I'm only in Chapter 6 because of toomanygameswerereleasedinMarchitis, but I'm enjoying the game so far. The story is great and charming; there are a lot of touching, realistic moments with the orphans. There's some great character development, and the new characters are pretty interesting.
Combat is basic but fun. Heat action moves are pretty cool, and some are '"oh snap." The revelations (the one where you take the pictures) are very hilarious; I wish there were more of those present.
If you ever get tired of beating up thugs, you can go play some mini-games or do side-missions. With that said, there are so many things to do here even with the content cut. You can play golf, darts, pool, karaoke (my favorite), some Japanese games that I don't what they're called, go fishing, bowling, etc. I believe that's why I haven't got bored of this game. I do part of the main story then play some mini-games - keep things balance. Just like the combat, the mini-games are basic but provide some enjoyment. Side missions are incredibly diversified. Each one has a unique story/situation, so they basically don't feel the same as one another.
Graphic-wise, Yakuza 3 isn't technically impressive; the character models for the pedestrians are poor. However, Yakuza 3 makes it up for it with its design and atmosphere. The cities, especially Kamurocho, have a beautiful style, and there are some nice little details that make the cities feel alive like promoters/salespeople following you, people getting out of your way when you're running or people falling down when you bump into them.
The only downside is the text-scrolling. It gets a little boring after a while especially considering how text-heavy the game is, and it also feels dated.
