Judge, jury and no executioner

Judgment is a nice change of pace from the regular Ryu Ga Gotoku's offerings which have mostly been Yakuza games and the occasional period piece (obligatory bring Kenzan and Ishin to the West) and a licensed anime game via Fist of the North Star. Introducing Kamurocho from a brand new perspective in the eyes of Yagami, a disgraced lawyer turned detective kinda gives the area a bit more life than I thought it would. It shares a few similarities with the Yakuza series but it manages to be its own thing with the introduction of certain things.

Judgment's story is honestly amazing with how much of it all pays off in the end and manages to perfectly tie up everything barring some pacing issues that I felt that kinda hampered my enjoyment a bit. The supporting cast and characters are definitely some of RGG's best here with how much heart they have and managing to give each character their spot in the limelight. I didn't like the inclusion of some side cases essentially being mandatory for story progression barring a few that was actually great character development but most of it felt like filler to me after a while. There's just a lot of depth in the story that I never really saw in the studio's previous efforts that I really appreciate here and hoping it continues the trend in the sequel while cutting some of the fat.

Judgment continues the brawler gameplay style via Dragon Engine and I have to say it's much improved over its predecessors here. Yagami moves with elegance and flows like the wind with his two main specialized stances, Crane which is mostly used for groups and Tiger which is more for duels or 1v1s specifically. Almost every motion is fluid and flashy to the point you can even bounce off the walls and do some cool attacks and pulling off flux fissures never gets old. Judgment introduces a lot of new gameplay elements such as chase sequences, tailing people, drones and investigating areas via the first person perspective. I'm mixed leaning into the negative on these elements with only really thinking the chase sequences are fun to play and everything else essentially being tedious after a while. Tailing people is what you sort of expect here, it makes sense for a detective to do this but it's never really stimulating and essentially just following someone but being farther away than usual. The drone is okay although a bit weird to control even with the alternative schemes and sort of find it baffling sometimes when people don't see the drones literally outside of a window in a cutscene. I wish the first person investigation segments had more to it but they're incredibly easy and simple that it doesn't really indulge the detective fantasy if at all here. The standard suite of side activities are here as well such as going to arcades, eating at specific restaurants, drinking at specific bars and a variety of sports such as baseball and bowling. The drone racing is alright and the VR board game are cool additions nonetheless. You can even have a girlfriend in this game which is kinda funny since the game pushes a love interest towards you too.
The soundtrack for Judgment is amazing which is nothing new but I feel like the mixing in the game is a bit off. This is not to mention the lack of audio options in the game which mostly has the battle themes completely muffled compared to the sound effects which is a huge shame considering some of the best battle themes in their video game library come from this game and the inability to personalize audio settings to properly enjoy them in the context of the game is something I feel should honestly be mandatory in games at this point. Probably not a huge concern to most people but I care a lot about audio in games as it is. A small point for the English dub being amazing here and how I experienced the game as well. A far cry from their initial effort with Yakuza back on the PlayStation 2.

Great and elegant combat, some tedious gameplay elements which I can attest makes sense in terms of the detective role you have in the game accompanying a great narrative and characters makes this a great game for those wanting a darker look at the underbelly of Kamurocho. A real shame this game might never head to PC but it's definitely worth getting a PS4 or PS5 for it along with a few games if you haven't already. A story about a detective finding out the dark truth and coming to terms with the ideals he held onto be morally correct or not.

Starts as a crime focused murder mystery and ends in a full blown condemnation of the Japanese justice system. Covers similar territory as it's sister series (particularly Yakuza 4) but it's new perspective allows for a different "judgment" if you will on the material that makes it a unique experience. A compelling arc for Yagami is what tips this over the edge as one of the best stories of the series as well, as his vulnerability and morally questionable actions make him shockingly human when compared to the stoic Kiryu or the hyperactive Ichiban.

It also plays like a dream. The Dragon Engine has never been better, and while there is some clunkiness for sure once you get into a groove it's a blast. Unsure if the styles are as effective as Yakuza 0 but I like how they are more based around group fights/individual fights more then anything else. Combine that with great minigames and one of the best supporting casts of the series and you have a winner. Loved this!

