História muito bem escrita, o combate está bem fluído (a principio pode ser um pouco confuso), o mais negativo são que as mecânicas de detetive, principalmente a de perseguição são bastantes repetitivas ao longo da gameplay.
the best story rgg studios have ever made and the gameplay is really fun
Really great story and amazing combat.
I want yagami, carnally.
La claque absolue
GOD DAMN was this game good. RGG might have writing issues sometimes with the mainline series, but when they get the freedom to do whatever in a location and gameplay we're familiar with, they truly pop off.
paceing prob but daaamn son
This review contains spoilers
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
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
Awesome story with some really fun combat. The side content is also so much fun. Solid game all around
Definitely the best RGG game for me so far or at least on par with Yakuza 0.
really good murder mystery plot while being consistent with its quality besides some pacing issues and mostly the tailing missions, and a really fun cast of characters with Yagami as a different style of protagonist compared to the other entries as we see his views on the justice and the corruption within the laws of Kamurocho, and his entertaining dynamic with Kaito.
The combat is a huge step up from the other 2 Dragon engine games (or entries in general) and it shows just how much they improved on the dragon engine, while i still have some minor gripes with this combat especially with how lacking the crane style is and it being completely overshadowed by the tiger style leaving the combat relying solely on one style rather than switching between the 2 of them. Yagami's combat style is still the best these games have seen and i can definitely see it becoming even better.
Bosses in this game were by far the best than any other RGG game so far for me with one of/if not the best main antagonist of the series.
really good murder mystery plot while being consistent with its quality besides some pacing issues and mostly the tailing missions, and a really fun cast of characters with Yagami as a different style of protagonist compared to the other entries as we see his views on the justice and the corruption within the laws of Kamurocho, and his entertaining dynamic with Kaito.
The combat is a huge step up from the other 2 Dragon engine games (or entries in general) and it shows just how much they improved on the dragon engine, while i still have some minor gripes with this combat especially with how lacking the crane style is and it being completely overshadowed by the tiger style leaving the combat relying solely on one style rather than switching between the 2 of them. Yagami's combat style is still the best these games have seen and i can definitely see it becoming even better.
Bosses in this game were by far the best than any other RGG game so far for me with one of/if not the best main antagonist of the series.
A Yakuza spinoff that has lived up to the expectation, ignoring almost every story point of the main games outside of factions, and past events
It's a fresh start for the detective saga of Takayuki Yagamk
It's a fresh start for the detective saga of Takayuki Yagamk
I really liked Judgment. It is set in the same universe as Like a Dragon, with many references to what happened in previous chapters. The story is well written, and some plot twists surprised me! Yagami is a character of great depth!
Going into the game i had low expectations, probably because i just love Kiryu as a protaganist too much and Yakuza in general.
But this was better than a few of the other Yakuzas in the series, and you're playing as a detective here.
F*ck the tailing missions.
But this was better than a few of the other Yakuzas in the series, and you're playing as a detective here.
F*ck the tailing missions.
This game's choreography needs to be studied in classes its that good.
le scénar de dingo
This review has been brought to you by Ikinari Steak.
great time
Ha subido al tier S de juegos de RGG de golpe. No me esperaba encontrarme un juego tan bien hecho, está super recomendadísimo de mi parte
Peak mystery with some psychological thriller elements sprinkled throughout the story. Yagami and Kaito are such amazing characters and amazing duo. This was really nice breathe of fresh air from RGG and show the other side of Kamurocho as detective. Thank You RGG 🐐❤️
This review contains spoilers
"These guys won't stop comin on us"
OK DUDE THIS IS SOME VERY GOOD FRICKING SHIT!!!! I already knew that i was gonna love this game because it's a detective game and i love detective stuff!(detective conan my beloved) And i also have a few friends who really love the game, so that probably pushed my expectations higher.
Judgment introduces a bunch of new things that aren't present in the yakuza games. One of the new features is the investigation mode, which is when the player has to look around for clues (you can also find cats during the investigation mode :3). Other new features include:lock picking, a dope ass drone that you can fly and a bunch of funny disguises. Am i forgetting something? Oh right tailing missions! Yayyyy i love following slow ass suspects while trying to not be spotted yayyy!
