It's been ages that a game had had me smiling like an idiot and actually clapping my hands at the ending but this one of those hall of fame games that genuinely touches your soul
RGG how do you make it seem so easy i owe my life to this studio
This game made me realize how much i love the detective/murder mystery unfolding stories. the way this game laid out its narrative was fucking PERFECT they cooked so fucking well on the first game of a spin off duology from a yakuza series which is the literal opposite of this
Just goes to show how absolutely fantastic the writing is for these games that they did the boldest move ever and switched it all up and somehow made an almost perfect game
i fucking love the cast to death, They made the perfect cast to a story like this i cannot describe it
Kaito and Yagami are my favorite RGG duo by miles from just one game and i genuinely cannot wait to see how Lost Judgement takes the blueprint to an even higher level
my only major issues with the game are some egregious padding examples and the combat is slow at first
RGG how do you make it seem so easy i owe my life to this studio
This game made me realize how much i love the detective/murder mystery unfolding stories. the way this game laid out its narrative was fucking PERFECT they cooked so fucking well on the first game of a spin off duology from a yakuza series which is the literal opposite of this
Just goes to show how absolutely fantastic the writing is for these games that they did the boldest move ever and switched it all up and somehow made an almost perfect game
i fucking love the cast to death, They made the perfect cast to a story like this i cannot describe it
Kaito and Yagami are my favorite RGG duo by miles from just one game and i genuinely cannot wait to see how Lost Judgement takes the blueprint to an even higher level
my only major issues with the game are some egregious padding examples and the combat is slow at first
The story was fun, albeit a little silly sometimes, but it's a detective crime drama so what else should I expect? Overall, fun game
Judgement is so close to being a top-tier Yakuza game. It fixes a lot of problems that have hung over the series but also introduces new ones.
Well, they're not so much "problems" as "Odious Additions." Judgment is a detective story, so they've added some detective gameplay. The game starts off with a 4 hour prologue introducing you to all the new detective stuff you can do. Tailing missions, looking for clues, spotting people in a crowd, presenting evidence, disguises, lockpicking!
The issue is, most of these mini-games fall by the wayside outside the first chapter, left to be used in the side cases. Those that do stick around, clue searching and tailing, lack engagement and come across half-baked (the fact that every search sequence in accompanied by a hidden mewling cat kinda robs them of any inquisitive or dramatic tone.)
When the detective elements work, they work great. Spotting a camera on a rooftop or calling out a flaw in witness testimony feel good in the moment and help set the noir tone. Other times it's things like "Find the lightswitch." The lightswitch isn't in any unique spot, It's where you expect the lightswitch to be, they just wanted to make that spot interactive for....??
The key ring is the most head-scratching inclusion. I don't know what the value gained here is other than a tiny XP bonus.
No, for most of Judgment's runtime it leans back on the Yakuza tradition of violence to solve problems. Here you get two styles to swap between: crane for crowd-control, and tiger for one-on-one. Most of the abilities you get are for tiger and the game actually doesn't throw hordes of foes at you like prior titles, so Crane by and large falls by the wayside.
Not that I mind this. The RPG elements have been greatly reduced. No longer are you doing twelve 5% increases to health at ramping XP costs. Instead there are 3 increases to health, each one doubling your bar. It may be simplified, but it feels more satisfying and each trip to the level up screen meant walking away with a tangible benefit (though it's still loaded with borderline useless perks like heat moves exclusive to fighting in a convenience store).
What raises Judgment up is it's narrative. Completely seperate from the mainline games, this is a great noir story about lingering regret and corruption. The story is maybe two chapters longer than it needs to be, but I enjoyed the more grounded story. Yagami doesn't have the immediate likability of prior franchise leads, but he does have strong "just a dude" energy that gives him a John Mclain feeling.
Some may find the main story forcing you into side missions to progress the plot annoying. It's certainly something I've complained about in prior titles, but here I didn't mind it. For starters there's no point where they interrupt any forward action, instead acting as time killers while waiting for a phone call or the events to progress. It gives a kind of a TV show feeling, where the main mystery builds gradually amidst "case of the week" type missions. It helps to build the very likeable cast of characters. I'd actually hazard to say that this is one of the best casts of any Yakuza game.
