Wild to think that it's been less than a year since I beat Yakuza 2 and since then, two more Yakuza games released and another comes out next month. Even more wild is how these games are just bangers after bangers. So to quickly answer the question whether Yakuza 3 deserves its negative reputation in the community? In my opinion, NO. Yakuza 3 has tons of redeeming qualities, a solid story with many moments that nearly brought me to tears and to put the icing on the cake, is so unintentionally hilarious that I'm not surprised to have seen like a dozen moments already memed to death in the community. So if you ask me, do not skip Yakuza 3, but for many valid reasons, it wouldn't be a bad idea at all to focus more on the story in this one.
Those reasons? For one, the combat is not good for a while until you get upgrades. The game starts you off with very few moves, and it takes quite some time to get enough upgrades to make combat more interesting. Even then, it's still not as good as the combat in the three games preceding it, though it gets more and more OK as you play. Using items to hit enemies is especially satisfying, while heat actions generally felt like they lacked the punch of heat actions in previous games, both because they don't always feel so hard-hitting and often do little damage.
Another reason to rush the game is that substories weren't as good here as in 0, 1 or 2. Most are pretty short and don't tell those unique, funny stories that you'll be used to coming from those three games. There are still funny ones here of course, but I didn't really feel after doing 30 of them that I wanted to do another 70 more.
Finally, the other issue with the game you might have is the very slow start. The first few chapters are spent in the orphanage Kiryu took over called "Morning Glory", and for multiple hours, all you do is spend time with the children and their problems. These little mini stories always had a satisfying ending and I liked that you're supposed to get to know the children yourself. There were many moments in the main story as well where I felt grateful to have spent so much time with the kids, so overall I wouldn't say it's a negative. It's just that the tasks before you get these mini story conclusions are usually very boring, which is a drag. At some point I thought the game was taking the piss with how many times I got interrupted before I could finally leave for Kamurocho for the first time but once you do, the story picks up the pace.
As is the case in many Yakuza games, Kamurocho shares time with another location, this time with Okinawa, where the orphanage is at. It's a nice little place, but I'll always remember it as the place where I would sprint after Ayako who's doing the griddy and is still faster than Kiryu.
The soundtrack has some very solid tracks that add to the vibe, especially the New Serena track was very chill and is something I can see myself listening to outside of the game, but there is one battle theme that is just the worst. It's called D2A, and I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I laughed the first time I heard it, but I don't understand how it got a place in here. It's like if a Barbie song played in the Oppenheimer movie.
Overall though, Yakuza 3 feels like it gets more hate because I assume a lot of people come into this game after they played three remade / modern games in 0, 1 and 2 to play a game that was merely remastered, though the slow start and combat will also play a big role. If you can get past these things though, Yakuza 3 has some great characters, a story with many memorable moments and beautiful eyes to offer. Can't miss, if you ask me.
Those reasons? For one, the combat is not good for a while until you get upgrades. The game starts you off with very few moves, and it takes quite some time to get enough upgrades to make combat more interesting. Even then, it's still not as good as the combat in the three games preceding it, though it gets more and more OK as you play. Using items to hit enemies is especially satisfying, while heat actions generally felt like they lacked the punch of heat actions in previous games, both because they don't always feel so hard-hitting and often do little damage.
Another reason to rush the game is that substories weren't as good here as in 0, 1 or 2. Most are pretty short and don't tell those unique, funny stories that you'll be used to coming from those three games. There are still funny ones here of course, but I didn't really feel after doing 30 of them that I wanted to do another 70 more.
Finally, the other issue with the game you might have is the very slow start. The first few chapters are spent in the orphanage Kiryu took over called "Morning Glory", and for multiple hours, all you do is spend time with the children and their problems. These little mini stories always had a satisfying ending and I liked that you're supposed to get to know the children yourself. There were many moments in the main story as well where I felt grateful to have spent so much time with the kids, so overall I wouldn't say it's a negative. It's just that the tasks before you get these mini story conclusions are usually very boring, which is a drag. At some point I thought the game was taking the piss with how many times I got interrupted before I could finally leave for Kamurocho for the first time but once you do, the story picks up the pace.
As is the case in many Yakuza games, Kamurocho shares time with another location, this time with Okinawa, where the orphanage is at. It's a nice little place, but I'll always remember it as the place where I would sprint after Ayako who's doing the griddy and is still faster than Kiryu.
The soundtrack has some very solid tracks that add to the vibe, especially the New Serena track was very chill and is something I can see myself listening to outside of the game, but there is one battle theme that is just the worst. It's called D2A, and I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I laughed the first time I heard it, but I don't understand how it got a place in here. It's like if a Barbie song played in the Oppenheimer movie.
Overall though, Yakuza 3 feels like it gets more hate because I assume a lot of people come into this game after they played three remade / modern games in 0, 1 and 2 to play a game that was merely remastered, though the slow start and combat will also play a big role. If you can get past these things though, Yakuza 3 has some great characters, a story with many memorable moments and beautiful eyes to offer. Can't miss, if you ask me.