angry Birds'', '' Phan ...
in Japan on February 26, 2009. It was bundled as a bonus enhanced CD in the ''Yakuza 3'' PAL version's standard deluxe edition called the
Battle Pack. The music was composed by
Hidenori Shoji
is a Japanese video game composer who has contributed to such Sega titles as '' Fighting Vipers 2'' (1998) and '' F-Zero GX'' (2003). He is best known for his work as the music director of the ''Yakuza'' series and its ''Judgment'' spin-off ser ...
, Kentaro Koyama, Takahiro Kai, Hiroyoshi Kato, Yoshio Tsuru and
Hideki Sakamoto
is a Japanese music composer, best known for his contributions in video games. He serves as the representative director of Noisycroak, a Tokyo-based sound design company focused on game soundtracks. ''Echochrome II'' holds the Guinness World Re ...
, and includes a track by Love Sound System (DJ Giuliano, Ayako, Yoshiji Kobayashi). Performers are Minako Obata (a.k.a. Mooki), Chihiro Aoki (chorus) and Mitsuharu Fukuyama (trumpet). Two karaoke minigame songs are also included, performed by voice actors
Takaya Kuroda
is a Japanese actor and voice actor from Tokyo, Japan. He is affiliated with Axlone, and was formerly with Mausu Promotion and 81 Produce.
He is best known for his bass voice, which has usually seen him cast in villainous roles such as the vo ...
(
Kazuma Kiryu) and
Rie Kugimiya
is a Japanese voice actress and singer. She is best known for her voice performances in anime, which include Alphonse Elric in the '' Fullmetal Alchemist'' series, Kagura in '' Gintama'', and Happy in '' Fairy Tail'' and '' Edens Zero'', and ...
(
Haruka Sawamura).
Additional soundtrack includes three songs by Japanese
rock music
Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...
artist
Eikichi Yazawa
is a Japanese singer-songwriter, and a prominent figure in Japanese popular music. Yoko Yazawa of The Generous is his daughter. He has been nicknamed as Ei-chan (永ちゃん), Boss or The King of Rock.
Biography
Sources:
1949-1967: Early Li ...
(exclusive to the Japanese version, as the western releases removes them and replaces them with original pieces due to licensing issues).
*Main Theme Song: ''Loser'' by Eikichi Yazawa. This main theme was released as a title track single by Garuru Records, the artist's own indie label (GRRC-7), on February 25, 2009.
*Ending Theme Song: ''Omoi Ga Afuretara'' by Eikichi Yazawa from ''Your Songs 2'' released by
Toshiba EMI in 2006 (TOCT-26004) and re-released in 2009 by Garuru Records (GRRC-2). This is a reprise of the original version released on his 1997 album ''Yes''.
*Insert Song: ''Jikan yo Tomare (Subway Express 2 Version)'' (時間よ止まれ ~SUBWAY EXPRESS 2 バージョン~) by Eikichi Yazawa from his album ''Subway Express 2'' released by Toshiba-EMI in 2002 (TOCT-24840).
Downloadable content
Eastern releases
Eight packages of
downloadable content
content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can be added for no extra cost or as a form of video game monetization, enabling the publisher to gain ad ...
(DLC) were delivered through a weekly game update campaign starting on March 5, 2009, with one DLC per week.
These downloadable contents consist of:
*eight Item packs and eight S-Item packs delivered in-game by a minor character named Bob Utsunomiya
*2-player support for five mini-games (pool, darts, bowling, golf and ''Answer & Answer'')
*two add-ons (''Yakuza'' quiz series for ''Answer & Answer'' and Rank Ex-SSS for ''Haruka's Request'')
*three extra costumes for Kazuma Kiryu, Rikiya Shimabukuro and Haruka Sawamura (costume selection per character is four).
Four Premium Adventure exclusive modes are also added through DLC, these are:
*Survival Battle
*
*All-Star Tournament
*All-Star Tag Tournament
Western releases
Regular DLC
Four lots of DLC were delivered on release day with the PAL version's Battle Pack (also known as the Premium Pack). These free downloadable contents are:
*Battle For Survival: Take on all the bosses of ''Yakuza 3'' as Kazuma (previously known as "Survival Battle" in the Japanese version).
