Yakuza Kiwami 3’s blunders have made it the worst-reviewed game in the series on Steam: ‘Creatively bankrupt doesn’t even begin to describe the current state of RGG’

Yakuza Kiwami 3—seemingly the last in RGG Studio’s series of Kiwami remakes—released last week, though not without controversy. Between some baffling cuts, strange retcons, and the casting of an actor, Teruyuki Kagawa, who confessed to sexual harassment in 2022, even stalwart series fans weren’t predisposed to love Kiwami 3.

So it’s no surprise they don’t. In fact, at the time of writing, Kiwami 3 is the worst-rated game—by the metric of user reviews—of the entire series on Steam. Make no mistake, it’s not been review-bombed and it’s not universally loathed; Yakuza Kiwami 3 doesn’t occupy the doldrums of an Overwhelmingly Negative user rating. Nevertheless, it’s currently at a 63% ‘Mixed’ review score, putting it squarely bottom of the leaderboard relative to the rest of the games.

Why? Well, all those things I listed up top, mostly. “Creatively bankrupt doesn’t even begin to describe the current state of RGG,” goes one well-reviewed, uh, review by Steam user Jigen Daisuke.

“The retcons made to the story of RGG3 with Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties are absolute abominations and an insult to the original game, the entire Kiryu saga, and any fan with even an ounce of critical sense. Not to mention all the content removed in favour of reused minigames from other more recent entries (a Kiwami classic) and the recasting (another Kiwami classic).”

It’s hard to find a negative review that doesn’t lament Kagawa’s casting, the retcons, and the cut content. “Even ignoring the casting of someone who sexually assaulted others on camera, this is an inferior remake,” says BravestAsh8434. “[Sexual assault] allegations from one of the cast members. Changing too much stuff from the original and leaving too much out. Rushed and unpolished, frequent crashes on my system,” writes jack.

(Image credit: Sega)

And so on and so forth in that vein. At 63% positive, it’s not hard to find positive reviews, but it’s quite a diminished result for a game in a series as beloved as Yakuza, and whose weakest entries even usually have their fanatical admirers. It’s worth noting that the only other two Yakuza games with Mixed reviews on Steam are the recent relistings of Yakuza 0 and Kiwami 1. RGG, it seems, is on a downward trajectory in fan estimations of late.

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