Not a replay, just a better review. The last one was a bit too negative.

Judgment has a strong synopsis. A murder mystery set in Kamurocho with the killer's motif being the gouging of each victim's eyes, it's admittedly compelling. Sadly, the way the story is told doesn't really fit the energy of the synopsis, constantly taking pitstops whenever the plot starts revving up and feeling the need to overexplain the case. It's combat shows a solid foundation which does not follow through on everything (especially the balance) but it can feel great when you're bouncing from enemy-to-enemy. This flow state is constantly interrupted by Dragon Engine blocking (Almost every DE brawler does too) which can make it frustrating. Going into spoiler territory for the main story, on my first playthrough, I sympathized a lot with the mad doctor behind AD-9's development, Shono, and his pursuit for a means to fight dementia. The parents of the game's story lead, Toshihiro Nagoshi, both suffered from the illness and Shono acting as th

5.5

Writing really irked me this time around. So many conversations are spent talking in circles and characters always talk about how they're feeling but they never really show it. (There are a few clever moments building up Sugiura's relationship to Emi Terasawa but that's all I remember.) Kamurocho also isn't very engrossing. The side-content ranges from boring to bad, some aspects don't even fit Yagami (Friends system). Pacing is awful, lots of Cutscene->Rest at Yagami Detective Agency->Cutscene->Rest at Yagami Detective Agency->Fight->Rest at Yagami Detective Agency, feels so much slower coming off of Kiwami 2 which has 3 more chapters. Didn't enjoy the replay which disappoints me because this used to be my favorite game in the series.

10?

SPOILERS FOR BOTH INFINITE WEALTH AND THE MAN WHO ERASED HIS NAME

Not a replay but it's been about a month since Infinite Wealth came out and it still hasn't left my mind. I've been mulling around about so much of it, what works for me, what doesn't, kinda like how Yakuza 5 was but it manages to be messier somehow??? Elements of the story, of its characters, my view on them change everyday the more I think about them. This game still doesn't feel real.

We'll get the definite negatives out of the way first.

The Daidoji Faction

I have yet to understand the Daidoji Faction, and the combo meal of Gaiden and Infinite Wealth have muddled my thoughts on them more than they've solidified. Why write the Chapter 3 scene in Gaiden with Hanawa if he's so inconsequential to the game that he was a part of initially? What was with the "bond greater than agent and handler" bullshit? There's no thematic element to it and it only serves to keep the plot moving in the weirdest pull at the heartstrings moment this series has pulled by far. I'll save more of the Gaiden thoughts for when I get to them on the replay. But at this point, it feels like RGG sees the Daidoji as more of a plot convenience than an element. Need a plane? Daidoji has one. Kiryu's gonna visit his loved ones, oh wait, the Daidoji are here but they're not until the last life link even though he is, more often than not, recognized? It very well could be set up for Like a Dragon 9 but I really hate thinking about media that way, it devalues what is already on the table in my opinion.

"Side"-Content & Pacing

This problem is really specific to me. My playstyle for most RGG games is to get a great amount of side-content done and then advance the story a few before another huge chunk of side-content hits. RGG is very well known for their side-content, and I'm sure they know it themselves, because for the first 30-40 hours, this game really shoves it down your throat. The content itself is pretty damn good, it ties in well with the story and its themes, but the constant pitstops really irk me. For example, when the party is about to go into District Five to find Chitose, Ichiban just remembers the Sujimon Sensei and the story marker is immediately switched to him. This is not an Infinite Wealth exclusive problem, many RGG games as of late do this too, but my replays of the games before it made me realize it feels worse to me. The main story taking side content breaks (and not the "Hang around town" type ones) removes a bit from the experience for me. It removes that sense of discovery, of stumbling open side-content in the open world. I really hope they stop doing this, but I know they won't.

Hawaii Long Battles

These just suck. They were kinda neat when they first showed up but it happens about three times where you can't fast travel or take alternate routes, just waves and waves of enemies that provide the same experience as random encounters, just made mandatory by the awful pathing of these segments. And why is the excuse "we can't fight more of them, we have to run away" if we just end up going through 30 more fights anyways? If they do decide to bring this back, it would be much better if the paths weren't blocked off at least.

Guardian of Despair

Tinnitus at 1:27. Rest is really good tho.

