Back on the case

As a long time fan of the Yakuza series, I was excited for the prospect of playing a detective in its universe and while I thoroughly enjoyed the story and combat of Judgement, I felt the uneven pacing and laughably easy detective elements held the game back from achieving something special.

Luckily, the direct sequel titled, “Lost Judgement” addresses many of the concerns I had with the original to be a much more balanced and enjoyable experience.

Yagami is back to unravel another mystery.

MSRP: $59.99
Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Xbox One
Played on: PS5
Voice over options: JPN and ENG
Played: 25 hours~

Yagami and his partner Kaito make their way to Yokohama after receiving an invitation from their friends who have just started a detective agency of their own and landed their first big case. A case investigating possible bullying at a prestigious private school turns into a part of a much larger conspiracy at hand and Yagami puts everything on the line to get to the bottom of it.

Even though the story in Lost Judgement felt less personal to Yagami compared to the story arc in the original, I found it compelling all the same due to multi-faceted characters involved as well as the subject matter as the thought that bullying could cause a deep enough emotional scar to ripple into events so terrible was equal parts interesting and terrifying.

The desperate length at which a father could go to avenge the death of his child or the terrible guilt a teacher could feel when something truly awful happens under their watch and much more are explored with a respectable level of emotional maturity. When all the storylines converged together in their themes, it left a powerful impression that I’m sure to remember for some time.

There are some very dark themes featured in Lost Judgement that very much earns its Mature rating.

As for the gameplay, those who played the original would do well to expect more of the same, just with more polish and some additional activities thrown in.

The most improved area over the original isn’t one added feature but the way the various activities are spread out as I was never doing one specific thing for too long nor did one pesky activity come up too often like it did in the original and ruin the pacing.

Yagami’s activities in the private academy dubbed, “School Stories” deserve a special mention as interacting with the various clubs like the Mystery, Dancing and Robotic clubs brought their own brand of fun activities and rewards that I could use to build up Yagami’s skills to be used in combat and exploration.

The combat retains the pre-RPG brand of Yakuza mechanics of an action game and this time around, there have been a ton of unique animations added for Yagami to differentiate him more from Dragon of Dojima’s iconic move set. One particularly effective stance called “Snake” was also introduced, focusing on well timed counters which I used most of the time, but it was always a good idea to switch between the stances to suit the situation at hand and expanding Yagami’s arsenal of deadly moves felt fun and rewarding.

These street punks have no idea who they’re messing with.

It also wouldn’t be a Yakuza spin-off game if there weren’t a ton of side activities and mini-games and Lost Judgement has some of the most fun side activities of the series at large so far.

From inspiring the Dance Club with Yagami’s martial arts infused brand of choreography to building fighting robots in the Robotics Club, there is a ton of fun new activities to take part in and the best part is that most of it non-essential to the main plot so if there are some activities you don’t find interesting, you can feel free to ignore it after it’s been introduced but I personally found enjoyment in them all expect for the drone racing which is not my thing.

Lastly, my criticism of the detective elements feeling hand-holdy and pedestrian has not really been addressed and as this is supposed to be a detective story, I wish they would make those elements more challenging so I’m doing more than just following a checklist of investigations.

There is something to be said about making sure players have a smooth experience and not get stuck on puzzle like elements but a bit more pushback and test of observational/logic skills would fit the game well and sincerely hope that they address that issue in the sequel, if there is to be one.

The many numerous side activities are flushed out and fun to play and offer great rewards for those who spend the time to master them.

Lost Judgement is a step up from the original in almost every way with improved pacing, a more polished combat engine and a laundry list of fun side activities to get lost in. If not for the pedestrian detective elements, this could’ve been a new classic in the genre, and despite its notable flaws, it is still a story well worth experiencing.

Fun Tidbit – If you would like to skip over the original to play this superior sequel, I would say that you could and not feel completely lost but it would be wise to at least read the synopsis of the original first as there are many recurring characters and references to the events in the previous game at certain points.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.