REVIEW : Lost Judgment (PS5)
The story of Jagami and his companions set in Tokyo Kamuruč seemed like a one-time experience. I considered the two-year-old Judgment a mere diversification and insight into the other side of the barricade, which is represented in the world of the Japanese mafia by the game series Yakuza.
An even more pleasant surprise was the announcement of a sequel called Lost Judgment, which nevertheless functions as a separate product, similar to the last part of the Yakuza. And after a long time with Jagami, I can emphasize that the new Judgment makes perfect sense.
We outgrew Kamurucho
The first hour spent in the game is as familiar as it can be with a similar title. If you played the first Judgment or Yakuza, you would feel at home, and you would not even need a map to orient yourself around Kamuruč. As in the case of Like a Dragon, however, the players naturally move from Tokyo to Yokohama, where all the essentials take place. The authors wanted to use the living city of the Yakuza to tell other stories, and that sense of awareness came even after moving to another corner of Japan.
However, you do not walk the famous streets as a Yakuza member looking for your place in the sun, but as a private eye that comes to Yokohama at the request of its former companions. Following Jagami’s example, they set up their private detective agency. Since the main word of the Lost Judgment is traditionally a story component, I will try not to go into too much detail to spoil it for you.
But I will outline the plot. While a former police officer is on trial for harassing women in the subway in Tokyo, an unknown body is discovered in Yokohama, which, to much surprise, was identified by the defendant police officer hundreds of kilometres away before the police themselves. At the same time, Jagami embarks on an investigation at Yokohama’s elite high school, where he is invited to suspect rampant bullying across the school.
What at first appears to be just the normal school problems that accompany Japan’s school and social system will soon begin to grow over Jagami’s head, cases will unpredictably intersect and develop, and the player will enjoy a full-fledged Japanese thriller with a remote in his hand. Exactly the way we like it.
So, colleague, what about your class?
At school, the player will spend a lot of time with Jagami. Firstly, because it is the main store location, and secondly, because there are a lot of side activities connected to it. Jagami becomes a consultant for a detective leisure group at school and starts flirting with a dance group and others as part of the story. Again, it is a well-crafted combination of relief minigames (dance steps are quick-time events. The player can gain useful skill points) and important topics accompanying Japanese society and conditions in local schools.
It is a classic element of the Yakuza and Judgment series, without which the overall experience would be halved. Strong themes and motives need to be compensated for something on an ongoing basis, which the authors of Ryu Go Gotor can do very well. So while you’re unravelling the main storyline, you can use your smartphone to search for side games and complete various missions scattered around Yokohama.
A sure bet
In the case of Lost Judgment, I want to tell you that if you played one such game, you played them all. And that’s partly true. For fans of the Yakuza series or players of Jagami’s first adventure, Lost Judgment will bring almost nothing new in terms of the game. These are the little things associated with moving to Yokohama, new gadgets and minigames. Still, the core of the game, the camera, the style of storytelling, and everything else remains the same as before.
On the other hand, let’s say openly that you will probably not play Lost Judgment due to the game mechanics, and you will not fail because of them. While some players, like me, may welcome a return to a more action-packed concept of combat, it’s mainly the story, the atmosphere, and the work with the characters that will make the game sit for hours and devour every dialogue the game offers. In addition, you can make the experience more pleasant with perfect Japanese dubbing (ignore English), noir music, and the stylization of countless in-game movies.
Finally, it’s worth noting that I played Lost Judgment on the PlayStation 5. Although the title doesn’t have any DualSense driver specialities up its sleeve (except for tossing coins in stealth mode, where the haptic response is at least reminiscent), it treads like a watch, looks good, and I didn’t register to load while playing. A complete experience without tedious loading of the story only helps.
