For me, the best announcement from TGS was Yakuza Kiwami 3 and its unexpected companion game Dark Ties, starring Yoshitaka Mine.
A few more details have surfaced since then, mostly through a Famitsu interview with director Ryosuke Horii.
(I’m relying on Google Translate here, just so you know.)
They’d originally intended to make Mine’s story something that could be watched as a video (maybe it as originally planned to be new cutscenes added to Kiwami 3, like the added Nishiki scenes in the first Kiwami?), but then they decided it would be better if he was playable. It seems this decision was at least partly made because of how popular Mine is.
When they announced Dark Ties, they described Mine as having an antihero approach in his substories, and Horii touches on that in the interview, saying that Mine doesn’t approach substories with the “defeating evil and protecting the weak” attitude that the other games’ protagonists have.
Overall, it sounds like they intend Dark Ties to be a darker story, which sounds pretty interesting.
The interview also describes the nature of Kiwami 3 as a remake, and how they felt if they kept it too close to the original Yakuza 3, it would feel boring/pointless since Yakuza 3’s remaster is readily available. Therefore, they approached it differently than the previous Kiwami games and treated it like a new work, and they don’t intend for it to replace Yakuza 3.
Another interview emphasized that as well, with Kiwami 3 involving bigger changes than Kiwami and Kiwami 2 had. Sadly, it also confirms the removal of the Revelation system.
(I’ve been hoping Revelations would come back to the series and appear in newer games, so I’m especially disappointed that they won’t even be in Kiwami 3.)
Moving on from the interviews, there’s also one big piece of information that has surfaced from TGS – the length of Dark Ties. Since it’s packaged with Kiwami 3, I thought it might be significantly shorter than the previous Gaiden games. I was hoping it would at least be the length of the Kaito Files, not as short as Kiwami 2’s Majima Saga. However, some previews mentioned being told it will be similar in length to Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name.
If it really ends up being that long, that’s incredible. I’m really looking forward to it.
What are your thoughts on the latest details about Dark Ties? How do you feel about their approach to Kiwami 3 as a remake?
Yesterday was the RGG Summit, followed by a deeper dive with the RGG Direct, and while I didn’t get the announcements I was hoping for (Kenzan and Judgment 3), I can’t say I’m disappointed.
The big announcement was the one everyone expected, since it leaked last week, Yakuza Kiwami 3.
Now, I was never crazy about getting a Kiwami 3. I found the Yakuza 3 remaster to be fine. Noticeably older, sure, but still fine to play. I wanted them to spend their time on other games as well.
So I went into the Kiwami 3 trailer with some skepticism that only grew stronger as they mentioned story changes and showed that Rikiya, Nakahara, and Hamazaki have been recast and now look completely different. (At first, I was the most upset about Rikiya, but now I think the drastic change to Hamazaki is the worst since it makes him look like a totally different type of character.)
But then, after announcing Kiwami 3, they revealed they had something else to announce…
…a new Gaiden game starring Mine???
I never in a million years thought Mine of all characters would get a Gaiden game, but Dark Ties is a new game packaged with Kiwami 3 that follows Mine in a prequel story.
That won me over. I love Mine, and I’m ridiculously excited for a whole Mine story. I was excited enough thinking it was just bonus content like Kiwami 2’s Majima Saga, but then they called it “Gaiden” and treated it like its a new game. It’s not clear yet how long it will be compared to the other Gaiden games, since it’s being sold as part of Kiwami 3, but it sounds like it’ll have a decent amount of content at least.
They announced a new live action Yakuza movie after that, which I don’t care about as much, but Dark Ties was enough for me.
After the Summit, the RGG Direct went into more detail about both games in a deep dive, and it somehow got even better. My ambivalence toward Kiwami 3 vanished when they revealed that there’s more orphanage content.
I’m not joking. I love those early hours of Yakuza 3 where you spend time at the orphanage with the kids, and I was worried a remake might reduce that. Instead, there’s a whole new lineup of daily life activities at the orphanage where Kiryu can cook, garden, catch bugs, and more. It sounds like there are new substories with the kids, too.
