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Yakuza 3 Remastered was recently released in Japan and Asia for PlayStation 4 and, not
only brings the game to Sony's newest console but also runs at 1080p and 60 fps or, for
PS4 Pro, 4K resolution.
SEGA’s chief creative officer, Toshihiro Nagoshi, explained that the remastered release
is designed to target new overseas players who have joined the franchise over the years.
Due to this, Yakuza 3 Remastered will be localized into Chinese and Korean for the first time
and Toshihiro also stated that no content would be cut in the overseas versions.
Whilst not announced for a Western release yet, it is likely that this is something that
will come in the future and, if the no cut content policy remains, this is something
that should please many Western fans.
The original PS3 release of Yakuza 3 actually ended up facing many cuts for the English
version, with estimates ranging from around 15% of the game being removed.
The reason for this was said to be due to time constraints and is something that Yakuza
3's producer later apologised for and said they would learn from and, then following
all of this, later games would in fact not repeat this.
However, despite the statement about the no cut content overseas, this doesn't mean that
there won't be content getting removed worldwide - including Japan.
The game's producer, Daisuke Sato, explained back in May that there would be a few changes
due to contract issues, as well as changing moral standards.
To quote: "In addition to the resignation of some of
the voice actors and actors' performance contracts, there are no changes in the game's storyline,
system, and battles, which brings an authentic experience.
However Yakuza is a work that was launched in 2009.
Some things that were considered OK at the time are not as good as the current moral
values.
You know, Japan’s social atmosphere has also changed a lot in recent years, so there
have been slight changes in the performance of the game to match the current moral values
and judgment standards."
Now that the game is out we have been able to discover what the producer meant by this
and how the game was changed from the PS3 original.
The first thing to point out is that the actors he mentioned being recast are a few of the
hostesses from the hostess clubs element of the game.
The ones that couldn't be carried forward have been replaced with new hostesses from
the Kiwami games.
As for the moral related changes, the main one of these is the removal of a series of
sub stories involving a cross-dressing male.
The cross dresser takes a liking to you and will chase you down the street whilst screaming
how much he wants you.
These missions involve you having to run away from these situations without getting caught.
Kazuma's dialogue at times will also poke fun at the cross-dressing character.
Kazuma will also refer to the character as "it", which is seen as highly offensive.
It appears that this was seen as unsuitable for the present day and so these missions
were cut from the game.
Another change that has been discovered is the Tamashiro Family's clan crest, which,
as shown on the left, originally bore a resemblance to the Japanese imperial flag.
This has now been changed to the version on the right, due to the flag being seen as offensive
by some in some Asian countries, due to its use in World War 2.
You may recall, for instance, how a rising sun motif was removed from the shoes of one
of Persona 5's party members in Korea.
The new Korean and Chinese localizations also likely helped influence this decision to change
the crest.
Something else worth pointing out is that the cigarette is now removed from the game's
cover art in all regions.
Whether this was due to any moral or regulatory reasons though, is not currently known.
Currently there have been no other moral-related changes discovered but, there has been something
else pretty notable cut from the new remastered release - this being the arcade machine Answer
X Answer.
This mini game involves you answering trivia questions about Japanese culture and history
and has been completely removed from the new release, including over in Japan.
The reason for this is not known but it's possible that translating these questions
was seen as too time consuming and Sega not wanting to cut content in other regions.
It's also possible that there were some localization concerns, with many of the questions being
based on Japanese culture and history, this may have been seen as too challenging for
overseas players.
What do you think of these changes made to the remastered version?
Please let us know your thoughts in the comments below and, consider subscribing if videos
on game differences like this are something you are interested in.
Until next time, thank you for watching!