Lost Judgment is a confusing game. It's all over the place quality-wise but might still be one of my favorite gaming experiences in recent times.
Yagami is a plain as bread character in this game and contrary to a Kiryu doesn't have the personality to carry an entire game's content on his back. While he's great to play and a joy to watch in cutscenes featuring his fighting choreography there's not much more to him than him just being a good guy. Takuya Kimura is a great actor but he's never more than just "cool" in the way Kiryu or Akiyama were.
On the other hand, the side content that is in this game is quite great and perhaps more consistent than most of RGG Studio's games. The school stories are particular standouts with the character tying them together, Amasawa, being one of the most likeable characters in the entire franchise.
Then there's the story that is, as always, competently told and once again continues the streak that has been going on since Yakuza 6: The way these games tie their plot together at the end is nothing short of astounding and managed to soothe many of my gripes with this game's storytelling within a two or three hour timeframe.
Lost Judgment got two of the most impressive villains in the franchise. One of them is more threatening than anyone who's come before and instilled me with a great fear of ice picks, while the other while not as tragically likeable as the game sets them up to be, is still interesting enough for me to shed a tear or two at the conclusion their character received.
They trimmed alot of the more repetitive aspects from the first Judgment down while adding a couple of others which makes the game much more streamlined to play and definitely is an improvement over the first game.
The thing Lost Judgment really lacks though is a gripping story. Interestingly enough, by the end I felt like I got more out of this narrative than I did from the first game's. The plot advances in such a roundabout way and is never complicated enough to really catch me off guard or make me think. I pretty much went through the entire game (which took me 50 hours and 13 minutes to beat, including all of the substories) without ever feeling the urgent desire to continue playing the story.
I don't think I've ever been this disassociated from a RGG story before, even though it is still a very good one. The problems stem from badly paced storytelling and Yagami not being particularly involved in the plot or being interesting by himself.
Yet, by the end, I loved my time with Lost Judgment and I'm definitely holding out for a sequel to this much more than I am for the next Yakuza game. Maybe let the next one be the conclusion to Yagami's story, let him investigate the murder of his parents or something. But if the Judgment series does continue for more than one game, please, try and make Yagami more fun.
Also: Please let Amasawa be an intern at Yagami's detective agency or something. I need her to come back.
Yagami is a plain as bread character in this game and contrary to a Kiryu doesn't have the personality to carry an entire game's content on his back. While he's great to play and a joy to watch in cutscenes featuring his fighting choreography there's not much more to him than him just being a good guy. Takuya Kimura is a great actor but he's never more than just "cool" in the way Kiryu or Akiyama were.
On the other hand, the side content that is in this game is quite great and perhaps more consistent than most of RGG Studio's games. The school stories are particular standouts with the character tying them together, Amasawa, being one of the most likeable characters in the entire franchise.
Then there's the story that is, as always, competently told and once again continues the streak that has been going on since Yakuza 6: The way these games tie their plot together at the end is nothing short of astounding and managed to soothe many of my gripes with this game's storytelling within a two or three hour timeframe.
Lost Judgment got two of the most impressive villains in the franchise. One of them is more threatening than anyone who's come before and instilled me with a great fear of ice picks, while the other while not as tragically likeable as the game sets them up to be, is still interesting enough for me to shed a tear or two at the conclusion their character received.
They trimmed alot of the more repetitive aspects from the first Judgment down while adding a couple of others which makes the game much more streamlined to play and definitely is an improvement over the first game.
The thing Lost Judgment really lacks though is a gripping story. Interestingly enough, by the end I felt like I got more out of this narrative than I did from the first game's. The plot advances in such a roundabout way and is never complicated enough to really catch me off guard or make me think. I pretty much went through the entire game (which took me 50 hours and 13 minutes to beat, including all of the substories) without ever feeling the urgent desire to continue playing the story.
I don't think I've ever been this disassociated from a RGG story before, even though it is still a very good one. The problems stem from badly paced storytelling and Yagami not being particularly involved in the plot or being interesting by himself.
Yet, by the end, I loved my time with Lost Judgment and I'm definitely holding out for a sequel to this much more than I am for the next Yakuza game. Maybe let the next one be the conclusion to Yagami's story, let him investigate the murder of his parents or something. But if the Judgment series does continue for more than one game, please, try and make Yagami more fun.
Also: Please let Amasawa be an intern at Yagami's detective agency or something. I need her to come back.