Judgment: The 'Yakuza' Spinoff With A Dash Of 'L.A. Noire'

Judgment is the newest game developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio (and also developed and published by Sega) that is a direct spin-off of the Yakuza series. Now, I am a huge fan of the Yakuza series and I wanted to see how similar Judgment would be to the Yakuza series. As it would turn out, Judgment plays almost exactly like the Yakuza games. Many of the points that I make in my Yakuza blog post apply with Judgment as well, but I want to talk about the differences that set Judgment apart from the Yakuza games.

In Judgment, you play a detective named Takayuki Yagami as he investigates a series of intertwined murders, while entrenching himself deeper into the Yakuza underworld and simultaneously reliving his past as a high-profile defense lawyer. I appreciate the perspective of being a detective, rather than being a Yakuza, as it helped me to process the story and characters in a different way. You are receiving the same high-quality storytelling as in the Yakuza games, but in the form of an intense crime drama. Judgment is more dialogue and cut-scene heavy than the Yakuza games, but I did not mind, as I found the story interesting and engaging.

The gameplay is largely the same as the Yakuza games, except with a few tweaks. At times throughout the story and the side cases, you are required to tail your target by staying a reasonable distance back and hiding behind things so they do not see you. I never liked tailing missions in any video game, as it is a slow and boring gameplay mechanic, and the mechanic in Judgment is no different. The tailing missions also usually make no sense in video games. When the person you are tailing turns around and sees you trying to hide behind something, the person will obviously become suspicious.

In addition to the tailing missions, you will occasionally be in sequences where you go into first-person mode and investigate the area for clues, fly your drone to spy on targets, or try to take a photo of someone doing something they are not supposed to do. All of these sequences serve to immerse the player into being a detective within the game.

Just like the Yakuza games, you can lose himself in all kinds of mini-games and side content. You can play darts, take some swings at the batting cages, or make friends all across Kamurocho to increase your reputation and complete more side cases. I want to highlight the two main mini-games for Judgment. You can customize and race your drone in a variety of tracks in order to unlock more drone parts. In Paradise VR, a virtual-reality version of Kamurocho awaits you to play a Mario Party-styled game where you roll dice and move spaces in order to get to the goal. Both games are a lot of run to play if you want to take a break from the main story.

If I were to compare Judgment to the Yakuza games, Judgment is a more grounded game (while Yakuza teeters on the ridiculous side). I personally love the ridiculousness of the Yakuza games more than the generally serious Judgment, but Judgment is not a bad game at all. Judgment is every bit as good as the Yakuza series, but with a different kind of story. Judgment receives my recommendation.