Horrifying confession. I might be European. I keep spelling it “Judgement” as opposed to “Judgment”... I just think it looks better. Anyways.
Judgment was a game I had my (judge) eye on for the longest time. I’ve been longing for a good detective story/murder mystery in a video game for a while. I’ve played a couple that came close to giving me what I was looking for, but none of them quite did it for me in the manner I was hoping. Then there was Judgment, with a premise that fit the bill to a tee.
I didn’t want to hop straight into Judgment, seeing how it was (kind of) part of a wider game franchise, a la Yakuza. Personally, whenever it feels best, I like to have a bit of context when going into a piece of media that’s rooted in such deep history. With my online friend group getting swept by a nanomachine that forced them to go through Yakuza games like it was crack cocaine, it gave me the motivation to play through Yakuza 0 first. And I greatly enjoyed it! It was a lot of what I’d expected from general talk and seeing out of context clips around the internet and that was by no means a bad thing. It’s a master at interweaving heartfelt and compelling character driven storylines with over the top, meathead action bullshit. But a good portion of the absurdity comes from the premise of the games themselves. For 0 alone, you focus on two protagonists with DEEP ties to the biggest criminal organization in Japan and their goals are far from small. A big worry I had going into Judgment was wondering how the game was gonna go about meshing Yakuza’s absurdity with the more lowkey tone you’d come to expect from a detective story.
I am happy to say that after finishing, I feel Judgment did a wonderful job at doing so, even if there are some hiccups here and there. You still have the insane action set pieces, which I love a lot, but a bit to my surprise, Judgment is very much of a slow burn narrative. After coming off of Yakuza 0, where each chapter did its best to either hype you the fuck up or tug at your heart strings, it was interesting to see how much more slow paced Judgment’s story was in comparison. And I actually think it befits the overall tone much more. There’s a lot of room for intrigue and tension when uncovering the many truths of the story in such a gradual manner. It all culminates in the final few chapters, where it certainly hits the dramatic tension you’d expect from a Yakuza game, but in such an unbelievably satisfying manner due to sheer amount of build up leading up to that point.
I also think it works to highlight the disposition of the protagonist, Takayuki Yagami, and his role as a freelance detective in a small city. You get the sense that you’re actively fighting for your mere position as a detective in the story, as you’re mostly powerless in the eyes of the many antagonistic forces. Any outside help feels earned and there’s many points in the main story where your allies go off to collect more information on their own. This gives Yagami downtime that either leads to mandatory side cases or the freedom to do whatever you want. The mandatory side cases are the worst part of the story, as I’m sure many people would agree. They pretty much never coincide with the grander narrative, and while they’re, a lot of the time, very cute (Captain Cop Kaito my beloved), the fact that you’re actively forced to do them takes a lot away from their charm. What goes from what could’ve been a fun story the player happened to stumble upon starts feeling almost like a pace breaking detour.
But speaking of side cases, GOD I love Kamurocho as a setting in this game, it’s so incredibly lively. From the friendships you can develop with over 50+ NPCs that grow as you actively check in on them and hear their stories. To the dating sim quests with well developed characters that hit the game’s themes in a surprisingly mature sense (#Nanami’sStrongestSoldier). To the side cases that act as Yagami’s source of income and connection to the general population of the city. And just the overall visual beauty of Kamurocho and shit like being able to go in and out of buildings in real time. It’s just peak video game immersion.
The cast generally embodies tropes you’d expect from a TV show of this story’s genre. From Yagami’s headstrong, partner-in-crime Kaito or the endearing underdog Hoshino, they’re a lovable group that, while not the deepest bunch around, had me smiling by the end of their arcs. Yagami himself, however, is on another level. Probably up there with my favorite video game protagonists already. There’s such a profound sense of realistic, down-to-earth charm in his character. He has the inspiring perseverance and soft nature you’d expect from most protagonists, but his unique personality and flaws are what make him so captivating. His laid back, snarky demeanor mixed with his unabashedly blunt way with words creates such intense interactions in drama heavy scenes. He has dense character dynamics with every cast member, pushing them forward by adapting to play the role of mentor, rival, or friend and over the course of the story, you’ll begin to see how his connections affect him. His own personal journey of coming to terms with the truth of his past and how the situation unfolds over the course of the narrative is intriguing and resonated with me hard, especially in the way his arc concludes.