*All-Star Tournament: 7 character tournament (completed game save file required to access content).
*All-Star Tag Tournament: 8 team tournament (completed game save file required to access content).
*Haruka's Request: This unique series of challenge missions will send Kazuma on a task of exploration throughout the entire ''Yakuza 3'' world, playing minigames and entertaining Haruka (completed game save file required to access content).
All this DLC is also in the Japanese version. Regarding the western release of the DLC, a Sega America spokesperson officially stated on February 24, 2010: "
e western versions of the game will come pre-packaged with codes for the DLC, already localized and ready to be enjoyed".
Extra DLC
Two exclusive extra DLC codes were sent only to North American customers who pre-ordered ''Yakuza 3'' in their local
GameStop
GameStop Corp. is an American video game, consumer electronics, and gaming merchandise retailer, headquartered in Grapevine, Texas (a suburb of Dallas). The brand is the largest video game retailer worldwide. , the company operated 3,203 stor ...
stores.
These additional downloadable contents were:
*2 player mini-games (for pool, bowling, darts and golf).
*3 extra costumes for Kazuma, Haruka and Rikiya (completed game save file required to access content).
This pre-order only extra DLC are also available for the Japanese version, for which they were delivered for free through an eight-week downloadable content campaign. This DLC can be downloaded on the PlayStation Network. This was also released with pre-order in the UK.
Marketing and release
Tie-in and product placement
General director
Toshihiro Nagoshi
is a Japanese video game producer, director and designer. He was the chief creative officer for Sega until 2021 when he became creative director. He went on to be the general director of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, and later became a member of t ...
made twenty-seven
tie-in
A tie-in work is a work of fiction or other product based on a media property such as a film, video game, television series, board game, website, role-playing game or literary property. Tie-ins are authorized by the owners of the original proper ...
with local companies to produce
3D model
In 3D computer graphics, 3D modeling is the process of developing a mathematical coordinate-based representation of a surface of an object (inanimate or living) in three dimensions via specialized software by manipulating edges, vertices, and ...
reproductions of existing shop, restaurant or
hostess bar
A hostess is a female Hospitality, host or presenter of an event.
Hostess may also refer to:
Hospitality trades
* Air hostess, a flight attendant
* A female maître d' at a restaurant
* An employee at a hostess club
* Bargirl, a paid, female c ...
buildings. Such replicas include real exterior, interior, products, menus and sometimes
jingle
A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meanings that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...
s.
Kabukicho's tie-in are Club Sega
game center
Game Center is a service by Apple that allows users to play and challenge friends when playing online multiplayer social gaming network games. Games can share multiplayer functionality between the Mac and iOS versions of the app.
Game Cent ...
s,
Don Quijote
Don, don or DON and variants may refer to:
Places
*Don (river), a river in European Russia
* Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name
* Don, Benin, a town in Benin
* Don, Dang, a village and hill station in Dang district, G ...
discount stores,
restaurants,
café
A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargi ...
s (a
Suntory
(commonly referred to as simply Suntory) is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational brewing and distilling company group. Established in 1899, it is one of the oldest companies in the distribution of alcoholic beverages in Japan, and ...
joint venture) and Karaoke Kan. Collaboration with Sole tanning studio, ,
Aeon
The word aeon , also spelled eon (in American and Australian English), originally meant "life", "vital force" or "being", "generation" or "a period of time", though it tended to be translated as "age" in the sense of "ages", "forever", "timele ...
and
Geos is limited to visible ads within Kamurocho.
Okinawa's tie-ins are
Blue Seal ice cream parlor,
Quickly bubble tea
Bubble tea (also known as pearl milk tea, bubble milk tea, tapioca milk tea, boba tea, or boba; zh, t=珍珠奶茶, p=zhēnzhū nǎichá, zh, t=波霸奶茶, p=bōbà nǎichá, labels=no) is a tea-based drink most often containing chewy tapio ...
stand,
Sam's Maui steak house,
Stone Market accessory shop, Okinawaya , Okinawarigura liquor store and Velotaxi Japan.