There are new mini-games and other additional content, and overall I ended up feeling a lot more interested in Kiwami 3 than I was before.
Am I still worried about potential story changes? Yes. I like Yakuza 3’s story, and I wouldn’t want to see most of it changed. But I’m optimistic that it won’t be anything major.
Click for Yakuza 3 and 7-8 spoilers
I’ll bet they’ve made the biggest changes to Kashiwagi’s death scene, since it was retconned in 7, whether that means actually showing him survive or just making it more plausible.
I’ve seen a lot of debate about whether they might let Mine survive the ending. I have mixed feelings. On one hand, I like Mine’s sacrifice and would normally not want such a retcon. On the other hand, they retconned Richardson’s death, and it feels worse to have Mine stay dead if the guy he sacrificed himself to kill somehow survived.
So in short, because of the Richardson retcon, I wouldn’t mind Mine’s death also being retconned.
On the other hand, some fans are worried they might retcon Kanda’s death or at least Mine’s involvement in it, to make Mine more palatable as a protagonist. I really hope they don’t. The scene with Mine bringing in Kanda’s head is one of the first real defining moments for him, and I’d hate to see that changed.
Fortunately, since they seemed to be emphasizing Mine’s “darkness” and that he’s more of an antihero in his story than someone like Kiryu, I have hope that they’re willing to leave him as he is.
Meanwhile, Dark Ties was confirmed to have its own side content, such as “Kanda Damage Control,” which sounds like this game’s version of the Akame quests in Gaiden, here framed as trying to do damage control for Kanda and improve his public image. That’s hilarious, I love it. Dark Ties also includes substories and a coliseum with some sort of dungeon survival mode.
Overall, I am excited! Even though the RGG Summit didn’t announce the games I was hoping for and only showed the tiniest bit of Stranger Than Heaven, the Mine game made up for it all.
Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties will be out on February 12. Looks like I have until then to catch up.
(In unrelated news, Capcom’s TGS showcase came and went without any new Ace Attorney game, but the Phoenix Wright Trilogy is getting a free update to add quality-of-life content and bonus features that basically brings it up to par with the other collections. That’s great news, and it was nice to at least get something from Ace Attorney during the show.)
So, are you interested in Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties? How long of a game do you think Dark Ties will be?
As expected, the big announcement coming from RGG Studio yesterday was the date of the next RGG Summit.
The RGG Summit will be held on September 23 at 8 PM PT / 11 PM ET.
(If you’ve seen it announced for September 24, that’s because of the time zone difference. In Japan, it’s September 24.)
Not only that, but there will be a “RGG Direct” immediately after the broadcast to deliver more information on the announcements.
This puts the Summit right ahead of Tokyo Game Show.
While I’m sure they’ll devote time to Stranger Than Heaven (and I’m really looking forward to learning more about that), probably the new Virtua Fighter game as well, and maybe the Switch 2 ports of Kiwami and Kiwami 2, the timing feels right for a new game announcement.
I’ve still got my heart set on either a Kenzan remake or a third Judgment game. Seeing the next Yakuza game would also be nice, but it might be too soon for that.
Now, while we’re on the topic, there’s been a tweet circulating that says the Judgment series is finished for now, but it’s from January, so I’m not sure why it’s getting so much attention now. I also wouldn’t take it as complete fact, because if they were planning a new Judgment game, they wouldn’t just tell anyone who asked.
There’s also been comments circulating about how they don’t want to remake Kenzan, but that is also based on interviews from a few years ago, not anything that was said recently.
So I don’t think it’s impossible for my hopes to come true. On the other hand, if they announce a new Yakuza game instead… well, I’d better hurry and catch up, since I still haven’t finished Infinite Wealth.
What do you think will be announced at the RGG Summit?
For me, the best announcement from TGS was Yakuza Kiwami 3 and its unexpected companion game Dark Ties, starring Yoshitaka Mine.
