Developer/publisher: Sega.
Platform: PC/PS4/5.
Official Site: N/A.
Release date: 23/04/2021
Official Site: N/A.
Release date: 23/04/2021
Okay since not knowing what to play next and spying this game on sale for 15$
I decided why not? why should I not try another spinoff game in the ryu-ga-gotoku universe
and fall deeper into its rabbit hole. The decision to get this may also seem like I just
don't want to play yakuza 1 to 6 and well you're right I don't! atleast not right now.
Also for some reason only the PS5 ver was on sale at first and not the PS4 version which went
on sale later? idk the psn spring sales were really weird cuz they kept changing things.
Pro's
- Really good mystery that comes together really well.
- Great cast of characters, from bro's to friends and terrible villains.
- Cats.
Con's
- Game can be a bit too punishing with its mortal wounds mechanic.(Also
next time maybe not put the doctor that sells medkits in such an out of the way area.)
More rambles after the jump.
Unlike Yakuza series, this game is more mystery oriented as you play as an disgraced
lawyer named Takayuki Yagami who ends up quitting and becoming an detective in kamurocho.
I won't be mentioning any real plot spoilers outside of some little things or a screenshot.
The mystery aspect was pretty great and it was nice uncovering the greater truth by the end
of the game it all came together so well and it made sense. However I did find that this
game can be a little obtuse at times. You really do have to pay attention to literally
everything when in search mode, I was literally stuck in the security room
for 10 minutes in chapter 1 till I found the right desk to point me in the right direction.
You can also find random cats during those searches as well, only main story ones though!
as there are a few ones without them but as long as you hear a meow try and find them. It can be
hard cuz you really gotta look for them and can be easy to miss but its rewarding in its own right.
I did dislike the drone search though, thing was so awkward to control I wanted to cry, lol.
Thankfully the main story did not have many sessions with that.
There was also a minigame dedicated to it where you race with other drones but I skipped out on it.
Also there was a trophy for piloting that thing for an hour(same session) and i'm like
wtf RGG studios?! are you high!? i'd rather try and find some cats.......... smh.
Minigames seemed okay, I just thought there were less fun ones? or they were hidden
really well cuz I never found them. I'm gonna pass on the VR board minigame though.
This game seems a real pain to 100% too... but so are other RGG games
it was still nice exploring at times? sometimes there were nice locations!
 |
| Walked into this random room when looking for an npc and its like which one of you is Kaito? |
Speaking of cats... I could not figure out if Yagami liked cats or not cuz at times
it seems like he hated the critters? but by the end of the game I think he actually likes them.
There was a sub quest were you had to find missing stray cats too( I never finished
that one but I did find the ones from search mode, maybe I should actually do this one.)
Okay Yagami do you dislike cats or not? now don't be a tsundere.
 |
| Funniest substory I found... |
but there was not as much mood whiplash sure there's some fun substories here and there
but nothing too crazy, I say as you chase some wig around at some point.
I did enjoy seeing the random townfolk dialogues some of them were legit funny I can't.
So that was a nice touch! I made a couple of screenshots of the ones that made me laugh.
I believe we have found the culprit...😂 which is Yagami.
Still I want to say that this game was still pretty much a Yakuza game in disguise
there's just a different protag and who's an ex-lawyer doing detective work. Its great
to spice things up from the main series but at its core... there's gonna
be yakuza and its not gonna be all sugar&rainbows.
Battles are pretty much the same too but I liked it more? perhaps it was Yagami's style? idk.
Some of the co-op moves with NPC's that tag along or ex moves are pretty cool though!
Blood can be set to mild but cutscenes still do have a fair amount regardless of the setting
but its great if you don't wanna see any in random battles. I played on easy mode
and saw there was a simple mode as well but I guess that is really only for people
that don't like brawlers or want to try? its nice as an option I think.
 |
| I liked this move in particular, really shows they're bro's. |
Sadly I didn't like how easy it was to bump into things and break itor how I actually
got lost for a second in the Don Quijote store. Yes........... I miss older yakuza games were the MC
just walks up to the counter and buys stuff. I can't believe we now can get lost in stores SMH.
