Skip to main content

Yakuza: Of the End zombie game coming to the U.S. as Yakuza: Dead Souls

The Yakuza series has always been an odd one, blending the lengthy cutscenes you see in Japan-spawned games like Final Fantasy and Metal Gear with a Grand Theft Auto-like open world (minus the cars). And with a deep melee combat system, not so dissimilar from a 3D fighting game. And with so many random and bizarre minigames that it’s possible to sink in many tens of hours and still not see them all.

Yakuza is a strange series.

It got stranger earlier this year when Yakuza: Of the End was released in Japan. The latest game is something of a spin-off, with all of the series’ typical attributes further bolstered by the addition of zombies. A recent trademark filing for something called Yakuza: Dead Souls hinted that Sega was planning to localize the oddball entry in this already oddball series for a North America release. That’s official now: Yakuza: Dead Souls is indeed a localized version of Of the End, and it’s coming to the U.S. and Europe in March 2012.

This won’t be a straight port, however. For starters, Dead Souls will pack in all of the DLC that’s been released for the game in Japan. There’s also Pachislot minigame. Good luck trying to figure out how it works. Those machines can be a bit of a sensory overload. The big twist in Dead Souls/Of the End is the presence of firearms, which don’t typically feature into other Yakuza games. As much as I’m looking forward to beating the brain goo out of hordes of zombies in post-apocalyptic Tokyo with the game’s awesomely deep melee system, having a little extra firepower certainly won’t hurt.

Editors' Recommendations

Adam Rosenberg
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…
The PS5 is the fastest-selling console in U.S. history, according to March game sales data
A PS5 standing on a table, with purple lights around it.

The PlayStation 5 is officially the fastest-selling console in United States history. This news comes from the latest NPD sales report, which tracks the top-selling hardware and software for the month of March 2021.

As NPD Group's Mat Piscatella explains, the PS5 is the fastest selling console in the U.S. in "both unit and dollar sales." Despite this, the system has been relatively difficult to find across retailers since its launch last year.

Read more
Control, Yakuza Remastered Collection and more coming to Game Pass this month
best pc games control

Microsoft revealed the next batch of games coming to Xbox Game Pass and it's one of the biggest rounds yet. Over the next few weeks, the service will add Control, Yakuza: The Remastered Collection, and more.

Control comes to the PC version of the service on January 21. Remedy Entertainment's third-person action game was a big hit in 2019, landing multiple nominations at the Game Awards including Game of the Year. In our review of the game, we called it "a bizarre paranormal action game that feels like it can sit alongside The X-Files."

Read more
After 30 years, the original Fire Emblem is finally coming to the U.S.
original fire emblem western release fireemblemshadowdragon

For the first time ever, Nintendo is bringing Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light to the U.S. The 1990 NES classic will be available for the Nintendo Switch on December 4.

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light is the first game in Nintendo's popular Fire Emblem franchise. Originally, the game was only available in Japan, where it became a cult hit and a financial success.

Read more