The big gold star Judgment gets is that in the last chapter a last hour antagonist isn't introduced to explain how he was the mastermind all along and also the head of the illuminati somehow. Here the main antagonist becomes clear half-way through, but like any good detective story the thrust becomes about uncovering how they did it. It unfurls very naturally with a thrilling final set piece. If there's any final BS revelation in line with prior titles it's to do with a particular method of execution and the reasons for doing so are so goofy it loops around to being palatable.
Best part of the narrative is how it actually ties to Yagami's arc of regret and lost faith in his judgment (Hey, that's the name of the show!) It has shades of Saejima's arc in Yakuza 4, which is still the best Yakuza game and probably why I liked this one so much.
For those that view the Yakuza franchise as a vehicle for playing SEGA roms, then this game has you covered with all of Virtua Fighter 2 & 5, and Fighting Vipers. Weirdly a lot of normal side activities have been removed, probably to make room for the detective missions. Drone racing is a banger though, and best addition since cabaret management.
Honestly my feelings on Judgment could go either way. I can see how the shake-up to the formula could be found lacking enough to drag down the experience. For me, the narrative saves it from a lower score and I'd probably consider this a personal favorite. If they had trimmed a bit of the fat then this would easily be an S-tier entry in the series.
Well, they're not so much "problems" as "Odious Additions." Judgment is a detective story, so they've added some detective gameplay. The game starts off with a 4 hour prologue introducing you to all the new detective stuff you can do. Tailing missions, looking for clues, spotting people in a crowd, presenting evidence, disguises, lockpicking!
The issue is, most of these mini-games fall by the wayside outside the first chapter, left to be used in the side cases. Those that do stick around, clue searching and tailing, lack engagement and come across half-baked (the fact that every search sequence in accompanied by a hidden mewling cat kinda robs them of any inquisitive or dramatic tone.)
When the detective elements work, they work great. Spotting a camera on a rooftop or calling out a flaw in witness testimony feel good in the moment and help set the noir tone. Other times it's things like "Find the lightswitch." The lightswitch isn't in any unique spot, It's where you expect the lightswitch to be, they just wanted to make that spot interactive for....??
The key ring is the most head-scratching inclusion. I don't know what the value gained here is other than a tiny XP bonus.
No, for most of Judgment's runtime it leans back on the Yakuza tradition of violence to solve problems. Here you get two styles to swap between: crane for crowd-control, and tiger for one-on-one. Most of the abilities you get are for tiger and the game actually doesn't throw hordes of foes at you like prior titles, so Crane by and large falls by the wayside.
Not that I mind this. The RPG elements have been greatly reduced. No longer are you doing twelve 5% increases to health at ramping XP costs. Instead there are 3 increases to health, each one doubling your bar. It may be simplified, but it feels more satisfying and each trip to the level up screen meant walking away with a tangible benefit (though it's still loaded with borderline useless perks like heat moves exclusive to fighting in a convenience store).
What raises Judgment up is it's narrative. Completely seperate from the mainline games, this is a great noir story about lingering regret and corruption. The story is maybe two chapters longer than it needs to be, but I enjoyed the more grounded story. Yagami doesn't have the immediate likability of prior franchise leads, but he does have strong "just a dude" energy that gives him a John Mclain feeling.
Some may find the main story forcing you into side missions to progress the plot annoying. It's certainly something I've complained about in prior titles, but here I didn't mind it. For starters there's no point where they interrupt any forward action, instead acting as time killers while waiting for a phone call or the events to progress. It gives a kind of a TV show feeling, where the main mystery builds gradually amidst "case of the week" type missions. It helps to build the very likeable cast of characters. I'd actually hazard to say that this is one of the best casts of any Yakuza game.
The big gold star Judgment gets is that in the last chapter a last hour antagonist isn't introduced to explain how he was the mastermind all along and also the head of the illuminati somehow. Here the main antagonist becomes clear half-way through, but like any good detective story the thrust becomes about uncovering how they did it. It unfurls very naturally with a thrilling final set piece. If there's any final BS revelation in line with prior titles it's to do with a particular method of execution and the reasons for doing so are so goofy it loops around to being palatable.
