Yakuza 3 is the third game of the hugely popular Yakuza series, and shows that perhaps that popularity is deserved.
Not wanting expose Japanese culture SEGA such as hostess bars and mahjong, a game virtually unheard of outside of Japan, content such as this has been cut. Many people have compared it to the cult classic Shenmue, but it is nothing like Shenmue. It is a commercially successful franchise and a big title in Japan. It is their GTA. People have also compared it to GTA, but it is not like GTA. Yakuza 3 is an action RPG, not a sand box.
There are no random encounters, but you gain EXP and money or items from each fight you win, which can be used to upgrade Kazama Kiryu, the main character. For each fight you lose you win a game over screen, from which you can conveniently retry, reload, or quit. Kazama is a former member of the yakuza. Yakuza is the Japanese equivalent of the Mafia, but being Japanese they are obviously much cooler. Though The Sopranoes is a good show, and The Godfather and Scarface are classics of cinema.
Nevertheless Kazama is no longer in the Yakuza. Instead he has started running an orphanage with Haruka (a young girl; nothing suss) who has appeared in previous games. Where the other orphans have come from I am not sure. Naturally he gets called back to the Yakuza and the story begins. The story is very well told with great cutscenes and excellent voice acting and writing. It is very dark and funny. The story is one of the best parts of the game. Another great part of the game is the graphics. They are represented in full HD and are technically of high quality with sharp textures, and a wonderfully accurate city of Tokyo. Okinawa does not seem as accurate, but I have not been. Nor have I been to Tokyo. Nevertheless it appears to be accurate, as being a gamer I have intimate knowledge of Japan. I was practically in Shibuya when I played TWEWY, which is another Japanese RPG.
The gameplay consists of RPG style fights, only instead of selecting actions from a menu, it plays out like an action game. You press square for a normal attack, triangle for a special attack, x to dodge, and circle to throw someone. L1 defends, R1 locks onto your opponent. The left analogue stick controls Kazama's movements, and R1 the camera. It functions well. You learn different moves as you progress through the game, including special ones that require the "heat" bar to be partially, or completely filled.
The soundtrack is minimal in its approach without much background music. This works well in creating the realistic atmosphere in Tokyo, because there is no background music in Tokyo in real life, or so I am told. It is very realistic. The game must be played with a PS3 control, and supports the vibration function of the Dualshock 3.
While playing through the main story you can do side-quests. As I said, it is an RPG. For doing these side quests you gain experience and money or items meaning that they are much like the fights in the game, though they are also not of a random nature. They are amusing. They often conclude with fights.
In summary, Yakuza 3 is a great game, as indicated from my score of 8.0 which according to GameSpot means the game is great. The gameplay is good, as are the graphics and the sound. But special mention to the story, that is very entertaining. You will be playing to find out what happens next. I highly recommend that you buy Yakuza 3 if you enjoy video games, because it a video game of the highest order.