Judgment utilizes Yakuza’s core theme of how our past comes to define who we are in the present to push the general idea of learning to pursue the truth, no matter the cost. Yagami reflects this perfectly, but it permeates well, subtly or not, through most characters in the game. Also here, the corrupted aspects of society largely extend past Kamurocho to perfectly depict how government facilities are able to abuse their power for the sake of personal agendas and the fear that comes with opposing these injustices as an everyday citizen. Self destruction is another core theme of Judgment. How the prospect of glory or the idea of the “greater good” can lead one to corruption. On this topic, I think, in a way, the game also serves to critique Yakuza culture and how it can contribute to self destruction. Just as one example, there’s characters who reflect how a strict sense of loyalty can lead us astray from our personal ideals and I think it works particularly great in this story, because it’s presented from the perspective of someone largely uninvolved with the Yakuza’s business.
Regarding gameplay, with 0 being my only experience with Yakuza at the moment, this is my only exposure to the Dragon Engine, so I unfortunately can’t comment on how it builds off its predecessors. But god fuckin damn, I ADORE this game’s combat. There’s a realistic sense of weight behind each attack and it’s balanced wonderfully with the water-like fluidity of Yagami’s kung fu. On top of that, his athleticism allows him to perform endlessly fun tech, like wall jumping or leapfrogging, that both act as great crowd dispersers and just look super cool. In most fights, there’s this great dichotomy in picking between the two stances; one focused on wide, area clearing kicks and the other specializing in 1v1 focused attacks with huge damage. From what I’ve read, the detective gameplay is somewhat contentious, mainly regarding the tailing missions. I’m fine with everything present, as I think all the mechanics do a good job at selling Yagami’s role as a detective, despite their brain dead simplicity and they never really felt too intrusive. Tailing missions are lame, but only one in the endgame actively annoyed me.
To conclude, Judgment was everything I wanted out of it and I’m really happy about that fact. It’s a traditional detective story that’s packed to the brim with love and care from the creators of a now iconic game franchise and I’m happy they were able to expand their horizons to create a game like this. I’m very glad I played Yakuza 0 beforehand because, while I don’t think it’s required at all to enjoy Judgment, it still gave me a sense of appreciation for this game that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. And I’m also just super interested in delving further into the Yakuza series at some point in the future. Who knows, I might replay Y0 and Judgment after I’m done with them all for the sake of the full picture.
Regardless, absolutely can’t wait to hop into Lost Judgment. Excited to see both the combat changes and how it builds onto the story of Takayuki Yagami.
Judgment was a game I had my (judge) eye on for the longest time. I’ve been longing for a good detective story/murder mystery in a video game for a while. I’ve played a couple that came close to giving me what I was looking for, but none of them quite did it for me in the manner I was hoping. Then there was Judgment, with a premise that fit the bill to a tee.
I didn’t want to hop straight into Judgment, seeing how it was (kind of) part of a wider game franchise, a la Yakuza. Personally, whenever it feels best, I like to have a bit of context when going into a piece of media that’s rooted in such deep history. With my online friend group getting swept by a nanomachine that forced them to go through Yakuza games like it was crack cocaine, it gave me the motivation to play through Yakuza 0 first. And I greatly enjoyed it! It was a lot of what I’d expected from general talk and seeing out of context clips around the internet and that was by no means a bad thing. It’s a master at interweaving heartfelt and compelling character driven storylines with over the top, meathead action bullshit. But a good portion of the absurdity comes from the premise of the games themselves. For 0 alone, you focus on two protagonists with DEEP ties to the biggest criminal organization in Japan and their goals are far from small. A big worry I had going into Judgment was wondering how the game was gonna go about meshing Yakuza’s absurdity with the more lowkey tone you’d come to expect from a detective story.
I am happy to say that after finishing, I feel Judgment did a wonderful job at doing so, even if there are some hiccups here and there. You still have the insane action set pieces, which I love a lot, but a bit to my surprise, Judgment is very much of a slow burn narrative. After coming off of Yakuza 0, where each chapter did its best to either hype you the fuck up or tug at your heart strings, it was interesting to see how much more slow paced Judgment’s story was in comparison. And I actually think it befits the overall tone much more. There’s a lot of room for intrigue and tension when uncovering the many truths of the story in such a gradual manner. It all culminates in the final few chapters, where it certainly hits the dramatic tension you’d expect from a Yakuza game, but in such an unbelievably satisfying manner due to sheer amount of build up leading up to that point.
