It’s a bit rough around the edges, but Judgment is an overall worthy successor to the Yakuza game franchise. Yagami and Kaito are fantastic and entertaining main characters, and the detective-oriented story gives a unique new perspective to the usual Yakuza narrative. Some parts get old quick, but I’m hoping Yagami and co. will stick around for future Judgment games, as there’s plenty of potential.
Judgment
Developer: Ryu ga Gotoku Studio
Price: $60
Platforms: PS4 (reviewed)
MonsterVine was provided with a PS4 code for review
The Yakuza series has always excelled at telling great stories with excellent characters. With Yakuza 6 effectively serving as the end of the core Yakuza series, Judgment has the daunting task of following up on such a beloved cast of characters. It succeeds in its narrative, with characters that have the potential to be as iconic as Kiryu and Majima
Judgment follows Takayuki Yagami; a former lawyer turned private investigator. Alongside his ex-Yakuza friend Masaharu Kaito, Yagami runs his own detective agency to pay the bills and make a difference. When the eyeless corpses of Yakuza thugs start appearing around Kamurocho, Yagami and Kaito find themselves drawn into an intriguing conspiracy with ties to Yagami’s last legal case, and Big Pharma of all things. It’s a story full of twists and turns, and it’s largely successful as an engrossing mystery. There’s some filler here and there that doesn’t seem to add anything substantial to the overall investigation, but it’s not distracting enough to take away from how fun and intriguing the story is from start to finish.
This success is largely thanks to Yagami and Kaito. That’s not to say the other characters aren’t as memorable, as Ayabe and Saori stand out too. It’s just that the friendship between Yagami and Kaito is so endearing and fun to watch that nothing else in the game can compete. The side-cases do come close though, as Judgment may have some of the goofiest side-quests in all of Yakuza, which is no easy feat. From battling punny pervs to chasing an idol’s runaway wig, Yagami is often at the center of some of the strangest and most absurdly enjoyable mini-stories in the franchise. There are plenty of side-quests and minigames to go around, so expect to be entertained well past the confines of the main story.
“It’s over-the-top and incredibly satisfying, and the ability to purchase meaningful upgrades and abilities keeps it fresh from start to finish.“
Judgment’s combat is a bit faster than the combat of Yakuza. Yagami specializes in the Tiger and Crane fighting styles, with some general acrobatic attacks like wall-jumps. Ridiculous special moves can still be performed at the cost of your Heat gauge, which can have Yagami kneeing someone’s face into a wall or shoving hot food in their mouth. It’s over-the-top and incredibly satisfying, and the ability to purchase meaningful upgrades and abilities keeps it fresh from start to finish.
The gameplay outside of combat is a bit more mixed. Tailing missions are the worst part of Judgment, as they largely consist of following an NPC for a few steps, then stopping and hiding, then following them for another few steps, stopping, ad nauseam. They’re far too common, and while I understand that they’re fitting for a detective game, they’re an absolute bore after the first time.
The same goes for the “Threat Level” mechanic that comes from free-roaming, where a specific gang will want to fight you. This makes you more prone to encounters until you fight off the four bosses of the gang. The idea is fine, it’s just another thing that happens far too often. Over and over, I’d be headed to a big story moment only to be interrupted by a text message saying I need to stop this gang. If I didn’t do it, I’d get a guilt-laden message about how I should help people when really, I just wanted to experience the story and side-plots without constant interruption, but the needlessly frequent encounters and boss fights made that difficult.
Judgment looks and sounds exceptional. The main characters’ faces are incredibly realistic, and the special attacks and cutscenes are as gloriously gratuitous as ever. The English voice-acting is actually alright, though I switched to the Japanese voice-over because I found it to be better and more natural-sounding overall.
The Final Word
It has some rough edges, but Judgment serves as a good first step for future Ryu ga Gotoku Studio titles now that Yakuza has concluded. Outside of some padding and frustrating game mechanics, the story and world of Judgment, as well as the main combat, are incredibly fun and engaging.
MonsterVine Review Score: 4 out of 5 – Good
