pretty fun but god that is one of the worst and most tactless narratives i've ever seen in a mainstream video game. the usual Yakuza conspiracy plot structure's presence here is absurd. since the game deals with bullying and the actions that victims' families take to get their own version of justice on the matter, Lost Judgment can't help but to relativize every instance of torture and murder commited against the bullies. it genuinely expects the player to have so little empathy for the bully that they don't see them as human. Yagami just hangs out with the serial killer here. has a toast with him. he's fully convinced that the guy's logic makes sense, but the only problem is getting other innocent people hurt while trying to hide his instances of moral torturemuder.

this only bothers me because this game is mostly a morality tale. it constantly stops to lecture you about bullying and the justice system in an attempt to make you try to think about the situation as if it was hard to decide who's right or wrong. like, man.... most people know bullying is a problem. it's very easy to empathize with someone who got bullied to the verge of suicide. i don't need to see that shit pushed to it's logical limit without any care at all.

also, Yagami kinda goes insane in this game. while he empathizes with many psychos in Lost Judgment, he also stalks and emotionally manipulates 3 different women (1 innocent, 2 guilty) in order to get answers for his investigation. i think his more social and brute way of doing detective work is pretty cool, it fits RGG studios' style. but here, he always goes to the most vulnerable women around him for answers, and pressures them while knowing they won't handle it and can't fight back. this is how he makes most of the more important discoveries. it kinda makes me sick.

ok so, i really like the combat, school stories and substories. for me these games are always more about their whole world than just the main plot, and Lost Judgment is one of my favorites in regards to side stuff! but the Judgment duology is also more focused on story and dialogue than other RGG games, and god this narrative is so long and expository that i can't help but to see as tainting a lot of the game.

i am sad but i will continue trying to have fun with these games. here's hoping i still enjoy the rest as much as i did the first half of the Yakuza series!

Lost Judgment aborda seus temas da forma mais orgânica possível, é impressionante como o bullying é trabalhado tanto de forma social quanto científica, o desenvolvimento de todos os adolescentes do Seiryo é uma jornada linda e emocionante, mas não é só isso. O jogo aborda justiça e ética de dois pontos completamente diferentes, onde as duas teses tem argumentos completamente plausíveis, porém não existe uma resposta certa, onde as falhas do sistema prejudicam vidas e a negligência de alguns transforma outros em pessoas repletas de ódio pelo mesmo, mas que têm motivos pra tal, por muitas vezes questionei minha moral por conta disso. A escrita de seus personagens é brilhante nesse sentido tbm, pois é o que da vida a esses questionamentos, e por falar nisso, Lost Judgment tem um dos melhores elencos que já vi num jogo, a grande maioria dos personagens é muito bem desenvolvida e aqueles que são mais funcionais, executam sua função com perfeição. Agora falando um pouco do conteúdo secundário, está fantástico e divertido como sempre, mas acredito que o ápice da franquia é feito em Lost Judgment. As School Stories além de divertidas, executam muito bem a ambientação escolar, cada uma aborda um tema diferente, insegurança, problemas familiares e até mesmo morte, seus personagens tem motivações que fazem sentido e arcos próprios que se desenvolvem de forma incrível. Além de tudo se juntam no final formando um mini arco extremamente importante, que aborda fobia social, onde um dos melhores personagens não só do jogo, mas da franquia, ganha um destaque imenso. É um conteúdo melhor roteirizado que muito jogo full por ai.

O combate foi aprimorado e agr ta mais dinâmico, adição de counter pra bosses, sangramento e um novo estilo são bem vindas, este que é incrível de se usar e ainda tem uma função narrativa muito criativa. As investigações deixam a desejar e as perseguições ainda são qualquer coisa, mas adorei o parkour. Os minigames são maravilhosos, menos o do clube de robótica, esse foi um pé no saco, IA roubada demais.

Agr falando de produção, Graficamente, o jogo é lindo, não tem muito que falar, é Dragon Engine, óbvio que vai ser lindo como todos os outros. A OST é impecável, muitas vão ficar na minha cabeça por semanas, fazia tempo que não ouvia tracks tão marcantes. A direção dosa o timing cômico com maestria, tem cenas de drama impactantes, um bom build-up de tensão/suspense, bom uso de QTEs com coreografias lindas. Não vejo problemas técnicos além de alguns bugs, mas nenhum prejudicial.

Lost Judgment é mais uma obra-prima do RGG Studio, se a franquia parar por aqui, está mais do que perfeito. Um projeto digno de ser o último do Nagoshi no estúdio.

Maybe a bit more contrived than its predecessor plot-wise, but overall has a way better cast of antagonists and more impactful thematics, while also improving on the gameplay department (the gameplay is even better than Yakuza 0 for me), the mini-games, the tailing and the QoL. Some new features are not very good (mostly the stealth) but it's not too much of a bother. Also has one of my favorites boss themes ever, especially the amazing final boss theme. It's for me the best RGG's game with Yakuza 7, and it's even possible I like it more since I really prefer the beat them all gameplay of Lost Judgment compared to the turn-based gameplay of Like a Dragon.

10/10

Sawa-senseiiiiiiiiiiiiii, I s2g if I hear Yagami say it one more time

Anyway, this is a marginal step down from the original. The stealth sucks, the side activities suck, the new QTEs suck, the investigating sucks, the parkour REALLY sucks, and the final dungeon is probably one of the dopiest sequences in the franchise. In this more than any other RGG game, the gameplay besides the fighting seems incredibly perfunctory - like this should really just be a beat 'em up with a bunch of cutscenes between fights. But the fighting is still good and it's got that old YAKUZA charm, so it can't ever dip below passable, really.

