In terms of plot, it's probably my favorite game of the studio with Yakuza 7 (and now Lost Judgment since I finished it after the first one), it's really well-constructed, gripping, cohesive from A to Z, while being very dark (even if it's still a RGG game so it's a bit shonen at times). The pacing is a bit off during the 4 first chapters though.
The casting is solid, Yagami is a really interesting protagonist with a lot of charisma, the fact that he's a detective gives a different aura to the game compared to the Yakuza games, and it makes it really engaging.
The combat took me a bit of time to get used to it, but when you unlock the good upgrades, it becomes very fun to play since Yagami is very agile and has fast combos. The final boss is also my favorite of the studio, never a fight of this studio has been so intense while being very fun.
The tailing aspect is not very good though, it's a bit a chore and it's a shame so many sidecases are reliant to this mechanic. The Keihin gang was also not a brillant idea since sometimes you just want to continue the main quest or a sidecase, but there are a lot of mobs harassing you.
I have complaints about the game but it's really a great game, a must-play for Yakuza fans and newbies if you are interesting by a gripping murder mystery while having fun beating up your enemies.
I hope Lost Judgment will leave up to the quality of the first game, but I'm confident since this studio does not know how to miss their games.

9/10, I love the penumbra

Reviewed on Dec 10, 2021


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