Lost judgment review series#

Trailing suspects, gathering clues, and even foot chases are all very controlled, with players shoehorned into doing specific things to progress or succeed. It would have been nice, though, to have a little more freedom of choice in how Yagami's investigations turn out. In some fights, he simply scares them into submission. Even combat, which is gratifyingly cinematic thanks to some creative and unexpected choreography (chopsticks make for remarkably effective weapons), doesn't blemish Yagami's charismatic aura, since, unlike most action game heroes, he aims to subdue rather than kill his opponents, even if they're trying to kill him.

Lost judgment review series#

They're a ragtag crew of interesting characters who - unlike some of the morally ambiguous mobsters of the main Yakuza series - are easy to root for, since their goal is to do right by their friends and clients and serve justice to some clearly bad folks. And they'll probably like most of the main cast, too. By the time players become enmeshed in the game's major mystery, they'll feel like they know everyone. Lost Judgment lays out all the franchise history players need (which isn't much) early on, providing relevant information about Yagami's past while organically introducing us to his key associates through the cases he takes. You don't need to have played the original Judgment - or, indeed, any of the Yakuza games - to easily get into this non-numbered follow-up. It's an expansive game that players can expect to spend upwards of 50 hours exploring, should they seek out everything it has to offer. Our hero has a trio of fighting styles he can quickly switch between, each of which is best suited to specific situations, such as the Snake style, which is useful to scare and intimidate enemies. Along the way, players will run into plenty of shady characters who aren't willing to let Yagami proceed unscathed, resulting in intense kung fu encounters. Side quests provide breaks from the main story, including a series of fun investigations set within a high school, where Yagami teams up with the Mystery Research Club to uncover the misdeeds of an enigmatic figure. Players spend much of their time exploring urban streets and engaging in a variety of activities, from trailing suspects and looking for clues in order to further their investigations to playing a variety of mini-games, including drone races, dance challenges, classic arcade games, cat and dog interactions, dating, and more. He finds himself becoming embroiled in a complex criminal investigation involving the alleged murder of a student by a police officer who's grieving his son's suicide, which was apparently caused by bullying. LOST JUDGMENT, a sequel to Judgment (a spin-off game in the Yakuza series), puts players in the shoes of Takayuka Yagami, a private detective and one time lawyer.

Characters frequently use very strong language, including the words 'f-k,' 's-t,' and 'd-khead.' Show more Parents should also note that Yagami and other characters smoke and drink to excess, and that certain challenges and achievements involve getting drunk and increasing his alcohol tolerance. Players will also encounter frank conversations about dating, sexual assault, and prostitution, with words like 'groping' and 'slut' appearing in dialogue. But these issues are handled with some delicacy, the main characters discussing how best to protect victims emotionally and physically before taking action. Story themes are mature, with talk of sexual assault, suicide, and bullying in a high school setting. Plus, players are exposed to blood and gore in non-interactive scenes, including a dead body covered in flies and maggots. Yagami is generally a law-abiding fellow who stops short of killing his attackers, but his enemies use knives, guns, and other weapons in a bid to kill him. Players spend most of their time investigating - talking to others, following suspects, taking photographs, and looking for clues - but occasionally get into frenetic, highly stylized fistfights with bone-crunching melee attacks. It's set in free-to-explore urban locations in Japan and stars a lawyer-turned-detective named Takayuki Yagami, a master martial artist who uses a mix of street smarts and fisticuffs to discover the truth for his clients. Parents need to know Lost Judgment is a detective/action game for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.