Well, this took me a while. Full disclosure - I technically didn’t finish this. I finished the main story and DLC but had to stop School Stories (more on that later). Overall I really enjoyed this, some elements are better than the first Judgment game, and some are noticeably worse. I’ll split this review into a few sections.
Main Story: I was worried going into this - the idea of Yagami (with his penchant for younger women) being around a school might be inadvertently creepy and uncomfortable. Luckily it’s all fine, with the issues of teenage bullying and suicide - as well as Yagami’s interactions with teenagers - being treated with respect. Yagami comes off as more of a guardian for the kids than anything else. The story is full of the usual RGG twists and turns and it’s highly satisfying watching all the pieces come together. This game has possibly the best final boss (and boss theme) in the entire RGG series - it’s that good. The combat is even better than the first Judgment game, and I’ll fully admit that I used Snake style 99% of the time.
There are no Friend Events this time round, and there are less side cases in order to make room for School Stories, so the game feels a lot more streamlined, content-wise. The “detective elements” are scaled back a bit for this one, which is good since the changes made to the Tailing missions make them somehow even worse than in the first game? It’s bizarre. The new sneaking mechanic is way too simple for it to be a challenge, and every stealth sequence feels like a chore. While it's nice to see Saori get the spotlight again, the fact that she's involved in yet another "using her to lure a bad guy like a piece of meat" sequence is... concerning.
Another minor complaint; I wasn’t sure what was with the weird flanderization of Kaito, especially in the first few chapters. He seemed a little dumber at the beginning of the game, and his weird horniness for Sawa-sensei (boy am I sick of hearing that name) never really went anywhere. Luckily, he comes good by the end, and his title of “best boy” still remains. Speaking of Kaito…
The Kaito Files: What. A. Ride. This almost feels like an apology for the relative lack of Kaito in the main story and man, did they knock it out of the park with this one. Despite the relatively short runtime, The Kaito Files packs in more great characters, awesome boss fights and emotional moments than a lot of the other full-length Like A Dragon games. The story gives some incredibly interesting personal insight into Kaito as a character, and the shorter length allows for a compact, well-paced narrative with no padding to get in the way. With any potential future Judgment games up in the air, if Takuya Kimura isn’t able to return as Yagami I’d be more than happy for Kaito to step up and take the lead. The Kaito Files puts Kaito up there with Kiryu and Majima as one the best protagonists in the entire series.
School Stories: I’m sorry, Kyoko Amasawa. As much as I love Amasawa (genuinely one of my top 10 favourite LAD characters) and the MRC, I couldn’t finish School Stories. It’s all down to… you guessed it, fucking Robotics Club. It’s by far the worst minigame RGG Studio have ever devised. I would rather play a Like A Dragon game based entirely around mahjong and shogi than have to do any more fucking Robotics Club. It’s such a shame that you have to finish it to unlock the rest of the stories, as I like the MRC and Dance Club activities and side cases a lot. I’ll have to come back to Lost Judgment and finish these side activities eventually, but honestly? Right now I just want to move on to Gaiden.
Main Story: I was worried going into this - the idea of Yagami (with his penchant for younger women) being around a school might be inadvertently creepy and uncomfortable. Luckily it’s all fine, with the issues of teenage bullying and suicide - as well as Yagami’s interactions with teenagers - being treated with respect. Yagami comes off as more of a guardian for the kids than anything else. The story is full of the usual RGG twists and turns and it’s highly satisfying watching all the pieces come together. This game has possibly the best final boss (and boss theme) in the entire RGG series - it’s that good. The combat is even better than the first Judgment game, and I’ll fully admit that I used Snake style 99% of the time.
There are no Friend Events this time round, and there are less side cases in order to make room for School Stories, so the game feels a lot more streamlined, content-wise. The “detective elements” are scaled back a bit for this one, which is good since the changes made to the Tailing missions make them somehow even worse than in the first game? It’s bizarre. The new sneaking mechanic is way too simple for it to be a challenge, and every stealth sequence feels like a chore. While it's nice to see Saori get the spotlight again, the fact that she's involved in yet another "using her to lure a bad guy like a piece of meat" sequence is... concerning.
Another minor complaint; I wasn’t sure what was with the weird flanderization of Kaito, especially in the first few chapters. He seemed a little dumber at the beginning of the game, and his weird horniness for Sawa-sensei (boy am I sick of hearing that name) never really went anywhere. Luckily, he comes good by the end, and his title of “best boy” still remains. Speaking of Kaito…
The Kaito Files: What. A. Ride. This almost feels like an apology for the relative lack of Kaito in the main story and man, did they knock it out of the park with this one. Despite the relatively short runtime, The Kaito Files packs in more great characters, awesome boss fights and emotional moments than a lot of the other full-length Like A Dragon games. The story gives some incredibly interesting personal insight into Kaito as a character, and the shorter length allows for a compact, well-paced narrative with no padding to get in the way. With any potential future Judgment games up in the air, if Takuya Kimura isn’t able to return as Yagami I’d be more than happy for Kaito to step up and take the lead. The Kaito Files puts Kaito up there with Kiryu and Majima as one the best protagonists in the entire series.
School Stories: I’m sorry, Kyoko Amasawa. As much as I love Amasawa (genuinely one of my top 10 favourite LAD characters) and the MRC, I couldn’t finish School Stories. It’s all down to… you guessed it, fucking Robotics Club. It’s by far the worst minigame RGG Studio have ever devised. I would rather play a Like A Dragon game based entirely around mahjong and shogi than have to do any more fucking Robotics Club. It’s such a shame that you have to finish it to unlock the rest of the stories, as I like the MRC and Dance Club activities and side cases a lot. I’ll have to come back to Lost Judgment and finish these side activities eventually, but honestly? Right now I just want to move on to Gaiden.