Also, you can just freely beat the everloving SHIT out of high school students in this game, and in fact need to for the plot. Gotta get some points for that.

Wish I was able to give some games more than 5 stars cause this, OG Judgment, KH2 and DMC 3 would be the games I would definitely give them too

This game serves as Nagoshi’s final game with RGG and he went out with a bang

The story in my opinion was a little less tight knit compared to the first game, but it’s still an incredibly strong one and the finale is one of the best in the series. The final boss is honestly one of my favorites ever with the final battle with Vergil in DMC3. The boss themselves might be one of RGG’s best character and fight to date

All in all, Lost Judgement is a phenomenal sequel and one of my favorite games of all time

A.N UNWAVERING BELIEF IS KINO

A game I wish I could give a score higher than 5 stars; easily one of the best RGG games. Everything wrapped up so wonderfully in the end.

I've been meaning to play this for months now, hearing countless praises since it released back in 2021, and my goodness is it well deserved of the praise it gets. The combat here is probably the best combat RGG has made in their games--with style switching that's been tremendously improved from all the way back to Yakuza Zero.

The story is RGG's sublime writing as usual, WAY more intense than it's predecessor with a more powerful message than most, and with the best antagonist in the franchise to date. It's saddens me knowing this is Nagoshi's final RGG game, but it's quite perfect with a conclusion this extraordinary. I could say so much more about this game but I think this encapsulates my thoughts about it well enough.

Needed to sit out and stare in the wall for an hour to finally write this review. After listening the final boss theme on loop and gathering up all my thoughts, I am certain this is my new favourite game. Yeah, I did say something similar about the previous Judgment title but this one just improved everything that I felt was lacking.

Starting up from the combat which is way smoother and more fun because of the various skills and style changes and the way you can explore the city using new gadgets and you have a cute little doggo! And you can feed and pet cats, one of my favourite city activities. Next up is the school, where I spent more hours than I want to admit because the mini games were abnormally fun, like I would spend hours and hours just playing the dancing game or the robots.

As for the story, I think both games are on equal terms in my opinion because they cover all the topics that are quite personal to me, but one thing that definitely makes this game shine more than its predecessor is, well, Kuwana.

I think that Kuwana is the best written character in the whole RGG franchise and I'm not even exaggerating. I don't want to delve into spoiler teritory because this game deserves to be played blind, but honestly Kuwana made this game. His whole character and dynamic with Yagami was brilliant, it left me speechless, you can see how much the writers tried to tie the whole plot and circumstances into their own ideologies and stances.
Not to mention this game has, once again, the best final boss fight and boss theme, I'm just blown away. Honestly, it's been a while a game left me speechless. Gonna replay it soon for all the trophies and just soaking in the atmosphere and details I missed in my first playthrough.
I'm so glad we got this game because it truly shifted something in me. All the best to the whole team who made it possible, congratulations. My warmest recommendation. :)

An evolution of the first game in every aspect, the combat that was already great was improved even more, the styles are much more balanced, Tiger remains my favorite and the standard for dealing with smaller hordes of weaker enemies, Crane which was almost useless in the first one because it was much weaker than Tiger is actually useful now, it is very satisfying to use and the new skills are welcome, and of course there is also the new style, Snake, I admit that it was the one i least used, but it was more due to the preference for the other two than the usefulness of the style itself, it is focused on dealing with armed enemies and is the most difficult to learn how to use well, but it is still a good play style, changing styles is also very fluid, so you find yourself using all of them often. The secondary content is impeccable, I already liked the side cases from the first one, but the exaggeration of tailing missions severely harmed the game, in the sequel the side cases are much more fun and diverse, and we also have the School Stories, which by themselves are better written than most games i've played, and I don't recommend playing this game without doing them all. The main story is impeccable, there isn't a part that I found uninteresting or worse than the rest, it's all very well written and directed and the villains are the best in the franchise, facing the final boss to the sound of Unwavering Belief is one of the best moments of gaming. It's really difficult to find anything to criticize about this game and nothing detracts from the overall experience, this is the definition of a 10/10, and knowing that it's RGG's most recent game gives me even more hope for this franchise.

Lost Judgment Finished: 1/21/24
Kaito Files Finished 1/24/24

New Years Eve of 2022 I had spent most of my afternoon finishing off the last few hours of Yakuza 4- a game I found frustrating for most of its run. Thus, I decided to start 2023 off suitably, starting Yakuza 5- a game I found in contrast, full to the brim with excellent moments, sidequests and minigames. It had its shortcomings but a year later I don't feel as though its moments have waned. Its a maximalist nightmare and a dream come true and I still believe it to be my favorite in the series still. A year later, however, I find myself in a similar situation. While I didn't end Like A Dragon Gaiden specifically on new years, it and the playthrough I did of 6 in October had left an admittedly middling aftertaste in the back of my mouth. They weren't bad games but I didn't come out as wowed as some of the other entries in the series- some moments I had expected to be whelmed while others I was baffled I hadn't been spoiled on yet.