Best part of the narrative is how it actually ties to Yagami's arc of regret and lost faith in his judgment (Hey, that's the name of the show!) It has shades of Saejima's arc in Yakuza 4, which is still the best Yakuza game and probably why I liked this one so much.
For those that view the Yakuza franchise as a vehicle for playing SEGA roms, then this game has you covered with all of Virtua Fighter 2 & 5, and Fighting Vipers. Weirdly a lot of normal side activities have been removed, probably to make room for the detective missions. Drone racing is a banger though, and best addition since cabaret management.
Honestly my feelings on Judgment could go either way. I can see how the shake-up to the formula could be found lacking enough to drag down the experience. For me, the narrative saves it from a lower score and I'd probably consider this a personal favorite. If they had trimmed a bit of the fat then this would easily be an S-tier entry in the series.
Base game is Yakuza-like but they added "phoenix wright" features to it. Its story is the good one, they added "Takuya Kimura" as MC, but the mystery solving part was not so hard, and about the combat honestly I'm not a fan of it since I like powerful moves Kiryu does.
The game itself is good but there are some features that makes it not perfect:
- The story is good but its slow and tiring due to some forced side quest and gang invasions.
- One of the main focus of this game that should be the detective part is simple and easy
- It's minigames are well made but when you try doing 100% it becames a really mess. For an example if you try to 100% the SEGA Arcade part you'll have to play Puyo Puyo game a lot to complete "defeat all enemies" cause some of enemies appear only at high win streak and its random appearing.
- The combat part is worst until you take combo speed up upgrade, but when you upgrade 1v1 style well it becomes funny and strong. Another style is a mess even upgrading so I won't recommend to spend your precious point to it.
The game itself is good but there are some features that makes it not perfect:
- The story is good but its slow and tiring due to some forced side quest and gang invasions.
- One of the main focus of this game that should be the detective part is simple and easy
- It's minigames are well made but when you try doing 100% it becames a really mess. For an example if you try to 100% the SEGA Arcade part you'll have to play Puyo Puyo game a lot to complete "defeat all enemies" cause some of enemies appear only at high win streak and its random appearing.
- The combat part is worst until you take combo speed up upgrade, but when you upgrade 1v1 style well it becomes funny and strong. Another style is a mess even upgrading so I won't recommend to spend your precious point to it.
This game was truly amazing. The gameplay is smooth, the story is one of the best in a game, and the atmosphere is impeccable. My only complaints are the way you unlock substories and a couple of the earlier chapters being slow.
Some people might complain that Judgement is just like Yakuza but about detectives and I'm like, "Wait, they made a game that is just like Yakuza but about detectives?!"
story is great but combat is kinda weird love all the characters
tailing missions can kiss my ass tho
tailing missions can kiss my ass tho
timeless opening song
i liked it. plays nice. good story.
This review contains spoilers
YAGAMIIIII
the best story RGG has ever cooked up to this day (gameplay kinda mid tho)
- holy shit so many great characters
- kaito my goat
- tailing missions are fucked up
- gameplay has the potential to be good but overall sluggishness and balance issues ( tiger is op) take it down a notch
- one of the best villains in the series
- mahjong?
rgg does so much better at creating new characters than continuing old characters arcs into sequels and it shows
the best story RGG has ever cooked up to this day (gameplay kinda mid tho)
- holy shit so many great characters
- kaito my goat
- tailing missions are fucked up
- gameplay has the potential to be good but overall sluggishness and balance issues ( tiger is op) take it down a notch
- one of the best villains in the series
- mahjong?
rgg does so much better at creating new characters than continuing old characters arcs into sequels and it shows
silly like yakuza, but serioues when it has to be. very good game
The first few chapters drag a small bit but the rest is amazing, the plot makes sense even with how massive it is and uncovering the story is really entertaining. Also the final boss is amazing and one of my favourites in yakuza.
Ei vaan napannut mul
Bello, ma troppi pedinamenti.
