SPOILER WARNING FOR YAKUZA: LIKE A DRAGON
Lost Judgment is a standalone sequel to Judgment, which had originally released a few years prior. The first game was a success both in Japan and worldwide despite not having the Yakuza brand in its title but the prospect of it branching out into a series seemed unlikely due to Takuya Kimura (Yagami's VA and face model) being under a talent agency that (to say the very least) is quite strict with how their talent is used, hence why we didn't see PC versions until very recently. Fortunately, in 2021, Judgment was announced to be returning with a sequel.
Lost Judgment, despite obviously being a sequel to the original Judgment, feels also like a follow-up to Yakuza: Like a Dragon from the mainline series in which the Tojo Clan and Omi Alliance formally disband. We see the aftermath of this in Lost Judgment with the main group of bad guys being a gang organisation named RK comprised of former Tojo members who didn't join Daigo and Watase's legitimate business ventures or find anything else to do. In fact, there's a lot of connections between Yakuza: Like a Dragon and Lost Judgment, with both games primarily being set in Ijincho, Yokohama. Yagami also comes across the Yokohama Liumang and the Geomijul as well, who Ichiban Kasuga previously had become acquainted with. Some familiar faces from Like a Dragon also show up.
The story primarily revolves around two cases - one involving a police officer who had been caught groping a woman on a train and the other involving bullying at Seiryo High School. Whilst seemingly unrelated, it turns out that these two cases are very much intertwined and much of the game is spent discovering the ties between them.
Plot-wise, I think this game is on par with its predecessor. Perhaps the first game was a bit more tightly paced and had the more interesting conflict, Lost Judgment's plot feels a bit more grounded in reality, touching upon more grounded issues than the nationwide medical and political conspiracy from before. The main antagonist in particular is one of the series' most interesting. Unlike the Mole from the first game, the main antagonist's motive for killing isn't just for fun and games, there's a very interesting moral dilemma between them and Yagami that persists throughout the game's latter half in which some thought-provoking perspectives are constantly put forward. It comes to the point where even your main partner Kaito isn't decided on who he believes to be right or wrong. The game serves as a massive middle finger to Japan's legal system and how ineffective it truly is and resolving the issues that plague the entire country. It's an engaging plot from start to finish with some very strong character writing and conflict, even more so than the original game.
On the gameplay front, Lost Judgment is the culmination of everything from RGG's history. Where Yakuza: Like a Dragon overhauled the combat system to be turn-based, Lost Judgment continues the real-time combat and tweaks it to perfection - it's smooth, fluid and is visually satisfying. In terms of the detective stuff, everything from the first game is here and accounted for (except wirehandling I think?) but they're used significantly less this time around, at least during the main campaign. There's only one tailing mission and it's at the very beginning of the game which is a godsend because it's still quite dull and boring but at the very least, the target moves quicker and there's more options to avoid detection. Other gimmicks like lock-picking and active search mode are also utilised from time-to-time but more liberally than before. Whilst this is an improvement, it does call into question if Judgment truly benefits from having these gameplay distinctions from the mainline series especially since they tend to be the weakest parts of these games. Not helping that case is the introduction of stealth sections which are better than tailing but still quite pointless and time-consuming. One addition I did enjoy was the parkour mechanic where instead of running head first into buildings, Yagami is forced to do some climbing around. Whilst it is quite limited since you can only do this during particular points when the game allows you to, I'd like to see this expanded upon in future entries as an alternative means of traversal. This could be a good way to bring back the verticality that Yakuza 4 brought with its version of Kamurocho.
Content-wise, this game rivals Yakuza 0 and even Yakuza 5 in how much side content there is to do. There's an abundance of side cases you can take as usual but there's the new school stories which effectively replace the friendship system from Yakuza 0 and Judgment, each primarily revolving around a unique minigame such as dancing, skateboarding, robot fighting, etc. Lost Judgment gives you plenty to do outside of the main campaign, as any RGG game does, but there's a butt-ton of it here too. Not everything is a winner but most of it is very enjoyable and they're nice pace-breakers to the main plot.
Overall, Lost Judgment is a fantastic game and quite possibly the best overall product that RGG Studios has ever put out. Whilst I still personally prefer Yakuza 0 and 6, Lost Judgment is the most refined and polished game we've ever gotten from the Yakuza franchise and is a must-play for fans of the series.
