This review contains spoilers
Lost Judgment is incredible. Yakuza 0 is likely always going to be my favorite RGG title, but Lost Judgment takes the cake for their best game.
The Combat was an incredible step up from the first game. I did have some issues with it towards the end... mainly with how slow the animations are; I wish this game had better cancel animations, especially since they clearly want you to dodge/parry and not button mash, but it's very satisfying to play otherwise. The detective mechanics were still present, but they felt a lot more toned down, and they were also just less present in the main campaign.
I didn't do much of the side content, but I liked what I did more than the first game. Amasawa was a genuine delight and I'm interested in doing the side content purely for more interactions with her (if they do make a third game, I hope she gets at least a cameo). Dance stuff was cool too.
The story wasn't as strong as the first game, but it was still good imo. It's a lot more personal, and while messy at times, it really stuck with me. I have a lot of thoughts on the central theme, but I really do love the message it sends.
The characters were great too. All of the returning characters were great. Hoshino did kind of get relegated to comic relief (a shame because he was my favorite in the first game) but he was still enjoyable. I loved how they expanded on the friendship between Saori and Yagami. I like how Sugiura was integrated too; he's no longer heavily connected to the emotional core of the story, but his dynamic is great imo. Kaito is HIM, love than man. Higashi was an excellent blend of genuinely cool and dorky af. Mafuyuu was sadly not all that present (another shame because her dynamic with Kaito and Yagami was cute) but it was still neat seeing her again; and Genda was solid too. I liked Tsukumo's increased role too.
The new characters were pretty excellent too. Sawa-sensei is not a character I expected to care about as much as I did, but I really liked her. I dunno, I just have a soft spot for characters that care so much. She’s someone who’s suffered a lot and carries such a large burden on herself, but she’s still a genuinely good person who tries so hard to fight in whatever way she can. I felt like genuinely empty inside when she died because she only ever tried to do good and she was killed simply because she cared too much. I wish we got more than just the rooftop scene, but it was enough to convey what I needed to know about her. Another minor character who I completely loved was Tesso. He’s just a delightfully chill character and I loved all of the “Anaki” stuff. Another character architype I have a soft spot for (the character who is super chill and just follows their gut feelings). The antagonists in this game were also incredible. Soma is such a slippery son a bitch, but I can’t help but admire how much of a shit he is. He’s not quite Adachi level (plus Adachi has the whole paralleling Yu thing going on) but he’s such an effective villain; I hated that man, but I loved hating him. And I mean, where do I begin with Kuwana. He is a fantastic antagonist. He’s completely justified in wanting to seek justice for victims of bullying, especially because of how they’re failed by the justice system, but murdering bullies is just not productive. I thought Yagami’s words during the trial were really impactful; you can’t go around enacting your own justice, it’s the job of the law to bring justice. The law in its current state is not saving those who need saving, so it’s the job of its creators and those who enact it to fix that. I don’t think Kuwana is wrong for how he feels, and I mean he very clearly does regret his lack of action before, but he’s only caused more issues than he’s solved. You can't keep redefining "justice" so it serves your own actions. I don’t condone Kuwana, but I do understand him. He’s a fascinating character, and he really did make me rethink my own thought process; I like characters who do that.
Lost Judgment is far from a perfect game, but it’s pretty damn close and it had a pretty big impact on me. I know there are some complications with continuing this IP, but I really hope RGG is able to work things out and bring us a new Judgment game because this series is so fucking good.
The Combat was an incredible step up from the first game. I did have some issues with it towards the end... mainly with how slow the animations are; I wish this game had better cancel animations, especially since they clearly want you to dodge/parry and not button mash, but it's very satisfying to play otherwise. The detective mechanics were still present, but they felt a lot more toned down, and they were also just less present in the main campaign.
I didn't do much of the side content, but I liked what I did more than the first game. Amasawa was a genuine delight and I'm interested in doing the side content purely for more interactions with her (if they do make a third game, I hope she gets at least a cameo). Dance stuff was cool too.
The story wasn't as strong as the first game, but it was still good imo. It's a lot more personal, and while messy at times, it really stuck with me. I have a lot of thoughts on the central theme, but I really do love the message it sends.
The characters were great too. All of the returning characters were great. Hoshino did kind of get relegated to comic relief (a shame because he was my favorite in the first game) but he was still enjoyable. I loved how they expanded on the friendship between Saori and Yagami. I like how Sugiura was integrated too; he's no longer heavily connected to the emotional core of the story, but his dynamic is great imo. Kaito is HIM, love than man. Higashi was an excellent blend of genuinely cool and dorky af. Mafuyuu was sadly not all that present (another shame because her dynamic with Kaito and Yagami was cute) but it was still neat seeing her again; and Genda was solid too. I liked Tsukumo's increased role too.
The new characters were pretty excellent too. Sawa-sensei is not a character I expected to care about as much as I did, but I really liked her. I dunno, I just have a soft spot for characters that care so much. She’s someone who’s suffered a lot and carries such a large burden on herself, but she’s still a genuinely good person who tries so hard to fight in whatever way she can. I felt like genuinely empty inside when she died because she only ever tried to do good and she was killed simply because she cared too much. I wish we got more than just the rooftop scene, but it was enough to convey what I needed to know about her. Another minor character who I completely loved was Tesso. He’s just a delightfully chill character and I loved all of the “Anaki” stuff. Another character architype I have a soft spot for (the character who is super chill and just follows their gut feelings). The antagonists in this game were also incredible. Soma is such a slippery son a bitch, but I can’t help but admire how much of a shit he is. He’s not quite Adachi level (plus Adachi has the whole paralleling Yu thing going on) but he’s such an effective villain; I hated that man, but I loved hating him. And I mean, where do I begin with Kuwana. He is a fantastic antagonist. He’s completely justified in wanting to seek justice for victims of bullying, especially because of how they’re failed by the justice system, but murdering bullies is just not productive. I thought Yagami’s words during the trial were really impactful; you can’t go around enacting your own justice, it’s the job of the law to bring justice. The law in its current state is not saving those who need saving, so it’s the job of its creators and those who enact it to fix that. I don’t think Kuwana is wrong for how he feels, and I mean he very clearly does regret his lack of action before, but he’s only caused more issues than he’s solved. You can't keep redefining "justice" so it serves your own actions. I don’t condone Kuwana, but I do understand him. He’s a fascinating character, and he really did make me rethink my own thought process; I like characters who do that.
Lost Judgment is far from a perfect game, but it’s pretty damn close and it had a pretty big impact on me. I know there are some complications with continuing this IP, but I really hope RGG is able to work things out and bring us a new Judgment game because this series is so fucking good.