What about the combat? DUDE ITS SO FRICKING GOOD!!! Judgment brings back style switching but unlike in 0 and kiwami you only have 2 fighting styles which may not seem much but it is more than enough. Crane style in my opinion is insanely underrated, a lot of ppl call it inferior to the tiger style and some ppl have flat out called it useless, but i disagree. Crane style is only useless when used against bosses but when you utilize it against large groups of enemies, you will absolutely devastate everything around you because crane style is much faster and has a much wider range than tiger style. Tiger style isn't very good against large groups of enemies because it has less range and it's less faster than crane style, BUTT tiger style is much more useful against bosses since it has the ability to break guards and tiger style has the flux fissure which is insultingly overpowered since it can deal massive amounts of damage and it can charge your ex gauge by a lot if you upgrade it. You can also juggle enemies in the air which is very fun. You also have the ex boost which can be activated by pressing R2, and once you activate it Yagami becomes an unstoppable force.
Lastly Yagami has the ability to perform a wall jump, and by pressing the attack button you can do a wall jump attack (is that how you call it) and obviously there are ex actions aswell.
The boss were overall very solid in my opinion. There are many bosses where the crane style gets to shine and a few bosses where the tiger style gets to shine. A good example of a boss where the crane style shines is Satoshi Shioya because it has a large group of enemies, and a good example of a boss where the tiger style shines is the 2nd Hamura fight because you are only fighting a single guy. Anyways my favorite bosses in this game are:
3. Toru Higashi 2nd fight:
This boss fight is insanely underrated in my opinion, both fighting styles get some spotlight, Higashi has a dope ass moveset, the music absolutely slaps and the dynamic intro is obviously amazing.
2.Cane man:
You fight this dude a bunch of times and everytime you fight him, he whips out a new weapon which changes his moveset and that is just very cool, and cane man's theme really slaps.
1. Mitsuru Kuroiwa 2nd fight:
Ok this honestly might be my favorite boss out of all the rgg games that i played. First of all we all know how amazing that dynamic intro is, and i especially love how in the intro Yagami and Kuroiwa are in the same pose which shows how identical their moveset is. The setting in this fight is unique and amazing, and the music is very awesome too! Another awesome thing about this fight is that after you beat Kuroiwa, Kuroiwa returns from the dead and injects idk a phoenix down to himself, he regains all of his health and the 2nd phase starts.
Ok now lets talk about side content.
Judgment replaces substories with side cases, and most side cases consist of Yagami taking a job from someone, and similar to substories, side cases are way less serious than the main story. Side cases can be unlocked by increasing your city reputations which is done by increasing your friendship with people scattered around kamurocho.
I honestly really liked the ability to befriend people since normally they would just be boring npcs that you forget that exist, and they did a really good job at making most of them have unique personalities. A few of these people that you befriend can actually be found wandering around kamurocho, and whenever i see one of them it kind of reminds me of those times where you randomly meet a friend in public, and some of them will actually help you in random encounters.They weren't gonna make the drone feel underused so they made a fricking drone racing minigame which is a lot of fun in my opinion. There's also this paradise vr minigame where you throw dice and have to reach a goal. Lastly there are a few side cases that you are actually forced to do during the main story, and some people call them useless filler but i will call them fun filler, because those side cases were fun af and you know it!
Kamurocho in this game looks absolutely beautiful, i think they stepped it up a bit in visuals and graphics.
The leveling system is honestly really solid, it is much better than yakuza 6's level system mainly because this time you only have 1 single currency, which is just enough for me.
Ok time for the best thing about this game which is the story. Our main protagonist is Takoyaki Yagami, an ex lawyer who is now a detective. 3 people died with their eyes gouged out and the Matsugane family captain Hamura gets arrested because they think that he has commited one of the murders. Yagami and a lawyer named Shintani succesfully defend Hamura, but Yagami wants to pursue the truth and find the real killer also knows as the mole. My favorite part about the story of judgment is its fantastic cast of characters.