Thus, with the start of 2024 I finished off Lost Judgment…a game I actually started a longgg while ago. I started this game around early 2022 (also off the heels of finishing Judgment on new years 2021) and have on/off played it. Really enjoyed it anytime I had it on but part of me wanted to savor it until after I had grinded through the prior games. Two years later:

I think this is at least on-par with Judgment, made stronger by its inclusion of new mechanics, improvements made to traversal and combat, and an overall stronger cast. Judgment was already batting a good average in my opinion with its strong lean into japanese dramas, and Lost Judgment isn't too different but I think this time around but I think there's more of a focus on its strengths than the shortcomings of its predecessor(s). There's a lot less trailing to do, Crane style is a LOT more fun to use in fights- coming off 7 it's a lot easier to traverse Isezaki Ijincho now that you have a skateboard. Coming off Gaiden's combat it felt so nice having three styles that just felt like butter to mess around with. Agent/Yakuza style be damned, nothing feels as good as landing Flux Fissure or ripping items out of enemies hands with Snake style. Fighting just feels GOOD throughout Lost Judgment.

Lot of the cast is great in this, and I think not having to rely on introducing most of the main cast helps a lot. Suguira and Tsukumo branching out into Ijincho, Higashi playing a more supportive role throughout, Saeko and Hoshino being a thing, Kaito my heartsweet. We'll talk about Kaito files briefly here rather than in a separate log.

I'd be lying if I didn't admit I feel the game can be a bit of a slow burn at times. Yakuza/RGG titles have an odd history of pacing, and certainly the openness to explore whichever metropolitan area(s) said title throws your way doesn't help muddy up the sheer amount of stuff that's available in these games. Half hour chapters can feel like they've been going on for a while just because you actually decided to go off and have drinks, start a go-karting venture and end up becoming a local legend for your efforts, it's part of the fun of every RGG title.

Lost Judgment gets incredibly lost in its sauce at points with regards to the amount of stuff you do regarding the school clubs. You have 10 clubs total- 5 major and 5 minor and these act as long-running side cases in a sense. Thankfully none of these are required for main story progression, so you're welcome to finish them at whatever pace you please, or even save it for the postgame. That said, much of the early game is spent at Seiryo High so you might as well check in whenever you see that teal folder icon.

The bottom line is: I think most of these are pretty fun- but this side plot encompasses RGG's minigame philosophy to a T. For better or worse.

Quick Rundown- the major clubs (barring Mystery Club) first, then the 5 minor.
-Dancing is a lot of fun- Yagami popping it like he's in fortnite is the funniest thing.
-Robotics is frustrating as hell at first -please consult the CyricZ doc to save yourself some trouble and it becomes tolerable.
-Biking is WAYYY too long- honestly coulda been fine but it can't hold a candle to 5's taxi racing.
-Boxing took a while for me to get interested but I dig how it feels even if I'm kind of a button masher when it comes to these things. Later fights get pretty tough but they give you an auto win if you can't eke out victory otherwise.
For the 'minor' clubs now, many of these are on the shorter side (kinda).
-Photography is pretty fun, although I wish it were done in a different manner. Some of these had me doing a bit of trial and error and it's not too punishing if you miss the timing but some took longer than I'd like to admit.
-Casino is kind of a joke- quite literally just as long as any other side story.
-Esports is fine, kinda easy even for someone that still doesn't understand Virtua Fighter. -Skateboarding is simpler than I wish, which is disappointing but overall fine.
-Girls Bar? Oh my LORD this one felt repetitive. You have to keep building up relationships with the staff of the bar and honestly these characters are pretty interesting within their substory (ironically not the main target and eventual girlfriend Emily) but actually doing the minigame and filling the meter gets super repetitive, especially since the club has a high entry fee and you have to go in and out of the place constantly to refresh the side quest markers.

Overall this side mode is pretty good, it's just interspersed with some pretty slow moments and some clubs not being as engaging as others. Getting to the end and finishing the MRC makes for a fun way to round out things, though.

The clubs being optional and a bit on the fatty side (in that RGG way I cant help but like) is one thing, but I will say if you decide to go primarily down the main story, Lost Judgment isn’t much longer than others in the franchise. Looking at the general lengths on HLTB, LJ actually clocks in lower than the first game and looking back over my playthrough it certainly felt like it. You dont have the introductory baggage, there’s a lot less trailing missions that take up time, and the use of the skateboard to help speed up traveling from point A to B makes going through Lost Judgment a breeze- comboing with how excellent of a narrative this game provides.

I won’t go too in-depth due to spoilers however I wasn’t expecting anything less than Judgment considering how much I enjoyed that game’s story and the general praise I had heard about this game. Sorry to say, no hot takes here- I really enjoyed how the story unfolds. Lot of the new cast does a great job, Kuwana and Ehara especially- on top of Yagami and returning characters performing excellently. The school bullying angle is one that’s pretty unique not just to the series but also to a lot of games of this type in general. Also makes for a really interesting angle as you play this from the perspective of a near 40 year old man, makes for an interesting counselor/student perspective. All of this spiraling down the usual twists and turns, but ending up in one of the most fun finales in the series.


Kaito DLC:

Honestly, this is how I had hoped Gaiden was presented. It's a brisk 6 to 8 hours and its all the better for not having the usual Yakuza 'fluff'. Even with how brisk Gaiden is compared to other games, it still feels like there's a lot of moments where you're expected to do some Yakuza-minigame-questline or major exploration collectathon. Here the only major collectible are Matsugane crests and these 'strong' encounters that appear after equipping a certain item. No checklists, no side stories, you don't even get SP from restaurants or most activities because you get a ton just from the normal questline. It feels like a breath of fresh air from how massive LJ already is.

In addition to its pacing it expands on maybe one of RGG's most underrated characters: Kaito.
Definitely my favorite character in the entire series, although prior to this he generally just gravitated to me for his blunt yet friendly, brotherly demeanor.