Limited collaborations include the exterior design of Naha's , Okinawa's Mitsukoshi
and
department stores (which cannot be entered).
Orion draft beer,
Tantakatan ''
shōchū
is a Japanese distilled beverage. It is typically distilled from rice, barley, sweet potatoes, buckwheat, or brown sugar, though it is sometimes produced from other ingredients such as chestnut, sesame seeds, potatoes, or even carrots.
Typ ...
'',
Higashuzou ''
awamori''
and
Skymark Airlines
Skymark Airlines is a Japanese airline headquartered at Haneda Airport in Ōta, Tokyo, Ōta, Tokyo, Japan. It operates scheduled services with a main base at Haneda Airport with another base at Kobe Airport where it is the dominant carrier. It a ...
have ads visible within the Downtown Ryukyu area.
Sega extended its
product placement
Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is a marketing technique where references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as a film or television program, with specific promotional intent. Much of t ...
policy which was introduced in the original episode. Now real products can be bought within discount and convenience stores including
Axe
An axe (; sometimes spelled ax in American English; American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for thousands of years to shape, split, a ...
fragrance,
various
instant noodles
Instant noodles, or instant ramen, is a type of food consisting of noodles sold in a precooked and dried block with flavoring powder and/or seasoning oil. The dried noodle block was originally created by flash-frying cooked noodles, which is s ...
, several
Suntory
(commonly referred to as simply Suntory) is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational brewing and distilling company group. Established in 1899, it is one of the oldest companies in the distribution of alcoholic beverages in Japan, and ...
beers or soft drinks (such as
Boss Coffee and
C.C. Lemon),
Pepsi
Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...
soda (a Suntory licensee),
Kodansha
is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...
magazines (including ''
Young Magazine
is a Japanese weekly anthology magazine published in Tokyo each Monday by Kodansha. The magazine started on June 16, 1980, and is targeted at the adult male () demographic. It was published bimonthly (under the title ), on the second and fourth ...
'', ''
Weekly Morning
is a weekly Japanese seinen manga magazine published by Kodansha. It debuted in 1982 as and was rebranded as Morning in 1991 while still maintaining its weekly publication tradition. The digital edition of the magazine is titled . It is the sis ...
'' and ''
Vivi'').
This also applies to bars and pubs, since the Suntory group produces alcohol and owns many licenses for foreign alcoholic beverages like
Early Times whiskey
Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from Fermentation in food processing, fermented grain mashing, mash. Various grains (which may be Malting, malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, Maize, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky ...
,
Beefeater Gin
Beefeater Gin is a brand of gin owned by Pernod Ricard and bottled and distributed in the United Kingdom. Beefeater remained in the control of its founding Burrough family until 1987. The Beefeater distillery is one of 24 in London.
The name ...
,
Courvoisier
Courvoisier () is a brand of cognac, with production based in the town of Jarnac in the Charente region of France. It is the youngest and smallest of the "big four" cognac houses (the others are Hennessy, Rémy Martin, and Martell).
Courvoisi ...
cognac
Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the Communes of France, commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the Departments of France, departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime.
Cogn ...
and
Carlsberg Beer Carlsberg may refer to:
Places
* Carlsberg (district), a district in Copenhagen, Denmark
** Carlsberg station, its train station
* Carlsberg, Germany, a municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
* Carlsberg Fjord, Greenland Other uses
* Car ...
.
Suntory vending machines are still disseminated within Kamurocho as in the previous games.
