00:00There's a very specific kind of disappointment that only comes from loving a franchise too
00:05much, and that's the kind of disappointment Yakuza Kiwami 3 delivers with alarming consistency.
00:11This isn't the explosive headline-grabbing kind of failure where everything is obviously
00:15broken.
00:16Kiwami 3 doesn't crash, it doesn't collapse under its own weight, and it doesn't outright
00:21disrespect the source material.
00:23Instead, it does something far worse.
00:25It constantly reminds you that it could have been great, that the solutions were already
00:30there and that it still somehow chose the least satisfying option over and over again.
00:36Playing Kiwami 3 feels like watching someone ignore an open book test, not because they
00:41don't care, but because they're convinced their wrong answers are good enough.
00:47The frustration starts almost immediately with combat, because combat is the one thing
00:52a Kiwami remake absolutely has to get right.
00:54The series lives and dies on how it feels to throw punches as Kiryu, and Kiwami 3 feels
01:01like it learned the wrong lessons from the original Yakuza 3.
01:04Enemy AI blocks relentlessly, not tactically, not intelligently, but obsessively, turning
01:10every street fight into a slow erosion of patience.
01:14You aren't outplayed, you're stalled.
01:16You aren't challenged, you're delayed.
01:18Combos bounce off guards, like Kiryu suddenly forgot how momentum works, and heat actions
01:23feel less like rewards for good play, and more like rare coupons you're supposed to save
01:28for emergencies that never feel worth cashing in on.
01:31This wouldn't be unforgivable if later games hadn't already solved the problem so thoroughly.
01:36The series has refined combat into something fluid, expressive, and satisfying, and Kiwami
01:433 deliberately ignores that evolution, choosing to preserve the worst reputation Yakuza 3 ever
01:49had while stripping away the context that once excused it.
01:54What makes this especially maddening is that Kiwami 3 can't decide whether it wants to be
01:58a faithful remake, or a modern reimagining, and that indecision bleeds into every system.
02:05Visually the game wants to look updated, but animation stiffness betrays its age constantly.
02:10Menus feel old, pacing feels inherited rather than reconsidered, and systems that should've
02:16been streamlined are left untouched as if updating them would somehow betray history.
02:21The result is a game that feels like it's wearing modern clothing over a skeleton that was
02:26never meant to move this way.
02:27It doesn't feel nostalgic, and it doesn't feel fresh.
02:31It feels awkward, like something pretending it didn't have better examples to follow
02:35when it absolutely did.
02:39Akinawa should've been Kiwami 3's redemption arc.
02:41In the original Yakuza 3, Akinawa was slower, quieter, and more intimate, and that worked
02:47because the story demanded it.
02:49It was a deliberate contrast to Kamurocho's chaos, and allowed Kuryu to feel human in a way
02:54few other entries attempted.
02:55Kiwami 3 had the opportunity to expand that space, to deepen it, to give Akinawa more texture,
03:01more side content, more personality.
03:04Instead, it feels thin.
03:06The town exists, but it doesn't breathe.
03:08Side activities feel limited and underdeveloped, the pacing drags without purpose, and what should
03:14feel like a meaningful change of scenery ends up feeling like a holding area between plot
03:19beats.
03:19The game doesn't ruin Akinawa, but it refuses to elevate it, and that refusal stings.
03:26The storytelling suffers in more subtle ways, and this is where disappointment turns into
03:30genuine sadness.
03:32Yakuza has always been a series defined by emotional whiplash, but it works when the presentation
03:37supports the writing.
03:38In Kiwami 3, scenes that should land with weight often stumble because of stiff delivery, awkward
03:45transitions, or pacing that you refuse to let moments breathe.
03:49Emotional beats arrive, but they don't settle.
03:51You understand what the game wants you to feel, but the execution keeps you at arm's length.
03:56It's like watching a powerful scene through a pane of glass.
04:00You can see it, you can recognize its importance, but you never fully feel it.
04:05None of these problems exist in isolation, and that's what makes Kiwami 3 so exhausting.
04:11Every individual flaw is survivable.
04:14Combat alone wouldn't sink the gate.
04:16Outdated systems alone wouldn't kill it.
04:19Underwhelming side content alone wouldn't doom the experience.
04:22But Kiwami 3 stacks these issues on top of each other relentlessly.
04:27Every time the game seems ready to find its rhythm, something else pulls you out of it.
04:32Every time you start to adjust, a new frustration surfaces.
04:36It's not one fatal wound, it's death by a thousand small cuts, and each one chips away
04:42at your good will.
04:44The most painful part is that Kiwami 3 isn't a bad game in the traditional sense.
04:49It's competent, it's playable, it tells an important story in the broader Yakuza timeline,
04:55but competence isn't enough for a remake carrying the Kiwami name.
04:59This was a chance to redefine how people remember Yakuza 3, to correct its flaws, to contextualize
05:05its strengths, and to finally give it the respect it always struggled to earn.
05:09Instead, Kiwami 3 preserves the frustration while removing the excuses.
05:14It asks you to tolerate problems that the series itself already moved past, and it never gives
05:19you a convincing reason why.
05:22That's why Kiwami 3 ends up being the most disappointing entry rather than the worst one.
05:27It doesn't fail spectacularly, it fails persistently, it fails quietly.
05:33It fails in ways that make you sigh instead of rage, and somehow that's more draining.
05:37When you finish it, you don't feel angry, you feel let down.
05:41You feel like you watched an opportunity slip through fingers that should have known better.
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06:17Thanks for watching, thanks for listening, and as always, game on.
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