It's about time SEGA remastered this underrated gem

Anyone who knows me knows that I have an obsession with the Resident Evil and Like a Dragon (formerly known as Yakuza) franchises, with my love for both only growing stronger over the years.

When Yakuza: Dead Souls arrived in 2012 in the West on PlayStation 3, it blended flavours of both of those worlds into one glorious game - a match made in heaven. Sadly, Yakuza: Dead Souls is practically unplayable for millions of fans but with the series being hotter than ever, I think it’s time that SEGA greenlit a deserving remaster.

Check out the Yakuza: Dead Souls trailer below!

“In the wake of the outbreak, four men seek to help the people of Kamurocho and find the source of the disease: Shun Akiyama, a moneylender attempting to rescue his secretary Hana,” reads the synopsis of the game.

“Goro Majima, a feared yakuza and construction boss trying to stave off his own infection; Ryuji Goda, who has survived his wounds at the end of Yakuza 2 and is working as a takoyaki chef; and Kazuma Kiryu, an orphanage caretaker and former yakuza forced to return to Kamurocho when his adopted daughter Haruka is kidnapped.”

Partly because Yakuza: Dead Souls is non-canon, the developer of the game, SEGA CS1 R&D, was left to its own devices, able to go absolutely wild with this spin-off entry. Anyone familiar with this series knows that it’s, on the whole, about as wacky as it gets in the realm of video games, but Yakuza: Dead Souls takes that wackiness to another level which is why it’s so beloved by fans fortunate enough to play it.

Yakuza: Dead Souls/SEGA

Yakuza: Dead Souls isn't the only spin-off title in the series. We’ve had a few, and one recently benefited from a remake - namely, 2022’s Like a Dragon: Ishin, a remake of the 2014 Japan exclusive Ryū ga Gotoku Ishin. Even the first two mainline PlayStation 2 games have been remade with the Kiwami titles, not to mention basic remasters of Yakuza 3, 4 and 5.

Many fans could argue Yakuza: Dead Souls is the most memorable spin-off of the series. As such, with Resident Evil also being more popular than ever, now is the perfect time to remaster the game, not only for veteran fans who never played the original, but also for those who would love to experience an updated version and those who are totally new to the title.

One major factor that might put SEGA off from remastering Yakuza: Dead Souls is that according to Wiki, it had only sold 550,000 copies worldwide as of 31 March 2012. But as I touched upon earlier, the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series is hotter than ever, so I’d like to think that a remaster would fare much better than its original release.

Yakuza: Dead Souls/SEGA

Let’s not forget that physical copies of Yakuza: Dead Souls can cost you a pretty penny, largely because the game is well over a decade old and the only option to buy the game at a more reasonable price would be via the PlayStation 3 digital store. That’sif you even own the console.

If SEGA and current series developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio decided to remaster Yakuza: Dead Souls for PC and modern consoles, it would drastically bring down the prices of pre-owned physical copies, and it would surely sell reasonably well in digital stores.

For the more immediate future, we can at least enjoy Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii and when that’s out of the way, maybe, just maybe, SEGA might give Yakuza: Dead Souls the remaster it richly deserves.

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii will be released on 21 February 2025 for PC, PlayStation and Xbox.