Anyway seems to be a series staple to just bump into people/objects.... only other
gameplay gripe was that you could only get medkits from some guy in the sewer
as well as treatment which repairs your health bar if you take mortal blows
which I found pretty ew and not fun since it happened a lot. This game can actually
be punishing if you're not watching your opponents moves and act accordingly.
THANKFULLY i've read up they've removed this in the sequel so I guess they learned.
I did like that at some point you get to dress up a certain character, which
reminded me of the hostess/cabaret minigame from Yakuza 0. She really is a queen though.
New phone, who dis.
Graphics were pretty good tbh, but weird seeing Kamurocho so clean now
in comparison to zero where there was litter and garbage everywhere.
I guess the restoration project went well huh? also nice tower they put at the lot eh?
Other than that it was basically the same old Kamurocho? things did change over the years...
maybe I should go and check out the mainline games huh?
Music was good, nothing too wild but it suited the situations. Yeah its pretty good.
You could also befriend various people like other games from RGG studios
and even get a girlfriend but idk I was too busy shipping Saori and Hoshino
or even Yagami with Mafuyu that I never bothered dating random girls.
I couldn't be arsed to do most minigames and the crane game this time
was pretty awful too, I think I sat there for 15+ minutes trying to catch a plushy.
I think the problem was the camera angles really, I liked it more in Yakuza zero.
 |
| FINALLY...........😭😭😭 |
Final thoughts?
 |
| Kaito FFS who sits like that? what are you a gangster?! |
Both Kaito and Sugiura were real bro's too, just saying.
Story was engaging enough but I thought there would be less focus on yakuza? but I guess
it does take place in kamurocho so it can't be helped eh. It gets especially bad in like ch4
cuz it starts off strong but then you're like all doing some random side cases and once again
i'm like what were we supposed to be doing again, lmao.
I did like it the actual plot was going on so its not all bad unfortunately I didn't feel very
motivated to do the substories this time so I only did a handful., The chasing and the tailing
minigames were alright though, it wasn't put in at random like in some certain other RPG
by falcom to padd out the game. Said game might have been inspired by those elements?
still I prefer it in games like judgment since it adds suspense.
Some early chapters in the game had you do substories to proceed the main plot
but you know sub stories are no longer sub stories if they're mandatory you know.
So maybe next time they shouldn't throw in side cases when doing story
or just better implement them so it doesn't feel too random from the main story.
Like I said ch4 was at its worst, good thing as the game goes on it gets more story focused
still there was one time were they even removed the marker when u were supposed to find higashi
and idk why. Still the story was really good and I enjoyed getting to the bottom of it
and like most Ryu-Ga-Gotoku games there's plenty of side content I just couldn't be arsed
to do most of it or even try to aim for 100% aside finding the stray cats and some missable
trophy in some chapters. Some of them were funny like examine a nurse from all sides
others were just choose the right answers or do this 10 secs before timer run out.
Thankfully I kept a save for that last one... but imagine having to replay the whole game for that.
My only real gripes is how you gotta repair your broken hp bar which happens
at almost every real boss battle and its a little expensive too? it was extremely
punishing and pretty much the worst mechanic i've had to deal with in videogames
It even made the last boss so unfun cause you had to sit through a gauntlet to get there
thankfully the game gave me a bunch of infinite use items??? so I managed SOMEHOW.
I think Kiryu and Majima had it good back in zero.
Anyway its a good mystery type of game with a really solid plot that unravels
with a great ending, that I may check out the sequel lost judgment one day!
Judgment may be more serious but there's still plenty of funny too.
Sadly in terms of gameplay it can be a little frustrating too. Still its pretty good
if you like brawlers and/or a challenge that isn't afraid to punish the player.
If you enjoy these type of uh adult drama? or the yakuza games
in general, Judgment still gets my recommendation.
8,5/10
PS; Yagami is a stud.
Next? I may or may not do a few more substories in this game but I will probably
not be starting anything new till tsuitsui.
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