Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties: Morning Glory Orphanage Guide

One of the most underutilized things in the original Yakuza 3 was the Morning Glory Orphanage. It served as the central backdrop to Kiryu's new story, and while we all experienced various shenanigans with the kids there during the main story, it was still just relegated to a behind-the-scenes role.

However, with the release of Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties, RGG Studios has completely overhauled this element with the inclusion of the brand-new Morning Glory Orphanage mode. This mode focuses on Kiryu becoming the world's greatest dad to the kids as he maintains the Orphanage while also doing chores and other tasks that involve various mini-games.

You can also slowly build a deep bond with each kid there as you hold feasts and spend time with them. And to give you a general breakdown of how this mode works, stay tuned for this guide as I explain all the key mechanics and share my tips and tricks to make it feel optimized.

Cooking Requests & Main Progression

The Morning Glory Orphanage is introduced to you in the beginning chapters, after you've departed from Kamurucho to settle in Okinawa. In this mode, Kiryu tasks himself with helping Haruka maintain the orphanage and fulfilling any task or chore to deepen his bonds with the kids, ultimately proving to them that he's the world's greatest dad.

To slowly climb the ranks and progress the story of this mode, you'll need to cook a handful of exciting dishes for the kids and raise your Daddy Rank. The cooking request will be assigned to you at every pivotal point in the mode during a cutscene with Haruka, and in general, will also be highlighted on the Orphanage's Bulletin Board, just in case you need a refresher on the required ingredients.

So the basic gist:

• Spend time at the orphanage;
• Raise your Daddy Rank on the side;
• Fulfill every child's cooking requests;
• And possibly spend time with them so you can unlock their family bonding substories.

Once you've cooked each dish, you can then make a mini lunchbox bento version of it to use as a healing item for Kiryu or trade it with one of the vendors on the Bulletin Board.

Bulletin Board Explanation

The orphanage will have a Bulletin Board in the front yard, which is meant to be a means of Kiryu being in touch with the local neighborhood association. While it is mainly the store of this mode, it's also where you can keep track of milestones with each of the vendors, as well as the rewards they can offer you with their own request completions.

You can trade in a variety of goods to earn orphanage allowance, from meat and fish to even the bugs you catch from the bug-catching mini-game, and these are all worth the effort. As you slowly unlock new relationship parameters with these vendors, you'll earn bonus items, including the ones from their requests.

Besides the requests, you can also buy various items and sell goods here. My general suggestions would be to save the cash and get things like upgraded harpoons for fishing or upgrade your vegetable garden plots, but, regardless, it's up to you.

Every Mini-Game & Task in the Morning Glory Orphanage

Bug Catching Competition

Kiryu can challenge up to three kids in a contest to see who can catch the largest number of insects. If you're looking for a specific one that you want to trade with Komori to complete her requests, then be sure to carefully choose the kid, as each one allows you to target a unique insect whenever you win.

Each Bug Catching match lasts up to a couple of minutes and is essentially a free-for-all-style matchup. The person with the most points wins the whole thing. Rare or valuable insects spawn at every short interval during it, and difficulty honestly doesn't matter much here.

Just be sure to have a keen eye, and if possible, prevent any of the kids from picking up the Staminan Boosters, which can allow you to get powered up and catch multiple insects in a tornado-like fell swoop. And towards the climax, you can also nab a rainbow butterfly with a successful QTE action that can allow you to nab some bonus points in the process.

Homework

A pretty simple mini-game for those familiar with the Ounabara Vocation School from Yakuza 7 and Infinite Wealth. You can help each of the kids with their homework assignments for a variety of different subjects. Successfully completing each one with a passing grade allows you to gain a significant increase in your bond.

The great thing is that you don't necessarily have to do all of these if you don't want to. You can just as easily increase your relationship with them via the other mini-games here. However, these are vastly easier than the Ounabara Vocational School quizzes. If you feel like you can easily tackle some of these without them wasting your time, be sure to do it for some easy bond gains for the kids.

Sewing

In this slightly arduous mini-game, you use a sewing machine to craft a clothing piece for the kids at the orphanage. These can range from a simple handkerchief to a full cutesy dress.

The mini-game itself is essentially like a time-based race where you have to keep the needle in the sewing line. You can speed up or go slow, but remember that the final grade will be based on your remaining time and how well you kept it from going off-course.

The better your ranking, the more clothing pieces you can attain from each completion, and you'll need a handful of these, since you can trade them with Yonaha in the Requests to reward yourself with money and ingredients for cooking like rice.

Fishing

The fishing mini-game at the orphanage beach has been revamped from the ground up from the original Yakuza 3. You can choose between three difficulty courses with their own required bait, and the gameplay now involves catching as many fish as possible within the allotted time using the harpoon and then going for the big catch at the end with a few seconds to spare.

This mini-game is all about how fast your perception skills are—the more fish you nab at every split second, the more you can have them respawn once you've caught them all. Within the climax, the big fish of the course spawns, allowing you to damage and deplete its health bar to catch it. You can also try hitting the glowing red eyes for extra damage.

Each big fish will have their own specific and erratic swimming patterns, so make sure you memorize them to optimally spam them with harpoons and ultimately complete the course. Much like the other vendors, you can exchange any surplus fish with Namihira of the neighborhood association for money and ingredients.

Livestock and Garden Maintenance

The livestock cattle nearby can be fed over time to produce milk and eggs, which are incredibly essential for some dishes later on. You can buy new animals to add here from the Bulletin Board's General Goods store. The more livestock you have and the better feed you provide for them, the better your overall rewards.

Meanwhile, the garden is possibly the most important activity here since the vegetables you grow here are required in high abundance for trading and cooking. You can upgrade each of the eight plots here, allowing you to plant and grow higher-level vegetables and fruits such as pumpkins, melons, and strawberries.

Tips & Tricks

Lastly, I've put together a few tips and tricks that'll allow you to better optimize this mode, just in case you want to easily nab the rewards here or complete it without wasting too much time.

• Rice & Sugar are your valuables: These two ingredients will be the primary components for the cooking requests. Try to complete any trade requests with Yonoha and Komori, since they'll reward you with these in high abundance.
• Upgrade the Harpoon: One of the first things I recommend spending your hard-earned orphanage allowance on, if any, is getting the upgraded harpoons in the general goods store. They'll make it easier to charge up and spam them during fishing.
• Interact with your Pets: These include Mame the Dog as well as a purchasable cat and monkey from the store. You can grow your bonds with them separately by checking occasionally when they have a heart symbol. They can also sometimes give you an item or two.
• Claim Winnie & Haruka's Completion Rewards: Distinguished by the checkered flag symbol in the requests section, Haruka and Winnie can give you extra rewards for just reaching general completion thresholds or milestones, from cash to rare ingredients like pineapples.
• Always plant a Scarecrow: To maximize your garden's value, always have a Scarecrow planted, and I honestly recommend spending a couple thousand yen to plant the Dragon Scarecrow to easily accelerate crop growth without any pests.
• Maintain a Balance: Whenever you've planted your crops and fed your livestock, always be sure to spend that time waiting to do things like fishing or bug catching. This will ensure you won't have to do any extra grind for ingredients, and you won't be low on orphanage funds.