Yakuza 3

If you're expecting a Japanese take on GTA, guess again. If you want pure action, you'll be bored to tears by the lengthy cutscenes. If you're hoping for complex, RPG-like leveling mechanics, you'll be disappointed. Yakuza 3 is a quirky hodgepodge of various genres that rewards the patient japanophile looking to kick a little ass.

A really good story, some nice voice acting and a couple of nice fighting sequences make for a decent action game that unfortunately seems somewhat aged.

Yakuza 3 arrives in Europe with an unforgivable delay and few cuts. Plus, it inherits from the second chapter an old gen structure and repetitious fights. Just for fans.

As rough and ready as the previous games but a fascinating tour of Japan's seedy criminal underbelly.

Yakuza 3 is another strong entry in a series that deserves your time.

Pre-canned cutscenes suddenly give way to in-engine sections where the characters continue to converse, only silently – via slabs of text you need to click through instead of pre-recorded speech. There doesn't appear to be any real rhyme or reason as to when this will happen – it just seems like a cheap way of extending the cutscenes. All it does it undermine the atmosphere – the game goes from a modern, cinematic action-drama to a static, dusty old RPG in the blink of an eye. [Apr 2010 p.70]

Strictly Japanese style with all its pros and cons – adult story, childish episodes, plenty of text to read, piles of minigames and somewhere in the middle you'll find a fighting game. [Issue#189]

Not much has changed since the first game in 2006. Fortunately, the foundation is still very solid, with an entertaining and beautifully brutal combat system, a great sense of freedom between the missions and satisfying role-playing elements.

A gripping, violent and intense gangster epic, held back by weeping orphans and frustrating hold-ups in the story. Could have been a truly great game, but its many flaws make it merely good.

Not exactly groundbreaking, but enjoyable none-the-less, rarely can a game be summarised with the terms 'camp' and 'ultra-violent', yet Yakuza 3 manages to pull it off with ease.

Don't get me wrong; Yakuza 3 is still a good game that offers a uniquely Japanese experience and dramatic content an order of magnitude more mature than most of what's coming down the pike, but it just doesn't match up to the first two entries. I hate to say it, but the Dragon of Dojima's gotten soft in the middle-it's time for Kazuma to cut back on the yakiniku and get his ass back to the gym.

Yakuza 3 certainly has its flaws! However it does possess a certain charm and offers quite a bit of variety that make it quite enjoyable, however some may not be able to stick with it that long.

Yakuza 3 does offer an involved, lengthy story for those with the patience to wade through the repetition and annoyances.

A functional, pared-down JRPG and a feisty but flawed translation of the side-scrolling beat 'em up into the third dimension. [Apr 2010, p.94]

Hardcore gamers who grew to love grand adventure games from a decade ago will have a blast. The game mechanics are tired, but there's nostalgic value to it. Fans of the series will also enjoy learning more about the characters. None of this negates the fact, however, that a fresh coat of high definition paint can't mask the fact that the Yakuza series needs to end or change with the times.

If you just mindlessly consume the thing, it's not entirely unpalatable. But when you pick it apart and consider the ingredients, it isn't hard to see it as a bit of a mess. [Apr 2010, p.116]