Do you like games with a great story and a ton of things to do? Look no further, Yakuza 3 is that game.

User Rating: 9.5 | Ryu ga Gotoku 3 PS3
Right off the bat let me say this is one of the best, if not the BEST PS3 exclusive.

You play as Kazuma, a former Yakuza member who wants to get away from that part of his life, but has no choice but to return to it. Now this game is like MGS4 where it's very cutscene and text heavy, but don't let this turn you away. The storyline is amazing, you will not want to skip any cutscenes because all of them are pretty important, and to be honest, pretty enjoyable to watch. I'm a guy who skips cutscenes in games with decent stories, but I have yet to skip a single scene so far, despite the high number of them and how often they come up.

As for the game itself, if you're expecting a full on fighting game, that's not what this is. I mean there are plenty of fights and they are very enjoyable, but you will find yourself exploring the city and doing side missions which many don't involve fighting. You will do tasks for people around the city and be rewarded for each side mission you complete. Most are actually pretty fun. Later in the game in Tokyo you get hitman missions which are also a blast themselves. As for the city, there are MANY mini games to be played. Thing is, unlike GTA IV, the mini-games are actually very enjoyable and there are a lot more then in GTA IV. You have pool, bowling, darts, arcade shooter, crane game, batting cages, karaoke, gambling games, and more. All of these play very well, I never personally enjoyed the batting cages, but as for the rest, they're actually pretty fun to just chill back and play. You will find yourself wasting plenty of time playing these games.

Now for the fighting, the hand-to-hand combat is actually pretty cool. You unlock more combos and moves the more you level up. This is done by getting XP which you can spend into any of 4 categories. Or by seeing revelations (disasters that happen to people that you will be notified about) which are very funny to watch. Now the best part about fighting is the heat actions. You will build a meter during a fight and once it fills you get a heat move (aka a highly damaging move, usually kills basic enemies). Now the amount of heat moves in this game is unreal. There is different heat moves with each weapon, different positions, what you're near in the environment, etc. You will see a few MANY MANY times, but if you experiment, you will find new sequences. For example I remember fighting in a hallway with a knife, I did the heat move and I held the guys hand against the wall and stabbed his hand into the wall. There are so many moves to see, I still have many to find myself despite having seen a ton of moves already.

Now I will tell you that running through the game is not the way to play this. On the way to missions, you will run into many battles, side missions, etc. You're better off exploring the whole city before starting missions because there are so many rewards that are worth getting, and many side stories that are actually interesting and fun to play, they definitely add a whole lot to the experience. I repeat, do "NOT" rush through this game, you will miss out on a lot. Explore and take your time, it is all very rewarding and enjoyable at the same time.

The fun thing about this game is trying to 100% complete it. Now I don't just mean beating the story and side missions. I mean collect all of the locker keys scattered in the city, beat every challenge for every mini game (ex: win every prize in a claw machine, beat each opponent in each type of pool game, etc), see all of the revelations, do every heat move, and even eat every food at every restaurant, plus much more. If you are a completionist, you will be busy for a LONG and I mean LOOOONNNGGG time, and it will never really get boring either which is excellent for a game that expects you to do so many things to get a 100% completion.

If you're going to just run through the main storyline, it's still a lengthy game, especially if you watch all of the cutscenes, and it would still be a great experience and a lot of fun. But the fact that there is so much to do on the side just makes the game a whole lot more enjoyable then it already is, which is quite an accomplishment.

What surprises me is how sites such as Gamespot haven't given this game a 9 or higher. This is one of the deepest and lengthiest games I have ever played, and a lot more enjoyable then many mindless games that get GOTY nominations and 9.5 scores from reviewers. I've been playing this game for about 30 hours, not done with the main story due to being so side tracked all of the time, and yet enjoy the side tracking.

So pretty much a summary of my review. If you like action RPG's with LOADS of things to do, an excellent main story, and enjoyable all the way through, this game is for you.