Some sub-scenarios even revolve around product placement with minor characters specially created to advertise products, for example, the side story involving Ace Cook noodles and the fictitious
ramen
is a Chinese noodle dish popularized in Japan. It includes served in several flavors of broth. Common flavors are soy sauce and miso, with typical toppings including , nori (dried seaweed), menma (bamboo shoots), and scallions. Ramen h ...
shop or ''Young Magazine'' and the generic convenience store Poppo. Some items on the food and drink menu, required for 100% completion, cannot be purchased without first being in possession of a copy of Tokyo Isshukan.
Versions
Eastern releases
=Kamutai Magazine bundle
=
As part of the pre-ordering campaign, the Japanese and Asian first prints were bundled with a limited item, a
monography called ''Kamutai Magazine'' (February 2009 issue).
=Rising Dragon Pack
=
Sony celebrated the Japanese release of the game with a 10,000 console limited edition of the Ceramic White 80GB model PlayStation 3 called the .
=Ukiyo's Bell
=
The eastern versions include an exclusive extra Adventure Mode item. If the game detects an existing save file of ''Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan!'' stored on the PlayStation 3 hard disk drive, a reward item will be unlocked in ''Ryū ga Gotoku 3'' upon beginning a new game. This is a red copper bell called used by
Miyamoto Musashi
, was a Japanese swordsman, strategist, artist, and writer who became renowned through stories of his unique double-bladed swordsmanship and undefeated record in his 62 duels. Miyamoto is considered a ''Kensei (honorary title), kensei'' (swo ...
(a.k.a.
Kazumanosuke Kiryu) in the spin-off, which grants 3 points in the defense, edge and firearm stats when equipped. The bell was carried on to Yakuza 4, and retains its appearance, but is renamed Gion's Bell, and instead of protecting the wearer, it rewards money for every step taken.
Western releases
=Localization
=
The western version features
the Japanese voice cast (with localized subtitles) and includes a previously unreleased 18-minute video interview of Tamiya according to the
BBFC
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of films exhibited at cinemas and video works (su ...
.
Other bonus contents include a free compact disc with
the game's original soundtrack and an animated character guide. Western packages also come with PlayStation Network
redeem codes to unlock DLC; these western bundles are called
Challenge Pack (time limited) and
Battle Pack (regular).
Although the game was not censored for the western release, much extra content was removed due to time constraints. According to a Sega representative:
"The content between Yakuza 3 US/UK and Yakuza JP is a little different in that we took out certain bits in order to bring the game to the west in the time for us to do so. The parts we ended up taking out were parts that we felt wouldn't make sense (like a Japanese history quiz game) or wouldn't resonate as much (such as the concept of a hostess club). We didn't replace the parts we took out, but we made absolutely sure that the story continuity stayed intact so that the story experience was the same as the Japanese version and that it didn't take away the human drama so inherent to the Yakuza series."
The western localization of ''Yakuza 3'' was officially unveiled by Sony and Sega in late December 2009.
The same month, Sega Australia managing director Darren Macbeth declared in an interview with
GameSpot
''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
:
"The publisher needs to be comfortable enough that there is a strong market in the West before giving the go-ahead to local Japanese releases like the ''Yakuza'' series. In a lot of cases we have a very strong vocal group of fans, who demand the opportunity to play these games in their local markets, and are very outspoken in their support. However, when the time comes, they are reluctant to stay committed and actually make the purchase."
=Removed content
=
On February 24, 2010, a Sega America Blog community manager officially declared:
"We wanted to confirm that there is some content in the Japanese version of ''Yakuza 3'' that didn't make it over to upcoming Western version, mostly involving the Hostess Clubs and the Japanese History trivia sections. ..The choice that had to be made was either no ''Yakuza 3'' in the west, or a version of the game that was almost exactly the same, but with a little less trivia."
This statement was an answer to
IGN
''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
journalist Greg Miller's unofficial insight report of February 23 claiming:
"Even though the hostess clubs are out, you can still go on dates with the girls. ..The strip clubs are still in ''Yakuza 3''."
The referred strip clubs are "Show Pub Asia: Kamurocho Asia Beauty
Show Dance and
Pole" and Ryukyu's "Canal Grande: Cabaret Club", both are linked to main and side stories in the original Japanese release and therefore were not removed as confirmed by a new game trailer. A video showing the game's locations and was officially released by Sega on February 25. A Sega
PR further commented to
Kotaku
''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier.
