{"id":52496,"date":"2025-10-01T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T15:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=52496"},"modified":"2025-09-30T15:41:56","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T06:41:56","slug":"like-a-dragon-is-getting-its-darkest-story-yet-with-yakuza-kiwami-3s-dark-ties-spin-off-producer-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/like-a-dragon-is-getting-its-darkest-story-yet-with-yakuza-kiwami-3s-dark-ties-spin-off-producer-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Like a Dragon is getting its darkest story yet with Yakuza Kiwami 3\u2019s Dark Ties spin-off, producer says\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>True to its name, the new <strong>Dark Ties<\/strong> spin-off game launching together with <strong>Yakuza Kiwami 3 <\/strong>in February 2026 will deliver the Like a Dragon series\u2019 darkest narrative to date, according to chief producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto and director Ryosuke Horii.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dark Ties is a full-length side game that casts Yakuza 3\u2019s popular villain Yoshitaka Mine as the protagonist, telling his backstory against the series\u2019 familiar Kamurocho setting. Talking to <a href=\"https:\/\/game.watch.impress.co.jp\/docs\/interview\/2050670.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">GameWatch<\/a> in a recent interview, the developers say that, with Mine taking the role of the main playable character, the key concept of the title was depicting what makes him \u201cMine.\u201d While Yakuza 3\u2019s protagonist Kiryu fights out of a sense of justice and helps people in need \u2013 that\u2019s not the case with Mine, Horii comments.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1343\" height=\"749\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1343px) 100vw, 1343px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20250730-52496-001.jpg\" alt=\"Yoshitaka Mine in Yakuza Kiwami 3 &amp; Dark Ties\" class=\"wp-image-52499\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20250730-52496-001.jpg 1343w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20250730-52496-001-380x212.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20250730-52496-001-768x428.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s a gangster, and he\u2019s a character steeped in loneliness and madness. He\u2019s not the type to go out of his way to help others, yet if someone pleads with him, he might step in. We\u2019re very conscious of capturing these unique sides of Mine as we work on the game.\u201d Given this objective, Dark Ties will be an introspective, Mine-centric game, Horii explains. Instead of focusing on a wider range of characters, the game will shine a spotlight on Mine\u2019s inner monologues and self-questioning.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not exactly a journey of self-discovery, but as Mine sinks deeper into despair, the core question becomes whether the thing he\u2019s looking for truly exists in the world of the yakuza. While characters like Kanda and others are involved too, ultimately, it\u2019s a story about Mine confronting himself. I think that makes it something very new.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1340\" height=\"753\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1340px) 100vw, 1340px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20250730-52496-002.jpg\" alt=\"Yoshitaka Mine in Yakuza Kiwami 3 &amp; Dark Ties\" class=\"wp-image-52500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20250730-52496-002.jpg 1340w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20250730-52496-002-380x214.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20250730-52496-002-768x432.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Like a Dragon series producer Sakamoto also adds, \u201cI\u2019d say it\u2019s the darkest story in the entire series. Up until now, the narratives have revolved around former or retired yakuza helping others or fighting to protect something. But with Mine, it\u2019s really a descent deeper and deeper into darkness. The choices he makes about how to live his life make the tone of this story particularly dark compared to the rest of the series, which might be a refreshing shift.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While recent Like a Dragon entries like Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii leaned more towards craziness and humor, it seems Dark Ties will take a definitive step into heavier themes with its morally grey protagonist. Interestingly, the new spin-off was <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/yakuza-dark-ties-was-originally-supposed-to-be-just-a-viewable-movie-but-rgg-studio-couldnt-miss-out-on-its-last-opportunity-to-make-mine-playable\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">originally envisioned as just a viewable movie<\/a>, but the Like a Dragon team decided the opportunity to turn Mine into a playable character was too valuable to pass up.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yakuza Kiwami 3 &amp; Dark Ties launches on February 12 for PC (Steam), PS5\/PS4, Nintendo Switch 2, and Xbox Series X|S. &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Like a Dragon chief producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto says players are in for the series&#8217; darkest narrative yet with Yoshitaka Mine&#8217;s Dark Ties spin-off.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":52498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-52496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Like a Dragon is getting its darkest story yet with Yakuza Kiwami 3\u2019s Dark Ties spin-off, producer says\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Like a Dragon chief producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto says players are in for the series&#039; darkest narrative yet with Yoshitaka Mine&#039;s Dark Ties spin-off.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/like-a-dragon-is-getting-its-darkest-story-yet-with-yakuza-kiwami-3s-dark-ties-spin-off-producer-says\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Like a Dragon is getting its darkest story yet with Yakuza Kiwami 3\u2019s Dark Ties spin-off, producer says\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Like a Dragon chief producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto says players are in for the series&#039; darkest narrative yet with Yoshitaka Mine&#039;s Dark Ties spin-off.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/like-a-dragon-is-getting-its-darkest-story-yet-with-yakuza-kiwami-3s-dark-ties-spin-off-producer-says\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-30T15:01:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20250730-52496-header.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1325\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"747\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Amber V\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Amber V\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Like a Dragon is getting its darkest story yet with Yakuza Kiwami 3\u2019s Dark Ties spin-off, producer says\u00a0 - 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Currently devoted to growing Automaton West to the size of its Japanese sister-site, while making sure to keep news concise and developer stories deep and stimulating.","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/author\/amber-vjestica\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52496"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52496\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52501,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52496\/revisions\/52501"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}