Yagami is an amazing protagonist, do i love him a lot because i am a sucker for detective characters like the GOAT detective gumshoe? Hell yeah! But for me he is a really well written character aswell.
Yagami doesn't forgive himself for proving a killer named Shinpei Okubo innocent in the past, but this whole thing motivates him to pursue the truth and find who is behind all the murders in the game because he knows what happens if he doesn't, and Yagami never attempts to give up despite facing many obstacles throughout the main story. Deciding to chase the truth was probably the best decision that Yagami has ever made, because he learns that Shinpei Okubo was actually innocent, and there's one particular scene in the game where Yagami tells Okubo that he believes that he is innocent, and this scene is very important to Yagami's character because he forgives himself and his past doesn't weigh him down anymore, and for Okubo it was a possibility to not fucking die because of a crime he didn't commit.
Yagami is not alone in pursuing the truth because he is joined by a bunch of friends.
Masaharu Kaito is easily my favorite side character in this game. Kaito used to be in the matsugane family but he was a big obstacle to Hamura, one of the villains of the game, so Hamura got him kicked out of the family, and after that Kaito became Yagami's loyal partner. Kaito is the definition of a loveable character, there is nothing i hate about this guy, he offers plenty of help to Yagami, he is funny, he is cool, and idk man he is just a very awesome bro character.
During the main story Yagami gains 2 new allies which are Toru Higashi and Sugiura.
Sugiura is a particular character, at first he was basically just a mysterious masked guy who randomly decides to help you, but then we find out that his real name is Fumiya Terisawa, Emi Terasawa's brother (the girl who we thought got murdered by Shinpei Okubo but she actually got murdered by someone else). Helping out Yagami was a good decision because if he didn't, the real killer of Emi would've never been found.
Toru Higashi is quite a cool dude. Higashi used to be close with Kaito but they got separated after Kaito got expelled from the matsugane clan. He was first introduced as a person who changed and became a tougher and meaner dude, but we quickly learn that behind all that toughness lies a kind person.
Genda and Matsugane are 2 people that Yagami see as a father figure.
Saori and Hoshino are also pretty memorable characters who lend a hand to Yagami during the main story.
The villains in this game are absolutely awesome sauce.
Kyohei Hamura is a really well written villain. Despite being quite an unlikeable asshole, Hamura's actions were for the benefit of his clan. What makes Hamura a sympathetic villain is that his actions lead to the death of Matsugane, and for once Hamura isn't being a huge cunt, instead we see him feel sorry, and after that Hamura actually decides to help Yagami by revealing him the identity of the mole and giving him some crucial evidence for the trial in the final chapter.
Shono is quite a particular villain, he isn't strong or scary looking like many rgg villains, shit if you told me that he was a child cosplaying as a scientist then i would believe you. Shono is basically the main reason why the main story happened.
Kuroiwa is without a doubt the best villain in this game. Similar to Hamura, Kuroiwa is a character that you first think is an asshole but unlike Hamura, Kuroiwa doesn't get any sort of redemption arc. After it is revealed that he is the mole Kuroiwa steals the spotlight for every single scene that he is in, mostly because of how scary, intimidating, batshit insane and dangerous he feels. Kuroiwa is also the only one who gives Yagami a very hard time when fighting. Kuroiwa's character is brought to life by Shosuke Tanihara's fantastic voice acting, he fuckin killed it.
Music is fucking amazing like i expected it to be so here are my favorite tracks:
My own style plays during a few battles and my god does it slap! I probably love this one so much because i am a sucker for tracks with vocals even tho the rapping here is barely understandable.
Flower of chivalry is my favorite boss theme in this game and it's one of my favorite boss themes in general, and that fucking guitar man🔥.
Penumbra is Kuroiwa's boss theme and not only does it kick ass but it also fits Kuroiwa perfectly in my opinion.
