The Coziness of Yakuza 3
A mini-post expressing my admiration for one of the more polarizing games in the Yakuza franchise. In it, I declare it’s positive attributes, which I believe far outweigh it’s shortcomings, though only briefly.
The opening hours of Yakuza 3 are a warm hug, thanks partially to its introduction of a new setting: the fictional town of downtown Ryukyu, Okinawa, which is modeled after its real-world counterpart, the Makishi District of Naha, Okinawa. For the unacquainted, Okinawa is the least populated of Japan’s archipelago, making it a hotspot for a homely resort or perhaps serene consolation, as in Kazuma Kiryu’s case.
Considering his orphanage upbringing, Kiryu believes it fitting to renounce the fast-paced lifestyle of a yakuza (or yakuza adjacent) in place for a steady, meaningful life managing his own orphanage as he rapidly approaches middle age, settling down after spending the better part of his life denigrated and engulfed by Kamurocho’s criminal underworld.
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Though Kiryu’s delicate side always seeped through his rough exterior, we see it blossom as he takes on a more paternal and domesticated role in fostering the orphans of Morning Glory Orphanage. We witness the taming of a dragon before our very eyes as he mends the children’s woes and tends to their needs. Speaking of eyes, this new at-the-time rendition of Kiryu shows off his expressive and kind gaze. I always hated how, in recent Yakuza games, they took away his signature sparkly eyes and expressiveness in favor of a beady-eyed glimmer. Yakuza 3’s Kiryu is—no pun intended—easier on the eyes and so much more emblematic of his striking character than his various other banal renderings, though I must admit Yakuza 5 still holds my favorite Kiryu look.
However trivial, I’m also quite fond of how quaint Kiryu’s run cycle is. He has the stride of a concerned father; his “dad walk” is befitting of his age. It never made sense to me how, again in recent iterations of Yakuza, Kiryu sprints with the same vigor of his 20-year-old self despite being well into his 50’s (though it still beats whatever the hell his running cycle was in Yakuza 5). I liked how his sprinting in Yakuza 3 was instead reserved for these “chase battles” when his athleticism was really called for. Additionally, the implementation of its intimate camera angle, paired with his subdued running cycle, makes for cozier exploration even when we eventually are dragged back into Tokyo’s callous underbelly.
But on the bright side, exploring Downtown Ryuku is a real treat; it’s a one-off city unique to Yakuza 3, and it’s a total breath of fresh air after being inundated with Kamurocho and Sotenbori’s anthropogenic maximalism. It’s a sleepy resort town that offers visitors a taste of authentic rural Japan with its compact markets and signature monorail station. Having this Yakuza set in spring also invites sunbaked complexions and warm, saturated skies during the game’s morning, day, and sunset cycles, which differ from the series’ usual motif of wintry airs.
The Asagao beach is also such a vital portion of what makes Yakuza 3 so special. The Morning Glory Orphanage is situated here, and it is a breathtaking location with its picture-perfect beach, crystal-clear waters, aqua skies broken up by puffy clouds, and rich coastal sounds. Exploring the beach at night infects moments of tranquility that are simply ineffable; therefore, I deem it a quintessential experience, even if you don’t enjoy playing video games.
For a 7th-gen game, Yakuza 3’s graphics hold up surprisingly well, but I also appreciate how it still retains a simulative quality, whilst further iterations started becoming too filmic for my liking. Yakuza 3, in a way, feels like I’m playing the true successor to Shenmue. That’s not to say Yakuza 3 didn’t take inspiration from films when crafting its cinematics, but they—along with everything else in the game—come off as much more painterly and less dioramic as most games from this era do, which, in my opinion, makes the experience so much more immersive when the graphics aren’t doing all the legwork, leaving the imagination to fill in gaps, ergo involving more subconscious investment.
Anyway, Yakuza 3 holds a warm place in my heart. Though it is not as mechanically sound as the other games in the series, its opening hours tarrying in Okinawa’s coziness are some of my favorite gaming moments, and although the game does eventually tailspin into its eventual signature of crime drama antics involving such uncozy elements as CIA double agents and geopolitics, it’s segments involving Okinawa and the further developing of Kiryu’s fatherhood are experiences that needn’t be skipped, which often is the case when newcomers are put off when they expect it to play as recent as the Kiwami remakes, unfortunately.