My new favorite RGG game. SO glad I saved the judgment games for last. Combat is amazing, blew me away with how much better it is than the other dragon engine games, the story is great and kept me engaged all the way through. I'm such a sucker for the ace attorney series, and this game feels like a spin on that but yakuza. I also love the side content a ton, its really fun. To think that lost judgment is probably even better makes me so excited to play it after I finish this games side content. 10/10

An incredibly captivating mystery thriller, with action scenes akin to old martial arts flicks. Takayuki Yagami is a stellar lead and quickly became one of my favorite main characters of all time within the series and in general, a character who acts a former lawyer turned detective with a strong sense of justice.

This game also has probably one of my favorite combat systems alongside Yakuza 5 and Kiwami 1, and having one of the best OSTs in the entire franchise. There are very little complaints with this game in my eyes besides tailing mission, but that can be easily overlooked with how much the game provides to make up for it. Also Penumbra go dummy hard, top 3 boss fight in the entire series

Yagami would’ve solved the Zodiac case in 15 minutes btw

I don't understand how RGG can maintain this kind of quality in their games time after time.

An excellent spin-off from an already amazing series. The story was well-written and grounded, and genuinely had me surprised a lot of the time with its twists and turns. The detective aspects were solid, although the tailing missions got a bit annoying after a while. The combat was tight, responsive and so much fun once you've built up a few abilities.

Where this game went from really good to excellent for me, though, was the ending. The entire last chapter is near perfection--the narrative pay-offs are huge and the final boss fight is one of the best in the series. It's one of my favorite video game endings in recent memory.

The game isn't without it's issues though, even if my complaints are minor. The mortal wound mechanic is seriously frustrating, as you can only fix it in a very specific place; it's also difficult to stop some of the attacks that cause them when you're fighting in such tight spaces. And the combat encounters that happen in the world feel far too frequent sometimes; I'd need to get from point A to point B and be interrupted 3-4 times by a pack of goons.

Taken together, this was an amazing video game. I loved the detective mystery storyline, the combat is as fun as ever and the ending was just too damn good. I'm already eager to jump into Lost Judgment to keep the experience going.

Outside the structure and gameplay feeling a bit off yet pretty damn refined, straight up perfect game

The story has some on the nose moments holding it back with the super off-key pacing, but I would lying if it didn't have me excited and emotional like a kid

I'm really glad Nagoshi finally got to do his mafia mystery without Yakuza holding him back, this game reeks of his inner wanna-make mystery game especially if you've followed all 7 games before

CASE NO. 13-2018
MINISTRY OF HEALTH V. TAKAYUKI YAGAMI

reading about RGG's history, it's evident there was a bit of a conscious tonal shift when the main Yakuza series was transitioning to the seventh generation — the development team wanted to move away from the more brazen kiryu portrayed in 2 and especially 1 in order to focus on a different side of the character, and thus began his arc from 3 - 6, his journey with the kids at morning glory, and the never ending struggle to crawl out of the hellhole he thrust himself into so many years ago, lest those he love suffer for it.

i bring this up because, as RGG's approach towards Kiryu's character changed, so did the series itself, going from very classic yakuza-flick inspired games to these more earnest, almost melodramatic titles, and as a result, Yakuza 3 in many aspects ended up being the bedrock for the next ten years of the franchise. I like both styles, but while I'm not here to argue about which one is better, a quick glance at the top spot of my series ranking (note when i made this review it was Yakuza 2, it is now Lost Judgment) should give you a good idea of my personal preference. regardless, playing through the post-2 games I'd always wonder how the series would have progressed if they had stuck with the tone and design goals of the ps2 games. this sentiment was amplified during my playthrough of 7 - probably the game that buckles down the most on the goofier reputation this series has garnered, especially across various social media circles. i don't take issue with it, but it's hard to deny a small part of me longed to see the more grounded experience of the older output ... in a twist of irony, my decision to not play these games in release order led me to gloss over the fact that, in those moments, my wish had already come true...