Destination plays during the final long battle. Hearing this while kicking the ass of many cops with the whole gang was an amazing moment.
Arpeggio plays during the opening cinematic, and this is easily one of my favorite vocal tracks in videogames.
Alright alright time for the flaws of this game.
Even tho i think that the side cases were good overall, i heavily dislike the fact that a handful of them include boring and tedious tailing missions.
The keihin gang invasions and mortal wounds can be described with 2 words: mildly infuriating. Even tho i didn't mind them, i can understand why ppl think that investigations can be quite annoying.
Judgment may have a few annoying issues but honestly who cares when so many things about the game are so amazing?
10/10 one of favorite games of all time
OK DUDE THIS IS SOME VERY GOOD FRICKING SHIT!!!! I already knew that i was gonna love this game because it's a detective game and i love detective stuff!(detective conan my beloved) And i also have a few friends who really love the game, so that probably pushed my expectations higher.
Judgment introduces a bunch of new things that aren't present in the yakuza games. One of the new features is the investigation mode, which is when the player has to look around for clues (you can also find cats during the investigation mode :3). Other new features include:lock picking, a dope ass drone that you can fly and a bunch of funny disguises. Am i forgetting something? Oh right tailing missions! Yayyyy i love following slow ass suspects while trying to not be spotted yayyy!
What about the combat? DUDE ITS SO FRICKING GOOD!!! Judgment brings back style switching but unlike in 0 and kiwami you only have 2 fighting styles which may not seem much but it is more than enough. Crane style in my opinion is insanely underrated, a lot of ppl call it inferior to the tiger style and some ppl have flat out called it useless, but i disagree. Crane style is only useless when used against bosses but when you utilize it against large groups of enemies, you will absolutely devastate everything around you because crane style is much faster and has a much wider range than tiger style. Tiger style isn't very good against large groups of enemies because it has less range and it's less faster than crane style, BUTT tiger style is much more useful against bosses since it has the ability to break guards and tiger style has the flux fissure which is insultingly overpowered since it can deal massive amounts of damage and it can charge your ex gauge by a lot if you upgrade it. You can also juggle enemies in the air which is very fun. You also have the ex boost which can be activated by pressing R2, and once you activate it Yagami becomes an unstoppable force.
Lastly Yagami has the ability to perform a wall jump, and by pressing the attack button you can do a wall jump attack (is that how you call it) and obviously there are ex actions aswell.
The boss were overall very solid in my opinion. There are many bosses where the crane style gets to shine and a few bosses where the tiger style gets to shine. A good example of a boss where the crane style shines is Satoshi Shioya because it has a large group of enemies, and a good example of a boss where the tiger style shines is the 2nd Hamura fight because you are only fighting a single guy. Anyways my favorite bosses in this game are:
3. Toru Higashi 2nd fight:
This boss fight is insanely underrated in my opinion, both fighting styles get some spotlight, Higashi has a dope ass moveset, the music absolutely slaps and the dynamic intro is obviously amazing.
2.Cane man:
You fight this dude a bunch of times and everytime you fight him, he whips out a new weapon which changes his moveset and that is just very cool, and cane man's theme really slaps.
1. Mitsuru Kuroiwa 2nd fight:
Ok this honestly might be my favorite boss out of all the rgg games that i played. First of all we all know how amazing that dynamic intro is, and i especially love how in the intro Yagami and Kuroiwa are in the same pose which shows how identical their moveset is. The setting in this fight is unique and amazing, and the music is very awesome too! Another awesome thing about this fight is that after you beat Kuroiwa, Kuroiwa returns from the dead and injects idk a phoenix down to himself, he regains all of his health and the 2nd phase starts.
Ok now lets talk about side content.
Judgment replaces substories with side cases, and most side cases consist of Yagami taking a job from someone, and similar to substories, side cases are way less serious than the main story. Side cases can be unlocked by increasing your city reputations which is done by increasing your friendship with people scattered around kamurocho.
