I was really excited to dig into this one but was pretty let down. There's a cool story buried away under frustrating pacing and some of the worst required gameplay mechanics in the franchise. Any time I felt like I was making good progress in the game and having a good time following the story I was hit with a required tailing mission with no warning and it really just grinds the game to a stop for me. It's made more frustrating when the story feels like it's picking up speed and then the required main objective is to do something that would've been completely fine as a substory.

on the positives this feels like the best substories have been in RGG games and Yagami's combat styles while a bit weird to adjust to feel really good after leveling combo speed up. I enjoyed the ending and getting to know a group of characters that I hope continue beyond the sequel, and very excited at the prospect of Yagami's Journey crossing paths with Ichiban's at some point. Hope I like Lost Judgment a whole lot more though.