Yakuza Kiwami 3 is billed as an "extreme" remake of the 2009 original. In addition to a new version of the old PS3 game it'll come with Dark Ties which, as Wes Fenlon discovered last week, is a "breakneck roguelite dungeon crawl" set during the same time period. That's good news for people who love shiny new things, but it's bad news for those who love old things, because when Kiwami 3 releases the remastered version of Yakuza 3 will be harder to buy.
Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio confirmed as much on Saturday. "Those who already own Yakuza 3 Remastered will still be able to continue playing it," the company posted on X, but "for those new to the series who wish to experience the original version, it will be available with purchase of the Yakuza Complete Series bundle."
The Yakuza Complete Series bundle is $130 on Steam when it's not on sale, and it's a pretty good deal if you want, oh, probably around 500 hours worth of Yakuza games. If you want to buy Yakuza 3 Remastered separately it'll set you back $20, though both the bundle and the standalone Yakuza 3 go on sale pretty damn regularly: the latter often goes for around $6. The contents of the bundle has changed over the years thanks to the addition of new instalments, so its price has fluctuated a bit, but it has received discounts of up to 70 percent in the past.
Yakuza 3 Kiwami looks to be a pretty faithful remake, with most changes consisting of additions like a second combat style for Kiryu, new minigames and story sections, and more stuff to do during the orphanage sections. Crucially, though, it's not the same game: it's remade in the latest iteration of the Dragon Engine, which looks brilliant but maybe too brilliant if you believe a game's graphics are a huge part of their identity and vibe.
In other words, if you want the older, remastered version of Yakuza 3 but don't own it yet, maybe snap it up while you can. Yakuza Kiwami 2 releases on February 11, which means you have until then to buy Yakuza 3 Remastered as a standalone.
It's worth pointing out that the same thing happened to Yakuza 0 last month: the initial PC version was replaced with Yakuza 0 Director's Cut on December 9. The newer version of 0 isn't a remake though: it just throws in a bunch of improvements that were developed for the Nintendo Switch 2 version (you have to pay to upgrade to it, too).
