RGG does it again!
While I view their latest project slightly less favorably than past games I've played of theirs, it's by no means less of a banger. At this point, it wouldn't be hyperbole to cement RGG Studio as one of the best to ever do it across this entire medium, if they weren't already.
In Lost Judgment, the great detective Takayuki Yagami tackles a particularly egregious string of bullying in a local high school alongside his partners and friends. As usual, from there, what seems to be a simple case then spins into a nationwide scandal and cover-up involving a serial killer and blackmail that goes all the way to the top.
It's a decent mystery that they've weaved here, admittedly elevated thanks to its strong central cast and voice performances in both Japanese and the English dub. The broad strokes of the story when viewed as a whole are solid enough, but the way they are delivered can be tough to follow thanks to the pacing of both the narrative and the flow of information from chapter to chapter.
I must admit that it handles its themes and messages with more nuance than I was expecting it to. Instead of just boiling down to 'bullying bad', it takes time to explore different forms of bullying, how victims are affected, where said bullies' anger could be potentially coming from, as well as how the repercussions could carry into adulthood. For the most part, it's done with quite a serious, mature tone (albeit with dashes of cheese and theatrics here and there), and I give RGG kudos for not holding back on any of it.
Outside of the central narrative, though, Lost Judgment's side content is as fun and engaging as ever, though perhaps not as strong as past entries. Here, they seem to have gone for quantity over quality, with total side missions and activities taking at least three times longer to complete than the main story.
The highlight of Lost Judgment's side content, by far, are the 'School Stories'. These are essentially a separate campaign of missions involving Yagami teaming up with local students to investigate a criminal underworld that may be infiltrating their high school. Here, you go undercover and ingratiate yourself with different extracurricular clubs to solve the overarching mysteries, build friendships, and master their different mini-games. It's fun, it's silly, and it's a nice distraction from the more heavy main story with its own quirky cast of characters and arcs that I found to be just as thrilling as, if not slightly more than, the main narrative.
But again, I got to a handful of these clubs since the School Stories take at least as long to complete as the <30-hour main story, and some won't even carry on until you finish it completely.
Gameplay-wise, Lost Judgment is as dynamic and enjoyable as a brawler as the Yakuza games (that I've played) are. The different move sets are fun, easy to learn, and tricky to master for the exact right situations, but once you do, it doesn't take much to feel like you're directly in control of a Jackie Chan movie, as cliche as that might sound.
I could go on for many more paragraphs about the different facets of Lost Judgment's gameplay and especially its content, but honestly, there's too much of it. Like I said before, it's quantity over quality sometimes, and it's hard to discern what's worth doing and what isn't. While I came away from LJ feeling accomplished in doing what I wanted in it, there's still dozens more hours of content in there.
What I can say for sure about Lost Judgment, outside of the separate 'Kaito Files' expansion, is that both the main story and School Stories are certainly worth doing. As for the rest of the game's side content, that's purely up to your discretion and tolerance. I enjoyed the side quests I completed, particularly the mascot-girlfriend questline that comes with the DLC, but otherwise it could sometimes seem like busywork.
Still, it's another really good RGG adventure with great combat, fun detective work and some great side content
7.5/10
While I view their latest project slightly less favorably than past games I've played of theirs, it's by no means less of a banger. At this point, it wouldn't be hyperbole to cement RGG Studio as one of the best to ever do it across this entire medium, if they weren't already.
In Lost Judgment, the great detective Takayuki Yagami tackles a particularly egregious string of bullying in a local high school alongside his partners and friends. As usual, from there, what seems to be a simple case then spins into a nationwide scandal and cover-up involving a serial killer and blackmail that goes all the way to the top.
It's a decent mystery that they've weaved here, admittedly elevated thanks to its strong central cast and voice performances in both Japanese and the English dub. The broad strokes of the story when viewed as a whole are solid enough, but the way they are delivered can be tough to follow thanks to the pacing of both the narrative and the flow of information from chapter to chapter.
I must admit that it handles its themes and messages with more nuance than I was expecting it to. Instead of just boiling down to 'bullying bad', it takes time to explore different forms of bullying, how victims are affected, where said bullies' anger could be potentially coming from, as well as how the repercussions could carry into adulthood. For the most part, it's done with quite a serious, mature tone (albeit with dashes of cheese and theatrics here and there), and I give RGG kudos for not holding back on any of it.
Outside of the central narrative, though, Lost Judgment's side content is as fun and engaging as ever, though perhaps not as strong as past entries. Here, they seem to have gone for quantity over quality, with total side missions and activities taking at least three times longer to complete than the main story.
The highlight of Lost Judgment's side content, by far, are the 'School Stories'. These are essentially a separate campaign of missions involving Yagami teaming up with local students to investigate a criminal underworld that may be infiltrating their high school. Here, you go undercover and ingratiate yourself with different extracurricular clubs to solve the overarching mysteries, build friendships, and master their different mini-games. It's fun, it's silly, and it's a nice distraction from the more heavy main story with its own quirky cast of characters and arcs that I found to be just as thrilling as, if not slightly more than, the main narrative.
But again, I got to a handful of these clubs since the School Stories take at least as long to complete as the <30-hour main story, and some won't even carry on until you finish it completely.
Gameplay-wise, Lost Judgment is as dynamic and enjoyable as a brawler as the Yakuza games (that I've played) are. The different move sets are fun, easy to learn, and tricky to master for the exact right situations, but once you do, it doesn't take much to feel like you're directly in control of a Jackie Chan movie, as cliche as that might sound.
I could go on for many more paragraphs about the different facets of Lost Judgment's gameplay and especially its content, but honestly, there's too much of it. Like I said before, it's quantity over quality sometimes, and it's hard to discern what's worth doing and what isn't. While I came away from LJ feeling accomplished in doing what I wanted in it, there's still dozens more hours of content in there.
What I can say for sure about Lost Judgment, outside of the separate 'Kaito Files' expansion, is that both the main story and School Stories are certainly worth doing. As for the rest of the game's side content, that's purely up to your discretion and tolerance. I enjoyed the side quests I completed, particularly the mascot-girlfriend questline that comes with the DLC, but otherwise it could sometimes seem like busywork.
Still, it's another really good RGG adventure with great combat, fun detective work and some great side content
7.5/10