judgment is a look into that exact reality - an evidently tight budget does little to tarnish the most well executed story in this franchise yet; a delightfully gritty mystery that displays how over-ambition and guilt leads even the most well meaning of people astray, and their varying efforts to claw back to the path they were to walk, yagami and the crew's relentless search for the truth against those who will stop at nothing to conceal it leads to some of the highest points in this series for plot, characterization, conflict, theming and structure — rarely do they ever miss a beat on any of these fronts - even the crowbarring of side content into the main story, especially prevalent here and something I'd usually lambaste if it were any other game I find difficult to get mad at because of how on top of their game the writers were... out of the eleven RGG games I've played, this is only just the second one where i had bothered to do all the side content, because of how much of a joy i found it to simply exist within this world.

to continue on, in general this is probably my favourite iteration of kamurocho, yagami remarks about the city's seediness at the beginning of the game, saying something among the lines of "the brighter the lights, the darker the shadows", and you can physically feel this when walking around at night, the grading of the environments and the toned down glitz from 6 leads to something that looks like it was plucked from a neo-noir movie, small pockets of sensory overload do little to drown out the air of darkness that envelops the city, extremely apt given the lurking threat we spend so long investigating. despite that, the place still buzzes with life thanks to a much more expansive version of 0's friendship system and the side cases - the voice of kamurocho is really felt here, once again like the original games you really have to ruthlessly engage with the city to progress and upgrade, and yagami's position gives you a real chance to look into the lives of these people compared to the other protagonists, which i deeply enjoyed.

being a detective also leads to some real shake-ups when it comes to scenario design, while it can be hit or miss (mostly miss in regards to things like tailing and chases), the gradual deviation from the standard waypoint to waypoint progression of yakuza games is something that was sorely needed, and the overall vulnerability of yagami as a character compared to someone like kiryu leads to setpieces far more interesting than those in the main series... imagine my surprise when a protagonist in this series' first instinct when it came to infiltrating a building wasn't busting in through the front door!

my main complaints really largely lie with the combat, obviously an important thing to get right being a beat-em up - to give credit where credit's due, this game is responsible for some of the most innovative stuff to grace the series's combat since Y2, and as a result there is some real fun to be had in the moment to moment stuff, but the designers continue to stumble through their first attempts with dragon engine - the crane style is all but useless in ninety percent of combat encounters, it's borderline comical how utterly devoid of upgrades it is compared to tiger and genuinely makes me wonder if it was a late addition or something, and while we're on the topic of upgrades, this is probably the most atrocious game in the series when it comes to exp distribution... doing a few of the trite "interact with this character, walk to this location" story objectives can net you hundreds of skill points, something as simple as restaurant completion will earn thousands, yet genuinely taxing things like bosses and side cases dish out crumbs. there are the street fights, but the abysmally high encounter rate puts me off after a while, and while that makes them easy to grind, i find that to be a really shitty way to have to stay up to par in a game like this when it could have been done a million other ways - the reward for beating amon ( prerequisite of clearing every friendship and every side case , being far and beyond the most difficult fight in the game) in this game is three hundred sp ! talking to a character for a story objective is worth two thirds of that... even the keihin gang encounters (which are probably the most infuriating reoccurring combat events in the series) barely reward you with anything for going out of your way to engage with, and as a result it ends up being unnecessarily difficult to get yagami upgraded sometimes, a severe issue, as he can feel hopelessly sluggish without the adequate skills.

many of these things are relatively simple fixes i'd say, but alas this is the final product and unfortunately this is what has to hold the game back being such a crucial element. it's easy to see why judgment's shortcomings in gameplay can really hamper a person's experience of the game, and it certainly did mine in some regards, but as someone who usually never comes to this series for the punching, rarely does it stain what is in my eyes the apex of virtually everything RGG otherwise. a fascinating look into the mind, or more accurately, the eyes of toshihiro nagoshi. very much looking forward to playing lost judgment.

É assim que se faz um spin-off pois PUTA MERDA QUE JOGO FENOMENAL

Eu joguei ele pq tava muito animado pra jogar o Lost Judgment já que só vi coisa boa sobre ele, e eu comecei meio empurrando pra frente e meio gostando da vibe mas não sentindo completamente o jogo

Foi no capítulo 5 que eu vi que eu tinha que terminar o jogo a todo custo pra ver a conclusão pois já tava completamente preso na trama.