I also think it works to highlight the disposition of the protagonist, Takayuki Yagami, and his role as a freelance detective in a small city. You get the sense that you’re actively fighting for your mere position as a detective in the story, as you’re mostly powerless in the eyes of the many antagonistic forces. Any outside help feels earned and there’s many points in the main story where your allies go off to collect more information on their own. This gives Yagami downtime that either leads to mandatory side cases or the freedom to do whatever you want. The mandatory side cases are the worst part of the story, as I’m sure many people would agree. They pretty much never coincide with the grander narrative, and while they’re, a lot of the time, very cute (Captain Cop Kaito my beloved), the fact that you’re actively forced to do them takes a lot away from their charm. What goes from what could’ve been a fun story the player happened to stumble upon starts feeling almost like a pace breaking detour.
But speaking of side cases, GOD I love Kamurocho as a setting in this game, it’s so incredibly lively. From the friendships you can develop with over 50+ NPCs that grow as you actively check in on them and hear their stories. To the dating sim quests with well developed characters that hit the game’s themes in a surprisingly mature sense (#Nanami’sStrongestSoldier). To the side cases that act as Yagami’s source of income and connection to the general population of the city. And just the overall visual beauty of Kamurocho and shit like being able to go in and out of buildings in real time. It’s just peak video game immersion.
The cast generally embodies tropes you’d expect from a TV show of this story’s genre. From Yagami’s headstrong, partner-in-crime Kaito or the endearing underdog Hoshino, they’re a lovable group that, while not the deepest bunch around, had me smiling by the end of their arcs. Yagami himself, however, is on another level. Probably up there with my favorite video game protagonists already. There’s such a profound sense of realistic, down-to-earth charm in his character. He has the inspiring perseverance and soft nature you’d expect from most protagonists, but his unique personality and flaws are what make him so captivating. His laid back, snarky demeanor mixed with his unabashedly blunt way with words creates such intense interactions in drama heavy scenes. He has dense character dynamics with every cast member, pushing them forward by adapting to play the role of mentor, rival, or friend and over the course of the story, you’ll begin to see how his connections affect him. His own personal journey of coming to terms with the truth of his past and how the situation unfolds over the course of the narrative is intriguing and resonated with me hard, especially in the way his arc concludes.
Judgment utilizes Yakuza’s core theme of how our past comes to define who we are in the present to push the general idea of learning to pursue the truth, no matter the cost. Yagami reflects this perfectly, but it permeates well, subtly or not, through most characters in the game. Also here, the corrupted aspects of society largely extend past Kamurocho to perfectly depict how government facilities are able to abuse their power for the sake of personal agendas and the fear that comes with opposing these injustices as an everyday citizen. Self destruction is another core theme of Judgment. How the prospect of glory or the idea of the “greater good” can lead one to corruption. On this topic, I think, in a way, the game also serves to critique Yakuza culture and how it can contribute to self destruction. Just as one example, there’s characters who reflect how a strict sense of loyalty can lead us astray from our personal ideals and I think it works particularly great in this story, because it’s presented from the perspective of someone largely uninvolved with the Yakuza’s business.
Regarding gameplay, with 0 being my only experience with Yakuza at the moment, this is my only exposure to the Dragon Engine, so I unfortunately can’t comment on how it builds off its predecessors. But god fuckin damn, I ADORE this game’s combat. There’s a realistic sense of weight behind each attack and it’s balanced wonderfully with the water-like fluidity of Yagami’s kung fu. On top of that, his athleticism allows him to perform endlessly fun tech, like wall jumping or leapfrogging, that both act as great crowd dispersers and just look super cool. In most fights, there’s this great dichotomy in picking between the two stances; one focused on wide, area clearing kicks and the other specializing in 1v1 focused attacks with huge damage. From what I’ve read, the detective gameplay is somewhat contentious, mainly regarding the tailing missions. I’m fine with everything present, as I think all the mechanics do a good job at selling Yagami’s role as a detective, despite their brain dead simplicity and they never really felt too intrusive. Tailing missions are lame, but only one in the endgame actively annoyed me.
To conclude, Judgment was everything I wanted out of it and I’m really happy about that fact. It’s a traditional detective story that’s packed to the brim with love and care from the creators of a now iconic game franchise and I’m happy they were able to expand their horizons to create a game like this. I’m very glad I played Yakuza 0 beforehand because, while I don’t think it’s required at all to enjoy Judgment, it still gave me a sense of appreciation for this game that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. And I’m also just super interested in delving further into the Yakuza series at some point in the future. Who knows, I might replay Y0 and Judgment after I’m done with them all for the sake of the full picture.
Regardless, absolutely can’t wait to hop into Lost Judgment. Excited to see both the combat changes and how it builds onto the story of Takayuki Yagami.
2 Comments
yessir
Shu_Watch
2 years ago