I honestly really liked the ability to befriend people since normally they would just be boring npcs that you forget that exist, and they did a really good job at making most of them have unique personalities. A few of these people that you befriend can actually be found wandering around kamurocho, and whenever i see one of them it kind of reminds me of those times where you randomly meet a friend in public, and some of them will actually help you in random encounters.They weren't gonna make the drone feel underused so they made a fricking drone racing minigame which is a lot of fun in my opinion. There's also this paradise vr minigame where you throw dice and have to reach a goal. Lastly there are a few side cases that you are actually forced to do during the main story, and some people call them useless filler but i will call them fun filler, because those side cases were fun af and you know it!
Kamurocho in this game looks absolutely beautiful, i think they stepped it up a bit in visuals and graphics.
The leveling system is honestly really solid, it is much better than yakuza 6's level system mainly because this time you only have 1 single currency, which is just enough for me.
Ok time for the best thing about this game which is the story. Our main protagonist is Takoyaki Yagami, an ex lawyer who is now a detective. 3 people died with their eyes gouged out and the Matsugane family captain Hamura gets arrested because they think that he has commited one of the murders. Yagami and a lawyer named Shintani succesfully defend Hamura, but Yagami wants to pursue the truth and find the real killer also knows as the mole. My favorite part about the story of judgment is its fantastic cast of characters.
Yagami is an amazing protagonist, do i love him a lot because i am a sucker for detective characters like the GOAT detective gumshoe? Hell yeah! But for me he is a really well written character aswell.
Yagami doesn't forgive himself for proving a killer named Shinpei Okubo innocent in the past, but this whole thing motivates him to pursue the truth and find who is behind all the murders in the game because he knows what happens if he doesn't, and Yagami never attempts to give up despite facing many obstacles throughout the main story. Deciding to chase the truth was probably the best decision that Yagami has ever made, because he learns that Shinpei Okubo was actually innocent, and there's one particular scene in the game where Yagami tells Okubo that he believes that he is innocent, and this scene is very important to Yagami's character because he forgives himself and his past doesn't weigh him down anymore, and for Okubo it was a possibility to not fucking die because of a crime he didn't commit.
Yagami is not alone in pursuing the truth because he is joined by a bunch of friends.
Masaharu Kaito is easily my favorite side character in this game. Kaito used to be in the matsugane family but he was a big obstacle to Hamura, one of the villains of the game, so Hamura got him kicked out of the family, and after that Kaito became Yagami's loyal partner. Kaito is the definition of a loveable character, there is nothing i hate about this guy, he offers plenty of help to Yagami, he is funny, he is cool, and idk man he is just a very awesome bro character.
During the main story Yagami gains 2 new allies which are Toru Higashi and Sugiura.
Sugiura is a particular character, at first he was basically just a mysterious masked guy who randomly decides to help you, but then we find out that his real name is Fumiya Terisawa, Emi Terasawa's brother (the girl who we thought got murdered by Shinpei Okubo but she actually got murdered by someone else). Helping out Yagami was a good decision because if he didn't, the real killer of Emi would've never been found.
Toru Higashi is quite a cool dude. Higashi used to be close with Kaito but they got separated after Kaito got expelled from the matsugane clan. He was first introduced as a person who changed and became a tougher and meaner dude, but we quickly learn that behind all that toughness lies a kind person.
Genda and Matsugane are 2 people that Yagami see as a father figure.
Saori and Hoshino are also pretty memorable characters who lend a hand to Yagami during the main story.
The villains in this game are absolutely awesome sauce.
Kyohei Hamura is a really well written villain. Despite being quite an unlikeable asshole, Hamura's actions were for the benefit of his clan. What makes Hamura a sympathetic villain is that his actions lead to the death of Matsugane, and for once Hamura isn't being a huge cunt, instead we see him feel sorry, and after that Hamura actually decides to help Yagami by revealing him the identity of the mole and giving him some crucial evidence for the trial in the final chapter.
Shono is quite a particular villain, he isn't strong or scary looking like many rgg villains, shit if you told me that he was a child cosplaying as a scientist then i would believe you. Shono is basically the main reason why the main story happened.
