Yakuza but what if you were a law guy instead of a Yakuza guy?
The new detective angle allows for new methods of storytelling and a fresh cast of characters, all taking place in the same universe without relying on calling back to the games that came before it outside the main location and yakuza gang. And the story itself is a pretty solid mystery, with fantastic over the top action sequences that you just have to see for yourself.
The detective angle incorporates itself into gameplay too with varying degrees of success. The best of these are the chase sequences, brought back form Yakuza games but feel faster than ever. There's also lock picking which is a nice little distraction. This is the best of them though, the others tend to feel superfluous like selecting your keys to unlock a door, to drawn out and boring like tailing people which was tense at first but the further in the game they become too long.
You play as Yagami, not named Light, who in terms of combat I'd say is like Akiyama with a dash of Kiryu. He has the Crane and Tiger styles, which are best in mobs and 1v1 respectively, which generally makes it a simple choice which one to use at each given time but sometimes in mobs you can Tiger to focus on a specific one then back to Crane for the rest, so even in a simple system there's still strategy to be had.
This has nothing to do with anything, but I remember buying things at a Poppo, and I was given a record and the employee's thanks. Then I went into the office, put on that record to hear a jazzy rendition of Ave Maria. I just sat there and took it all in as the music played and Yagami healed, it was a moment that stuck with me.
All in all, Judgement is an interesting new storytelling spin with a fresh batch of characters in the Yakuza world. My Judgement? If you like any Yakuza game, you'll like this without a doubt.
The new detective angle allows for new methods of storytelling and a fresh cast of characters, all taking place in the same universe without relying on calling back to the games that came before it outside the main location and yakuza gang. And the story itself is a pretty solid mystery, with fantastic over the top action sequences that you just have to see for yourself.
The detective angle incorporates itself into gameplay too with varying degrees of success. The best of these are the chase sequences, brought back form Yakuza games but feel faster than ever. There's also lock picking which is a nice little distraction. This is the best of them though, the others tend to feel superfluous like selecting your keys to unlock a door, to drawn out and boring like tailing people which was tense at first but the further in the game they become too long.
You play as Yagami, not named Light, who in terms of combat I'd say is like Akiyama with a dash of Kiryu. He has the Crane and Tiger styles, which are best in mobs and 1v1 respectively, which generally makes it a simple choice which one to use at each given time but sometimes in mobs you can Tiger to focus on a specific one then back to Crane for the rest, so even in a simple system there's still strategy to be had.
This has nothing to do with anything, but I remember buying things at a Poppo, and I was given a record and the employee's thanks. Then I went into the office, put on that record to hear a jazzy rendition of Ave Maria. I just sat there and took it all in as the music played and Yagami healed, it was a moment that stuck with me.
All in all, Judgement is an interesting new storytelling spin with a fresh batch of characters in the Yakuza world. My Judgement? If you like any Yakuza game, you'll like this without a doubt.