Friends, I'm ready to be Kazuma Kiryu again. I admit it: I kind of smoked the whole pack on Yakuzas 0 through Kiwami 2, playing them almost back-to-back and in such quick succession that, when I booted up the remaster of Yakuza 3, it felt like gazing at the single remaining profiterole on the plate after a bacchanal of candies and chocolates. I couldn't do it. My Yakuza journey ground to a halt.
From the hands-on time I've had with Kiwami 3, it's a remake that doesn't reinvent the original, but—like the two Kiwamis before it—polishes it to a shine, bolts on some fantastic new nonsense in substories and activities, and acts as a glitzy refresh for a generation that, perhaps, didn't get to it back in 2009. Meanwhile, Dark Ties—a bonus Gaiden game releasing with Kiwami 3 that has you play Yakuza 3 villain Yoshitaka Mine—acts as the wholly new red meat to draw in those of you who already know Okinawa like the back of your hand.
