As a Yakuza series veteran, it was interesting to step into Judgment. This game marks a complete departure of the main branch of the series, and I was curious to see how they would pull it off. None of the previous characters show up, and at most the Tojo clan is used more as background setup information. So how would this new series survive without the heroic stoic of Kiryu or the crazy manic Majima?
Surprisingly well, turns out.
Gameplay-wise, one of the strongest points of the studio is that they are able to refine and rework flaws from previous works, and this is still true here. In the new dragon Engine, Kiru had cement shoes in 6, felt like covered in tar in kiwami 2, but here Yagami feels clunky and slow only in the beginning before upgrading his speed. I still prefer the combat in 0, but I have to give credit to where credit is due. Sadly the main quest minigames are either frustrating or weird, like the slow-as-molasses stalking sections or the wire unlocking minigame that is only seen... once or twice the whole main game. I actually enjoyed drone racing, at least until the last tournament where the difficulty was ramped so fast it gave me whiplash. The 'fatal wounds' mechanic and the fact that the narrative halts every hour to force me to fight the same damn gang bosses wasn't good, though.
As for the story itself, its a complete tonal shift. Fans of the dramatic over-the-top style may be disappointed with the lack of 'crying in the rain' moments, but this is the tightest story of the studio yet. Normally to play a yakuza game, you need a moderate-to-high willing suspension of disbelief *coughrubberbulletscough* but here, the plotholes are minimal and nearly everything is explained. I still prefer the emotional impact of 0 or boldness of the topics of 7, but this story still packs a punch, talking about roads to hell paved with good intentions, corruption and sensitive topics to japanese. The reveal of who is the mole was a huge letdown for me. I missed him because of how obvious he would be instead of how good the twist would be. He turns to be a generic grinning psychopath with flimsy motivations that appears literally three times before the reveal. Beating Hamura was way more satisfying too than the final fight.
Weirdly, if I had to point out a weak, sore thumb to this game it would be... Yagami himself. He doesn't feel like his own character, more like a stand-in for his super-popular actor. He is a 35 year old that dresses like a teenager (a bland one, even), walks and poses like a model (even when he is being grinded by the police he puts a hand on his pocket and bends his knee a bit as if he was going to be photographed by a fashion reporter), his 'flaws' are that he 'cares too much' and 'blames himself too much' which are stock shonen-style traits and absolutely has no charisma whatsoever, especially when paired with Larger-Than-Life Kaito. Although this does result in a nice dynamic that I wish I had seen more of.
Another serious problem is that the narrative doesn't know what kind of character Yagami is, either he is a glass-cannon like Jackie Chan who has to use wits during fights against insurmountable odds, or he is the 'I can beat a whole crew by myself' toughie like Kiryu. Those are diametrically opposed styles, yet the narrative tries to sell that he is both. His romantic endeavors aren't pretty either, because out of 4 ladies he can shack with, 3 are women recently attacked by sexual predators, which makes him sound like a sleazebag opportunist, and while Kiryu's flings were more or less implied to be that, flings, Yagami hammers how he has a girlfriend... and goes to the next one. And by the end of the adventure he decides to continue as a private investigator instead of returning to be a lawyer because somethingsomething status quo. I asked myself 'Why can't he just be both? That would show growth and adaptation.' but cue credits.
Overall, I enjoyed it and recommend me. Weirdly if they want to grow, I think they will have to separate Yagami from his actor, which seems unlikely due to the enormous popularity of said VA.
VideoGame A story as tight as Yagami's pants.
As a Yakuza series veteran, it was interesting to step into Judgment. This game marks a complete departure of the main branch of the series, and I was curious to see how they would pull it off. None of the previous characters show up, and at most the Tojo clan is used more as background setup information. So how would this new series survive without the heroic stoic of Kiryu or the crazy manic Majima?
Surprisingly well, turns out.
Gameplay-wise, one of the strongest points of the studio is that they are able to refine and rework flaws from previous works, and this is still true here. In the new dragon Engine, Kiru had cement shoes in 6, felt like covered in tar in kiwami 2, but here Yagami feels clunky and slow only in the beginning before upgrading his speed. I still prefer the combat in 0, but I have to give credit to where credit is due. Sadly the main quest minigames are either frustrating or weird, like the slow-as-molasses stalking sections or the wire unlocking minigame that is only seen... once or twice the whole main game. I actually enjoyed drone racing, at least until the last tournament where the difficulty was ramped so fast it gave me whiplash. The 'fatal wounds' mechanic and the fact that the narrative halts every hour to force me to fight the same damn gang bosses wasn't good, though.
As for the story itself, its a complete tonal shift. Fans of the dramatic over-the-top style may be disappointed with the lack of 'crying in the rain' moments, but this is the tightest story of the studio yet. Normally to play a yakuza game, you need a moderate-to-high willing suspension of disbelief *coughrubberbulletscough* but here, the plotholes are minimal and nearly everything is explained. I still prefer the emotional impact of 0 or boldness of the topics of 7, but this story still packs a punch, talking about roads to hell paved with good intentions, corruption and sensitive topics to japanese. The reveal of who is the mole was a huge letdown for me. I missed him because of how obvious he would be instead of how good the twist would be. He turns to be a generic grinning psychopath with flimsy motivations that appears literally three times before the reveal. Beating Hamura was way more satisfying too than the final fight.
Weirdly, if I had to point out a weak, sore thumb to this game it would be... Yagami himself. He doesn't feel like his own character, more like a stand-in for his super-popular actor. He is a 35 year old that dresses like a teenager (a bland one, even), walks and poses like a model (even when he is being grinded by the police he puts a hand on his pocket and bends his knee a bit as if he was going to be photographed by a fashion reporter), his 'flaws' are that he 'cares too much' and 'blames himself too much' which are stock shonen-style traits and absolutely has no charisma whatsoever, especially when paired with Larger-Than-Life Kaito. Although this does result in a nice dynamic that I wish I had seen more of.
Another serious problem is that the narrative doesn't know what kind of character Yagami is, either he is a glass-cannon like Jackie Chan who has to use wits during fights against insurmountable odds, or he is the 'I can beat a whole crew by myself' toughie like Kiryu. Those are diametrically opposed styles, yet the narrative tries to sell that he is both. His romantic endeavors aren't pretty either, because out of 4 ladies he can shack with, 3 are women recently attacked by sexual predators, which makes him sound like a sleazebag opportunist, and while Kiryu's flings were more or less implied to be that, flings, Yagami hammers how he has a girlfriend... and goes to the next one. And by the end of the adventure he decides to continue as a private investigator instead of returning to be a lawyer because somethingsomething status quo. I asked myself 'Why can't he just be both? That would show growth and adaptation.' but cue credits.
Overall, I enjoyed it and recommend me. Weirdly if they want to grow, I think they will have to separate Yagami from his actor, which seems unlikely due to the enormous popularity of said VA.