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Ryu Encyclopaedia

Ryu ga Gotoku 3

For the sake of the things he must protect, the dragon roars once more

The fourth game in the series, and the first numbered title since making the move to the PlayStation 3. Its most notable characteristic is the improved graphics. Not only this, but the camera transition between screens when moving around has been made smoother, making for a more pleasant gameplay experience. There has also been a large increase in the amount of freedom of the camera, allowing you to see even the finer details of the town's exterior, just one of the many benefits of the change in platform.

The new setting of the Ryukyu District, Okinawa is featured in the game. Seeing Kazuma Kiryu fighting for the orphaned children of Sunshine in place of their father adds another layer of depth to his character. Several new elements to expand the game were also introduced, such as "revelations" from which you learn new moves when witnessing casual incidents around town, and chase battles in which you pursue or flee from the enemy.

Story and character correlation chart

Kazuma Kiryu and Haruka Sawamura leave the familiar Kamurocho to lead a new life managing Sunshine, a small orphanage in Okinawa. They live happily with the children there, who come from a variety of backgrounds, with smiles on their faces. One day, however, a dispute springs up over purchasing the land to use in the development of a resort to accompany the expansion of the American military base. A confrontation with the Ryudo Family, who threaten their imminent eviction, is solved with the assistance of Daigo Dojima, sixth chairman of the Tojo Clan. The plan is suspended for a time, but one year later, in March 2009, Daigo and the Ryudo Family boss, Shigeru Nakahara, are shot by a mysterious man. The perpetrator bears the same face as Shintaro Kazama, the man who raised Kiryu. Amidst the shock and chaos, the base expansion plans begin to move along once more...

With Daigo wounded, the Tojo Clan is shaken by a dispute over who will take his place as chairman. At an emergency meeting of the executives, Osamu Kashiwagi, boss of the Kazama Family, proposes the return of Kiryu, the fourth chairman, to the clan. Despite obtaining the approval of Yoshitaka Mine, chairman of the Hakuho Clan, Tsuyoshi Kanda, third boss of the Nishikiyama Family, and Go Hamazaki, boss of the Hamazaki Family, oppose the move. The executives are unable to come to an agreement. Kiryu, having temporarily returned to Kamurocho to figure out what is going on within the Tojo Clan, tries to learn from Kashiwagi what happened during the meeting. Suddenly, a helicopter appears, blindly spraying bullets from its gatling gun. With his dying breath, Kashiwagi tells Kiryu to find the person within the Tojo Clan who is secretly after the rights to the resort development project, who also has ties to the man who looks like Kazama.

During his search for the truth, Kiryu learns that Hamazaki is colluding with Snake Flower, a Chinese mafia with whom Kiryu had previously come to blows, in an attempt to take the rights to the resort project. In the process, however, his underling, Rikiya Shimabukuro, is kidnapped by Snake Flower. Kiryu heads for the enemy's headquarters and, despite being forced into a hard-fought battle with the Snake Flower's Lau Ka Long, is saved thanks to the intervention of the man who looks like Kazama.

Afterwards, Kiryu is told by Ryuzo Tamiya, the Minister of Defence, that the true goal behind the revived expansion of the military base is the destruction of weapons smuggling outfit Black Monday. He also reveals that the man resembling Shintaro Kazama whom Kiryu has been chasing is his younger brother, Joji, who is cooperating with Tamiya's plan as a spy from the CIA. The CIA are using all means at their disposal to track Black Monday's movements. This left Joji with no choice but to eliminate Daigo and Nakahara as obstacles to the purchase of the land. Kiryu exchanges blows with Joji and talks to him, learning that Joji is a passionate man who puts his own ideations before his duty, and that it was not he who shot Nakahara and Daigo but a foreigner who was accompanying him.

Later, Sunshine is attacked as part of Mine's scheme to become the Tojo Clan's successor. In order to settle things with Mine, Kiryu heads for Toto Hospital where Daigo is hospitalised. Kiryu and Mine have a confrontation on the hospital roof. Mine explains growing up as an orphan, the reason why he became a yakuza, and meeting his goal in Daigo. Now that he is about to lose that goal, however, Mine runs wild, trying to take everything by force. Presented with Mine's warped ideals, Kiryu answers with his fists.

Upon realising what it is that he should truly believe in, a CIA agent appears before Mine. This is the man who was acting alongside Joji and the true mastermind behind all of the incidents - Andre Richardson, the leader of Black Monday. Just when all hope seems lost, the comatose Daigo sits up and shoots Richardson. To bring an end to the tumult and, more than anything else, to do things in the way he believes proper, Mine plunges from the rooftop, taking Richardson along with him.

The incident is over, and Kiryu is about to leave Kamurocho. Then Hamazaki, who has lost everything, shows up, thrusting a knife into Kiryu to exact his revenge...

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