Capítulo 11 do jogo é peak absoluto, capítulo 12 é incrível, final do jogo é uma perfeição

Agora eu tô olhando pros créditos, segurando pra não chorar, ouvindo Arpeggio e eu não podia me sentir mais triste porque eu acabei uma das melhores obras que eu já consumi e vai ser impossível revivenciar todas as revelações dela pela primeira vez de novo.

Eu te amo Yagami, eu te amo Kaito, eu te acho gostoso Sugiura e eu te amo Ryu Ga Gotoku ❤

Combat feels a bit off. Switching styles could be more instantaneous to help it flow better. You can do this by activating your EX mode but it barely lasts and using it up removes your ability to use special moves, so I barely got a chance to use special moves which sucks the enjoyment out of encounters. There also felt like less variety in your special takedowns. Even after scouring Kamurocho for the QR codes necessary to get vital combat abilities, opportunities rarely presented themselves to really showcase the cool moves I earned. The hyper-specificity of how to get them to proc led to me just kicking fools while they were down 4 out of 5 times. I really wish I didn’t find every RGG games combat so shallow because it’s genuinely the only thing that keeps these games from entering my personal upper echelon. No Yakuza game ever clicked with me 100% on a gameplay level so it might just be me. The tailing minigame put me to sleep, and they use it exponentially more than in other RGG games. They drag on so long I genuinely think it’s the thing that’s keeping this game from a higher score for me.

Thankfully this game has the best narrative of any Yakuza game so far. I'd never describe a Yakuza game's story as "gripping". They're schlocky but more than serviceable, but this time around I was fully invested. It helps that it shows a lot more restraint with the twists, even with it being a detective story. Excellent cast of characters. Yagami is cool and likable. The crew you end up assembling are also great, and some of the antagonists are my favorite in the series, Hamura was excellent in particular. The dub is really strong. I could easily recommend it.

I didn’t really care for the side quest structure at all, in that some of them need you to make friends with unknown individuals to progress them, and without, after all these years, decently functional quest marking, makes some of them impossible to complete without a guide. I ended up just befriending everyone I could before doing any side case, which aren’t nearly as fleshed out and way more tedious. The side cases themselves are an absolute joy of course. Multiple multipart stories feel way more intimate this time around, which admittedly does lend some justification to the friendship system.

It’s such a brief moment but I can’t not mention the woman harassment simulator that I honestly can't tell if it was supposed to make the characters in question uncomfortable or uplift them in some cumbrains idea of empowerment.

Judgment is a solid title that has pretty much everything you come to expect from a mainline Yakuza game, with the exception of the franchise’s usual cast. It has a pretty good (albeit a tad bloated) story, there’s decent combat, and plenty of quirky side content to enjoy. Sadly, the game struggles in its attempts to differentiate itself from the Yakuza games with its introduction of detective-themed mechanics that at best don’t really impress, and at worse, serve as tedious endeavors that drag the pacing of the game down. If you’ve played the other Yakuza games, then Judgment for all intents and purposes is simply another one, and it's extremely hard to see it for its own merits.

Judgment’s story is an intriguing mystery that plays out in much the same fashion as the Yakuza games that stem before it, with characters that didn’t leave quite as much of an impact on me. Yagami is similar to Kiryu in many ways, but comes off as a lot more outwardly reserved for much of the game, which I felt like made it harder for him to stick out in my mind as a protagonist compared not just to Kiryu, but to pretty much all of the other Yakuza protagonists as well. In fact, for much of the game, I wished I was playing as Kaito, who stood out a lot more to me and was a much more likable character in comparison to Yagami. I struggled to feel much of anything towards Yagami until the end of the game, where there was some pretty heavy emotional moments that finally won me over on him. The game also has a lot of story segments that are specifically designated as side content as a part of the main story, which makes the main campaign feel very bloated. I wouldn’t mind if these side cases were specifically kept as side cases, but their inclusion in the main campaign really stretches it out and makes it a lot longer than it needed to be.

