...This is the one people don't like?
Ok to be fair, I can see why. It didn't bother me that much, but the enemies do tend to block quite a bit more in this game (And I definitely felt how they accidentally gutted the quickstep in this port). Also, the substories were quite a bit weaker across the board than the other games I've played so far, but this is an older game so I'm willing to cut it some slack on that front--just as I did with its other, smaller issues. But other than that and a couple of crappy boss fights, I had a great time with this one! The story was really engaging--yes, that includes the entire chapters of orphanage stuff. Seeing Kiryu be such a great father figure to the children was very heartwarming and served as a great example of his character development. The yakuza side of the story was great too, and I really enjoyed a lot of the newly introduced characters. I enjoyed the combat, too; so far I still think the style-switching of 0/K1 is the peak so far, but this one still clicked with me. I think the soundtrack was a highlight too; there's a great set of battle themes here ("Crush and Strike", "Ogre Has Returned", "Clay Doll on the Cradle", and, of course, "Fly" are my favorites). If you're hesitant to play Yakuza 3 because of its lower reputation among the fanbase, I recommend giving it a shot anyway! I can't guarantee you'll enjoy it like I did, but you'll never know if you don't try.
also that fishing minigame goes hard holy shit
Ok to be fair, I can see why. It didn't bother me that much, but the enemies do tend to block quite a bit more in this game (And I definitely felt how they accidentally gutted the quickstep in this port). Also, the substories were quite a bit weaker across the board than the other games I've played so far, but this is an older game so I'm willing to cut it some slack on that front--just as I did with its other, smaller issues. But other than that and a couple of crappy boss fights, I had a great time with this one! The story was really engaging--yes, that includes the entire chapters of orphanage stuff. Seeing Kiryu be such a great father figure to the children was very heartwarming and served as a great example of his character development. The yakuza side of the story was great too, and I really enjoyed a lot of the newly introduced characters. I enjoyed the combat, too; so far I still think the style-switching of 0/K1 is the peak so far, but this one still clicked with me. I think the soundtrack was a highlight too; there's a great set of battle themes here ("Crush and Strike", "Ogre Has Returned", "Clay Doll on the Cradle", and, of course, "Fly" are my favorites). If you're hesitant to play Yakuza 3 because of its lower reputation among the fanbase, I recommend giving it a shot anyway! I can't guarantee you'll enjoy it like I did, but you'll never know if you don't try.
also that fishing minigame goes hard holy shit