The third installment of the Like a Dragon remake franchise, Kiwami, arrives with new content. Packed with the original Kiryu-focused storyline, the game also features “Dark Tides,” a new story featuring a playable Yoshitaka Mine covering his beginning and end in the main game storyline.

Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Tides is a 2026 action-adventure game developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by SEGA. It’s currently available on PC, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and Xbox Series X|S.

Editor’s Note: Spoilers for both Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Dark Tides, as well as the overall Like a Dragon mythos, may be present in this review. An Xbox Series X|S  review code was provided by SEGA in support of this review. Most of the story coverage for this review will be focused on a mix of Kiwami 3 & Dark Tides.

Kiryu Kazama returns in Yakuza Kiwami 3.

With what feels like the ever-approaching retirement of Kiryu Kazama as the lead of the Like a Dragon franchise, it’s nice to know the series can still find ways of including him back into the story. These days, Ryu Ga Goto is limited to remakes of older games and spinoffs, but there will always be a Kazama-sized itch from the fandom that needs to be scratched. Kiwami 3 remakes the third entry of the Like a Dragon franchise, focusing on Kazama’s life during retirement as he spends his days running an orphanage in 2006 Okinawa, Japan.

The Dark Tides portion of the game focuses on a playable Yoshitaka Mine.

THE GOOD: In 2006, Okinawa, Japan, Kiryu Kazama, a retired Yakuza boss (and grunt), runs an orphanage named the Morning Glory. Housing nine orphan children, the orphanage faces eviction threats, and Kazuma finds himself caught in the warring factions of the criminal underworld of Japan. This also includes the Tojo Clan’s internal struggles. Most notably, Yoshitaka Mine is looking to take control of the Tojo Clan from within. Having previously exiled himself for the sake of his loved ones, Kazama is forced to intervene in the conflict for his orphans’ sake and the new life he’s built for himself. Kazama gets forced into the war between Daigo Dojima and Yoshitaka Mine, bringing back his violent past, which he’s tried so hard to avoid.

In a prequel story, Dark Tides, Mine is on the board of directors of a startup company. After being voted out for a few botched investments, he goes out for the night and witnesses a shootout between rival Yakuza. Seeing the men sacrifice themselves for Tojo Chairman Daigo Dojima, he has a new outlook on life. Upon meeting Tsuyoshi Kanda, Mine ends up as a member of his small group in the Nishikiyama Family. They work to rise Kanada’s rank in the family and their status in Japan by doing good deeds for the locals.

Meanwhile, in Okinawa, indeed.

If you’re a Yakuza fan, the good news is Yakuza Kiwami 3 is much like what you’d expect. Ryu Ga Goto has been doing some experimenting with the Like a Dragon franchise. Splinting it between the traditional action, beat’em up gameplay, and the newer turn-based style of gameplay, it’s always nice to see the former pop back up. The story is more or less the same as the original game, outside of the bonkers ending. I suspect this was done because Ryu had plans to bring Mine back eventually. It’s a weird choice, and definitely hurts the overall storyline, but I ultimately understand why they did it creatively. I also understand why Like a Dragon fans would be very upset over it. I guess it depends on how much you want more Yoshitaka, regarding how you view future entries continuing the story.

The gameplay, as I said earlier, is what you’d come to expect of a Kiryu-led game. Brawling, style changing, etc., as you go around Japan knocking some Yakuza heads around (and off). Some of the side quests are noticeably waned compared to previous titles, but there is a newish mode where Kiryu can start his own gang of delinquents. You can also help Kiryu bond with his orphans in a series of mingames.  The Mine content is a fun side-story involving his own rise and fall in the business world and criminal underworld. While the story has some mixed results, his presence as a playable character was a welcome addition. The Hell’s Paradise arena fighter style game and the Kanade image cleanup content provided some fun replayablity.

There’s some controversy over the casting and story changes,  which may dampen your experience.

THE BAD: Yakuza Kiwami 3’s greatest contribution to the series is arguably the Dark Tides content, renewing focus on fan-favorite Mine. Kiwami 3 itself, however, suffers a bit of an identity crisis compared to past Kiwami titles. With Kiwami 1 & 2, it felt like SEGA went out of their way to raise the bar with the modern retelling of the titles. Kiwami 3 feels like a basic Yakuza experience with a fresh coat of paint, which is fine in the grand scheme of things, but don’t expect too much in terms of upgrading the feel of the original game.

The likely last mainline Kiwami game has some issues holding it back.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Dark Tides are more or less what you’d expect from a modern title with the classic beat’em up Like a Dragon formula. Japan’s wonky stance on legality when it comes to sex crimes vs drug crimes rears its decades-old, ugly head here. It’s unfortunate and will have people raising an eyebrow regarding enjoying the game on a moral level. On the more critical end of the game design side, Kiwami 3 is probably the weakest entry of the three. It has weaker innovation than the others, such as the lack of and removal of memorable side content.