Kaito was an extremely trustworthy guy in the first game and Lost Judgment definitely gave him some great moments too. However the Kaito Files DLC definitely helps show him in a much more involved and unique role, utilizing his own sense of detective work. I'm so glad that he actually has a quality set of skills and isn't just 'I'll solve this case with my fists'. His heightened perception makes for some interesting detective work as he focuses on smells and sounds a lot more than Yagami, and it reminded me a lot of how powerful of a skill perception is in DND/WRPG- it always feels like an underutilized aspect in these kinds of detective games.
Similarly this DLC helps Kaito's characterization greatly by showcasing some of his regrets involving his mishandling of a prior relationship and the lengths he’ll go to protect the ones he loves. It’s not all the dissimilar to Kiryu, so don't get me wrong when I say I love Kiryu- however stoicness and legendary status within the ‘RGG canon’ somewhat alienates him as the series has gone on. Kaito, while still a monster of a brawler, still has a lot of humanity that does a lot for me. I wont go too into detail but ramping up towards the finale is a scenario that includes some of the most brutal moments in the series- Kaito being the most emotionally steady in the room hits a lot as he faces down arguably one of the most callous antagonists in the series.

Something about the heat action where Jun backs you up if you get downed and afterwards doing a high five without looking at each other just makes him a dawg. A bro. I love this dude.
Final Thoughts:

Lost Judgment, much like its predecessor- stands tall among the RGG catalog. I think there's some give and take between the two games as to certain aspects however ultimately I do think Lost Judgment is more fleshed out and lacks some of the baggage weighing down the initial setup in Judgment. I’m still gonna give this one some time to simmer before I decide where it sits among my all time favorite games, however there’s not a whole lot I really want to point out and complain about. Yakuza 5 might still remain my favorite in the overall series however Lost Judgment might be right behind it- standing similarly as a maximalist pillar in this already large and bloated series. The best thing I can ask for games like Y5 and Lost Judgment is that they snowball like they do and end just as splendidly.

the pinnacle of RGG writing. even better than everyone says. a series that started as a simple crime drama about fate and parenthood is now tackling topics like bullying, vengeance, and justice in such a tasteful manner that i can't help but be so proud of what it has become.

honestly where do i even start, nearly every single plotpoint and major character in this game feels like RGG learning every lesson from their past mistakes in their catalogue. this has their best main antagonist thus far, their best protagonist/antagonist dynamic thus far, their best gameplay thus far, their best boss fights thus far, THEIR BEST FINAL BOSS FIGHT THUS FAR. i can honestly just go on and on but i'll just conclude this by saying this is absolutely RGG's best work and i'm even more excited for the future of this series now, or maybe this spin-off as well if we're lucky.

also i just wanted to mention that it's been EEXACTLY a year since i started my first game in this series, yakuza 1. this wasn't even intentional i'm losing my mind.

i finished this like a week ago cause after beating the main story i rly wanted to let this sit with me. after doing most of the school stories now, most of the side cases, & doing my legend playthrough i feel comfortable saying this is my new favorite game & definitely the best rgg game

this game improved on literally everything from the original judgment that i had problems with. the combat in this is flawless, every style is good and fun to use. mortal wounds is completely gone and replaced with deadly attacks/mortal reversals which are super satsifying to pull off even if the timing is forgiving & the keihin are used way better in this one

i dont know if i'd say the story is better or worse than the first game, they're about even for me but i felt way more connected to this one and i think its due to it being on a smaller scale than the first. the final chapter was so insane & the final boss has become my new favorite boss fight ever which is saying something cause i've never been super attached to the boss fights in these games, everything worked so well together, the fight itself, the music, the buildup, the cinematics, the emotions, just all so good

i do think the characters from the original got slightly overshadowed by the new characters like kuwana, soma, akutsu & tesso which sucks but its a sacrifice im ok with cause the new characters made this game. i also feel like this game didn't really add much to yagami as a character but i almost think thats fine? ik hes the main character and these are technically his games but i feel like i got to know him well enough in the first game to care about him & i dont feel like this games plot required him to have a ton of character development like the first game did. kuwana absolutely makes that all worth it though, he is this game, hes one of the best characters they've ever made & i wish we got more of him in the earlier chapters but i completely get why we didn't. also all the side characters you meet in the school stories are just like really fun, especially amasawa who i hope they do more with if theres ever future games

i just love this game so much, im so bad at writing down my thoughts on & talking about things im passionate about without sounding insane but its just the best time ive had playing a game in so long. it's emotional, its fun, its genuinely interesting and has some of the best characters i've ever seen. it's everything i love about rgg games and more & i'm so happy i got to play it

[Working Review]
Lost Judgment is a lot better than it’s predecessor but sadly it still hits a lot of the same snags. The tailing and chase segments aren’t really improved but the school clubs side quests are much more fun and engaging than what was in the first game.

It’s a shame they’re so unbalanced, with boxing having a load of opponents while dancing only has 4 songs, but it’s still been fun for the most part and only really started to lose me ~60 hours in.

The plot is also improved in my opinion, it’s still not Yakuza level but I care more about this than I did the first game. interested to see how it plays out

Well, this took me a while. Full disclosure - I technically didn’t finish this. I finished the main story and DLC but had to stop School Stories (more on that later). Overall I really enjoyed this, some elements are better than the first Judgment game, and some are noticeably worse. I’ll split this review into a few sections.

Main Story: I was worried going into this - the idea of Yagami (with his penchant for younger women) being around a school might be inadvertently creepy and uncomfortable. Luckily it’s all fine, with the issues of teenage bullying and suicide - as well as Yagami’s interactions with teenagers - being treated with respect. Yagami comes off as more of a guardian for the kids than anything else. The story is full of the usual RGG twists and turns and it’s highly satisfying watching all the pieces come together. This game has possibly the best final boss (and boss theme) in the entire RGG series - it’s that good. The combat is even better than the first Judgment game, and I’ll fully admit that I used Snake style 99% of the time.

