Per wiki policy, Spoilers Off applies here and all spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
If you thought Judgment was dark, well... let's just say there's a reason why this game has a Content Warning.
Base Game
- Not ten minutes after starting the game for the first time, the viewers are exposed to perhaps THE most graphic corpse in the entire Yakuza series as the firefighters reveal the decayed, decrepit corpse of Hiro Mikoshiba full of flies and maggots that has been sitting under the tarp for months. Even before they did so, just the presence of a buzzing, tarped figure alone makes one of the firefighters want to abandon it.
- Then Kaito reveals to Yagami that the footage of Mikoshiba's murder is also leaked on the internet and is currently going viral on social media. What doesn't help is Mikoshiba realistically begging the murderer to stop before his throat gets slit and how it's reported that Mikoshiba had previously managed to get away with driving Ehara's son to suicide up until that point. On top of that, you can hear the disgusting sound of blood gushing out offscreen, and finally there's The Reveal that Ehara was the killer all along.
- The English dub adds to the above scene by not only keeping the authenticity of it all, but you get to hear Mikoshiba gurgling as his blood goes into his throat.
- And can we talk about how all of this is scored by the very unsettling and aptly named "A Show of Revenge
"? Good lord, man.
- When Akutsu and his RK goons take Yagami for interrogation, they beat him up really badly - the ominous echo and the POV camera perspective during it all makes it that much worse, and then Akutsu brings a friggin chainsaw down onto Yagami! Luckily it turns into a Moment of Awesome when Yagami persuades the goon to put the chainsaw down, and Kaito and Sugiura show up at just the right time to help him out, preventing a really grisly death. However, that leads us to...
- The discovery of Sawa's corpse. Just the fact that she's lying lifelessly on the floor with her eyes wide open in horror is a serious Tear Jerker. And they're red, indicating that she was crying as she bled out. Keep in mind that this happened just because she decided to look into the suicide of a student. Just goes to show that RK is a threat to everyone, not just investigators and other criminals. And the Public Security Bureau is completely willing to overlook this and throw someone else under the bus for her murder, just because they think it would be a hassle to find a new source of intel. And besides, the fact that someone had the absolute gall to kill an innocent and kind young woman is beyond sad, enraging, and terrifying at the same time. Which leads us to...
- Soma. Where do we even begin with him?
- Much like Kuroiwa, while he has a very affable and calm exterior, he's every bit as unhinged and sadistic as the dirty cop. Difference is that whereas Kuroiwa's true colors are very violent and overt with his psychopathy, Soma never raises his voice beyond a quiet growl or ever exerts much effort beyond a simple lunge or a swing, always waiting for the opportune moment to strike. If Kuroiwa were comparable to a human Terminator, then Soma is basically Jason or Michael Myers, but unlike them, he knows what he's doing.
- The fact that he's a Public Security agent (think the Japanese equivalent of the feared [British] Special Branch), served the Nikkyo Consortium (the Tojo Clan's covert ops branch) and his theme, "Viper" (which is littered with Scare Chords throughout), adding to his intimidation factor don't help, either.
- His scene where he stabs Kaito, leaving him in critical condition, before beating down Yagami and very nearly killing them both paint a picture of how much of a threat he is to the main cast.Soma, after stabbing Kaito: Did I ever tell you what RK stands for? (holds up his knife, covered in Kaito's blood) Red Knife.
- Near the end of the game, the location of Kawai's body is given and Soma's team manage to find it in the freezer that he's been kept in. For the last five years. Kawai's gaping expression is certainly not a lovely sight to behold, with his eyes rolled back as if he was in the middle of being possessed. The only saving grace is that he's been kept frozen, meaning his body wasn't given the chance to rot away like Mikoshiba's.
The Kaito Files
- If you thought Soma was bad enough, Kyoya is just so much worse that he may as well be one of if not THE biggest monster in the series.
- So what could be worse than an unhinged killer that's supposed to be on the side of the law? How about a perfectly stable and functioning psychopath who can enter your life at any time, claim to be a kind and caring parent, and then turn out to be anything but the man that you married and gave you a child. Most of all if you're Mikiko or Jun. Does That Remind You of Anything?
- Say what you will about Soma, but while he may not have had any qualms about killing innocent people, at least he was still a man of his word. Kyoya? He'll lie and manipulate people for his own ends without a care in the world. All to make a profit at the end of the day.
- Let it be known that Kyoya cut and outright traumatized his own son for something as minor as touching his precious knife collection. And he shows zero remorse in the act, on top of being perfectly willing to hold said son at knife point and force his own ex-wife to shoot her ex-boyfriend and frame her for his own crimes. In fact, he is actually glad Jun is so traumatized, as it makes holding him at knife point much easier.
- The entire Rhizome Party scene where the founding members are seen coughing up blood. Imagine being one of the innocent attendees at the party just enjoying a drink. You start coughing. You look at your hand. It's covered in blood. Next thing you know you die an agonizing death while everyone else around you drops like flies. Oh, and just to add insult to injury, Kyoya didn't give two shits about the innocent bystanders who just happened to be there for a drink that was intended for his former associates.
- As much of a bastard as he was, seeing Kyoya getting the life choked out of him by Kenmochi (who was thought to be dead, by the way) can still be pretty unnerving, especially with the Sickening "Crunch!" that finally takes him out of the picture.