Its decent. Story is....okay. combat is a lot less janky compared to Y6. juggles are a welcome edition. very unfortunate that the "Detective' parts in the game, suck ass. its like how modern day games handle "stealth". not bad for a spin-off.
one of the best stories in a videogame ever, i love these detective-like settings and chasing undercover blood-hungry maniacs for 1204012401 hours until i find out that they indeed did do that horrible thing that caused my downfall
How to make a spinoff of the most dramatic line of games about Japanese crime even more dramatic? Show it from the other side, in the form of a justice system, which most often has its threads on the dark side. It seems that this has already been shown in the Yakuza series of games, but this time we are a simple private detective, who was rewarded by fate to achieve the truth using our own methods, digging and diving between the edge of the law and street showdowns with Yakuza clans.
In fact. This is the same “Kamurocho” city simulator as in other parts of the games, funny additional missions, a living city with its own stories, contrary to the main part. There is something in common, there is something completely opposite, the gameplay is once again not boring, hitting faces is very pleasant in almost any part. There is of course a place of boredom, pursuit missions are the most boring thing. which I only saw and played. but the advantages in the form of searching for seals at any place of the investigation were very touching and covered all the shortcomings.
Как сделать спинофф по самой драматичной линейки игр про японскую преступность еще драматичнее? Показать ее с обратной стороны, в виде системы правосудия, которая чаше всего имеет свои нитки на темной стороне. Вроде бы это уже было показано в серии игр Yakuza, но в этот раз мы простой частный детектив, которого наградила судьба добиться правды своими методами, копаясь и ныряя между гранью закона и уличными разборками с кланами якудз.
По сути. это такой же симулятор города "камурочо" как и в остальных частях игр, забавные доп миссии, живой город со своими историями, в разрез идущих от основной части. Есть что-то общее, есть полностью противоположное, геймплей в который раз не приелся, бить лица очень приятно почти в любой части. Есть конечно место скуки, миссии преследования самая скучная вещь. которую я только видел и играл. но плюсы в виде поиска котиков на любом месте расследования очень умиляла и покрывала все недостатки.
In fact. This is the same “Kamurocho” city simulator as in other parts of the games, funny additional missions, a living city with its own stories, contrary to the main part. There is something in common, there is something completely opposite, the gameplay is once again not boring, hitting faces is very pleasant in almost any part. There is of course a place of boredom, pursuit missions are the most boring thing. which I only saw and played. but the advantages in the form of searching for seals at any place of the investigation were very touching and covered all the shortcomings.
Как сделать спинофф по самой драматичной линейки игр про японскую преступность еще драматичнее? Показать ее с обратной стороны, в виде системы правосудия, которая чаше всего имеет свои нитки на темной стороне. Вроде бы это уже было показано в серии игр Yakuza, но в этот раз мы простой частный детектив, которого наградила судьба добиться правды своими методами, копаясь и ныряя между гранью закона и уличными разборками с кланами якудз.
По сути. это такой же симулятор города "камурочо" как и в остальных частях игр, забавные доп миссии, живой город со своими историями, в разрез идущих от основной части. Есть что-то общее, есть полностью противоположное, геймплей в который раз не приелся, бить лица очень приятно почти в любой части. Есть конечно место скуки, миссии преследования самая скучная вещь. которую я только видел и играл. но плюсы в виде поиска котиков на любом месте расследования очень умиляла и покрывала все недостатки.
The first few chapters drag a small bit but the rest is amazing, the plot makes sense even with how massive it is and uncovering the story is really entertaining. Also the final boss is amazing and one of my favourites in yakuza. The combat is very fun, intricate and is my 2nd favourite in the series. Very excited to play LJ later today.
After finishing Yakuza 7, I was left without any other Yakuza game to play, so I went looking for something similar and found this game. Let me tell you, it's a great find. Just like everyone says, the missions are repetitive, and not just the tailing missions; the game itself has repetitive parts in gameplay. However, the story of this game is really good, and the dynamic between the two main characters is excellent.
Incredible narrative, incredible villain, fun cast of characters that's all really hurt by its poor pacing. It has by far the most padding of any RGG game and some characters aren't fleshed out enough, mainly Higashi. It also had some very... strange parts which made me incredibly uncomfortable in a way I don't think the writers intended at all, I think they intended it very much the other way.
