When Yakuza Kiwami 3 released earlier this year, I couldn’t help but raise my eyebrows at some of the biggest features from Yakuza 3 that Ryu Ga Gotoku changed or removed for the remake.
I fully respect my colleague Richard for his opinion that Yakuza Kiwami 3 is “a near perfect remake”, and you can hear more of his thoughts in the review we posted at launch, but some of the changes that were made shook my confidence in the future of the series.
Yakuza 3’s 119 substories were reduced down to a measly 31 in the remake, while additional content like the Revelations and the minigames were also gutted, and several retcons were made that completely changed the outcome of the story.
Of course, this isn’t also taking into account the controversial actor changes, particularly with the casting of actor Teruyuki Kagawa, whose own admission of alleged sexual misconduct was decried by fans in the months leading up to launch.
Advert
It’s also got me wondering what the future of the Yakuza series looks like, particularly regarding any further remakes that are made after Kiwami 3.
RGG producer Masayoshi Yokoyama has gone on record saying that “I think Yakuza Kiwami 3 will be the last one, and the Kiwami line will come to an end. I don’t think it’ll continue as the Kiwami series anymore. I think a different series will begin”.
However, given the series’ popularity, a remake of Yakuza 4 is almost a certainty. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth sold 1.66 million units by June 2025, and Sega has described sales of Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii as “selling especially well”. Meanwhile, both previous Kiwami games have been top sellers across each platform they’re available on.
So, Yokoyama may not necessarily be saying there’ll be a Yakuza Kiwami 4, but whatever the inevitable remake of the fourth game in the series is called is causing me some concern, especially after seeing what happened with Kiwami 3.
Flawed As It Is, I Would't Change Anything About Yakuza 4
As it turns 16 today, Yakuza 4 is already seen as a little unpopular due to some big changes that were introduced following the third game.
The evolution from having Kazuma Kiryu as the sole protagonist, to him sharing the spotlight with three other new characters is a little jarring. The fact that they’re all seemingly disconnected for most of the game, trapped within a weak plot and slow pacing, doesn’t help matters.
The substories are also quite unmemorable too, and I felt extremely unmotivated to actually go and finish them compared to previous games.
With that said, I still really like Yakuza 4. It introduced us to some excellent new characters like Shun Akiyama and Taiga Saejima, who ended up becoming some of my favourite side characters of the series.
It also sets the series up with some ideas that would be used in further games, like reusing multiple protagonists for Yakuza 5 and Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, and expands the focus beyond Kiryu to include characters of differing personalities and goals. Once you get to the fourth entry of a franchise, I appreciate these kinds of new ideas.
Okay, sure, the rubber bullets thing and everything involving Yasuko’s character arc ends up being eyeroll-worthy. But when has Yakuza ever been coherent?
All of this is to say that I can’t help but feel Yakuza 4 is perfectly imperfect. There are so many flaws to pick at, and yet I wouldn’t really change anything about it.
If you’d asked me a few years ago if a remake of Yakuza 4 in the same style as Yakuza Kiwami and Kiwami 2 would work, I’d have wholeheartedly agreed.
But now, seeing how Kiwami 3 turned out with its various controversial changes, plus Yokoyama’s comments about the future of the Kiwami line, it makes me very uneasy about what to expect from a potential remake of Yakuza 4.
I don't want RGG to make further changes to the timeline and 'canon' of the game, particularly when this game introduces so many characters and plot elements that persist into the new games in the series.
In all honestly, I'd rather it just kept Yakuza 4 as it's own little imperfect thing, sitting in RGG canon as this flawed entry to a long-running franchise. We don't really need to go back and refine it, especially if that means sanitising out all of the things that make it interesting.
Topics: Yakuza, Like a Dragon, Sega