is a 2009 action-adventure game developed and published by Sega for the PlayStation 3. The third main entry in the Like a Dragon series, it was released in Japan and South East Asia on February 26, 2009, and in North America and Europe on March 9, 2010, and March 12, 2010. A remaster containing all cut content was released in Japan on August 9, 2018, and worldwide on August 20, 2019, for the PlayStation 4, and on January 28, 2021, for Windows and Xbox One. A sequel, Yakuza 4, was released on March 18, 2010, in Japan. A remake, Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties, was released on February 12, 2026.
Gameplay
Features Yakuza 3 introduces PlayStation Network Trophies to the series with 45 trophies (50 in the Eastern releases). It adds four gameplay elements: Seamless Battle (シームレスバトル shimuresu batoru): Seamless Battle is a streaming data-based loading-free system that allows the game to directly connect the adventure mode and the battle mode (called "Kenka") without the usual loading black screen. Chase Battle (チェイスバトル, cheisu batoru): Chase Battle is a new battle mode which replaces the regular brawling (Kenka) with a running sequence set within a certain area. Both the chaser and chased have a stamina gauge that decreases naturally as the character runs, by being hit with a thrown object or by colliding with a passer-by. When the stamina gauge is empty the exhausted character stops the chase. During the game a minor character, Mack Shinozuka, will train Kiryu to improve his running performance. Revelation (天啓, tenkei): Ten revelations, spread throughout the game, will allow Kazuma Kiryu to learn new in Adventure mode; it is similar to the system introduced in the previous game Ryū ga Gotoku: Kenzan!. This time Kazuma uses the built-in camera on his cell phone to record new moves and techniques. These are acquired through hints and incidents spotted in First Person View. Learned Heat Actions are posted on Kazuma's personal blog, called "Kamuroblo", which uses the same template as general director Toshihiro Nagoshi's own blog. First Person View: When pressing the DualShock 3's R3 button during the adventure mode, the standard third person view switches to a brand new first person mode. This perspective allows a better observation of the streets and people, but looking some people in the eyes using First Person View will provoke them and they will attack. First Person View is disabled in some indoor places and at certain angles.
Event Mode The main story spans twelve chapters plus a prologue. As with the earlier games, each chapter is preceded by a cinematic, called an "event scene", which later becomes available in the Gallery mode. Skipping these scenes using the Start button can only be done after enabling the scene-skipping option in the menu, which is switched off by default. The western version of Yakuza 3 features 295 minutes of cutscenes according to the BBFC.
Six sub-scenarios ("Date's Pride", "Two Fathers", "Hometown Girl", "The Finishing Touch", "Silver Screen Dragon", and "Murder at Café Alps") are special missions featuring "event scene" cinematics.
Adventure Mode In the eastern releases, the main story is complemented with 123 unique side stories called "sub-scenarios" ("substory" in the original version, sabustori). These sub-scenarios are divided into two classes: Mission and Hitman. There are 103 standard missions, some of which are made up of different episodes, and 20 hitman sub-scenarios. Fifteen of these bounty hunter sidestories are located in Kamurocho, the remaining five in Ryukyu.
Twenty minigames are available within Adventure mode. These are aromatherapy massage (eastern releases only), darts, pool, karaoke, bowling, mahjong (eastern releases only), chinchirorin, shogi (eastern releases only), chō-han, koi-koi, oicho-kabu, roulette, poker, blackjack, (eastern releases only), , batting cage, golf, surf fishing and Boxcelios. 2-player support for some of these mini games and an expansion for Answer & Answer are added through DLC, as well as main menu direct access in the eastern releases. However, the quiz minigame's expansion was eventually removed from the western release and 2-player support became a time limited DLC exclusive to the North American release's Challenge Pack. Challenges like Mack Shinozuka's training, Inner Fighter 7 and Haruka's Request aren't considered either mini games or side stories.
Beating the game in "Hard" mode unlocks the "Ex-Hard" (extreme hard) extra difficulty level. Completing the game in any difficulty mode will create a "cleared data" save file and unlock "Premium New Game" and "Premium Adventure". The first allows to restart the game with all accumulated money, items, experience levels and fighting techniques. The latter is a free-run mode dedicated to exploration and completion as it doesn't include the main story, with only sub-scenarios remaining (though a small number of missions will only appear at a certain point in story mode, and cannot be triggered in Premium Adventure). Extra game contents are added through DLC.
Battle Mode As with the previous games, the is available. An illicit mixed martial arts competition sponsored by Majima is held in the area beneath Kamurocho Hills, formerly Purgatory. The arena is inspired by real life Japanese cage fighting competitions such as K-1 World Grand Prix; gameplay is similar to fighting games Toshihiro Nagoshi previously worked on such as Virtua Fighter 5 and SpikeOut. Single Tournament has 50 unique international fighters (a minor character with its own profile) and 11 grand prix tournaments to choose from. These 3-round competitions have various rings, rules and difficulty levels; the different types of tournament are Exhibition Tournament, Street Fight GP, Breakout GP, Heat GP, Bounding GP, Bomber GP, Golden Glove GP, Weapon Master GP, Hyper GP, Magnum Force GP and Maximum GP. Tag Tournament is a two-partner team match including 20 unique teams. Each team is made of paired Single Tournament fighters enhanced with a special duo attack. There are 2 available grand prix named Tag Match GP and Twin Dragon GP. Three Single Tournament fighters and two Encounter Battle characters will join Kazuma Kiryu's "Team Dragon" ("Team The Dragon" in the original release) as tag partners once he finds them in the Adventure Mode; these are boxer Maxim Soldatov , kenpō Bruce Ebinuma , puroresu Daiji Hiyama , Keigo Kanno and Masaki Hatae . Orders can be given to these partners using the DualShock 3's arrow keys.