I love Saori though, messy hair women? awesome. gameplay is also some of the best in the franchise
I love Saori though, messy hair women? awesome. gameplay is also some of the best in the franchise
Eh. The story is OK, but takes some time to get interesting. The side quests mostly bored or annoyed me. The "girlfriend" system is cheesy, and the 3 girls I "girlfriended" were all the result of me saving them from sexual assault or similar situations, which felt really uncomfortable.
The combat is Not It. It's been a minute since I played Yakuza 0, which I remember liking the combat in, but this feels slow and clunky and there's way too much of it. Can't help but feel this game is padded out.
Maybe I'm just losing my excitement for the RGG Studio games. Yakuza: Like a Dragon didn't hit super well for me either. I know Infinite Wealth is super hot right now, but I just need a break from this shit, maybe forever.
Cool "walking around Japan" simulator, though, as always with these games.
The combat is Not It. It's been a minute since I played Yakuza 0, which I remember liking the combat in, but this feels slow and clunky and there's way too much of it. Can't help but feel this game is padded out.
Maybe I'm just losing my excitement for the RGG Studio games. Yakuza: Like a Dragon didn't hit super well for me either. I know Infinite Wealth is super hot right now, but I just need a break from this shit, maybe forever.
Cool "walking around Japan" simulator, though, as always with these games.
A. MA. ZING. game.
Call it recency bias or not I don't care. I loved this game. Just mix Yakuza, detective stuff and hot fictional men and we got a GAME.
Story was kinda starting slow but it is very quick to pick up and it just gets better and better the more you go on. The characters are amazing, the music is amazing, the gameplay is super fun, (aside from my usual dragon engine targeting ick).
One more thing I want to add.
FUMIYA SUGIURAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
That's it. Thank you for reading.
Call it recency bias or not I don't care. I loved this game. Just mix Yakuza, detective stuff and hot fictional men and we got a GAME.
Story was kinda starting slow but it is very quick to pick up and it just gets better and better the more you go on. The characters are amazing, the music is amazing, the gameplay is super fun, (aside from my usual dragon engine targeting ick).
One more thing I want to add.
FUMIYA SUGIURAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
That's it. Thank you for reading.
A great story and great spin off of Yakuza/like a dragon that both fleshes out the city we’ve come to love and introduces incredible characters. Very strong plot, with one of my favourite RGG villains. Yagami and his crew are so Peak. It’s peak. Sadly I think it’s brought down a little by a few unneeded segments involving a certain female character and also a strange amount of side content and weird pacing throughout the- wait, what was that? The keihin gang just beat up Kim’s friends? Crap, what am I going to do!
After enjoying Yakuza Kiwami, I knew the next game I jumped into in the series would be this. Everything I read about it made it seem like it would be tailored directly to my interests by being a detective game set within the open world of Yakuza. However, I have a lot of gripes with this and feel like it could have been so much better with a few changes. Maybe it's pointless to critique a 6 year old game that has a sequel that got universally higher acclaim but video games are weird and I have a lot to say because it's a game I really wanted to love.
First, the good. The story is really engaging and the friends system is super simple but rewarding. Absolutely demolishing rooms full of furniture never gets old. The characters are strong and there's character moments that are genuinely heartfelt and tragic.
Now, as much as I enjoy the combat it can feel very separate from the narrative at times which is fine. It is easier to excuse in Yakuza than when you're a private detective but the random encounters are torturous in this. They're so repetitive and boring and feel like filler.
The first chapter is like a 5-6 hour tutorial and you're not really let loose fully into the open world until some time through chapter two which is disappointing and probably turned a lot of people away before they got to the great stuff.
Unfortunately, the detective mechanics feel very out of date. As much as I love LA Noire, the mechanics in this should feel close to a decade more refined and they just don't. The tailing and drone missions are too manufactured, there's no freedom in the playing. The running sequences with QTE are frustrating. If you let me run free in this environment with options in how I pursue someone that would be really fun but pressing the stick to the left to dodge a group of people gets old after the first time. The overreliance of QTE in action sequences made this feel like a gorgeous graphical update of a 2013 game.
Even with all those gripes I enjoyed a lot of this game and am excited to play Yakuza 0 with the hopes it is more in line with what I would have loved this game to be. Similarly, I still really want to play Lost Judgment.
