Sega has announced that a free demo for Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties is rolling out this week, starting today on PC and going live on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Switch 2 tomorrow. The full release is coming on 12th February in just a few weeks.
The demo will be live on Steam from 3PM GMT today, 21st January, but console players will have to wait 14 hours until 5AM GMT on 22nd January for the demo to arrive there.
This free demo will give a preview of both sides of this expanded remake. Here’s how Sega breaks down the two experiences:
- In Yakuza Kiwami 3, players can explore Ryukyu, Okinawa as Kazuma Kiryu, beating down bad guys while dynamically switching between Kiryu’s brutal Dragon of Dojima: Kiwami and weapon-based Ryukyu styles and indulging in immersive side experiences like karaoke, sub-stories, outfit customisation and more.
- In Dark Ties, players can enjoy a slice of the all-new story featuring Yoshitaka Mine, exploring Kamurocho and variety of side experiences while also sinking their teeth into Mine’s shoot-boxing combat to stylishly dispose of foes.
Yakuza Kiwami 3 is a remake of the third game in the popular crime drama series, recreating the PS3 original with some modernisation and new additions. As Kiryu has to save Okinawa’s Morning Glory Orphanage from those looking to force him and the children out of their home, he’ll be able to jump into a new Bad Boy Dragon mode that was revealed in December.
So, what do you do in Bad Boy Dragon? Well, basically, Kiryu joins and leads the Haisai Girls gang to dominance. You’ll gather allies and train them up until they can take on the toughest gangs in the country, fighting in turf wars for territory, jumping into Baddies Battles with a small party of five, or going for a 20-member battle in Rumbles. You can also hop onto your motorbikes and raid enemy bases. There’s a ton of customisation here that looks like it could be a fun timesink.
Then there’s Dark Ties, which sees Yoshitaka Mine trying to bolster his reputation and rise through the ranks. This is a fresh side-story to the main Yakuza 3 tale, but RGG has now revealed the Hell’s Arena underground fight club that you can dive into. Your goal is to dive into 1v1 Hellish Brawls and perilous races to avoid hunters through a treasure-filled dungeon in Survival Hell.