There are no Friend Events this time round, and there are less side cases in order to make room for School Stories, so the game feels a lot more streamlined, content-wise. The “detective elements” are scaled back a bit for this one, which is good since the changes made to the Tailing missions make them somehow even worse than in the first game? It’s bizarre. The new sneaking mechanic is way too simple for it to be a challenge, and every stealth sequence feels like a chore. While it's nice to see Saori get the spotlight again, the fact that she's involved in yet another "using her to lure a bad guy like a piece of meat" sequence is... concerning.

Another minor complaint; I wasn’t sure what was with the weird flanderization of Kaito, especially in the first few chapters. He seemed a little dumber at the beginning of the game, and his weird horniness for Sawa-sensei (boy am I sick of hearing that name) never really went anywhere. Luckily, he comes good by the end, and his title of “best boy” still remains. Speaking of Kaito…

The Kaito Files: What. A. Ride. This almost feels like an apology for the relative lack of Kaito in the main story and man, did they knock it out of the park with this one. Despite the relatively short runtime, The Kaito Files packs in more great characters, awesome boss fights and emotional moments than a lot of the other full-length Like A Dragon games. The story gives some incredibly interesting personal insight into Kaito as a character, and the shorter length allows for a compact, well-paced narrative with no padding to get in the way. With any potential future Judgment games up in the air, if Takuya Kimura isn’t able to return as Yagami I’d be more than happy for Kaito to step up and take the lead. The Kaito Files puts Kaito up there with Kiryu and Majima as one the best protagonists in the entire series.

School Stories: I’m sorry, Kyoko Amasawa. As much as I love Amasawa (genuinely one of my top 10 favourite LAD characters) and the MRC, I couldn’t finish School Stories. It’s all down to… you guessed it, fucking Robotics Club. It’s by far the worst minigame RGG Studio have ever devised. I would rather play a Like A Dragon game based entirely around mahjong and shogi than have to do any more fucking Robotics Club. It’s such a shame that you have to finish it to unlock the rest of the stories, as I like the MRC and Dance Club activities and side cases a lot. I’ll have to come back to Lost Judgment and finish these side activities eventually, but honestly? Right now I just want to move on to Gaiden.

This game rules but the main story is ASS, possibly the worst RGG has made. Which is a real shame as a followup to Judgement, what I'd consider to be the best written game in the series. Or at least the one with the best pacing. On the other end of the spectrum; Lost Judgement's story doesnt execute anything well.

The game effectively reaches it's climax at Chapter7.... of 13 lol. After this point the story becomes reminiscent of the earlier Yakuza titles in the worst possible way. Things just start happening - Go to X. Now go talk to Y in a different city. Oh shit its person Z, time for a 20 minute infodump of things you pieced together 3 hours ago. This continues all the way till the end where you're told "maybe sometimes being a serial killer is justifed..." Great game for attack on titan fans!

Im not kidding when I say the sidestories (both the main overarching one & 4minute jokey ones) are written better.
On that note: Side content this time around is great, some of the best in the series even! Combat is also the best the Dragon Engine has to offer.

If youre playing these games in release order you know what youre in for by now - I had fun with it and you likely will too. But the difference in quality between the main story and everything else is extremely apparent.

RGG have done the impossible and made a game with not only good combat, but a story that remains compelling to the end credits. after years of being the only man on earth that wasnt that big into the yakuza games, i gambled on Lost Judgment hoping it would have what i felt those games lacked and was flabbergasted to find out that it did in spades. the combat finally has sauce to go with numerous options in how to handle one enemy or dozens, and the story is not only the best that this studio has likely written but also one of the best currently offered in the medium. rarely ever does a game grab my attention and hold it so vigorously but Lost Judgment, against all odds, did for its entire duration. the soundtrack is also one of RGG's best and thats saying something. kitakata-sensei did nothing wrong

One of the best games of all time.

This game is incredibly well made. Story, characters, music, sidecase's, school stories. I love everything about this game and will never be able to forget how much emotion it has.

Generally game sequels nowadays don't really add much to the previous entries but this game does it perfectly. Adds dozens of playable minigames, 2 extra fighting styles, so much content with school stories that is full of good story and characters with amazing development. I was in a trance when doing quest's because how well made they are and every story has a little message and it's really emotional. I cried so much, laughed so much and enjoyed it.

I think this is RGG studios passion project or something because they poured everything they learned over the years making Yakuza games and this is the what they can do with everything they got. I don't think they can top this game for a long time.

As for combat i don't think i will be enjoying other games for a long time because this game does it so perfect that i will compare it to every game and get disappointed. The juggles you can make in this game are crazy, i was beating a guy in air for 20 seconds and it was so much fun just switching styles and doing combos. Played it on Legend difficulty for the first time, it was hard at some specific fights but generally speaking perfectly balanced gameplay.

I will %100 this game in the near future, not a fan of playing koi koi tho.

I finished Judgment earlier this year in my binge of RGG games. I was in the middle of Yakuza 5 when I stopped to take a break and play some other stuff before Lost Judgment came out. I wanted to give this game its due time and not rush through it, so I took about a month to play it, and "finished" it today. I logged 48 hours, having completed the main story, 7/10 school stories (which I plan to go back to ASAP), and the majority of side cases, with a couple not done. Suffice it to say, this is one of RGG's best games, with the best gameplay the studio has put out to date, a killer story, incredible visuals, and an amazing soundtrack. This will probably be a fairly (very) lengthy review. Spoilers for character archetypes and general plot details ahead, but no names associated with deaths / crimes.

