Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties final preview – the third remaster

GameCentral gets a new hands-on session with the remake of Yakuza 3 and its conjoined spin-off, as Kiryu takes on a sewing machine.

Next month is stacked with promising new games, including Nioh 3, Resident Evil Requiem, Mewgenics, and Reanimal, but one which has fallen under the radar is Yakuza Kiwami 3. A remake of Yakuza 3, usually viewed as one of the lesser instalments, perhaps doesn’t sound that exciting – especially coming off new entries Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth and Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii – but it’s shaping up to be a lot more interesting than expected. 

That was our takeaway following our first hands-on session, which has been mostly reaffirmed after a second spin. The first preview was focused around the revamped combat for protagonist Kazuma Kiryu, and the introduction of Dark Ties: a brand new campaign led by Yakuza 3 antagonist Yoshitaka Mine. It was a fleeting glimpse at some of the mechanical and visual changes, but now we have a better idea of the overall scope. 

For anyone who hasn’t played the original Yakuza 3, you’re missing a mechanically dated yet narratively instrumental part of Kiryu’s saga. When compared to the prior two games, it was an unexpected diversion, transporting the Dragon of Dojima from the Tokyo-inspired Kamurucho to the sunny beaches of Okinawa, where he now runs the Morning Glory orphanage. 

The stiff combat (which has been vastly improved here) was the weakest part of Yakuza 3 but its fresh setting and cast of young orphans, including Haruka, made it memorable. The series has since visited other idyllic sun-soaked islands, like Hawaii, so Okinawa doesn’t carry the same novelty as it did back in 2010, but what Yakuza Kiwami 3 lacks in fresh ideas, it appears to make up for in polish and an abundance of distractions. 

The first half of the preview was dedicated to Yakuza Kiwami 3, specifically the expanded features, new and returning minigames, and an additional side quest. In an opening video before our hands-on, series producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto claimed the remake’s first few hours are very different to the original, and while we didn’t see the new opening ourselves, we’re inclined to believe him based on all the other additions. 

Whereas the Morning Glory orphanage only housed a few optional substories in the original, it’s become a large hub of side activities. You now have bonds with all the kids, which you can level up by completing requests tied to minigames. Most of these are refreshed from past entries, such as the cooking from Like A Dragon: Ishin, homework quizzes akin to the exams in Yakuza: Like A Dragon, and Ishin’s gardening sim – where you plant crops to grow ingredients for meals, while protecting harvests from animals via planted scarecrows. 

These activities might be reheated from old titles, but they make sense within the context of the orphanage. We got to play one brand new minigame as well, where Kiryu tries his hand at a sewing machine. It’s incredibly silly, with all the exaggerated theatrics you’d expect, and it was our favourite part of this hands-on session.

You’re basically trying to stitch around a specific shape as close to a guiding track as possible in the fastest time, with the option to speed up and slow down. Naturally, if you’re stitching at a high velocity, you’re going to struggle to stay centred when going around a bend (in a funny touch, directional indicators flash up like a racing game). 

Completing these requests with a good score contributes towards Kiryu’s ‘Daddy Rank’ – a clear sign that Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio knows its audience. The high camp carries over to a new side activity called Bad Boy Dragon, where Kiryu, bare-chested in a purple trench coat, agrees to help an all-girl gang take down a group of thug bikers called the Tokyo Night Terrors. 

Again, this is essentially a replica of the crew battles in Pirate Yakuza, where you recruit people to your team, level them up, and scrap on the streets against large clusters of enemies. Combined with the new combat arsenal for Kiryu though – hinged around various weapons from nunchuks to a wooden oar – it’s a fun diversion within this new context. 

In the last chunk, we could roam Okinawa freely and take on substories and other side activities. The Reapers make a return from the original, in standalone boss fights for cash, and there are extensive combat tutorial challenges which have unique requirements, like performing perfect guards without quick dodgingh.

If you’re a fan of the Game Gear, meanwhile, versions of Pac-Man, Columns, and Sonic & Tails are all playable, along with Sega obscurities Emergency Call Ambulance and 1998’s Magical Truck Adventure in the arcade. 

There’s nothing too surprising about Yakuza Kiwami 3 from what we’ve seen so far, especially if you’re familiar with the series up to this point, but it is strengthening the original’s bones with everything the studio has learnt over the past 16 years.

For those hoping for something new, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio appears to be banking on Dark Ties to draw in series’ veterans – but we were left not so convinced. The campaign’s length is still an unanswered question, but the crux of the experience, based on this session, appears to be structured in the same vein as the smaller-scale spin-off Like A Dragon Gaiden. 

Your aim is to complete ‘good deeds’ around Kamurocho, to improve your reputation. These range from more story-led missions, smaller brawls and other challenges scattered around the city, to the usual milestones you typically complete when doing everything else. The same structure made Like A Dragon Gaiden feel like an abridged experience, and it suggests we’re getting something similar here with Dark Ties. 

We were shown one new trick though. In an underground fighting club, you can take part in Survival Hell, a roguelite dungeon crawler-esque mode where you race through stages against the clock, beat up enemies and collect upgrades, in order to take on a ‘master keeper’ boss at the end.

Like other distractions in the series, there’s more to it than you’d expect – with hired mercenaries you can bring in as allies, laser and mine obstacles to dodge, along with Survival Weapons like flamethrowers and bows, that you can activate for powerful one-off attacks. 

The limited time meant we could only try the easier dungeons, so the layouts and fights were relatively simple. We’ve never been particularly drawn to the Coliseum battle arenas in past games, which might colour our view, but we couldn’t see the addictive hooks to elevate it above being a fleeting diversion to stack up on cash. It doesn’t help that Mine’s combat style, while distinctive, simply isn’t as fun or eclectic as Kiryu’s. 

Despite our concerns about Dark Ties, Yakuza Kiwami 3 is promising to be a comprehensive overhaul for Kiryu’s most outdated, and unsung, adventure. Sega has said a playable demo will soon be released, so you’ll be able to try it yourself before launch, but for now, we’ll have to see if all the alterations can catapult Yakuza 3 to the series’ big leagues. 

Formats: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC
Price: £54.99
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio
Release Date: 12th February 2026
Age Rating: 18

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