First, the good. The story is really engaging and the friends system is super simple but rewarding. Absolutely demolishing rooms full of furniture never gets old. The characters are strong and there's character moments that are genuinely heartfelt and tragic.
Now, as much as I enjoy the combat it can feel very separate from the narrative at times which is fine. It is easier to excuse in Yakuza than when you're a private detective but the random encounters are torturous in this. They're so repetitive and boring and feel like filler.
The first chapter is like a 5-6 hour tutorial and you're not really let loose fully into the open world until some time through chapter two which is disappointing and probably turned a lot of people away before they got to the great stuff.
Unfortunately, the detective mechanics feel very out of date. As much as I love LA Noire, the mechanics in this should feel close to a decade more refined and they just don't. The tailing and drone missions are too manufactured, there's no freedom in the playing. The running sequences with QTE are frustrating. If you let me run free in this environment with options in how I pursue someone that would be really fun but pressing the stick to the left to dodge a group of people gets old after the first time. The overreliance of QTE in action sequences made this feel like a gorgeous graphical update of a 2013 game.
Even with all those gripes I enjoyed a lot of this game and am excited to play Yakuza 0 with the hopes it is more in line with what I would have loved this game to be. Similarly, I still really want to play Lost Judgment.
Absolutely enthralling story, a must play for any RGG fan, and a great look at another side of the yakuza/Like a dragon series. Seeing this world from the eyes of yagami was wonderful to say the least.
docked half a star because i don't like yagami's jeans. (not a joke)
Judgment is like a darker, grittier Yakuza spinoff, and I loved it! You play as a detective investigating a twisted murder case, which takes you deep into the Kamurocho underworld. The combat is super satisfying, tailing suspects is surprisingly fun, and the story kept me hooked the entire time. Some of the minigames and side cases can be a bit hit-or-miss, but if you like crime dramas with a hefty dose of Yakuza flavor, Judgment is definitely worth checking out.
The story is easily some of the best work RGG has put out. A solid, engaging mystery drama revolving around a massive conspiracy without any mind numbing plot points. It wasn't a surprise to me when I found out Yokoyama didn't write this...
My story complaints are fairly minor:
The pacing for the first few chapters is quite slow.
A lot of the supporting characters just don't do a lot. Especially Kaito who is presented as Yagami's partner doesn't get much time in the spotlight and feels like kind of an errand boy at times.
The Mole is deliberately lacking in characterization, the story even refers to him as a mere "tool". Would've liked it if he had bit more going on.
Throughout the game there's numerous points you're forced to do random side cases as as a part of the main story despite the side cases being completely unrelated and them clearly not being written with this in mind. Seems like something they just threw in to pad out runtime, not that it was needed.
The side cases as a whole were pretty underwhelming, just a lot of been there done that stuff with some incredibly unfunny comedy thrown in, nothing was really memorable.
The detective gameplay overall isn't great, it's very basic and the trailing and chasing segments definitely overstay their welcome.
I say this in every review of every Dragon Engine game but I fundamentally despise the engine's physics. Everything about it is just so unpredictable and Judgement makes the bizarre decision of having Yagami's attacks "bounce" off the enemy when they're blocked or they have armor which makes things feel even worse. The game also makes the same mistake as Yakuza 6 with it's upgrade system, Yagami starts off extremely weak, your combo speed, damage, abilities are downright pathetic, it makes the early hours a chore to play. The entire SP system is fucked, street encounters give you laughable 9 SP per enemy and the only realistic way to fully upgrade Yagami is through chugging grocery shop SP potions (forgot what they're called) which cost a lot of money.
With that being said, once you do get upgrades the combat does get pretty fun. Yagami is easily the most technical and stylish RGG character, he gets access to so much stuff it almost becomes overwhelming, in a good way. Leapfrog and wall jumps alone add so much by giving you more ways of approaching fights than just doing a rush combo. He feels way more "at home" in the Dragon Engine than Kiryu ever did. The incredibly bizarre thing about Yagami's kit are the 2 styles. Through the upgrades app, tiger style gets like 50 skills while crane style gets... absolutely nothing. Not sure what the thought process behind that was but crane is basically pointless beyond some niche EX switcheroos.
also mortal wounds lol!!
