Regarding Amon and 100% Completion
100% completion in this series is most of the time not worth it unless you are insane like me and a whole bunch of other people. The rewards vary from game to game with some giving them based on what part of the completion list you have done (In the early games if you do all heat moves you get the war god talisman which gives infinite heat, doing all substories gives the golden gun which one shots, etc) to doing the whole list (In 6 you get the war god talisman and in Kiwami 2 you get a useless weapon). As the series goes on the list gets easier to complete with 6/Kiwami 2 being the fastest to complete and 5 being one of the hardest and longest for obvious reasons.
Amon originally required near 100% completion to access but as the series gone on the requirement has gotten much MUCH easier with all of the games post 3 only requiring you to do every substory. Thankfully after 3 you can't fail a substory and lock off the future substories that one would lead into and after 4 all of the substories are unmissable. So if you want to fight Amon whenever you cover 4 here's some advice: Akiyama's substories are the only ones that are missable so get all of them out of the way before Hana leaves the story and stock up on sake and healing items for the fight itself.

Daigo is the only character who gets smarter around guns, i swear. his competency increases drastically when he's holding one

So fun fact, in case you weren't aware. The quests with the kids were actually originally meant to be substories until Nagoshi, the director of the series, decided it would be better to have them be part of the main plot so that players could hopefully see the care that Kiryu has for each of them and he felt making them substories which could be skipped would lessen the emotional impact of it.

Kashiwagi: Dies
Kiryu: “He liked cold noodles...”
You-Know-Who: Dies
Kiryu: “NOOOOO GODDAMNIT WHYYYY!?!?!”

Rikiya's death hit Kiryu the hardest because just because Kiryu dragged Rikiya into his life, even though accidentally, and imparted his values on Rikiya, even though accidentally... Just because Rikiya knew Kiryu, he's dead. And this is the first time Kiryu understands he's a plague on other people's lives. They either end up kidnapped, murdered, or kidnapped then murdered.

My favorite part was when Nakahara, with nothing but old man strength and the will of not dying in front of his daughter who just spoke for the first time in like forever, fucking chucked aside a charging bull and assumedly multiple others. Gigachad

Until this review I never considered how scary a self aware Kiryu would be. He could rule the entire underworld, except Majima who would build a fort in one corner out of random furniture just to be independent

"Nice snake!"
"IT'S NO SNAKE! IT'S A VIPER!"
"A viper is a snake."
This series is my first exposure to the Yakuza series outside of meme culture, and I already love Kiryu, oh my god.

It sure is a good thing Mine landed in that rubber bush so he can return in Like A Dragon: Infinity War.

I really liked seeing Kiryu spending time with the kids at the orphanage. It was nice to see him finally getting a break from constant crime drama.

personally, the kids were my favorite part of the plot. i loved seeing kiryu be a dad, it was my favorite part of the game. although i can understand why one wouldn't like it

The game can, up until one really dumb twist later on, be explained by a spongebob quote
"You used me...for land development!"

The amount of emotion that Kiryu lets loose when Rikiya dies is just so intense. Even moreso sitting here post infinite Wealth seeing the limited times Kiryu shows that much emotion.

Kiryu watching Rikiya get stomped by loan sharks on loop killed me 😭 absolute gold

I really liked Mine, while he isn't my favorite villain. My favorite is Nishiki, but Mine is underserved as a character. I know why he's liked by the fans. His lust for affection and validation is a very relatable thing. A lot of us can see ourselves in Mine on some level. Despite him doing some of the most cartoonishly evil shit, like bulldozing an orphanage. And a lot of us see that Mine wasn't beyond saving.

Because as you said, Kiryu's help is unconditional. If you cross him, he'll beat the shit out of you, but he'll give you some advice and a push towards the right direction.

Both Mine and Kiryu care deeply for Daigo in their own ways. A lot of us could see that if Mine lived. The Tojo might've kept a loyal and valuable asset that could've prevented Yakuza 4's events. But that's the tragedy in it all.

Mine doing something completely selfless came at the ultimate price.

Waited to watch this till I beat the game myself, I think the thing with Rikiya's death is that Kiryu's more torn up about it because he was a lot younger than most other people who've died, and Rikiya being one of the more good hearted people he's had to hold in his arms dying. Also, with the final scene with what's his name stabbing Kiryu, I knew the entire time the scene went on that Kiryu would live because he is, at most, a 10 minute waddle away from the doctor who's name I also forget who is used in canon multiple times.

I think the appeal of the plot in Yakuza 3, and even the orphanage content, for me rests more on a feeling than the actual details. In 1 and 2 we see Kiryu imprisoned in a violent world he's struggling to get out of, even when he leaves prison he never stops being a prisoner. There's a visual in the Ryuji fight where a set of bars come between the two of them and Sayama as they prepare to kill each other that really drives the whole thing home for me. But the thing with the orphanage in 3 for me is that it's a look into this peaceful family life that Kiryu has struggled to build, and it makes me so happy for him that he gets to spend time worrying about the kids instead of the Tojo Clan. The real stakes of the plot then (while I do like Mine and the idea of beating up on the CIA) rest more with how this life Kiryu has built for himself and the orphans is being threatened, which is why Mine bulldozing the orphanage is still to me the grimiest thing any Yakuza villain has done after I've played 0-6. It also helps a lot that I don't think there's a bad character on Okinawa, and the kindness and community ties the Ryudo family has fit well with what Kiryu wanted in the Yakuza. Some of these beats are recycled in 6, but I really like how they're done here.  This winds up being pretty much the only time in the series where we get to actually experience Kiryu living his ideal life at Morning Glory/Sunshine, which beyond this game I think is crucial for understanding the emotional stakes of every other game in the series. Rikiya's death is symbolically the shattering of the idea that Kiryu's life can ever truly be free from turmoil. The wholesome peace at the early part of 3 is what Kiryu is continually trying, and failing, to get back to.

I think the statement that "Mine is a villain in a plot that was made for him, yet didn't do enough with him" summarized my thoughts on the plot of Yakuza 3 way better than I ever could

As someone whos been making my way through the Remastered Collection you can REALLY see the difference in quality of translation between it and the original english versions of the game.

It is heavily implied that the owner of Survive bar in LAD and Lost Judgment is Kashiwagi: he has the same scar, he said he survived a helicopter attack and the menu has cold noodles as an option.