Keza MacDonald from Eurogamer writes:
"Yakuza 3 is the truest representation of modern Japan in videogames. Not in the overwrought melodrama of the story, which largely barrels by in a blur of crying orphans and angry men shouting at one another before taking their tops off and smacking each other around, but in the incidental detail: the vending machines, arcades, bars, the incessant welcoming calls of 'irassyaimasseeeee!' from shop staff, and the Okinawan side streets housing mysterious buildings of inscrutable function.
And like modern Japan, Yakuza 3 feels like a jarring contradiction of stubborn traditionalism and sleek modernity. It is a beautiful game lavished with attention to detail, the production values and budget are sky-high, and the quality and authenticity of the acting and plot (if you can forgive the aforementioned melodrama) is far, far ahead of others in the genre. But underneath it all is a game that's barely changed since the original Ryu ga Gotoku in 2005."