Lost Judgment is a standalone sequel to Judgment, which had originally released a few years prior. The first game was a success both in Japan and worldwide despite not having the Yakuza brand in its title but the prospect of it branching out into a series seemed unlikely due to Takuya Kimura (Yagami's VA and face model) being under a talent agency that (to say the very least) is quite strict with how their talent is used, hence why we didn't see PC versions until very recently. Fortunately, in 2021, Judgment was announced to be returning with a sequel.
Lost Judgment, despite obviously being a sequel to the original Judgment, feels also like a follow-up to Yakuza: Like a Dragon from the mainline series in which the Tojo Clan and Omi Alliance formally disband. We see the aftermath of this in Lost Judgment with the main group of bad guys being a gang organisation named RK comprised of former Tojo members who didn't join Daigo and Watase's legitimate business ventures or find anything else to do. In fact, there's a lot of connections between Yakuza: Like a Dragon and Lost Judgment, with both games primarily being set in Ijincho, Yokohama. Yagami also comes across the Yokohama Liumang and the Geomijul as well, who Ichiban Kasuga previously had become acquainted with. Some familiar faces from Like a Dragon also show up.
The story primarily revolves around two cases - one involving a police officer who had been caught groping a woman on a train and the other involving bullying at Seiryo High School. Whilst seemingly unrelated, it turns out that these two cases are very much intertwined and much of the game is spent discovering the ties between them.
Plot-wise, I think this game is on par with its predecessor. Perhaps the first game was a bit more tightly paced and had the more interesting conflict, Lost Judgment's plot feels a bit more grounded in reality, touching upon more grounded issues than the nationwide medical and political conspiracy from before. The main antagonist in particular is one of the series' most interesting. Unlike the Mole from the first game, the main antagonist's motive for killing isn't just for fun and games, there's a very interesting moral dilemma between them and Yagami that persists throughout the game's latter half in which some thought-provoking perspectives are constantly put forward. It comes to the point where even your main partner Kaito isn't decided on who he believes to be right or wrong. The game serves as a massive middle finger to Japan's legal system and how ineffective it truly is and resolving the issues that plague the entire country. It's an engaging plot from start to finish with some very strong character writing and conflict, even more so than the original game.
On the gameplay front, Lost Judgment is the culmination of everything from RGG's history. Where Yakuza: Like a Dragon overhauled the combat system to be turn-based, Lost Judgment continues the real-time combat and tweaks it to perfection - it's smooth, fluid and is visually satisfying. In terms of the detective stuff, everything from the first game is here and accounted for (except wirehandling I think?) but they're used significantly less this time around, at least during the main campaign. There's only one tailing mission and it's at the very beginning of the game which is a godsend because it's still quite dull and boring but at the very least, the target moves quicker and there's more options to avoid detection. Other gimmicks like lock-picking and active search mode are also utilised from time-to-time but more liberally than before. Whilst this is an improvement, it does call into question if Judgment truly benefits from having these gameplay distinctions from the mainline series especially since they tend to be the weakest parts of these games. Not helping that case is the introduction of stealth sections which are better than tailing but still quite pointless and time-consuming. One addition I did enjoy was the parkour mechanic where instead of running head first into buildings, Yagami is forced to do some climbing around. Whilst it is quite limited since you can only do this during particular points when the game allows you to, I'd like to see this expanded upon in future entries as an alternative means of traversal. This could be a good way to bring back the verticality that Yakuza 4 brought with its version of Kamurocho.
Content-wise, this game rivals Yakuza 0 and even Yakuza 5 in how much side content there is to do. There's an abundance of side cases you can take as usual but there's the new school stories which effectively replace the friendship system from Yakuza 0 and Judgment, each primarily revolving around a unique minigame such as dancing, skateboarding, robot fighting, etc. Lost Judgment gives you plenty to do outside of the main campaign, as any RGG game does, but there's a butt-ton of it here too. Not everything is a winner but most of it is very enjoyable and they're nice pace-breakers to the main plot.
Overall, Lost Judgment is a fantastic game and quite possibly the best overall product that RGG Studios has ever put out. Whilst I still personally prefer Yakuza 0 and 6, Lost Judgment is the most refined and polished game we've ever gotten from the Yakuza franchise and is a must-play for fans of the series.