I don't know if I'm starting to get a bit burnt out of yakuza games but this one was a bit of a slog to get through.
I have to admit that I've never played the original yakuza games for ps2, but playing 3 after the Kiwamis and 0 was really tough. It lacks so many QoL improvements the remakes have (starting from buying weapons and not knowing their damage, or eating in restaurants where you can't understand how much life you'll recover, to even the use of the map and how the subquests are managed and signaled), and it generally feels like a lesser experience under every single point of view. I still like the core of yakuza games, so it wasn't that bad for me but it is the yakuza game i played and enjoyed the least (so far).
The combat here is the most barebones yet, and so is the new leveling system, which feels really generic and kinda boring. Here moreso than in the other games the combat is reduced many times to simple button mashing, at least until you get a couple of abilities that change it very slightly. Playing on hard diffiulty, it was never really that tough, but some of the boss fights or encounters take forever to complete thanks to overinflated hp bars. Also with bosses, the very little liberty you're given to do combos, is almost completely taken away. Weapons aren't really interesting and I never got into modifing them, considering that it often never gives you important improvements.
But the combat has never been the sole focus of Yakuza; we're all here for the story and the side activities, right? Well then get ready to be disappointed. There are (at least) 5 chapters out of 12, that are the most boring and uninteresting shit ever concieved. I was hoping to get new locations with newer yakuza games, but holy shit Okinawa sucks dick. The story there is just based on a couple of cool characters and dealing with those damn kids. I really don't understand why there was soo much focus on that (almost half of the damn game!). The town offers very little to complement that, and almost no side activities (except golf). Subquests here are almost always boring and lack that classic Yakuza foolery (there are still a couple that were fun though). I never would have expected to be so happy to come back to Kamurocho, where the game definitely took a turn for the better. Both the story and the sidemissions got at least a bit back on track, but the biggest flaw here is that the town is nearly the same as always. No new activities (excluding the running minigame and massages) and still a lot of lacking subquests; I also don't understand why there was sooo much attention given to hostess club (there's like a whole dating sim here but to me it's fun if you play it for half an hour while there are many hours of this kind of content). The best new thing in the game is definitely the Mack qts, no doubt, because they perfectly capture the spirit of the series. In the end the story, excluding the first 5 chapters of pain and misery, just isn't that interesting. It has a couple of fun turns, but the main villain is kinda dumb and a lot of the anticipation played on a particular reveal that in the end felt a bit disappointing. Barely a fine story for this kind of game.
I don't know, this whole game felt like filler. I came in expecting not the best, but I was disappointed nontheless. I talked a lot of shit about Yakuza 3, but in the end I honestly think it's just a fine game, and I still like the core gameplay and feel. If I had played this as the first game in the series I probably would have had a lot of fun, but after the ps4 games it feels like 12 steps back. Definitely expecting a lot more from the next one.
I have to admit that I've never played the original yakuza games for ps2, but playing 3 after the Kiwamis and 0 was really tough. It lacks so many QoL improvements the remakes have (starting from buying weapons and not knowing their damage, or eating in restaurants where you can't understand how much life you'll recover, to even the use of the map and how the subquests are managed and signaled), and it generally feels like a lesser experience under every single point of view. I still like the core of yakuza games, so it wasn't that bad for me but it is the yakuza game i played and enjoyed the least (so far).
The combat here is the most barebones yet, and so is the new leveling system, which feels really generic and kinda boring. Here moreso than in the other games the combat is reduced many times to simple button mashing, at least until you get a couple of abilities that change it very slightly. Playing on hard diffiulty, it was never really that tough, but some of the boss fights or encounters take forever to complete thanks to overinflated hp bars. Also with bosses, the very little liberty you're given to do combos, is almost completely taken away. Weapons aren't really interesting and I never got into modifing them, considering that it often never gives you important improvements.
But the combat has never been the sole focus of Yakuza; we're all here for the story and the side activities, right? Well then get ready to be disappointed. There are (at least) 5 chapters out of 12, that are the most boring and uninteresting shit ever concieved. I was hoping to get new locations with newer yakuza games, but holy shit Okinawa sucks dick. The story there is just based on a couple of cool characters and dealing with those damn kids. I really don't understand why there was soo much focus on that (almost half of the damn game!). The town offers very little to complement that, and almost no side activities (except golf). Subquests here are almost always boring and lack that classic Yakuza foolery (there are still a couple that were fun though). I never would have expected to be so happy to come back to Kamurocho, where the game definitely took a turn for the better. Both the story and the sidemissions got at least a bit back on track, but the biggest flaw here is that the town is nearly the same as always. No new activities (excluding the running minigame and massages) and still a lot of lacking subquests; I also don't understand why there was sooo much attention given to hostess club (there's like a whole dating sim here but to me it's fun if you play it for half an hour while there are many hours of this kind of content). The best new thing in the game is definitely the Mack qts, no doubt, because they perfectly capture the spirit of the series. In the end the story, excluding the first 5 chapters of pain and misery, just isn't that interesting. It has a couple of fun turns, but the main villain is kinda dumb and a lot of the anticipation played on a particular reveal that in the end felt a bit disappointing. Barely a fine story for this kind of game.
I don't know, this whole game felt like filler. I came in expecting not the best, but I was disappointed nontheless. I talked a lot of shit about Yakuza 3, but in the end I honestly think it's just a fine game, and I still like the core gameplay and feel. If I had played this as the first game in the series I probably would have had a lot of fun, but after the ps4 games it feels like 12 steps back. Definitely expecting a lot more from the next one.