This is an interesting one - up until the upcoming Like a Dragon Gaiden, Yakuza: Dead Souls was the only spin-off to focus on the cast from the mainline games. Taking place in a non-canon alternate reality set after the events of Yakuza 4, Kamurocho is infested with zombies which is suspected to be the work of the Omi Alliance.
Like Yakuza 4, the story is told through the perspectives of four playable protagonists, all returning characters from previous games. Kiryu and Akiyama are once again here but making their playable debuts are Goro Majima and Ryuji Goda. Despite the absurdity of the plot, it's quite simple and easy to keep up with, a nice of change of pace coming off of Yakuza 4. However, everyone is characterised extremely well, the game doesn't take itself too seriously but everyone is as likable as they were in the mainline titles, we even see different sides of Ryuji now that he's no longer in the antagonist role and even a few tiny glimpses of the more noble and selfless Majima we would later see in Yakuza 0.
Gaemplay wise, it's very different to the typical Yakuza affair. Of course, combat is entirely weapon-oriented and it works fine enough to be dumb mindless fun. The controls take some getting used to and they're not exactly fluid but the enemies are designed around your means of mobility and combat so they're never too intrusive. Unfortunately, as this game has yet to receive any sort of remaster or remake, it's stuck on the PS3 and falls victim to lots of frame-rate issues, the game chugs quite often with how much is going on, especially during some of the boss fights, long battles and vehicular segments.
All in all, Yakuza: Dead Souls is a fun time and worth checking out if you want to see more of these characters. There's still substories, karaoke, arcade games and everything you'd generally expect from one of these games, except Date who's just not here for some reason.
Like Yakuza 4, the story is told through the perspectives of four playable protagonists, all returning characters from previous games. Kiryu and Akiyama are once again here but making their playable debuts are Goro Majima and Ryuji Goda. Despite the absurdity of the plot, it's quite simple and easy to keep up with, a nice of change of pace coming off of Yakuza 4. However, everyone is characterised extremely well, the game doesn't take itself too seriously but everyone is as likable as they were in the mainline titles, we even see different sides of Ryuji now that he's no longer in the antagonist role and even a few tiny glimpses of the more noble and selfless Majima we would later see in Yakuza 0.
Gaemplay wise, it's very different to the typical Yakuza affair. Of course, combat is entirely weapon-oriented and it works fine enough to be dumb mindless fun. The controls take some getting used to and they're not exactly fluid but the enemies are designed around your means of mobility and combat so they're never too intrusive. Unfortunately, as this game has yet to receive any sort of remaster or remake, it's stuck on the PS3 and falls victim to lots of frame-rate issues, the game chugs quite often with how much is going on, especially during some of the boss fights, long battles and vehicular segments.
All in all, Yakuza: Dead Souls is a fun time and worth checking out if you want to see more of these characters. There's still substories, karaoke, arcade games and everything you'd generally expect from one of these games, except Date who's just not here for some reason.