Kuroiwa is without a doubt the best villain in this game. Similar to Hamura, Kuroiwa is a character that you first think is an asshole but unlike Hamura, Kuroiwa doesn't get any sort of redemption arc. After it is revealed that he is the mole Kuroiwa steals the spotlight for every single scene that he is in, mostly because of how scary, intimidating, batshit insane and dangerous he feels. Kuroiwa is also the only one who gives Yagami a very hard time when fighting. Kuroiwa's character is brought to life by Shosuke Tanihara's fantastic voice acting, he fuckin killed it.
Music is fucking amazing like i expected it to be so here are my favorite tracks:
My own style plays during a few battles and my god does it slap! I probably love this one so much because i am a sucker for tracks with vocals even tho the rapping here is barely understandable.
Flower of chivalry is my favorite boss theme in this game and it's one of my favorite boss themes in general, and that fucking guitar man🔥.
Penumbra is Kuroiwa's boss theme and not only does it kick ass but it also fits Kuroiwa perfectly in my opinion.
Destination plays during the final long battle. Hearing this while kicking the ass of many cops with the whole gang was an amazing moment.
Arpeggio plays during the opening cinematic, and this is easily one of my favorite vocal tracks in videogames.
Alright alright time for the flaws of this game.
Even tho i think that the side cases were good overall, i heavily dislike the fact that a handful of them include boring and tedious tailing missions.
The keihin gang invasions and mortal wounds can be described with 2 words: mildly infuriating. Even tho i didn't mind them, i can understand why ppl think that investigations can be quite annoying.
Judgment may have a few annoying issues but honestly who cares when so many things about the game are so amazing?
10/10 one of favorite games of all time
Had to let this one simmer a bit before dotting down my thoughts. Played nearly half of the 40hr game in two days which I would not recommend doing as some of the more meaty story nuances could be overlooked. Regardless this is a high quality Yakuza/Like a Dragon spin off and there is no denying that.
Bumping up the score half a star because honestly there is very little to complain about here and while I can't say with a straight face that I've enjoyed this game more than some of the Yakuza entries looking at it purely from a mechanical and objective stand point it is a pristine example of what makes RGG games so goddamn good.
Revised and improved combat from previous dragon engine games is certainly a highlight here. Pulling off the fissure release and the GOAT that is the Tiger drop hasn't felt so good before, also the much smoother integration of heat actions into your combos made each encounter not only more stylish and enjoyable to look at but also more satisfying to pull off. The overall balance of the fights were on the easier side with occasional high damage grab or a boss move putting you in the red. The mortal wound mechanic were you lose max HP if you get hit by guns or boss super moves is kinda pointless and an annoyance to deal with. You either use a medkit from a menu which takes a second to get it all back or go to a specific NPC for a check up which is neither that expensive nor does it happen often enough (I guess it depends on your dodging abilities) so it ends up feeling under baked.
Now the story is in a classic RGG fashion a rollercoaster to go through. A detective mystery involving court room drama, serial killings, conspiracy, betrayals and shocking revelations you know what you signed up for if you played any previous RGG games. Honestly it was really interesting to go through as more evidence is revealed and characters shift, perspective on previous facts change until it is all laid out on the table in the last third of the game with a finale waiting to wrap it all up. Saw someone say something along the lines of "this is the best RGG written story" and I would struggle to argue against that in terms of quality for sure.
The new cast is fantastic. Yagami, Kaito and Hamura being the clear highlights no surprise there since they get the most spotlight but even supporting cast like Sagiura, Saori and the merry band of Genda law office have some great scenes. It also feels like they turned up the dial a bit in terms of witty dialogue and humor in sub stories and in the main story as well even incorporating some modern slang which got more than a few chuckles out of me. The two main minigames, drone racing and VR gauntlet were quite interesting but even with a banger track playing for the VR minigame I didn't spend too much time with either.