History ...
blog on February 24, 2010:
"We had a tight schedule to abide by for localizing and releasing ''Yakuza 3'' in the west. Due to the limited time we were given we had to leave certain bits of the game out and we chose portions we felt didn't resonate with western culture i.e. a Japanese history quiz show and the concept of hostess clubs. ..Given the options of releasing the next chapter of a beloved game so that our fans can experience the story of ''Yakuza'' vs. not releasing it at all, we felt it was worth it to release it with 99% of the content intact. We made sure that the story in no way, shape or form changed from the lack of the quiz show or hostess clubs. You can still go into Cabarets and on dates with the ladies in the game."
Sega gave no further details about what was cut, but comparing the eastern and western releases PSN Trophy lists revealed that five trophies (out of 50) had been removed, two sub-scenario missions (out of 103) were cut as well half-aspect of romancing the club hostesses (out of 10 completion challenges) and four minigames (out of 20). The remaining 45 trophies are the same as in the original Japanese 2009 release, except two Bronze trophies, named "Legendary Champion" and "Key Collector", were upranked as Silver trophies.
Removal of a first trophy called
hinted that the sidestory called was cut. This mission consists of scouting a young female
NPC in the Downtown Ryukyu (Shoko, Hiromi, Shō and Kirie) or Kamurocho (Ritsuko) areas, and to make her the top hostess at cabaret club South Island, by customizing her physical aspects (with variable parameters such as make-up, haircut, outfit and ''à la mode'' accessories). A similar club management mission was introduced in ''Yakuza 2'', in which the club, rather than the girls, is customized. Club or "
cabaret
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...
" hostesses are a common phenomenon in Japan and have dedicated fashion magazines; such as ''
Koakuma Ageha
''Koakuma Ageha'' (, lit. "Little-devil Swallowtail ") is a Japanese magazine that introduces the latest fashion magazine, fashion and lifestyle magazine, lifestyle trends popular among hostesses that is published twice a year, with the main targ ...
'' which is a
tie-in
A tie-in work is a work of fiction or other product based on a media property such as a film, video game, television series, board game, website, role-playing game or literary property. Tie-ins are authorized by the owners of the original proper ...
with the game. This mission reappeared in ''Ryū ga Gotoku 4''.
Removal of a second trophy, ,
hinted that the ten-episode hostess clubs completion challenge had been partially cut, since the trophy is unlocked by spending a large amount of money in Club Ageha, Club Koakuma and Flawless.
In this multipart completion, which is a romancing challenge, Kazuma Kiryu orders food and drink while conversing with the ten hostesses. All characters are modeled after a real Japanese hostesses cast and this gameplay element was introduced in the original ''Yakuza'' episode. The possibility of romancing club hostess characters outside clubs in the western releases of ''Yakuza 3'', as officially announced by the Sega representatives, was eventually confirmed by the presence of Mika Tsuchiya of Flawless playing the pool minigame on the game's back cover. This possibility is inherited from the Japanese version since the romancing completion challenge actually includes both hostess club dialogues (ordering meals and offering presents) and dating activities such as dual sessions of pool, darts, bowling and karaoke. If the former text part was cut, the latter dating part, which requires a minor translation work, definitely remain in the western releases.
While the hostesses remained, the trophy was still removed since it was impossible to spend money on them within the club setting.
The third trophy to be removed was
which requires the player to take the Love In Heart
massage parlor
A massage parlor (American English), or massage parlour (Canadian/British English), or massage salon is a place where massage services are provided. Some massage parlors are front organizations for prostitution and the term "massage parlor" has ...
's two courses. This erotic minigame was cut along with its connected sidestory, where the
masseuse
Massage is the rubbing or kneading of the body's soft tissues. Massage techniques are commonly applied with hands, fingers, elbows, knees, forearms, feet, or a device. The purpose of massage is generally for the treatment of body stress or pa ...
