Lost Judgment Review – Certainly Not An Elementary Sequel

The original Judgment game was a spinoff to the acclaimed Yakuza. However, with the Yakuza series now being a turn-based RPG.  It’s up to Lost Judgment to continue to deliver the traditional action-based gameplay that fans know and love?  How has it managed to succeed? Let’s find out!

Game Name: Lost Judgment
Platform(s): Xbox Series X/S (reviewed), Xbox One, PlayStation 4/5
Publisher(s): SEGA
Developer(s): Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio (RGG Studio)
Release Date: September 24, 2021

This sequel to the 2018 spinoff of the Yakuza franchise. Lost Judgment once again follows Takayuki Yagami. A lawyer turned private detective, as he investigates the murder of a student-teacher.

Primarily taking place in Ijincho, the setting of Yakuza: like a dragon. Yagami and trusted companion Kaito are called in to help investigate possible bullying at a high school. This quickly turns from a simple case about bullying. To a full-blown murder investigation of a student-teacher connected to the suicide of a former student.

What ultimately unfolds is a deeply relatable story. Lots of emotional moments, twists, turns, and more. I loved this story, it connected with me personal level. In a way that few other games ever have. It just takes a little longer to get rolling than I would like. Once it did, though, it had me hooked.

I can’t stop fighting!

Lost Judgment gameplay consists of four pillars: Investigating, Parkour, Stealth, and Combat.

Boy, oh boy! I could not stop fighting in this game; the combat in this game is a joy. Consisting of three fighting styles. Tiger has a balanced style for taking on solo enemies. Crane focused on fast movement useful against big groups. Both of these existed in the first game. Mostly remaining the same, just feeling smoother. That’s where the third fighting style comes in. The Snake style is new in Lost Judgment and is more of a defensive style as it focuses on counters and parries. What makes it the most enjoyable, though, is the EX finishers you can unlock. They are built around intimidating enemies into surrender. Given that you spend some time fending off school students in this game, it makes sense. My favourite EX move is making enemies faint by punching a wall. This new fighting style left me never wanting to avoid a fight. 

The rest of the gameplay is made up of simple but effective stealth. That amounts to crawl here, throw a coin, perform a takedown. Investigations, which remain completely the same as in the first game. Last but not least, Parkour which again is simple but effective. Use one button and directions while keeping an eye on the grip gauge. Just so you don’t fall. While these mechanics aren’t as engaging or fun as combat. They never felt like a chore to do and were always a welcome change of pace.

Top Class Presentation…almost

RGG studios Dragon Engine once again delivers some stunning visuals and great audio. This is evident from the opening credits scene just after the prologue. It feels and looks almost TV-like.  Many elements will be familiar to Yakuza veterans. Things like menus and map design remain largely unchanged. If something isn’t broken, don’t fix it as they say. The environments look as great as ever; the main characters’ faces are a real stand-out. I can not only see the emotions on these faces; I can feel them. Audio plays a massive part here, especially the score. It amplifies the emotion and atmosphere of any moment. Whether it be a death scene or a boss fight. The synergy between these living faces and music in cutscenes is key to what makes Lost Judgment’s story so powerful. Combine this with smooth combat animations, kicks, and punches that sound as hard as they look. Along with well-used visual/audio cues. What you end up with is a game that has a top-class presentation.

Unfortunately, that’s not quite the case. Firstly the complete lack of any lip-syncing for those using English audio is a huge problem. Massively distracting from what are great voice acting performances from the English cast. Taking away from important and powerful scenes through the core story. There is another option, Japanese audio with English subtitles. Which is a great way to play and eliminates the lip-sync problem. It’s such a shame that the English audio is let down by this. Secondly, the lack of variety in weapon sound effects, many sound so similar you wouldn’t know the difference. While this isn’t a major problem, it left me disappointed. Mostly because the weapons all sound impactful and hard-hitting. I just wish we had a bit more variation given how many weapons are available. The other major disappointment is the side content; it just doesn’t measure up to the great look and sound of the core story. For two reasons, firstly, the voice acting is much less prevalent here. With much of the dialogue getting delivered through text boxes. Secondly, the characters used are visually sub-par compared to those found in the main quest. Faces often look devoid of emotions. This brings down what is otherwise a stellar presentation across the board. 

The Wacky and Weird

Speaking of when it comes to the side content of Lost Judgment. There is so much to choose from. Side Cases, Random Quests, Arcades, and more. This content is where you find the wacky, weird and wonderful. That the Yakuza universe is known for. It’s a welcome distraction from the serious themes of the main story.

Whether it be running around Ijincho with a detective dog. Hunting down an evil detective or drone racing. Even playing darts. All this content is fun and imaginative. With some great and memorable characters. It’s just a shame that lower production value in this content often left me feeling less engaged. The side content never kept its hooks in me for long. Making up only about five hours of my thirty-hour playtime. I did enjoy every side quest I took on and had some wonderful moments in them. Once the story ramped up, none of it was strong enough to pull me away.

Technical Experience 

I spent most of my time with the game in high-resolution mode. It ran flawlessly with zero bugs or frame drops. There is a higher frame rate mode for those that prefer that, and it seemed to run very well. With minimal frame drops. Only really dropping during heavier gameplay sections with many enemies on screen.

Overall Thoughts

I came late to Lost Judgment, but it was well worth the wait. Great combat that never got boring. A story and characters that I will never forget. One that hit me in a way I didn’t expect and couldn’t wait to get back to. It did start slower out of the gate. In the end, even that slow start was meaningful.

The balance between the relatable and impactful story with the charm and uniqueness of the Yakuza universe. The game is amazing, and it feels like this game shouldn’t be possible. This was the first game in years to bring genuine emotion out of me and is one that will stick with me for a long time. Regardless of its terrible English lip-syncing. 

Playing Lost Judgment never once felt like a chore; I enjoyed every moment. Nothing felt unworthy of my time. The story just had its hooks so deep in me. It made it easy to ignore the other great stuff on offer. The lesser production value outside of the main quest was also a factor. Just not the defining factor! That always came back to the excellent story. Never wanting to be away from it for too long.

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