With all games in the Yakuza series I usually categorize them by “The Journey is better than the Destination vs The Destination is better then the Journey” Judgment is more of the latter. Judgment is a slow burn game, it is weirdly paced and can be a slog to get through but I believe the story is worth it.
Slow burn games have a specific charm because you get to know the characters and universe more intimately then if you were rushed through an action packed story. At first I didn’t like the new protagonist Takayuki Yagami. I felt that he was a little too brash and rude, and his acid wash skinny jeans made him seem like a douche. It took a while for me to warm up to him, he didn’t really get his personal philosophy across to me until 30 hours in, but once I understood what his deal was I ended up really liking him as a character. Judgment is more serious then previous entries in the Yakuza Series, a lot of quests have very sobering ends in comparison to the wackiness of the other games. Judgment is about red tape, corruption and a battle of morals so it can get pretty heavy especially if you have ever had a family member with Alzheimers.
The move sets felt limited and you can’t pick up weapons due to the fact that Yagami is not the type of man to kill someone. There are very few animations for the weapons you can use, there is one for small items and one for large ones. Acquiring points for the level up system is slow and you have to jump through hoops using the kickstarter app or finding QR codes throughout the city to get certain moves.
They added some detective minigames, such as finding the right key on your keyring, going in first person to play a hidden object game and finally the dreaded tailing sections. The hidden object mini game was annoying mostly because it’s just walking around an area moving at a snail’s pace zooming in and out in first person. You are going to have to tail people a lot in this game, it’s a slow process and the checkpoint are not always kind to you.
Overall Judgment is not a bad game, it has a few minor annoyances that bugged us when playing but I personally felt the payoff was worth the struggle. If you can make it through the 40 hours there is a rewarding conclusion full of unexpected plot twists and a protagonist you can really root for.
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