While Yakuza Kiwami 3’s Dark Ties spin-off focuses on Yoshitaka Mine, the antagonist of the mainline game, this isn’t the first time his past was explored in the franchise. Talking to AUTOMATON at a recent demo event in Osaka, Japan, Like a Dragon series executive producer Masayoshi Yokoyama revealed that the spin-off’s narrative uses the ever-evolving story of the 2018 mobile game Yakuza Online as its basis.
“That story (from Yakuza Online) is essentially the foundation. Since it worked so well, I always wanted to properly develop it for consoles someday. Originally, that scenario was written by Takeuchi, but this time, he’s fleshed out Mine’s past even further, so various elements have been added.”
The “Takeuchi” Yokoyama is referring to is Kazunobu Takeuchi, a longtime writer for Yakuza Online and other mainline Yakuza/Like A Dragon titles. While Yakuza Online primarily follows new protagonist Ichiban Kasuga, legacy characters like Kazuma Kiryu and Ryuji Goda occasionally drop in to give some backstory on previous entries.
Given Yakuza Online’s supporting narrative details and its status as a Japan-exclusive title, it’s understandable why Yokoyama wants to bring parts of the story into mainline releases for more fans to enjoy. In Mine’s case, this resulted in the franchise getting what its developers regard as its darkest entry yet.
