Yakuza: Dead Souls

Despite being so prolific, the Yakuza series rarely strays from its established formula. Aside from the two medieval Japan inspired spin-offs, the series has always dealt with crime bosses, shady dealings, and other crime drama staples. The announcement of a zombie-themed spin-off title was met with some confusion and the revelation that the title would be a shooter completely baffled Yakuza fans.

Dark Souls is likely the oddest title in an odd series, both conceptually and in execution. No part of Dead Souls really functions incredibly well but I'd be hard pressed to say what here works poorly either. Everything is entirely functional and the game has enough character that it's able to bluster its way through its mechanical failings.

The plot of Dead Souls is predictably dumb, marrying the convoluted crime stories of past games with a standard zombie story. The revival of fan-favorite, Ryuji Goda, was a strange decision but his implementation into the story is well handled despite it's nonsensical nature. Dead Souls also allows players to control Goro Majima whose story arc in this game is resolved in the most gloriously stupid way possible. The game's self-aware nature allows the story to take a backseat compared to previous games and it lets itself become more and more goofy. Those with a taste for the absurd will get a kick out of the story's tongue-in-cheek melodrama.

Since the story isn't as front and center as in previous games, the gameplay has to do more heavy lifting. And Dead Souls kind of botches it on that front. Binary Domain [バイナリー ドメイン] has shown that the RGG studio can make a very competent 3rd person shooter and Dead Souls is definitely lesser.