The first thing I'd like to cover is the general differences between this and the first game. Judgment is one of my favorite games, but that's with the caveat that the gameplay is not without its issues, and the story carries those weaknesses. Lost Judgment improves on every single detriment that plagued the first game. Annoyances like the constant Keihin Gang fights are completely gone, and tailing missions and chases have been cut back drastically, as well as improved. Tailing missions are relatively harder, with your targets being more on alert, and you have more options for hiding in public, as well as contextual cover. Chases are sort of the same, albeit less common. Of the ones that do exist, they might go on for ~30 seconds too long, but that's pretty minor. Ijincho is a wonderful playground, just like in 7. In fact, when the game actually wrangled me back to Kamurocho for story moments, I was a bit disappointed. It wasn't until the first time that happened that I realized how much I enjoy Ijincho and how much it makes this game feel different from the previous. There are a couple places from 7 I wish could’ve been included in this version of the map that aren’t, but that’s the RGG way, I suppose. Being able to skateboard around is a godsend. It makes traversal faster and more fun. I was expecting it to be absolutely awful (RGG historically has an inconsistent relationship with their physics engine) but I was completely wrong. The new gameplay additions, stealth and climbing, are just okay. They don't show up much, and when they do they're short sequences without much opportunity for failure. The best new inclusion is probably either the detective dog or the Buzz Researcher, which enables the Chatter scraping from the first game to act as a source of side cases. Probably the most interesting way to go about getting side cases in the series' history. I didn't play much of the Master System games but they're a neat inclusion.

Combat was improved massively. Snake style is one of the best and most fun styles in the series' history, and has great utility. All of Yagami's moves are faster and more easily comboed, and switching styles is now nigh-instantaneous. Boxing style (DLC) is fantastically fun as well, and upgrading it alongside the story it's associated with is neat. In fact, it may be too strong, since it burned through the final bosses. Mortal wounds are gone, but mortal strikes exist to enable the mortal counters, which are fun and add a level of tension to any boss fight. There are an insane number of upgrades, and the change to SP (notably, increasing it by 5000% over the original) matches that. I think this game might be, overall, easier than the first game, and there are one or two chapters where I really felt there needed to be a boss fight and there wasn’t one, but the game gives you ample opportunity to play around with the new combat system. The finale includes a rather lengthy fight that definitely helped me drop some of that concern. Overall you have a massive amount of options, tons of variety, and a real sense of power in Yagami’s moves. I got to see a section of Judgment purely by chance yesterday at a friend's house and it was good to see just how different (and worse) that game's combat is by comparison.

Talking about the story is difficult since I don’t want to spoil it, but I’ll try my best. If you want a TL;DR: It’s very good and very interesting, with good villains and interesting motivations and investigations. To be more in-depth, it weaves a very interesting tale of bullying and murder across multiple years, creating this giant web of events and people that are hard to piece together. The Ehara case makes for a great stepping stone, and the first chapters are genuinely head-scratching. They transition into the bigger story well, and the events that ramp it up are cool and have some great setpieces. This game also deals with the fallout of Yakuza 7's story in some pretty interesting ways, which I'm not sure I expected. Yagami (who I haven’t really talked about) is as good a character as ever. His pursuit of justice is central to this game’s plot and his writing is fantastic. He’s funny, witty, and above all empathic. Kimura’s performance here is even better than the first game. I’m curious as to how Greg Chun does, but I haven’t played the dub.
To use the puddle / lake analogy, Lost Judgment is a medium depth lake that's very wide, whereas Judgment is a slightly deeper lake that's less wide overall. Which is to say that Lost Judgment goes more places and has more threads than the original does, but the key moments in the original may surpass it in "surprise factor". Although, a caveat: some of the things that LJ deals with are darker and more complex, and the bullying angle is really front and center, giving it a grounded vibe. In fact, the story itself unravels in more natural and interesting ways in LJ, really taking its time to even include moments where the gang is unsure of where to go or what to do. The original's story could, at times, make large leaps in logic to the next story beat, which helped with surprising the audience, but makes the story less believable overall. Lost Judgment's story evolves in very natural ways, and the conspiracy that's unraveled is shockingly realistic in origin, even if that origin ends up having a little less “amaze” factor. There are some really fantastic chapters in here, with a couple that either retread on something or don’t go anywhere, but they’re still consistently good. The beginning 2-3 chapters are incredible, as is the finale, with Chapter 7 being maybe one of the strongest chapters in RGG’s games.

