Judgment \ PS5 Gameplay
1Judgment is an action-adventure video game developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by Sega. A spin-off to the Like a Dragon series, it was released for the PlayStation 4 in December 2018 in Japan and June 2019, worldwide. A remastered version of the game, with the subtitle Remastered in Japan and Asia, was released for the PlayStation 5, Stadia, and Xbox Series X and Series S in April 2021. A port for Amazon Luna was made available on December 16, 2021. A Windows port was released on 14 September 2022 through Steam. Judgment follows lawyer-turned-detective Takayuki Yagami and his allies as they explore a case involving corpses whose eyes have been removed. The player controls Yagami in the fictional Tokyo district of Kamurocho, where he fights thugs and yakuza while carrying out missions involving chasing, stealth, and searching for clues.
The game began its initial development in 2015 under the codename Project Judge. The game originated from Sega's desire to create a new IP with Toshihiro Nagoshi serving as the writer. Nagoshi wanted to write a new type of story with a detective working on a case that contrasted with Nagoshi's previous work in the Kiryu-era Like A Dragon games. As a result, the developers designed the game to be accessible to detective-game newcomers. Singer and actor Takuya Kimura, who provided both facial features and Japanese voice acting, was cast to play Yagami. Due to popular demand, the game includes an English voice-over dub as well as subtitles in several additional languages. The Japanese rock band Alexandros produced two songs for the game.
Judgment was withdrawn from the Japanese market in March 2019 following the arrest of Pierre Taki, one of the game's actors, for suspected cocaine use. While localizing the game for international markets, Taki's likeness was removed and his voice acting performance and likeness was replaced by actor Miou Tanaka.Judgment received a generally positive response from critics. Many praised the game's plot, side content and combat but criticized the simplicity of its investigation mechanics. Judgment was a commercial success, topping one million and earned recognition as one of the best video games released in 2019. The remaster was praised for improving the game's frame rate and visuals. A sequel, Lost Judgment released on September 24, 2021.
Gameplay
Judgment is an action-adventure game with a third-person perspective. It follows private detective Takayuki Yagami as he investigates a serial murder case in Kamurocho, a fictional district of Tokyo, Japan, previously featured in the Yakuza franchise. When asked about similarities between Judgment and other Yakuza titles, series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi said that "the location and assets might be the same, but the gameplay and story here are drastically different". Yagami can buy items to restore his health in stores based on real-life counterparts, similar to the Yakuza games. However, Yagami can suffer from Mortal Wounds, which permanently decreases Yagami's maximum health. The only way to recover is to visit an underground doctor for treatment or purchase a medical kit, which are relatively expensive.Judgment features a similar combat system to that of Yakuza 0, where players can change between two different fighting styles: crane-style, which focuses on fighting groups of enemies, and tiger-style, which focuses on fighting individuals. Yagami also incorporates parkour elements, like wall-running and leapfrogging, in his fighting style. Similar to the previous games in the Yakuza series, Yagami can perform brutal takedowns of enemies through "EX Actions" (a fundamentally identical system to Like a Dragon's Heat Actions), enter an enhanced state where he becomes stronger in battle, labelled "EX Boost" in Judgment, and can team up with allies to perform powerful combination attacks. Accomplishing sidequests or achievements in the main narrative rewards the player with points that can be used to enhance Yagami's skills and teach him new techniques.The game also features an investigation mode, where the player must search a scene for clues and evidence of a crime. Players must infiltrate areas by lock picking and use disguises to gather information or find objects of interest. The game has sections where the player pursues a suspect. These take the form of tailing sequences, where players must follow a suspect while avoiding being seen, and chase sequences, where players must avoid oncoming obstacles while running to catch a fleeing suspect.