Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties’ game director Ryosuke Horii sat down with us to answer our burning questions about the game.
SEGA’s most recent installment in the Yakuza franchise (also known as the Like a Dragon franchise) is Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties, a retelling of Yakuza 3 (2009)’s story with an add-on campaign focusing on side character Yoshitaka Mine. The remake features a slightly altered storyline in contrast with the original game, fewer Substories, and a few more changes that have made the game a tad controversial among Yakuza fans.
We had the chance to have a quick interview with Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties’ game director, Ryosuke Horii, about these changes and the supposed new direction for the franchise. Here’s what he had to say!
Note: this interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What is Horii’s favourite new change or addition in Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties?
SEGA hosted a launch event for Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where fans of the franchise were invited to a night filled with Yakuza-themed activities, and a live demo of the game played by game director Ryosuke Horii, who was also in attendance. Following the conclusion of the event, GosuGamers was able to speak to Horii for a quick behind-the-scenes interview about the game’s development.
When we asked Horii about an aspect of Yakuza Kiwami 3 that he’s most proud of, he pointed to none other than Kazuma Kiryu’s daddy mechanic in the Morning Glory Orphanage. In Kiwami 3, the Morning Glory orphanage is essentially a sprawling Substory of its own, giving players the ability to raise Kiryu’s “Daddy Rank” by interacting with the orphans. Kiryu can sew clothes, catch insects, and do all manner of activities to deepen his bonds with the orphans. Horii said:
“An important point that we integrated into the game is life at Morning Glory. Because if you look at the aspects around Morning Glory, it's the only place where you experience what it's like to have a family, and the warmth of a family. So without Morning Glory, we wouldn’t really get a proper chance to introduce these aspects. It’s one of my proudest elements in the game.”
What does Horii have to say about the missing Substories in Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties?
A major point of controversy regarding Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties relates to its cut content. Specifically, Yakuza 3 (2009) had a whopping 119 Substories compared to its remake Yakuza Kiwami 3, which only features 31 Substories. Substories are the Yakuza franchise’s version of sidequests, and often provide the kind of absurd and wacky comedy that has made the franchise’s bones.
Granted, Yakuza Kiwami 3’s Substories can generally be regarded as a more high-quality batch of sidequests and activities in terms of gameplay diversity and writing alone, compared to the original 119 Substories. Nevertheless, fans have not been shy to voice out their displeasure at the remake’s slimmed-down Substories.
Hence, we asked Horii why so many of the original game’s Substories were removed, and whether there are plans to implement a few of the cut activities as future DLC content. Here’s what Horii had to say:
“There are currently no plans to implement this cut content after launch. But just to explain the decision, for starters, in order to make space for newer and fresher content, like Morning Glory, for example, there are certain Substories that might have been removed from the game. Because it's a new game, we want to be able to introduce and inject new content into this new game. Now that we have a chance to take another look at the series and this particular title, I think as a team, we made a consideration about the types of content that, now that we're reflecting back on it, we might not have included it if we had more time to consider it.
“So our current decision is for us to take out these things that as a team, we don’t really want to include those specific Substories at this time. There's no current decision to introduce these Substories in other works.”
What did RGG Studio director Masayoshi Yokoyama mean when he said that “Yakuza Kiwami 3 will be the last one”?
Earlier this month, RGG Studio director Masayoshi Yokoyama revealed during a livestream that Yakuza Kiwami 3 would conclude the Kiwami remake series. He told viewers: “I think Yakuza Kiwami 3 will be the last one, and the Kiwami line will come to an end,” he said, adding that he did not see it continuing as the Kiwami series.
Additionally, he also said that the next Yakuza game would introduce “a new series on a different line, with a different meaning,” and suggested that players would better understand what he means after playing Yakuza Kiwami 3.
Obviously, we had to ask Horii about this as well. When asked to elaborate on Yokoyama’s statement, the game director said:
"If you look at the current gameplay, as well as the title of Kiwami 3, our team has made quite a big creative decision moving forward that will have some impact on the future of the game. Those who played the game will be able to notice hints of that particular creative decision shift within the series itself.
“I think a lot of people have expectations, because the Kiwami series are remakes of the old games. I believe a lot of expectations are being built for, like maybe there'll be a Yakuza 4 remake and a Yakuza 5 remake. But if you listen to Director Yokoyama’s message a little bit more intently, you'll realize that he is hinting, perhaps, that we may not necessarily move in a direction where we are only recreating our works from the past. So there might be something else in the works as well.”
“One thing about RGG Studio is that we're always looking towards the future as part of our creative process. No matter what, if you look at the direction that our studio is going, we hope that you will continue to look forward to what we have in the making. We don't necessarily know yet what is about to come, but part of our goal is to, and I mean this in a good and positive way, to always betray the fans’ expectations, always exceed their expectations. So look forward to what's coming next.”
That’s a tantalising place to end the interview, and while we would have loved to ask Horii a few follow-up questions, we simply ran out of time. Only time will tell what’s in store for Yakuza fans, but for now, Yakuza Kiwami 3 is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC.
