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An anomaly in the Japanese gaming scene, the Yakuza series tends to take itself a bit more serious than other fare that comes out of the land of the rising sun. No overly large breasts to ogle at or nefarious demons to take down here. Yakuza 3 presents itself as a Sopranos-esque take on living the life of crime in video game form. If you have the time, that is. You might have to go find runaway children, help make dinner, stage a wrestling match or talk abandonment issues with the orphaned children main character Kazuma Kiryu watches over. Aside from improving on the graphics from the PS2 games and implementing new move sets to its beat-em-up RPG system, Yakuza 3 creates a world that doesn't completely rely on sheer violence. It's not perfect, but it demonstrates proper character development that would have been in the higher arches of gaming pre-Heavy Rain. Of course, it is also a great continuation in line with what fans have come to expect from the series.
Grade: A-
Via HawtWired