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.
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.