, Ayaka Tsubaki, comes out to Kiryu as
trans
Trans- is a Latin prefix meaning "across", "beyond", or "on the other side of".
Used alone, trans may refer to:
Sociology
* Trans, a sociological term which may refer to:
** Transgender, people who identify themselves with a gender that di ...
. This minor character is modeled after her voice actor,
Ayana Tsubaki, who is a Japanese
TV personality and trans herself.
The fourth and fifth cut trophies, and respectively
were the first sign that both
shogi
, also known as Japanese chess, is a Strategy game, strategy board game for two players. It is one of the most popular board games in Japan and is in the same family of games as chess, Western chess, chaturanga, xiangqi, Indian chess, and janggi. ...
and
mahjong
Mahjong (English pronunciation: ; also transliterated as mah jongg, mah-jongg, and mahjongg) is a tile-based game that was developed in the 19th century in China and has spread throughout the world since the early 20th century. It is played ...
minigames had been removed from the western releases. These are based on traditional board games that are fairly popular in Japan, yet uncommon overseas.
Another confirmed cut was Kamurocho Club Sega's ', a
Japanese history
The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to the Paleolithic, around 38–39,000 years ago. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC when ...
quiz minigame based on the real Sega arcade game, which is only available in Japanese game centers. The last cut was an Adventure Mode unlockable bonus item, Ukiyo's Bell, which is awarded to players of the eastern-only PlayStation 3 spinoff ''Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan!'' and, as such, would be both impractical and impossible for the majority of players.
=Challenge Pack
=
According to a community manager's official announcement on the Sega America blog:
"Yakuza fans who pre-order the game at their local GameStop will receive additional content via the Challenge Pack. This will allow them to enjoy 2 player mini games, competing against their friends at Pool, Bowling, Darts and Golf. They will also be able to customize their principal characters with four alternative costumes for Kazuma, Haruka and Rikiya."
=Battle Pack
=
The PAL version was released as a standard deluxe edition called Battle Pack
(or Premium Pack
). The package's sticker lists the following free contents:
"Bonus enhanced CD
Enhanced CD is a certification mark of the Recording Industry Association of America for various technologies that combine audio and computer data for use in both CD-Audio and CD-ROM players.
Formats that fall under the ''enhanced CD'' cate ...
soundtrack with a guide to Who's Who in the world of Yakuza + 4 pieces of unlockable content."
As an
ECD, this CD contains both audio and interactive features. The audio part is the
full OST featuring the 31 tracks licensed by
JASRAC; it was previously sold by Sega's audio branch in the Japanese market and is now offered to western customers. The data part contains a fully animated characters guide called Yakuza
Who's Who
A Who's Who (or Who Is Who) is a reference work consisting of biographical entries of notable people in a particular field. The oldest and best-known is the annual publication ''Who's Who (UK), Who's Who'', a reference work on contemporary promin ...
; like the OST these profiles are exclusive to the western releases.
Licensed movie version
North American video distributor
Tokyo Shock
Media Blasters, sometimes abbreviated as MB, is an American entertainment company that was founded by John Sirabella in 1997 and is based in New York City. It is in the business of licensing, translating, and releasing to the North American mar ...
(
Media Blasters
Media Blasters, sometimes abbreviated as MB, is an American entertainment company that was founded by John Sirabella in 1997 and is based in New York City. It is in the business of licensing, translating, and releasing to the North American mar ...
) set the release date and cover art of its licensed DVD version for ''
Like a Dragon
, formerly known outside of Japan as ''Yakuza'', is a video game franchise by Sega. It incorporates elements of the action-adventure, beat 'em up, and role-playing genres.
Each installment is typically a crime drama, with plot lines inspired ...
'' in order to match the local marketing for ''Yakuza 3''. The English subtitled version for
Takashi Miike
is a Japanese film director, film producer and screenwriter. He has directed over 100 feature film, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. His films span a variety of different genres, ranging from violent and surrealism, b ...
