#Lost judgment review series

Unlike the first game where the stakes are more strongly tied to main character, Takayuki Yagami, the story in Lost Judgment lacks that level of involvement. While the story of Lost Judgment is still an engaging one, it doesn’t build up as strongly for me as its predecessor.Īnother thing that lacked for me in Lost Judgment is the personal stakes. Of course, not everything about the mystery is revealed early, but the structure of the story is written in such a way that you already know the beginning and the end of the mystery by the third act, with only the details in the middle being obscured. For comparison, Lost Judgement’s central case is mostly explained when the final third of the story begins. In the first Judgement, the central mystery of the story was an incredibly gripping one, with twists and turns right up until the end. Where it does falter is in its central mystery. In fact, I’d even say that it’s thematically stronger than the first game. While there are convenient plot points and some moments where you must actively suspend your disbelief, the story of Lost Judgment overall is more tightly written than most of the other Yakuza games. Without going into spoilers, Lost Judgment tackles some heady themes about bullying, the limitations of the legal system, and the importance of the truth, among others. So, how does Lost Judgment fare in this regard? I’m happy to say that in terms of story quality, Lost Judgment is on par with the first game. Not only is it just as engaging as the Yakuza stories, it’s also the most well-written story in terms of everything making sense and tying together in the end. This is why I consider Judgment to be one of the best by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio. I love the over-the-top stories of the Yakuza games, but I’ll be the first to admit that more than half of them don’t make much sense if you take the time and think about the various twists and plot points (I’m looking at you, Yakuza 4). A Compelling Story, but with less Mystery Though even if you hated these segments in the first Judgment, they generally don’t overstay their welcome in the game’s main story missions. It’s more accurate to say that I didn’t mind them for the most part. These detective mini games offer a nice change of pace in missions, but I wouldn’t say I loved them. Though in exchange, there’s quite a number of stealth sections which the game could’ve done without as they were rather dull and easy. In the first game, I did not enjoy the tailing missions, so I was happy to find out that there are fewer tailing encounters. Outside of combat though, there are several detective mini games, including the returning tailing and chases, to the newly introduced stealth and grappling segments.

#Lost judgment review series

While the game is available on last gen consoles, if you’re lucky enough to have a PS5 or Series X|S, these consoles are the way to go in Lost Judgment, especially as you’ll be doing a lot of fighting in the game. As I played Lost Judgment on the PS5, I enjoyed a smooth 60 FPS framerate which gave me a much better experience compared to playing Judgment (and the other Dragon Engine Yakuza games) on PS4. The three combat styles make gameplay feel a bit more dynamic than the first Judgment, and it feels even better if you play on the latest gen consoles. This, for me, is important, as the Judgment games are now the bearer of the series’ signature beat-em-up combat system, given that the Yakuza series is shifting to the turn-based RPG gameplay introduced in last year’s Like a Dragon.

While I played Judgment as a Yakuza newbie, coming into Lost Judgment, I was able to judge the game not only as a sequel, but also within the context of the whole Yakuza series. And yes, I played Like a Dragon late last year as well. After binging through Yakuza Kiwami to Yakuza 6, the series became one of my favorites game franchises. This all changed early last year due to the stay-at-home orders which gave me time to finally play through the whole Yakuza series. While I did play and had lots of fun with Judgment back in 2019 after its release, it was only the second Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio game I have played at the time (I only played Yakuza 0 before it).

I was also looking forward to it as I’ve become a massive Yakuza fan over the last year.

When Lost Judgment was announced a few months back, the news excited me, and not just because this game is the first in the series to release simultaneously worldwide.