At the start of the game there's very few street encounters which I thought was refreshing but once the Keihen Gang mechanic got introduced that changed very quickly. I thought you'd just beat em once and they'd fuck off but there is literally no way to permanently get rid of them.
If Judgement was only drone racing it'd be the easiest 5/5 stars in my life. Such a fun idea that's executed extremely well. The only slight issue with it is the abrupt difficulty spike in the championship league as the AI racers are straight up faster than you even with S speed. It's still very much doable with a good balance of skill, luck and save scumming between races.
Paradise VR is Judgement's money making mini-game. It's the type of thing I didn't really wanna play again after playing once but considering the amount of money you need for upgrades + quickstarter, that's not really an option (god forbid 100%ing the game with the drone part cost). The Kuro-Nyan mode started feeling more like a punishment because the 2 (two) unique encounters it has get old very very fast.
Great game with some really bizarre design decisions.
My story complaints are fairly minor:
The pacing for the first few chapters is quite slow.
A lot of the supporting characters just don't do a lot. Especially Kaito who is presented as Yagami's partner doesn't get much time in the spotlight and feels like kind of an errand boy at times.
The Mole is deliberately lacking in characterization, the story even refers to him as a mere "tool". Would've liked it if he had bit more going on.
Throughout the game there's numerous points you're forced to do random side cases as as a part of the main story despite the side cases being completely unrelated and them clearly not being written with this in mind. Seems like something they just threw in to pad out runtime, not that it was needed.
The side cases as a whole were pretty underwhelming, just a lot of been there done that stuff with some incredibly unfunny comedy thrown in, nothing was really memorable.
The detective gameplay overall isn't great, it's very basic and the trailing and chasing segments definitely overstay their welcome.
I say this in every review of every Dragon Engine game but I fundamentally despise the engine's physics. Everything about it is just so unpredictable and Judgement makes the bizarre decision of having Yagami's attacks "bounce" off the enemy when they're blocked or they have armor which makes things feel even worse. The game also makes the same mistake as Yakuza 6 with it's upgrade system, Yagami starts off extremely weak, your combo speed, damage, abilities are downright pathetic, it makes the early hours a chore to play. The entire SP system is fucked, street encounters give you laughable 9 SP per enemy and the only realistic way to fully upgrade Yagami is through chugging grocery shop SP potions (forgot what they're called) which cost a lot of money.
With that being said, once you do get upgrades the combat does get pretty fun. Yagami is easily the most technical and stylish RGG character, he gets access to so much stuff it almost becomes overwhelming, in a good way. Leapfrog and wall jumps alone add so much by giving you more ways of approaching fights than just doing a rush combo. He feels way more "at home" in the Dragon Engine than Kiryu ever did. The incredibly bizarre thing about Yagami's kit are the 2 styles. Through the upgrades app, tiger style gets like 50 skills while crane style gets... absolutely nothing. Not sure what the thought process behind that was but crane is basically pointless beyond some niche EX switcheroos.
also mortal wounds lol!!
At the start of the game there's very few street encounters which I thought was refreshing but once the Keihen Gang mechanic got introduced that changed very quickly. I thought you'd just beat em once and they'd fuck off but there is literally no way to permanently get rid of them.
If Judgement was only drone racing it'd be the easiest 5/5 stars in my life. Such a fun idea that's executed extremely well. The only slight issue with it is the abrupt difficulty spike in the championship league as the AI racers are straight up faster than you even with S speed. It's still very much doable with a good balance of skill, luck and save scumming between races.
Paradise VR is Judgement's money making mini-game. It's the type of thing I didn't really wanna play again after playing once but considering the amount of money you need for upgrades + quickstarter, that's not really an option (god forbid 100%ing the game with the drone part cost). The Kuro-Nyan mode started feeling more like a punishment because the 2 (two) unique encounters it has get old very very fast.
Great game with some really bizarre design decisions.
No es un 5⭐ por las misiones de perseguir y por el combate del Dragon Engine aún sin pulir pero la historia es la mejor en un juego de RGG