I was tempted to ignore this entirely and just blog about Danganronpa 2×2 today instead, but we’ve talked about Yakuza Kiwami 3 enough that I suppose we should discuss the latest developments.

Kiwami 3 + Dark Ties is now out, and the reception has been… interesting.

It got mostly decent reviews despite a few questioning whether the series needs to slow down or decrying it for cut content, but a lot of fans are upset with the new information.

We’ve briefly discussed the shadows hanging over this remake, but it got worse after the revelation that Yakuza 3’s 119 substories are reduced to 31 in the remake. Yes, a lot of the original substories didn’t have much substance, but apparently some of the more involved ones like Murder at Café Alps were also cut.

On top of the ill feelings toward the Kagawa situation, the recasts in general, and technical difficulties with the demo, it seems like this was the last straw for a lot of fans.

Personally, I never thought Yakuza 3 needed a remake, and I was mainly excited because of Dark Ties… which turned out to be significantly shorter than the Gaiden games after all, despite what we thought. Maybe they shouldn’t have marketed Kiwami 3 + Dark Ties as “two games in one” and a “double feature,” with Dark Ties being “an included separate game,” because that’s led to people feeling they were lied to.

But leaving aside all of that, now we have to contend with the puzzling statements from director Masayoshi Yokoyama about where the series is going from here.

In a recent broadcast, he made some statements that were translated on Reddit to the bewilderment of everyone, as he said the Kiwami line of games will come to an end and “a different series will begin.” He described it as not being Like a Dragon 9 but rather “a new series on a different line, with a different meaning” and added that we’ll understand if we’ve played Kiwami 3.

Okay. What?

Now, this isn’t actually the first time he’s said something similar. In a PlayStation Blog interview last year, he said Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties would “point toward the series’ future direction,” an odd statement that at the time made us wonder if it would retcon something.

Earlier this year, the script leaked and revealed changes that divided the fanbase. Without spoilers, one change made it feel like Kiwami 4 was a shoo-in, made mandatory since it requires certain scenes in Yakuza 4 to at least be given different context.

So if there’s not going to be a Kiwami 4 but rather a new line of games… what does that mean?

The biggest fan assumption right now is that they’re actually starting a different continuity, that Kiwami 3 will be followed not by Yakuza 4 but by a whole new sequel, creating a separate series following this new timeline. It’s also possible that they just intend to make a spin-off series related to the new plot elements and aren’t altering canon at all (in which case fans who have only played Kiwami 3 rather than 3 will just have to shrug in confusion when those Yakuza 4 moments come up). Or maybe there’s some third meaning that no one has figured out yet, because both options feel baffling.

I don’t know what to think about this. Just last year, Yakuza was a series I could always count on to be fantastic. Even if Infinite Wealth’s story didn’t always land for me, even if I had misgivings about the direction of the pirate game, I knew the games would always be great. And… maybe Kiwami 3 will still be fun, despite sounding like it’s lost a lot of the original’s soul.

But right now I don’t have that unshakeable confidence I had before.

How are you feeling about the current state of the Yakuza series and Yakuza Kiwami 3 + Dark Ties? What do you think Yokoyama meant when he said this will lead to a new series of games?