Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties hands-on preview: We're so back in 2026

Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties was officially revealed at this year’s RGG Summit at Tokyo Game Show, but before that, I joined a few other journalists at SEGA of America, to get hands-on with it! In addition, we played a wealth of other games, such as the Switch 2 versions of Kiwami 1 and Kiwami 2, Persona 3 Reload, and the next Virtua Fighter 5 update. But the big winner for me, the game that had my attention and refused to let go, was Kiwami 3.

However, the 2009 classic is coming back on February 12, 2026, and it’s not coming alone. It also features Yakuza Gaiden: Dark Ties, which focuses on the life of Yoshitaka Mine, the character that ultimately stands as the main antagonist of Yakuza 3. However, he kind of felt like he came out of nowhere; Dark Ties will fix that, and give him a lot more life.

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Yakuza Kiwami 3 fixes the combat of the original, and adds to the already classic title

I spent about 25 minutes or so with Yakuza Kiwami 3, exploring Okinawa, and getting into fights, mostly. While I do love Yakuza 3, there were some places the original lacked; particularly the combat. It was mostly the fact that Kiryu’s damage was mediocre, and it felt like every enemy in the universe could and did block. It made the fights drag, more than anything. However, that’s all changed!

The Ryukyu style is slower, but the weapons make it impactful and fun to use (Image via SEGA)

The combat’s been redone from the ground up, it feels like. Kiryu hits harder, his movement looks better, and he has a secondary combat style, in addition to his normal one. His primary combat style is Dragon of Dojima: Kiwami, and it’s all the bone-crushing, body-breaking action you expect.

There’s also the Ryukyu Stance in Yakuza Kiwami 3, which takes a lot of inspiration from Okinawan martial arts, and juggles between several Okinawan weapons. This stance also features a perfect parry/counter; if you block at the right time, you basically get a perfect parry and can unleash on whoever was unfortunately enough to get blocked.

Glow up or not? You make the call (Image via SEGA)

Using the Ryukyu Stance against Rikiya, Captain of the Ryudo Family just felt right. Speaking of Rikiya Shimabukuro, there are going to be people that don’t like his redesign. He has a new look, and while personally I liked it, I can see why people may not like it. Rikiya’s look is based on his new actor, Sho Kasamatsu. I’m not going to lie though; I miss the Punch Perm.

I’m a huge fan of the Phone Customization, too. In Yakuza Kiwami 3, you can equip a nice assortment of Phone Charms that act as your equipment. They can reduce dizziness, increase damage, all sorts of features. There was also a system called Search Mode that reminded me a lot of Aloha Links in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.

It's not all grim and serious in Kiwami 3 (Image via SEGA)

By holding a button down in Yakuza Kiwami 3, you can see items to collect, and friends to meet. I wish you could toggle it, instead of having to hold down the button, but that’s a minor nitpick. There are other mini-games that were added that I didn’t get a chance to see, but were revealed during Tokyo Game Show.

Life at Morning Glory sounds like a bunch of fun mini-games to help you bond with your orphans, and Legendary Baddie: Bad Boy Dragon is the standard “Kiryu joins up with a group to help beat back some evil dorks”, but this time, it’s with an Okinawan female biker gang, so I’m already sold on it. But what about the Gaiden part of Yakuza Kiwami 3?

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Yakuza Gaiden: Dark Ties gives more to Yoshitaka Mine, Kiwami 3’s antagonist

What led Mine down this dark path? Let's find out together (Image via SEGA)

In addition to Yakuza Kiwami 3, we also have Yakuza Gaiden: Dark Ties, which turns Yoshitaka Mine into the protagonist. It shows how Mine winds up taking part in a life of crime, and becoming a member of the Yakuza. I wanted to know more about Mine anyway, and so this is a great way to walk a kilometer in his shoes.

We spent around 20 minutes or so in this story, and the slice we played was focused around a member of the Nishikiyama Family, Kanda. Many fans of Yakuza 3 definitely remember him. The third patriarch of the Nishikiyama Family, he’s depraved and ruthless. After just getting out of prison, he immediately gets into trouble, right as Mine goes looking for him. Mine sees Kanda as his “in” into the seedy world of crime.

Mine has one of my favorite combat styles in the franchise (Image via SEGA)

Mine also has an incredibly fun combat style; it reminds me of Lost Judgment, sort of. It’s based on shootfighting, so he’s got lots of bone-crunching knee strikes and punches. It’s obviously a bit more over-the-top, though. He’s got air-juggles, can balance on an opponent and go leaping off of them, and dash-strike into opponents.

It’s a flashy, fun fighting style, that’s for sure. In addition, he has Dark Awakening, which uses Shackled Hearts. These Hearts are filled by hitting enemies, and if you have at least one full Heart, you can trigger Dark Awakening (or make it stronger by holding the button longer). This increases your damage output, and it looks cool.

The rich tradition of protagonists singing "Baka Mitai" continues in Yakuza Kiwami 3: Dark Ties (Image via SEGA)

While I didn’t get to do much in terms of his mini-games, I can confirm he has his own version of Baka Mitai, and man, can he sing! During the RGG Summit, we learned he’ll have his own sub-stories and mini-games, such as Kanda Damage Control, where you try to improve the less-than-great reputation of Kanda Tsuyoshi.

During my time, I asked about how long it’s going to be, and it sounds like we can expect a run time similar to Kiryu’s Like a Dragon: Gaiden. Since it’s bundled with Yakuza Kiwami 3, I’m perfectly fine with that.

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I only had a limited time with Yakuza Kiwami 3 + Dark Ties, but I cannot wait for more. Yes, I know that recast characters are going to upset a portion of the audience, and I get that. However, I’m not one of those people. If it were someone like Majima, I guess I’d be upset. I think the gameplay, the fantastic visuals, and updated combat are more than enough to make it worth playing.