Combat feels solid and satisfying, but also a tad undercooked. Judgment brings back the style switching that was introduced in Yakuza 0, except whereas previous characters had four well fleshed out styles to switch from, Yagami only has two, the Tiger and Crane styles, and it feels like there was a lot more attention given to the Tiger style in comparison to the Crane style. In fact, it’s to the point where Crane feels almost completely irrelevant. Tiger, despite being a style meant to focus on a single opponent, allows you to handle groups of opponents just fine for the most part. It also comes with many additional moves exclusive to that style. It’s very fun to use, and I really like Yagami’s kung-fu inspired moveset. Unfortunately, Crane lacks any exclusive upgrades (at least, none that I found over the course of the game). I never really felt like Crane was a style worth using, as like I mentioned, Tiger allows you to handle groups of opponents just fine and also has way more abilities that you can use. As a result, despite a strong foundation that could be built upon in future Judgment titles, the lack of variety in the options that Yagami has in combat makes him feel a lot more linear when compared to the protagonists of the more recent Yakuza titles.

Then there are the new detective mechanics. On paper, I can definitely see what they were trying to achieve with these, as they were likely meant to give the game a more realistic detective feel distinctive from that of the mainline Yakuza games. In practice however, these new mechanics only really serve to drag the overall pacing of the game down. The simple act of opening doors now requires you to go through this very slow and extremely simple lock picking segment, or selecting the correct key from a key ring. This doesn't necessarily apply to every door in the game, and I didn’t find these to be particularly offensive, but coming from previous Yakuza games where you open doors by just… walking through them, makes this feel like an unnecessary extra step. I did like the Ace Attorney inspired segments where you have to search an area for clues to use as evidence, though like the Ace Attorney games, it can be difficult to tell what the game wants you to find.

The tailing segments are very poorly executed. I feel like these segments really need to be reworked. Slowly following behind your target, and trying to reach designated hiding spots using the game’s default movement (which was never really designed for stealth) doesn’t feel particularly fun or satisfying, and the gauge at the top of the screen that fills when your target can see you feels too lenient. I think these segments should’ve had their own unique movement mechanics, with the ability to crouch and hide from the target’s sight at any point, as opposed to forcing you to use the standard walk/sprint to make it to the awkwardly placed hiding spots. I also think that instead of the gauge that fills when you’re spotted, you should have a limited number of times where you can be spotted before failing the segment altogether. Disguises aren’t required for the tailing segments, and Yagami has such a distinctive appearance that it especially makes no sense for targets that know who he is to take so long to recognize him.

Despite its attempts to stick out from its parent franchise not really panning out well, I do think that Judgment is a decent game that can satisfy those that love the typical Yakuza formula, and I’m glad it exists. As much as I loved Yakuza 7, I’d feel a tad apprehensive towards it if its existence meant that traditional Yakuza combat would be forever axed. While I didn’t find the story or characters of Judgment nearly as good or captivating as those from the mainline Yakuza games, I feel like Yagami and friends have a lot of potential, and I hope that Lost Judgment builds upon the foundation that this game laid out, irons out the kinks, and manages to be a title that’s able to escape the mainline series’ shadow.

Este jogo provavelmente representa o ápice da escrita da RGG com tranquilidade. No entanto, vou abordar os prós e contras:

Prós:

- Excelente sistema de combate adotando um estilo mais Anime/Cinematográfico, o que beneficia muito o jogo, embora apresente alguns pontos fracos (explicarei mais detalhadamente em outro ponto).
- A história é uma das melhores, senão a melhor, da franquia. Tudo aqui tem um propósito e consegue capturar completamente a atenção do jogador.
- A trilha sonora é boa, principalmente no aspecto de criar uma atmosfera mais detetivesca, mas não se destaca tanto no combate.
- O elenco principal e a "gangue" final são essencialmente o que Yakuza 4 tentou alcançar, porém com uma escrita muito melhor.
Contras:

- As missões secundárias são muito intrusivas. Sinceramente, a maioria delas quebra o ritmo da história e acaba tirando a seriedade do jogo.
- O sistema de SP deste jogo é péssimo, sinceramente. É difícil acumular a barra de cólera a tempo, e para piorar, só se desbloqueiam melhorias para isso lá pelo capítulo 5.
- Existem duas posturas de combate, mas apenas uma é verdadeiramente eficaz. O estilo Crane simplesmente não funciona; os inimigos se defendem e você é arremessado para o outro lado da sala, além de causar menos dano.
- Há um vazio entre os capítulos 6 e 8 em que NADA ACONTECE. Sério, se alguém desistir nessa parte, eu entenderia, porque é preciso ter muita determinação para aguentar esse trecho.
- Acredito que a Dragon Engine precisa ser aposentada neste ponto. Este jogo poderia ser o último a utilizá-la, pois é evidente que ela possui muitas limitações.

