The Yakuza / Like A Dragon series has been one of the biggest surprises of the Switch 2 generation, with three games — 0, Kiwami 1, and Kiwami 2 — available on the platform already. In February next year, it’ll be joined by the brand new Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties which is much more than a remake of Yakuza 3, says RGG Studio director Yokoyama Masayoshi.
In an interview with GameWatch (translated by Automaton), Masayoshi-san has said that this remake “contains some major hints about the future direction of the series.”
“We haven’t officially announce anything related to that yet,” Masayoshi continues “But once you play it, I think you’ll get an idea, or rather, a pretty solid sense of what we intend to do with the series going forward.”
Well, considering there are five more mainline games (not including spin-offs such as Judgment or Gaiden) set after Yakuza 3, that’s a little surprising!
None of those are on Switch consoles either, and with Yakuza: Like A Dragon and Infinite Wealth both starring a different protagonist (though Kiryu does pop up, because of course he does), it certainly leaves us with some questions.
Masayoshi also insists that the new story starring Yoshitaka Mine, Dark Ties, is “extremely shocking”, stating that it’s one of the “darkest” stories in the series’ history: “if you think Yakuza Kiwami 3 is just a remake, you’d be hugely mistaken.”
Well, even without that little hint, it certainly sounds like a lot more than a rehash of the original PS3 release.
Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties comes to Switch 2 on 12th February 2025. Will you be picking the game up? What do you think is in store for the series’ future? Get pumped up in the comments below.