The final fight was pretty rad as is the standard for these games a shame that the boss OST was a bit on the generic side, the goddamn baby face cane killer had an absolute fire of a track and the guy just shows up twice, refuses to elaborate and disappears. What's up with that? I was spoiled on the Lost Judgment final boss theme which is a shame in a way, but it only made me more pumped up to get to it in game.
So to recap awesome detective mystery story in Yakuza/LaD universe, great band of genuine, likeable and funny characters. Much improved combat with a discount DMC feel - yes the only reason I say that is because you can juggle enemies in the air and a sizeable quantity of entertaining side content.
Bumping up the score half a star because honestly there is very little to complain about here and while I can't say with a straight face that I've enjoyed this game more than some of the Yakuza entries looking at it purely from a mechanical and objective stand point it is a pristine example of what makes RGG games so goddamn good.
Revised and improved combat from previous dragon engine games is certainly a highlight here. Pulling off the fissure release and the GOAT that is the Tiger drop hasn't felt so good before, also the much smoother integration of heat actions into your combos made each encounter not only more stylish and enjoyable to look at but also more satisfying to pull off. The overall balance of the fights were on the easier side with occasional high damage grab or a boss move putting you in the red. The mortal wound mechanic were you lose max HP if you get hit by guns or boss super moves is kinda pointless and an annoyance to deal with. You either use a medkit from a menu which takes a second to get it all back or go to a specific NPC for a check up which is neither that expensive nor does it happen often enough (I guess it depends on your dodging abilities) so it ends up feeling under baked.
Now the story is in a classic RGG fashion a rollercoaster to go through. A detective mystery involving court room drama, serial killings, conspiracy, betrayals and shocking revelations you know what you signed up for if you played any previous RGG games. Honestly it was really interesting to go through as more evidence is revealed and characters shift, perspective on previous facts change until it is all laid out on the table in the last third of the game with a finale waiting to wrap it all up. Saw someone say something along the lines of "this is the best RGG written story" and I would struggle to argue against that in terms of quality for sure.
The new cast is fantastic. Yagami, Kaito and Hamura being the clear highlights no surprise there since they get the most spotlight but even supporting cast like Sagiura, Saori and the merry band of Genda law office have some great scenes. It also feels like they turned up the dial a bit in terms of witty dialogue and humor in sub stories and in the main story as well even incorporating some modern slang which got more than a few chuckles out of me. The two main minigames, drone racing and VR gauntlet were quite interesting but even with a banger track playing for the VR minigame I didn't spend too much time with either.
The final fight was pretty rad as is the standard for these games a shame that the boss OST was a bit on the generic side, the goddamn baby face cane killer had an absolute fire of a track and the guy just shows up twice, refuses to elaborate and disappears. What's up with that? I was spoiled on the Lost Judgment final boss theme which is a shame in a way, but it only made me more pumped up to get to it in game.
So to recap awesome detective mystery story in Yakuza/LaD universe, great band of genuine, likeable and funny characters. Much improved combat with a discount DMC feel - yes the only reason I say that is because you can juggle enemies in the air and a sizeable quantity of entertaining side content.
A strong and unique entry in the greater Yakuza franchise. It took me a little time to get into it given some of its stark differences from the Yakuza games, but it was well worth it. It has maybe the most focused narrative of any RGG game, and boasts a really strong cast of characters (and a good English dub). Its only pitfalls were some of the missions being frustrating and boring - especially the tailing missions but also some of the investigation stuff. And the combat could be fun but was definitely nothing to write home about. Probably the most unique RGG game and I am eager to start Lost Judgment.
based yagami
PURE. UNFILTERED. KINO.
Yeah I absolutely adored this one, I mean I'm kind of a sucker for detective stories so I was pretty sure I'd like it, but MAN were the story and characters so freaking fantastic.
Easily my favorite RGG title I've played yet.
Yeah I absolutely adored this one, I mean I'm kind of a sucker for detective stories so I was pretty sure I'd like it, but MAN were the story and characters so freaking fantastic.
