Yakuza Kiwami 3, the upcoming remake of Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s Yakuza 3, is receiving complaints from fans regarding content cut from the original.
During a recent interview with Denfaminicogamer, Yakuza series chief producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto and Yakuza Kiwami 3 producer/director Ryosuke Horii discussed how the upcoming remake is a different game from Yakuza 3, and that the development team has added a lot of new content that makes the gameplay feel “completely different.” In doing so, however, content has also been cut from the original, which is drawing complaints from fans of the long-running series.
The most prominent cut is the Divine Revelation system found in the original Yakuza 3, which allowed players to look at specific objects in the city in first-person mode and receive revelations as well as acquire new abilities. The development team sees it as the removal of “unnecessary elements”, with the remake being focused on “making the main story easier to understand, the drama more immersive, and portraying the relationship with Rikiya more carefully.”
With such key content being removed from Yakuza Kiwami 3, one fan on the Reset Era forums wondered why Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio even bothered with remaking the game at all. Another member joked that the more the development team cuts from the remake the better, “so that it can be over faster.” The cut content didn’t come as surprising to one fan, who pointed out that this had also been the case with Yakuza Kiwami 2. Others are critical of the recasting of Goh Hamazaki’s character by actor Teruyuki Kagawa. The latter was involved in a sexual harassment case back in 2022. Fans are calling for Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio to recast him immediately, much like it did with Pierre Taki for Judgment after a drug incident.
Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties is set for release on February 12, 2026, for PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows PC. Details regarding pre-order bonuses and Deluxe Edition content can be seen here.
