Tired of the Video Game Soap Opera

I maintain a strict viewing philosophy: I refuse to engage with a television series unless a definitive conclusion is on the horizon. I lack the emotional bandwidth to invest years into a narrative only for it to stumble into a lackluster finale. It’s the reason Game of Thrones remained a blind spot for me during its cultural peak, and why I abandoned Stranger Things after the pilot. Perhaps it’s a defense mechanism forged by the weekly trauma of watching Lost during its original airing, but if I’m committing my time to a long-form story, I need to know the creators have a roadmap.

While I’m usually more lenient with this mandate when it comes to video games, Yakuza Kiwami 3 has me reconsidering that stance.

Developer Ryu Ga Gotoku recently delivered a polarizing remake of the series’ third installment. Marred by questionable casting decisions and forced connections to modern Like a Dragon entries, it’s a largely skippable endeavor for those who experienced the original. I wasn’t particularly interested in the remake itself, but I was enticed by the bundled side-story: Dark Ties. This new chapter focuses on the Yakuza 3 antagonist Yoshitaka Mine, ostensibly to provide depth to one of the franchise’s most compelling figures. At the very least, I expected a worthwhile bit of world-building.

I’ve long likened the Yakuza franchise to a soap opera, replete with clandestine siblings, convenient amnesia, and shock resurrections. It has traditionally been “must-see TV” where every chapter felt vital to the overarching lore. I was too invested to ignore a potential backstory highlight, but Dark Ties proved to be the one thing every viewer loathes: a filler episode. It marks a damning moment for a series known for its consistency, making me wish more franchises knew how to bow out gracefully.

There isn’t much to dissect regarding Dark Ties. It attempts to plug narrative holes in Yakuza 3 that were better left empty. The six-hour experience focuses on Mine performing damage control for Tsuyoshi Kanda, one of the series’ most repugnant villains. This manifests as a repetitive PR agency minigame where Mine performs “good deeds” to rehab Kanda’s image. Between these chores are a few cutscenes and boss encounters that bridge the gap to the main game.

It is laboriously uninspired. The PR quest is merely an excuse to recycle the same activities: playing darts, singing karaoke, and thrashing generic thugs in uncreative side-stories. The sole highlight is a playable Game Gear; the nadir is how it retcons the emotional weight of Yakuza 3 in a way that suggests the studio lacks a coherent long-term vision. The franchise has finally crossed the threshold from “grand soap opera” (complimentary) to “cheap daytime melodrama” (derogatory).

Image: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega

Trudging through it, I was transported back to the mid-2000s watching Lost. Even the most loyal fans admit the show faltered under its own weight. After its initial seasons became a cultural phenomenon, the network demanded more content. The quality plummeted as the writers were forced to pad the narrative, resulting in the infamous “Stranger in a Strange Land”—a maligned episode dedicated entirely to explaining the origins of Jack Shepard’s tattoos.

Dark Ties is the Yakuza equivalent of that tattoo episode. It doesn’t just jump the shark; it sinks. It is content for the sake of quarterly reports, fulfilling a contractual obligation rather than a creative need. Fittingly, Dark Ties also spends its time over-explaining the symbolism of Mine’s ink.

While this is a new low, the series has quietly been in its “Lost Season 3” era for several years. 2023’s Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name was a sentimental but ultimately inconsequential flashback. Last year’s Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii mirrored the polarizing “bottle episode” silliness of Lost’s “Exposé.” While heavy hitters like Infinite Wealth still land their punches, keeping up with the franchise is starting to feel like following a successful show that is desperately spinning its wheels.

Image: Ryu Ga Gotoku/Sega

This isn’t unique to Yakuza; it’s a systemic rot in the industry. Success mandates a sequel, and that sequel mandates a franchise, until a once-compelling story becomes a hollow shell. Halo kept Master Chief fighting long after his arc concluded; Call of Duty continues its annual march despite having nothing new to say about conflict; Assassin’s Creed has effectively abandoned its modern-day framework to churn out disconnected historical sandboxes. Many beloved series now feel like shows that have overstayed their welcome by five seasons.

It’s a delicate balance for developers because games are interactive. The evolution of mechanics can be as satisfying as character growth. I still look forward to Pokémon Legends: Z-A because I want to see the gameplay iterate. In Yakuza, the combat often is the character development.

Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties loses that spark. Irritating retcons and a refusal to let past themes rest have turned a vibrant series stale. I find myself dreading new announcements, worried that the next entry will be another waste of time. When a show reaches this point, it’s time for the series finale. Ryu Ga Gotoku should consider closing the book before their prestige drama becomes mere background noise.

Source: Polygon