Characters are what really shine in Lost Judgment. The gang from the original all return, and all receive interesting development or new circumstances. Having Yagami, Kaito, Sugiura, Higashi, and Tsukumo all working together is a blast, and the team is genuinely written like a bunch of friends, teasing and all. Making Tsukumo and Sugiura one of the factors that kicks off the game was really smart, and them introducing the gang to Ijincho makes perfect sense. The Genda Office team returns, and Saori, yet again, steals the show. She takes a real central role in this game, spearheading the law side of the cases at hand, and aids in the investigation at times as well. She's just as fun and well-written as the first game, with some new patter with Yagami and Hoshino as well. She’s easily the strongest female in RGG’s history and makes for a fantastic addition to the cast, as opposed to Mafuyu, who still does nothing in this game. Why are you even in this series? The biggest new addition is Tesso, who quickly makes himself into a lovable guy, despite his sharp claws. Loved seeing him and hope we do see more of him in the future. The school characters are all really good as well. Sawa-sensei makes for a fantastic inclusion to the case, and her interactions are really human and believable. The assorted students are good, the bullies, while not central to the story for the majority of the game, have good development and their inclusion is definitely interesting. RGG has never written teenagers very well (when rarely they did), so including them in the plot makes this game stand out. The BIGGEST standout at school is Amasawa, the head of the MRC and deuteragonist in the school stories. She’s interesting, cool, and endlessly funny. She and Yagami make for a great team across the many hours of that mode’s content. As does her dog, Ranpo. Back to the main story, Kuwana is a very cool character as well, his motivations are interesting and his interactions with Yagami are gold. I’ll be slight about the antagonists and their motivations, but rest assured that the leaders of RK (one in particular) are really cool, and definitely rank in the series’ best villains. The final boss fights are fantastic and the soundtrack absolutely knocks it out of the park. I’m not sure if I prefer those fights to the final fight in Judgment (as well as the final boss theme), but they’re definitely comparable, at the very least. All in all, this is probably the strongest cast in the series, and increasing the number of characters after the first game was a good call.

The side content blew me away. I’m not quite done with Yakuza 5, but the School Stories are very similar to that game’s system in the sense that they are completely bespoke stories with fleshed-out minigames and progression to complete that is entirely separate from the main game. Their setting is amazing, too. Seiryo High has got to be one of my favorite locations in the series, up there alongside Ryukyu’s market, K2’s golden temple, and Judgment’s ADDC. It’s lovingly rendered, with some great attention to detail, and genuinely begins to feel real after awhile. It’s also really pretty at night, the gym in particular. Standouts for the stories include the dance club, boxing, skateboarding, and biking. If there’s one criticism I have, it’s the inconsistency in length across the stories. The ones I’ve highlighted are the longest (1.5 - 2 hours+), while some like esports and photography clock in at less than 20 minutes. Robotics club is the low point as far as gameplay is concerned, and I have to admit that I got pretty frustrated at a couple points. The game does a bad job explaining that mode in particular, which stinks as it’s the most in-depth of the whole set. The sheer scope of it is ridiculous at first, but ultimately if you upgrade for speed and give your controlled bot a powerful hammer and the AI some guns and speed, you’ll be fine. Capturing the enemy base itself is the main objective, NOT territory control, which the game doesn’t emphasize. Once I had those things figured out it was mostly smooth sailing, but still a relatively clunky gamemode that overstays its welcome. The actual story tying these differing modes together is interesting and offbeat, with its own set of characters and politics. Amasawa and Yagami are the glue that holds it together, and I think it’s very much worth the player’s time. Side cases are overall better than the first game, and maybe the most consistently good side cases in the series. I went through the list and genuinely only a handful are cheap or forgettable. Standouts: SRC’s Hunt for the Truth, Body Model Walks at Night, Dueling Dojos, Forbidden Taste, Chaos of the Masked Writer (this one is crazy good IMO), and Dastardly Detective: Seiryo High. Haven’t fought Amon yet, but I might.

I just want to briefly highlight the presentation of this game. I think this is the prettiest the Dragon Engine has ever looked, and it really helps sell some of the sequences. Historically, RGG games have a couple tiers of cutscenes: unvoiced with minimal movement, unvoiced with movement, voiced with movement, cutscenes with dialogue, and the full-on pre-rendered cutscenes. In LJ’s pre-rendered cutscenes, facial animation is some of the best I’ve ever seen, period. There’s one sequence in chapter 3 or 4 that blew me away, and I genuinely forgot for a minute that I was playing a game and not watching a live action drama with Kimura in the leading role. There are some subtleties here that are seriously impressive. The direction is more impressive too, with some combat sequences that feel right out of Jackie Chan films. When this game wants to wow you with a cutscene, it really does. The soundtrack is phenomenal as well.

Lost Judgment feels like an iteration in the Judgment series, which is a good thing. It feels like a sequel, not a DLC or a separate series. Kimura made his acting name on dramas like HERO, so this game's iterative nature feels like an episode or a movie in a detective / lawyer series. Judgment was an origin story, both for the series itself and Yagami, tying the events of the case back into his own history and character motivations, something Yakuza could never really do with Kiryu. Lost Judgment was never going to be able to match that kind of writing as a sequel, but it succeeds in spite of that, crafting a game that is wholly separate from the threads of the first while building on everything that made that game great. I feel like there’s probably things I forgot to talk about, but I suppose that’s inevitable. I’ll just end by saying that Lost Judgment was everything I wanted it to be from the day it was announced. It improves on nearly everything from the first game while being its own separate thing. It’s endlessly FUN to play, the side content is massive and engaging, the characters are something special, and the story is on par with the first. I hope this isn’t the last we see of the Yagami Detective Agency, and I'm looking forward to the Kaito DLC!

What a gang of characters, huh? Really feel like this cast includes some of RGG's best characters standing alongside some really… curious inclusions.

Characters:
+ Higashi rocks, man. Love his grumpy ass. Truly One Of The Boys.
+ The other core characters related to the bullying plots are all quite good - Sawa-sensei is the standout, but Ehara also does a good job of playing his role. Sawa-sensei is massively important for multiple reasons but beyond that, she does so much of the early work in making Seiryo High feel like a believable setting.
+ It's very much in line with the cheesy, wholesome nonsense that RGG loves (especially in side stories!) but Class 2-2 gets some GTO-ass plot points and it's extremely my shit.
= Tsukumo and Sugiura are… fine. It makes me smile seeing that they've teamed up, but Sugiura feels like he's basically just there to fill a seat for most of this game's runtime - Yokohama 99 feels more like Tsukumo's thing than Tsukumo and Sugiura's joint venture.
- I love the character archetype Kuwana represents, but he lacks any real magnetism for me. Once his role in the main plot is revealed, there's no real mystery to this character anymore - when you know about his MO, he's a pretty easy character to read.
- Hoshino really pulls his own weight in the first game, but in Lost Judgment he mostly regresses into a bumbling dope who is there to gawk at Saori, and it makes him a grating presence when he does show up.