Can RGG do the impossible and make the same type of game that they'd been making for thirteen years with a different cast, but still be good? The answer is unsurpsingly yes.

You return to the familiar site of modern day Kamurocho with an entierly new cast of characters. Gone is the familiar cast of Kazuma Kiryu, Date, Daigo Dojima, Goro Majima, Akiyama and the like and in is a completely new crew of friends and foes that you'll fall in love with all the same. Takayuki Yagami is an instantly loveable private detective with an extensive history in litigation. His trials and tribulations as a lawyer are a direct lead in to this game's story and set a picture perfect narrative that will seep its way into the story of Judgment, dripping piece by piece into the player's memory bank while they pick up along the mystery of the Mole. Kaito is a phenomenal sidekick, something RGG has nailed since the first Yakuza title, not a dumb himbo to be comedic relief, but a good friend and reliable muscle when Yagami is in a pinch. The young Sugiura was a fresh addition as well, making an unlikely friend group in a grim situation which complimented the story at hand extremely well. These three coupled with the friends at the Genda Law Office and Matsugane Family of Yakuza are more of what the Like a Dragon series has done best; create a recognizable and enjoyable cast of characters to surround the protagonist. RGG titles play out like a movie, introducing allies and enemies at optimal pacing, and Judgment is another rock in that pond.

As not much of a shock, the plot of Judgment starts out with something as simple as investigating a serial murder case as part of Yagami's detective agency, yet morphs into something much more sinister. This was the case with all Yakuza games before it, a spiraling story that sucks you in and keeps you invested even if the games run long. I don't want to go into detail as to avoid spoilers but if you found the initial few chapters to be a little slow pacing wise, just trust that this one will play out... it really does.

Detractions from a five star rating into a four star boil down into the same issues I've had since Y0, and that's the combat and mandatory side missions. Combat again is pretty poor, I had to turn it way down to avoid face-to-desk slamming monotony as the Blockuza came out and I didn't find combat to be diverse enough (I miss you Goro "Bat Wielder" Majima) to warrant playing the hard way. Per the latter issue, there were plenty of times until about chapter ten where you'd start embarking on your quest to find the serial killing culprit only to be phoned and interrupted with a side quest that had absolutely nothing to do with the story. I appreciate how fun these can be in LAD/Yakuza games but eventually it feels like a slog, especially when forced upon the player. Consider this a plea to RGG to keep these as SIDE quests down the line. Additionally, I found the constant inclusion of tailing/chase missions to be quite annoying as it just drew out the time of play and didn't add much to my immersion.

I'm excited to play Lost Judgment eventually, but I think I'm going to take an extended break from RGG after Isshin comes out as to keep myself not burnt out. I would recommend Judgment to anybody who was a fan of Kiryu's Yakuza saga.

loved this game. the main story was gripping, and i fell in love with the side characters: hamura, higashi, saori. just loved them. the mc, yagami, was harder for me to get a grip in - he's noticeably much more bitter than the previous rgg heroes - the guilt he's carrying around with him makes him somehow seem like more of an adult than kiryu or ichiban. but maybe that's because the tone of the story feels much more serious than the mainline rgg games.

things i did not like:
- no karaoke :( and one of my friends told me that takuya kimura is literally one of the most famous singers in japan! i guess it would have been too expensive to have him singing in the game, but still. how am i supposed to understand a character if i can't see how they imagine a music video starring them and their friends?
- the combat felt a bit clumsy to me, but maybe that's just me.
- mafuyu, unfortunately, really does nothing in the game. she has one of the most beautiful character designs in the entire series, but all she does is show up and look worried occasionally :( sad!
- no way to tone down the random encounters. it got to be kind of annoying at around the middle of the game, where i just wanted to focus on the main story because i was so enthralled.
- don't like the dice and cube minigame. yagami looks stupid with the glasses. sorry. actually i don't like his outfit either. he looks better with the lawyer get-up.

things i did like:
- whatever was going on with hamura. wow