Judgment (PS4) Review

Justice is blind.

Judgment or "Judge Eyes" in Japan, is the latest offering from the team that brought you the action-packed Yakuza games and last year's surprise Fist of the North Star game, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio. A spin-off of the aforementioned series, you play as a top dog lawyer-turned-detective after his promising career is cut short. I've been excited ever since Judgment's initial announcement last year, as it feels like something fresh and new after the onslaught of recent Yakuza games, which were great by the way. Featuring a new take on the bustling city of Kamurocho through the eyes of a detective, you must gather clues and investigate leads in order to catch a mysterious serial killer causing chaos around town. Judgement is one of the most anticipated games of the year and now that it's finally here, does it manage to live up to expectations? Let's start digging.


 Takayuki Yagami is a sharp lawyer with a promising career ahead of him. However, his career is cut short when he gets a murderer acquitted. Now three years later, he runs a detective agency alongside his ex-yakuza buddy, Kaito, in the Kamurocho district of Tokyo. Yagami's latest case has him investigating a serial killer whose been gouging the eyes of yakuza members right out of their skulls-- whom he names as "The Mole". It's not long after that Yagami finds himself in a world of trouble when he gets himself tangled in a shady corporate conspiracy that ties directly to the murders. Initially, the pacing can be dreadfully slow, but the story manages to reel you in with twists after turns and edge-of-your seat moments. The team at Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios are masters at making engaging stories. I ended up loving Yagami, who's a more laid-back yet troubled character than previous Yakuza characters. He's definitely up there with the likes of Kiryu and Majima, in my opinion. The side-characters are also worth mentioning as I also enjoyed seeing them on-screen. Kaito is brash as hell and has a tendency of sorting things out with his fists whenever its convenient, Sugiura appears to be mysterious at first but grows on you with his sarcastic remarks and street-smart attitude, and Ayabe is a carefree dirty cop, whose got all the latest scoops and dirt... at a price. Simply put, the characters were likable and enjoyed the interactions with them throughout the story.

Get ready for a slow yet interesting detective noir thriller.

 If you've played a Yakuza game or watched a few videos of them, then you know how things go down. The game follows the same formula of you exploring around Kamurocho as Yagami, interacting with your surroundings and beating thugs senseless. There are a few additions that sets it apart from the Yakuza series, most notably being the detective-styled gameplay elements. In terms of actual gameplay, Yagami is more athletic compared to Kiryu as he can wall-jump and leap behind enemies. He also has two fighting stances to switch between: Crane and Tiger. Crane is more suited to group encounters as Yagami unleashes a flurry of kicks to keep distance while Tiger prioritizes brute punches and is ideal for one-to-one fights. I found myself equally switching between styles though later in the game, I've been almost exclusively been using Crane as the skills you learn for it can be pretty overpowered. Similar to the Yakuza games' "Heat" mode, Yagami has an "EX Gauge" that when fully charged, allows him to dish out more powerful attacks and sweet finishers.

The gameplay is your standard Yakuza beat-'em-up, 

but the new detective elements make things feel fresh.

 You'll be performing some routine detective work throughout the course of the game. Early in the game you'll be tailing targets throughout Kamurocho, stealthy creeping up on them and avoiding their line of sight. Later on you'll be investigating crime scenes in first-person view, scanning for any potential clues or gather photographic evidence from suspects by pulling up your phone. Often times, you'll be forced to lock-pick a door to get inside a building and donning a disguise so that no one notices you. It's pretty absurd what you can do as a detective at times and I enjoyed some of these gameplay elements. However, I felt that some of them grew tiresome after a while, most notably being the tailing missions as they tended to drag on to the point where I was bored out of my mind.

While they started off interesting, tailing 

missions can become a chore later on.

 Yagami's phone is a helpful tool as you play the game. Here, you can view messages from characters, take cat pictures and goofy selfies, upgrade gameplay skills, pilot your own drone! Yep, on cases you'll have access to your drone where you can hover around buildings to scout points of interest and gather clues. It doesn't end here, as there's a drone racing league in Kamurocho where you can customize your drone's various parts such as frame, motor, propeller, and turbo and race against other opponents to become the #1 drone racer in town. It's similar to Yakuza 0 and Kiwami's Pocket Circuit mini-game, only you can fully control your drone in races. I found drone racing to be a fun little distraction though not as engaging as pocket circuit though. Oh, and I almost forgot that there's a Kickstarter-inspired app where you crowdfund projects by donating money to them. Some projects will reward you with rare items such as drone parts and skill books for you to use, giving you a slight incentive to invest in the dreams of others.

