Lost Judgment subverts the first game by presenting a moral dilemma unsolvable by brute forcing the black spots out of society, highlighting the fundamental challenges in Japanese government and education and its inability to properly address atrocities that occur every day. Lost Judgment becomes much more biting commentary than its predecessor by tying its story events and main message to a real world challenge that Japan has yet to meet.

Rich side content, gorgeous lighting and cinematic color grading, refined Dragon Engine, lovable high school interactions, and fanservice for those who fell in love with the original 2018 game make Lost Judgment one of the best games RGG has ever put out. That's not to mention the incredibly addictive and cathartic juggle-heavy combat, which I got so into I had to take breaks from the game due to my hands getting sore. When I get the same feeling that I get from a tense match in a real fighting game, you know you did something good with your combat.

LJ is not perfect and one can absolutely criticize some of the stiff dialogue and the use of sexual assault in the story, but it's an incredibly well thought-out and bold product from a studio that has a tendency to meander about when it comes to commenting on the larger world their series takes place in.