's 2007 live-action film adaptation of the first ''Yakuza'' game was originally planned for a March 2010 release date; the release schedule was eventually changed to February 23, 2010.
Release
A free demo version was released on the Japanese
PlayStation Store
PlayStation Store (PS Store) is a digital distribution service for users of Sony's PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 game consoles via PlayStation Network.
The store offers a range of downloadable content both ...
on February 19, 2009. The same demo was released on the European
PlayStation Store
PlayStation Store (PS Store) is a digital distribution service for users of Sony's PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 game consoles via PlayStation Network.
The store offers a range of downloadable content both ...
on February 18, 2010.
Due to their commercial success all Asian versions had bargain re-releases, a
PlayStation 3 the Best edition in Asia on November 30, 2009, then in Japan on December 3, 2009 and a PlayStation 3 BigHit Series edition on December 11, 2009, in Korea.
Reception
The Japanese industry gave it the "Award for excellence" in the
Japan Game Awards 2009's "Games of the Year Division" for its "Dramatic story development, freedom of the story, the graphics elaborated up to the details of the work, and the amusement found in every portion of the game including the vast number of sub-stories and mini games. This work was awarded the prize for providing a high quality of entertainment."
''Yakuza 3'' also earned Sony Computer Entertainment's PlayStation Award 2009 Gold prize for achieving more than 500,000 sales in the Japanese market.
Other Gold Prizes awarded that year included ''
Resident Evil 5
''Resident Evil 5'' is a 2009 third-person shooter video game developed and published by Capcom. It is a major installment in the ''Resident Evil'' series, and was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles in March 2009 and for Window ...
'' (
PS3
The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...
) and ''
Dissidia Final Fantasy
is a 2008 fighting game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation Portable as part of the campaign for the ''Final Fantasy'' series's 20th anniversary. It was released in Japan on December 18, 2008, in North America on August 2 ...
'' (
PSP).
It was also well received in the west, with the UK's ''Official PlayStation Magazine'' awarding it 9/10; however, it was criticized for the removal of content during localization, which included several sub-stories.
''Yakuza 3'' is ranked as the second best selling 2009 PlayStation 3 game in Japan, following
Square-Enix's ''
Final Fantasy XIII
is a 2009 role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles and later for Windows (in 2014). Released in Japan in December 2009 and international in March 2010, it is the thirteenth titl ...
'', but outselling
Capcom
is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...
's ''Resident Evil 5'',
and is part of 2009's best-selling titles in this market with 499,436 copies sold as of December 7, 2009 according to ''
Weekly Famitsu
, formerly , is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the form of special top ...
''.
By March 27, 2010, ''Yakuza 3'' had sold more than 683,905 copies.
Sequel
''
Yakuza 4
is a 2010 action-adventure game developed and published by Sega for the PlayStation 3. The sequel to ''Yakuza 3'' and the fourth main installment in the ''Yakuza (franchise), Yakuza'' series, it was released in Japan in March 2010 and internat ...
'' was released in Japan in March 2010, and was released in North America and Europe at the first quarter of 2011. A spin-off game, ''
Yakuza: Dead Souls'', was originally scheduled for release in Japan in March 2011; however, due to the
2011 Tōhoku earthquake
Eleven or 11 may refer to:
*11 (number)
* One of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011
Literature
* ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn
*''Eleven'', a 1970 collection of short stories by Patricia Highsmith
*''Eleven'' ...
, the game was delayed until June 2011.
Notes
References
External links
Official website
{{Yakuza series
2009 video games
Action-adventure games
Beat 'em ups
Open-world video games
Organized crime video games
PlayStation 3 games
PlayStation 4 games
Sega beat 'em ups
Single-player video games
Triad video games
Video game sequels
Video games developed in Japan
Video games scored by Hidenori Shoji
Video games set in 2007
Video games set in 2009
Video games set in Japan
Video games set in Okinawa Prefecture
Windows games
Xbox Cloud Gaming games
Xbox One games
Yakuza (franchise)