Now, for the things I'm mixed on/still thinking about.

Loose Plot Threads

A common complaint I see for Infinite Wealth is that it doesn't wrap up the plot threads it spends a lot of time on. I agree, to an extent. Where the yakuza are headed after Ebina is still a mystery, and not a great one to leave the game on. And like I said before, I really don't like thinking about how "maybe they'll address it in the next one." That being said, this doesn't irk me as much as the others. Can't find the words for why, maybe I will on the replay (which will happen in about 6 months).

Wong Tou, Ganzhe Commander

Another complaint I see is that some new characters aren't deep enough (which is stupid, did you really want Dwight to have a tragic backstory? He's like a Tamashiro, or a Saito, that archetype.) One that is definitely lacking though is Wong Tou. They do next to nothing with him after Chapter 6 and then he dies 2 chapters later which begs the question, why not just kill him in Chapter 6? He doesn't really help the characters with anything and he basically becomes an info dumper as soon as he's in the Daidoji safehouse. I admit, I could be misremembering something so if there was a thematic or plot reason I just forgot, please tell me.

Cancel Culture

The way this game handles cancel culture is the best way middle-aged writers can; kinda badly. Not to their fault, it's not a topic I'd expect them to be well-versed in (They do attempt to salvage it with "(Tatara Hisoka's) previous reports were pretty credible") but, still, I felt it was worth mentioning. I feel like it was a weird plot device to have some of the main conflicts of the story be "because cancel culture" and then the conversation ends there. Especially when the themes of redemption and forgiveness are so fucking good and thought out.

With those out of the way, I can finally sing this game's praises.

Themes

I love me some good themes and this game has them in spades. The way redemption fits both for Ichiban & Kiryu (and the rest of the supporting cast) is so awesome. The theme of wealth is cheesy, and very on-the-nose, but it's earnest as fuck and that's all I really need. Just a lot of good to dive into here that I feel like it warrants its own separate think-piece.

Kazuma Kiryu

Kiryu's arc in this game is such a great way to let the dragon rest. I see many saying him choosing to live out his last days is dumb but I feel they weren't paying attention to literally everything the game was saying prior, very dismissive. The way he interacts with the Yokohama crew is so fucking cute too. This feels like the best possible ending Kiryu could get right now (Please don't bring him back in Like a Dragon 9 (if you do, make him a side-character not playable please RGG don't fuck this up you have it so good right now)).

Yutaka Yamai

Yamai is legitimately the best new character from the post-Ichiban RGG titles. His backstory tying into the themes and giving him a tragic but memorable quirk is so well done and amazing and I love him. Many are clamoring for him to return, but with an ending this good, I wouldn't be too sad if he left. The mark he made is enough for me. (Also Takehito Koyasu is very expensive (They did manage to bring back Nakamura & Okamoto for Joongi Han & Zhao respectively though)).

That's about all I have to say for tonight but this review is definitely not the last. I'm sure I'll have a lot more to say when I do get to replaying the game.

8

For every step Lost Judgment takes forward, it takes half a step back. I say half because there's a lot of good here. Side-content is pretty great with some real standouts (Boxing, Dance and the MRC side-story easily trump over Judgment's mediocre side-content), the combat is amazing, and the music is really solid too (even if it loses the action noir vibes of the first.)

Where this game falters the most is the story. Playing Judgment and Lost Judgment back-to-back just puzzles me. There's some really great little details about how Judgment incentivizes paying attention the story, the best feature being gaining SP for answering correctly. The removal of this feature only drags the infamously long talky segments out. Onto the actual story, a lot of the mature subject matter is handled really poorly. Many of the bullying scenes are disturbing to the point that it feels gratuitous. Why even include them if there's nothing to say other than "Beat them up and they won't do it again!" It's a similar situation with the sexual assault plotline where as soon as Yagami brings up the possibility of it being faked, it's just kind of a plot device which just feels wrong for a topic with that level of weight. It's the same issue with the idol business in Yakuza 5 except there the game felt like it was at least thinking about it. There is no stance here, they are just plot devices. There are a couple of fun moments in the plot and the trademark RGG epic finale stuff is all there, it's just hard for me to think about this game's story and its poor handling of these heavy topics.

Lost Judgment is the RGG-Gameplay gold standard, it's just a shame that the story is poorly thought out in important places.