I've come to realize that I've been way too harsh on this game and so I decided to give it another chance. I played it again in the context of the ironman challenge, a self imposed ruleset among Fire Emblem fans where resetting is completely banned. This challenge is, in my humble opinion, the most enjoyable way to play Fire Emblem if you have enough experience with the series, as it forces you to engage with permadeath in away that playing vanilla doesn't and also because the lack of resetting just inherently causes the game to be paced better. This is the most charitable set of conditions I could have played the game in. So what do I think of it now?
It still fucking sucks lmao

This story was surprisingly good and better than the first arc. I like the protagonist duo's dynamic and how their stories bounce off each other. Witch backstory very engaging too. Also Babe was quite a funny ally. Overall this is a short but great Yoko Taro storyline. Unfortunately it is still held back by being a mobile game with uninteresting combat.

Other Story Arc Reviews:
• First Arc: https://www.backloggd.com/u/DayChan/review/1493449/
• World People: https://www.backloggd.com/u/DayChan/review/1493465/

based.

In all seriousness this game refines all the rough edges of the original game to a sleek razors edge. A prime example of "The Perfect Sequel." Comparing this game to its remake, Kiwami 2, only further shows the amazing pacing the first 2 games had that was ruined with the excessive amounts of bloat in their lesser remakes. I don't care what anyone says this game has aged amazingly and anyone who says its unplayable is wrong. Of course its not without its issues like missable substories but its still easily one of the best entries. Ryuji Goda still remains the best foil to Kiryu the series ever had

Bring back Sayama, Nagoshi, you fucker. I miss my wife

It's story becomes very messy near the end when the scale of the conspiracy gets too large for its own good which holds this game back from being a perfect sequel in my opinion. The point of losing itself in its own nonsense is the taxi ride scene where the game and writing will not acknowledge an aspect of the dilemma that is very apparent and would have made for a more interesting story is the characters reflected on what is uncovered after this scene. So many times post this moment i wished characters would just tell Yagami he isn't seeing the bigger picture, give him the very obvious counter argument to be had. But all narrative issues aside in the last quarter, Lost Judgement is still a very solid entry worth playing. They actually made the dragon engine have fun combat......only took 4 games.........

Hacked my psp to play a fan translation of this and it was definitely worth it. This game has to be one of the most content rich packages on the PSP right up there with Dissidia Final Fantasy. The story and characters are a vast improvement from VC2 with even more gameplay refinements. Honestly to me it's the complete package for a portable game. More of everything that was good from the last one and fixes all the kinks and problems too. Really dug the story and the cutscenes. Easily a top contender for best PSP game. It's a damn shame so many people didn't get to play this game outside of Japan. I'd kill for a real localization and port.