Detective Features:
+ Being able to use Observation Mode whenever you want makes a lot more sense than having it restricted to scripted segments, although it's mostly used just for spotting squirrel graffiti. Still, I appreciate the change.
+ Tailing is better given that you can take cover wherever you feel like you should take cover, and the persistent suspicion level makes things more challenging. "Blending in" will always be funny as hell for how conspicuous it is, but that's video games for you.
+ I don't think the main story requires you to use the drone at all? Good riddance!
= I don't mind parkour, but it's not used very much at the moment and when it is, it mostly feels like a gimmick feature. I wish it were used more in the world, and despite there being plenty of hand- and foot-holds everywhere, it's annoying having to find the one specific pipe structure Yagami likes to climb on to begin these segments.
- Stealth is BAD. Thankfully it's never too challenging since it's extremely on-rails (it even shows you where to stand and where to throw the distraction coins!) but I'm not sure why this exists at all as a gameplay system. Hell, most of the times you're using it there's not much of a point to it plot-wise, since Yagami never had much of a concern for being outnumbered before.
- I miss making friends! Kamurocho feels so much emptier when I come back, see the same faces, and have no interactions with the Smile Burger lady, or the café employee that was learning English, or homeboy teaching me about different kinds of coffee.

Combat:
+ Snake style fucks so hard. It's almost immediately satisfying to use, but by the time you've unlocked all its skills you'll be ping-ponging idiots around the room, putting them in the dirt while never taking a scratch from a weapon. Some aikido, some wing chun. We even got some shoulder strikes thrown in for good measure. Very fun!
+ Crane style really got a glow-up in Lost Judgment - using it no longer feels like you're tying a hand behind your back. Admittedly, I still barely touched it with how fun snake style is, but when you do it's even more over-the-top than it was before, and still effective at blending large mobs into pureed street goon.
+ Scrapping mortal wounds and adding mortal counters makes the game a lot easier, but also makes it less frustrating too. Where before, the easiest way to deal with Deadly Attacks was "run to the other side of the room and dick around until he's done glowing," you're now incentivized to actually interact with these attacks, or at least stay within striking distance of them.

Can you believe RGG made two entire games without someone being shot dead from off-screen?

gameplay wise, this is easily the perfect rgg studio game. im glad the team learned from their mistakes and gave the dragon engine the treatment it deserves, albeit 4 games late.
wish i could say the game itself was perfect. it's got killer substories (thanks to the school kids) and does a lot to spice up the formula, however the story is a lot more disappointing this time around. it starts off pretty strong, with interesting mysteries tackling some pretty deep themes, but at the end the plot just gets too confusing for its own good, and ultimately isn't as good as the first game.

apart from that? yeah this might be the greatest game ever made

Different definitions of justice

Lost Judgment represents a step forward and a step back for Ryu Ga Gotoku's spin off brawler series. The concept of the themes of the game are extremely interesting as it tackles the consequences of bullying but it also stumbles a bit with the other themes and its meaning of justice. With that step backward, the step forward is just as substantial with more refined combat, a new style and generally more content that feels meaningful that makes exploring Ijincho more vibrant.

The initial set-up of the mystery and intrigue of Lost Judgment was setting this game up for success in its themes and forever wondering how the pieces will eventually fall in later on. Yagami is asked by his friends to help investigate a high school for bullying and in RGG fashion, the conspiracies only grow bigger from there. My main problem with the plot was that it sort of revealed its best cards too early and at the half point of the game, you already knew a huge chunk of the major players and their intentions leaving very little and very boring answers left to find until it all comes into a head. I also find it hard to like Yagami as much as the other protagonists due to his very attitude and it feels a bit more annoying in Lost Judgment when the game tries to show that Yagami is not always objectively right in this situation and the way he handled some things later in the story bothered me a little bit but I might detract that for the bad writing in general. The side characters, the school kids and everyone else was pretty charming and provide some of the best side content RGG has made in years though and it does paint Yagami in a decent light in this counselor role. I also appreciate one character that acts like a foil to Yagami which I think is a little more sympathetic than Yagami at this point.

Brawling in Judgment was fun and Lost Judgment made so many tiny touches that made combat somehow even more fluid. Swapping styles in the middle of the carnage is much quicker and easier letting you experiment more with the moves each style brings with a new Snake focusing on parrying and throwing that reminds me of some of the more tricky characters in the earlier Like a Dragon games. The side content is more vast and less tedious compared to the other games providing a lot of entertaining stories and exploration. The usual detective activities do make a return but they're a little annoying but I will never understand why developers add tailing missions to games since it just feels a bit like padding at this point.

Another point for Lost Judgment is the music in this game is amazing, SEGA truly knows no bounds in making energetic music like the chase theme and one of the better final boss themes in a long time.

Despite starting out strong, fumbling a few plot beats and almost ending in a whimper, Lost Judgment does bring the series forward in some respects. More than anything, I do understand that creating narratives like this can be hard, planning out the major players and all that but it really does feel like the definition of busting at the poker table before the night has ended. Lost Judgment as it stands provides the best action gameplay RGG has made (have not played Ishin at the time of this review), more meaningful side content, a really interesting concept and great music.