"Haahahahaha how the f*** is cyber bullying real hahahaha just walk away from the screen like just close your eyes"
It's always tough to take apart RGG's games in a review setting because I don't like to divulge spoilers, so I will remain abstinent in doing so here, but Lost Judgment is a tremendous step up from its predecessor while also suffering from the same good 'ol RGG trappings of years previous. What began as a mundane story investigating the gossip heavy bullying scenes of a yuppie high school in Ijincho quickly developes into a multi-faceted Batman-esque snafu stretching multiple generations. As is tradition with RGG, the spider-webbed nature of the story will grasp you as soon as you start to put the pieces of its mystery together. Moral greys run amock around both Yokohama and Kamurocho, forcing Yagami to side with previously sinister factions and tackle what it truly means to be just. He's a detective, lawyer, and ass-kicker all in one within this story, something that the previous title didn't hit all in one go to the degree I'd looked for.
As is second nature with the Like a Judgement games, therein lies a strong supporting cast that cascades the emotional moments into memorable sequences. Strong characters like Higashi, Suigura, the Genda Law crew, and Kaito are a fitting cast for Yagami's brazen attitude towards solving conflict, each lending a unique approach and a fresh state of mind to problem resolution. Mix this in with some of the best voice acting I've heard in a game in a long time (Greg Chun reprises his role as totally not Kaname Date, Steve Blum as Higashi, ProZD/Sungwon Cho as Tesso all for example) and you have one of the better crews in contemporary media. Just two short games spent with this crew and they feel familiar, like friends that are legitimately down to ride and invested in Yagami's mission and detectively mantra.
I enjoyed the game overall bigtime, however the typical Yakuza/RGG trappings hit me like a wall of bricks. Ah yes I do enjoy running to my objective to see every street obstructed by four to five hooligans in which I will beat the exact same way each time. Ah yes I do enjoy having to fight through four hundred miscellaneous members of "insert bad gang here" before the ending credits. Ah yes I do enjoy employing the same asinine sneaking mechanics and going through some slippery parkour sequences that felt like jumping through zero gravity bubbles of molasses. Even with an elite story, magnificent supporting crew and another excellent display of protaginism with Yagami, the issues I have with RGG still remain as an indictment onto my enjoyment of the game. For any fans of RGG at large I recommend Lost Judgment, and if you haven't played any of the Yakuza/Like a Dragon titles, Judgment and Lost Judgment are a good place to start.
It's always tough to take apart RGG's games in a review setting because I don't like to divulge spoilers, so I will remain abstinent in doing so here, but Lost Judgment is a tremendous step up from its predecessor while also suffering from the same good 'ol RGG trappings of years previous. What began as a mundane story investigating the gossip heavy bullying scenes of a yuppie high school in Ijincho quickly developes into a multi-faceted Batman-esque snafu stretching multiple generations. As is tradition with RGG, the spider-webbed nature of the story will grasp you as soon as you start to put the pieces of its mystery together. Moral greys run amock around both Yokohama and Kamurocho, forcing Yagami to side with previously sinister factions and tackle what it truly means to be just. He's a detective, lawyer, and ass-kicker all in one within this story, something that the previous title didn't hit all in one go to the degree I'd looked for.
As is second nature with the Like a Judgement games, therein lies a strong supporting cast that cascades the emotional moments into memorable sequences. Strong characters like Higashi, Suigura, the Genda Law crew, and Kaito are a fitting cast for Yagami's brazen attitude towards solving conflict, each lending a unique approach and a fresh state of mind to problem resolution. Mix this in with some of the best voice acting I've heard in a game in a long time (Greg Chun reprises his role as totally not Kaname Date, Steve Blum as Higashi, ProZD/Sungwon Cho as Tesso all for example) and you have one of the better crews in contemporary media. Just two short games spent with this crew and they feel familiar, like friends that are legitimately down to ride and invested in Yagami's mission and detectively mantra.
I enjoyed the game overall bigtime, however the typical Yakuza/RGG trappings hit me like a wall of bricks. Ah yes I do enjoy running to my objective to see every street obstructed by four to five hooligans in which I will beat the exact same way each time. Ah yes I do enjoy having to fight through four hundred miscellaneous members of "insert bad gang here" before the ending credits. Ah yes I do enjoy employing the same asinine sneaking mechanics and going through some slippery parkour sequences that felt like jumping through zero gravity bubbles of molasses. Even with an elite story, magnificent supporting crew and another excellent display of protaginism with Yagami, the issues I have with RGG still remain as an indictment onto my enjoyment of the game. For any fans of RGG at large I recommend Lost Judgment, and if you haven't played any of the Yakuza/Like a Dragon titles, Judgment and Lost Judgment are a good place to start.