Easily my favorite RGG title I've played yet.
i need to see kaito bouncing and moaning on it
judgment, my god this game is really good! the story is one of the most intense stories that rgg has ever mod, the gameplay was done justice! (heh) and the side content is pretty decent!
the story is really good! like one of the best stories in these games! the main character yagami is a very compelling character and definitely can hold his own as an rgg protagonist! kaito is such a joy to watch, hes funny and a very great character! sugiura is also a great character! definitely the pretty boy of the group (not calling the rest ugly they're all handsome men trust me) and higashi is pretty cool too!
the other characters from the genda law office have a pretty damn funny and great dynamic too! the main antagonist is such a horrible person but unlike yakuza 6, they're very good and such a different approach to a main antagonist!
the gameplay is where rgg finally figured out the dragon engine's combat! at first it wasnt too fast, butnot even halfway through the game and the combat gets really fun! and yagami has 2 fighting styles! crane and tiger. crane was meant to use to fight a crowd of enemies, while tiger was meant for 1 enemy, but most people use tiger as crane wasn't as good as it, yagami also has alot of new heat actions that are very fun to look at! the boss fights are also pretty decent in this game, don't got a complaint.
the side content are pretty good! some real fun ones here, and while judgment didn't introduce new minigames, the ones that got introduced are pretty fun! the soundtrack is very different from the mainline games(at least before yakuza: like a dragon) but it's still really dam good! so many good bops and bangers in here!
overall judgement was a pretty damn good game and i would highly recommend it even as your first rgg game since it has nothing to do with the ,mainline yakuza games despite being set in the same universe!
the story is really good! like one of the best stories in these games! the main character yagami is a very compelling character and definitely can hold his own as an rgg protagonist! kaito is such a joy to watch, hes funny and a very great character! sugiura is also a great character! definitely the pretty boy of the group (not calling the rest ugly they're all handsome men trust me) and higashi is pretty cool too!
the other characters from the genda law office have a pretty damn funny and great dynamic too! the main antagonist is such a horrible person but unlike yakuza 6, they're very good and such a different approach to a main antagonist!
the gameplay is where rgg finally figured out the dragon engine's combat! at first it wasnt too fast, butnot even halfway through the game and the combat gets really fun! and yagami has 2 fighting styles! crane and tiger. crane was meant to use to fight a crowd of enemies, while tiger was meant for 1 enemy, but most people use tiger as crane wasn't as good as it, yagami also has alot of new heat actions that are very fun to look at! the boss fights are also pretty decent in this game, don't got a complaint.
the side content are pretty good! some real fun ones here, and while judgment didn't introduce new minigames, the ones that got introduced are pretty fun! the soundtrack is very different from the mainline games(at least before yakuza: like a dragon) but it's still really dam good! so many good bops and bangers in here!
overall judgement was a pretty damn good game and i would highly recommend it even as your first rgg game since it has nothing to do with the ,mainline yakuza games despite being set in the same universe!
This is probably one of my favorite RGG yakuza titles so far, but it suffers from some odd design choices. The tailing missions and certain best friend requirements are tedious. The investigations are also interesting, but the mechanics of mortal wounds are not well thought out.
YAGAMIIII
Perhaps because the most recent #Yakuza games I had played were Yakuza 3, 4, and 5, which are notoriously rough around the edges, I found Judgment to be polished and refined to a surprising extent. The game features numerous quality-of-life improvements and introduces a new friendship system that enhances the appeal of open-world activities. The traditional minigames, including pool and darts, play more smoothly and are more user-friendly compared to the aforementioned remastered versions, making it easier to fulfil completion requirements. Nonetheless, the completion list and requirements are still massive and the grind is substantial, personally clocking in at 105 hours for the platinum. As is characteristic of Yakuza games, the story is stellar, featuring a mix of pathos and thrilling twists and turns, but also spaced out by the usual silliness of the substories, which create the mixed tone the Yakuza games are known for. As a video game, absolutely recommended.
Story-wise this is probably my favorite of the RGG studio games I've played, but the game is held back by some odd design choices. Tailing missions are tedious, the investigations are interesting but the controls feel wonky, and mortal wounds is probably the least well thought out system in the game.