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While Yakuza 3 massively improved as a successor to the original Yakuza 2, it feels outdated, especially with the Kiwami treatment the first two games had. But it has some serious heart and contains a microcosm of the Yakuza series themes.

Yakuza 3 is honestly pretty skippable. While the story advances and some important stuff happens to characterize Kiryu further, it is self-contained, having no direct consequences.
Addressing the elephant in the room:
Yakuza 3 is the oldest "original" game on Steam. It is a remaster but not a remake. Many players start Yakuza 3 after having played Yakuza Kiwami 2. And this is the single largest time difference within the series between two chronological titles (on Steam):
Yakuza Kiwami 2 is a modern dragon engine game from 2017.
Yakuza 3 is PS3 title from 2009.
Ryu Ga Gotoku studios is a fast learner, and each entry improved massively in terms of quality. The exception is maybe Yakuza 6, as it was the first dragon engine to be released and shows clear signs of being rushed.
Yakuza 3 is the poster boy of the series for any growing pains.

Yakuza 3 has the single worst combat of any not remaked Yakuza. Enemies block too much, making battle too long to be enjoyable. Consider that damage in Yakuza 3 is relatively low: Most attacks are not impactful, leading to tiger drop and parry spam.
Even worse: Both skills have to be unlocked, and entire boss fights become unplayable without them.
I can not stress how underwhelming most boss fights are and how many random battles become a chore.
Improvable and unfinished is a theme that permeates all facets of Yakuza 3. Minigames are not working to such a degree that players have to cheese many activities to reach a win:
Billiard and darts are barely functional because of an oversensitivity bound to the right joystick. Do not even get me started on bowling. The margin of error is utterly ridiculous.
And mahjong...
Mahjong remained the same. Still, it pisses me off.
Even karaoke has some questionable design choices:
Why do new verses have instant button presses?

Yakuza 3 ties many of the themes together and showcases Kiryus softer side. His stoicism has become a famous quality of his character.
Yet Yakuza 3 shows him at his most vulnerable and directly ties it to interact with the orphans he is raising. It is controversial for Yakuza fans how much time Yakuza 3 "wastes" on these orphans.
I agree that they are annoying, especially on subsequent playthroughs. But when Yakuza 3 hits its respective highs, it sets the bar high.
And they are a part of it. Kiryu is a good guy who chose a bad hand.
Had he given up on being a Yakuza like was told him in the past, he would not have had to endure so many hardships.
But when does a human earn absolution?
Yakuza 3 has an answer to this problem:
It does not matter if someone has earned absolution.
One mistake can and sometimes will haunt your life and penetrate every aspect. There are only some moments we get to decide what kind of person we want to be.
Making Kiryu a vulnerable human is the single greatest achievement of Yakuza 3 and impossible to overstate.

Yakuza 3 is objectively a worse title than any other Yakuza title on Steam (as of writing this review in 2022), maybe even including Streets of Kamarucho.
But it contains story segments of the Yakuza series that have payoff unique to this game and makes me sincerely happy to have pushed through.

Originally posted by author:

As of now, meme curators dominate Steam. So consider following me for reviews that cost me some time (and effort) to create. I don't think this will change much, but the majority of my readers are not followers. I am still going to pump my heart into these reviews.
https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/curator/31884377-If-It-Is-Insane/

[quote] [url=https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/curator/31884377-If-It-Is-Insane/]Check out my curator page for more awesome reviews[/url] [/quote] [h1]TL;DR[/h1] While Yakuza 3 massively improved as a successor to the original Yakuza 2, it feels outdated, especially with the Kiwami treatment the first two games had. But it has some serious heart and contains a microcosm of the Yakuza series themes. [h1]Is It Worth Playing?[/h1] Yakuza 3 is honestly pretty skippable. While the story advances and some important stuff happens to characterize Kiryu further, it is self-contained, having no direct consequences. Addressing the elephant in the room: Yakuza 3 is the oldest "original" game on Steam. It is a remaster but not a remake. Many players start Yakuza 3 after having played Yakuza Kiwami 2. And this is the single largest time difference within the series between two chronological titles (on Steam): Yakuza Kiwami 2 is a modern dragon engine game from 2017. Yakuza 3 is PS3 title from 2009. Ryu Ga Gotoku studios is a fast learner, and each entry improved massively in terms of quality. The exception is maybe Yakuza 6, as it was the first dragon engine to be released and shows clear signs of being rushed. Yakuza 3 is the poster boy of the series for any growing pains. [h1]Problem List[/h1] Yakuza 3 has the single worst combat of any not remaked Yakuza. Enemies block too much, making battle too long to be enjoyable. Consider that damage in Yakuza 3 is relatively low: Most attacks are not impactful, leading to tiger drop and parry spam. Even worse: Both skills have to be unlocked, and entire boss fights become unplayable without them. I can not stress how underwhelming most boss fights are and how many random battles become a chore. Improvable and unfinished is a theme that permeates all facets of Yakuza 3. Minigames are not working to such a degree that players have to cheese many activities to reach a win: Billiard and darts are barely functional because of an oversensitivity bound to the right joystick. Do not even get me started on bowling. The margin of error is utterly ridiculous. And mahjong... Mahjong remained the same. Still, it pisses me off. Even karaoke has some questionable design choices: Why do new verses have instant button presses? [h1]The Good Stuff(aka story)[/h1] Yakuza 3 ties many of the themes together and showcases Kiryus softer side. His stoicism has become a famous quality of his character. Yet Yakuza 3 shows him at his most vulnerable and directly ties it to interact with the orphans he is raising. It is controversial for Yakuza fans how much time Yakuza 3 "wastes" on these orphans. I agree that they are annoying, especially on subsequent playthroughs. But when Yakuza 3 hits its respective highs, it sets the bar high. And they are a part of it. Kiryu is a good guy who chose a bad hand. Had he given up on being a Yakuza like was told him in the past, he would not have had to endure so many hardships. But when does a human earn absolution? Yakuza 3 has an answer to this problem: [spoiler]It does not matter if someone has earned absolution. One mistake can and sometimes will haunt your life and penetrate every aspect. There are only some moments we get to decide what kind of person we want to be.[/spoiler] Making Kiryu a vulnerable human is the single greatest achievement of Yakuza 3 and impossible to overstate. [h1]Conclusion[/h1] Yakuza 3 is objectively a worse title than any other Yakuza title on Steam (as of writing this review in 2022), maybe even including Streets of Kamarucho. But it contains story segments of the Yakuza series that have payoff unique to this game and makes me sincerely happy to have pushed through. [quote=author] As of now, meme curators dominate Steam. So consider following me for reviews that cost me some time (and effort) to create. I don't think this will change much, but the majority of my readers are not followers. I am still going to pump my heart into these reviews. https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/curator/31884377-If-It-Is-Insane/ [/quote]