The game's not short on side-content that'll keep

you occupied for a long while.

 As always, there's a lot of side-content to partake in Kamurocho. You can meet and befriend strangers on the street by helping them out with some of their problems. Maxing friend bonds will often yield cool perks such as a portion of the EX Gauge gets filled when you greet them and better yet, some friends might even join you in fights if they're nearby. Other stuff include visiting the batting center to improve your batting skills, heading to the bar for a quick game of darts, or just beat thugs around town. If all that's not your thing then The Sega Arcade is home to many arcade gems made by Sega such as Space Harrier, Fantasy Zone, Puyo Puyo, and Motor Raid that you might enjoy. There's some neat fighting games like Fighting Vipers and Virtua Fighter 5 too. I liked the Yakuza: Dead Souls-inspired "Kamuro of the Dead" rail-shooter game where you're shooting wave after wave of mutated zombies, definitely gave me The House of the Dead vibes.

 My favorite mini-game has to be the Dice and Cube, located at the VR Park. Basically, it's a table-top styled game where you navigate through a digitized Kamurocho by rolling a dice, with the goal being to reach the finish line before all of you lose all of your dice. Each spot you land on features either cool rewards ranging from high-grade food to cash prizes to some tough enemy fights. I loved the randomness thrown into the game as you won't how things will unfold in each game, giving it a sense of freshness each time. That and I loved the flashy aesthetic and catchy music of the game, thank god it's not a lootbox!

Objection!

 Just like the Yakuza games, Judgement has its fair share of side-cases which are nothing short of absurd or even crazy at times. These side-cases will often put Yagami's detective skills to use in finding a lost cat, gather photographic evidence for an infidelity case, or just tailing them. Oddly enough, the best cases where the ones that didn't involve any detective work. There are weird cases where you must chase down a celebrity's flying wig, role-play as a famous vampire, and track down and beat the hell out of a group of pervs with names like "Ass Catchem", "Panty Professor", "Judge Creep n Peep", and "Giant Impact" to boot. It's so weird that it just makes you want laugh at how over-the-top it all is. There's a total of 50 side cases in game, with some being good while others being all right.


 Being the latest RGG game that utilizes the Dragon Engine, Judgement looks stunning, in large due to the top-notch character models and realistic backgrounds. The streets of Kamurocho are crowded and are filled with life, mainly due to the colorful streets and lively inhabitants. Aside from a few performance dips and 30 FPS lock, the game runs relatively well on the PS4 and PS4 Pro. Still, one aspect that bothered were the loading times, which can be dreadfully slow at times. Judgement marks the first time in 12 years that a RGG game received both an English and Japanese dub, with both featuring English subtitles. I exclusively played the game using the Japanese dub and I have to say that it's one of the best performances I've ever heard-- even though I'm not native speaker. Actor/singer Takuya Kimura pours his soul in delivering a believable performance as Yagami and it shows throughout the game's heated moments. The same can also be said to the rest of the cast specifically the actors playing Kaito, Hamura, and Kuroiwa, who all deliver fantastic performances as well. The English performances are good, with many neat performances, though at first they felt off-sounding at times. Nonetheless, it's a great option to have for those whoa aren't fans of reading. The soundtrack packs action-packed and some detective noir tracks that were great to listen to. My personal favorite has to be the catchy and upbeat VR park theme.

The production values are outstanding, which comes

as no surprise from RGG Studio.

 Without a doubt, Judgment exceeded my expectations and then some. While the game is mostly similar to the Yakuza games, it manages to be different enough thanks to its new gameplay additions that it feels like a brand new game. I really enjoyed the story and characters, both of them being among the game's strongest highlights. The gameplay is great, with both fighting styles being varied enough and the huge amount of side-content will surely entertain you for a long while. The presentation is exceptional-- as expected from RGG-- with stunning visuals and phenomenal performances from the talented cast. The game is by no means a quick venture if you're planning on experiencing everything it has to offer, my playthrough took me nearly 50 hours and I still haven't explored everything in the game yet. All around, Judgement was a fun experience and is easily among my favorite games of the year, fingers crossed for a sequel!