GAME CLEAR No. 24 -- Yakuza: Dead Souls

Yakuza: Dead Souls (2011, PS3)

Developer: SEGA CS1 R&D
Publisher: SEGA
Clear Date: 4/25/2021

Well, I decided to go all-in and play the Yakuza spinoffs too, starting with Dead Souls, since it followed Yakuza 4 in release order. This is no cheap item to get on the used market these days, since I understand it did poorly in the States. For that matter, the copy I got was PAL anyway, since it was cheaper.

Good thing, too, since this game ain’t great!

I mean, it’s not bad, but I really can’t recommend it unless you’re just dying to play ’em all like I am with Yakuza. The problem is basically that the gunplay just isn’t very good, which obviously is a great deal of what you’ll be doing. Even on Normal difficulty, I found myself frustrated and struggling at certain spots because the gun controls are just clumsy and unconventional. Guess that’s what happens when you try to make a beat ’em up a 3PS! Oh, also the game heavily features escort missions with bad follower AI. Hell, the same goes for your “partners” in most missions. These are allies that should theoretically help you but whom you generally just have to babysit as they get held up by zombies constantly. Annoying!

There are some good things. The story is actually pretty decent, especially for a throwaway zombie title, and it’s really what kept me going to the credits. Plus, since it’s non-canon, they had a little fun and brought Ryuji Goda (Yakuza 2 antagonist) back as a playable character with a cool arm cannon. Playable Majima’s a plus too. Kamurocho is still Kamurocho, so it’s got mini-games and substories and whatnot to attend to if you’re into that sort of thing, but I pretty much beelined this thing once I realized the gameplay wasn’t amazing.

Anyway, I’m gonna keep this one brief since I find it less fun to sit here and complain on my blog rather than gush. I’ll say this one isn’t likely to get remastered anytime soon, and that’s probably fine. I didn’t hate it, but only play it if you just feel like you gotta (a sentiment to which I obviously relate). Maybe, like me, you’ll find the story interesting enough to nudge you along to the end.