Completing the story mode unlocks 35 additional Battle Missions gathered in a bonus mode called . The first competition has 10 missions and is called , the second has 5 missions and is called , the third has 10 missions and is called , and fourth competition has 5 missions and is called . Completing these four competitions unlocks a fifth competition called the which has 5 missions. Completing all 35 missions with an "S" rank, the highest rank possible, unlocks a special item delivered by Bob Utsunomiya, which is a talisman called the that, when equipped, permanently maintains the Heat Gauge at maximum level.
Once story mode is completed the player can start a Premium Adventure and meet a hidden minor character (a clairvoyant woman) who allows access to four added through DLC, only available in a special edition of the game in Europe, and as a preorder bonus in North America. In Survival Battle Kazuma Kiryu must find and defeat the , Yoshitaka Mine; eight bonus bosses are disseminated within Kamurocho. In Survival Onigokko, Kazuma Kiryu is chased by Bob Utsunomiya in Kamurocho, with ten missions to complete in 3 minutes. All Star Tournament is an extra Arena single tournament that involves all 8 boss characters plus Goh Hamazaki, the latter of which can only be fought in this mode. All Star Tag Tournament is an extra tag tournament that pits Kazuma Kiryu and his fighting partner Goro Majima against 7 teams of bosses and bonus characters such as Kazuki, Yuya, Goh Hamazaki and Komaki.
Completion The quest for the disseminated 100 coin lockers (half of them hidden in Kamurocho, the others in Ryukyu) is rewarded with the "Key Collector" Silver PSN Trophy. The latter was called (lit. "vagrant keys") and was only Bronze level in the Eastern releases. As a mixed game including elements of the sandbox game and RPG genres, Yakuza 3 includes a "Completion" feature that sums up what percentage of the game was actually completed by the player.
Only 100% completion (Completion + Sub-Scenario) will unlock the final mission involving a recurring hidden all-black character named Jo Amon , a.k.a. "Mysterious Hitman", a returning character from the spinoff and a secret boss available since the original Yakuza title. In Yakuza 3, Jo Amon's weapon is dual light sabers.
Plot
Setting Yakuza 3 continues the adventures of Kazuma Kiryu, picking up after the events of Yakuza 2. The game takes place both in Kamurochō, a fictionalized version of Tokyo's red-light district Kabukicho, from the first two games, and in a brand new location called Downtown Ryukyu, located in Naha, Okinawa.
The area of Okinawa where the story takes place is a fictional area, based upon Naha's Makishi district. It includes real life landmarks such as the Ichiba Hondori (linked to Mutsumibashi Dori and Heiwa Dori) covered shopping arcade renamed in the game as well as the popular shortened , the famous entertainment strip called , the Okinawa Monorail Kencho-mae Station as or the Mitsukoshi department store () which kept its actual name as part of the game's tie-in policy.
Synopsis
In January 2007, after ending the war with the Omi Alliance, Kazuma Kiryu (Takaya Kuroda) and Haruka Sawamura (Rie Kugimiya) visit the cemetery where their loved ones rest. They are joined by Kaoru Sayama (Yū Daiki), who is preparing to leave for the United States. Kiryu accepts custody of an orphanage in Okinawa, hoping to raise orphans like his adoptive father, Shintaro Kazama, raised him. Before leaving, he enlists Goro Majima (Hidenari Ugaki) to assist Daigo Dojima (Satoshi Tokushige), Kiryu's successor, in his duties as Tojo Clan chairman.
A year later, Kiryu has settled into the orphanage and is dealing with eviction notices from the Ryudo Family, who owns the land the orphanage is built on. He confronts the Ryudo captain Rikiya Shimabukuro (Tatsuya Fujiwara), and meets the family's patriarch, Shigeru Nakahara (Shigeru Izumiya), who informs Kiryu that the land is wanted for a seaside resort. Kiryu refuses to close the orphanage, despite Nakahara's threats. The following week, Rikiya asks Kiryu for help in finding Nakahara's adoptive daughter, Saki (Umeka Shōji). Kiryu and Rikiya learn that Saki's mother is working with Tetsuo Tamashiro (Unshō Ishizuka), the patriarch of a rival family, who plans to use Saki as leverage to seize Nakahara's territory. Kiryu defeats Tamashiro and banishes his gang, and Saki returns to Nakahara when her mother rejects her. Nakahara pledges an oath to Kiryu in return. Daigo later meets with them and reveals that Tamashiro was recruited to secure the land in a scheme tied to Defense Minister Ryuzo Tamiya's (Akio Otsuka) "Military Base Expansion Bill". Daigo refuses to involve the Tojo Clan with the resort.