Judgment

Judgement takes players in Tokyo’s underworld, where they play as the disgraced attorney-turned-detective, Takayuki Yagami. A serial killer is stalking some of the top-figures in the underground, and Yagami is tasked with trying to catch the murderer. While Yagami is a detective, this is a true Yakuza style game. You’ll spend more time beating answers out of thugs in back alleys than you will with a magnifying glass looking for more refined clues.

While the game isn’t a classic detective game—this isn’t surprising. Judgment is a spin-off of the Yakuza series, so it would be unusual for it to wander too far off the path of the series. The good news is, you need not be familiar with the original series to enjoy this game. While there are a few camios with important characters from games of the past, you don’t need to have played any of them to understand this game.

Backdrop is Beautiful

Some effort was put into the CG of this game. The background of Tokyo is particularly beautiful, with the colors and bright city lights being especially well done. The characters are reasonably good, but not the hyper realism you get from games like Elden Ring. Still, the animation and CG matches the style of the game and does not detract from its playability at all.

Fun Detective Work

Although punching and kicking is the main source of information in the game, it’s not completely without detective work. One of the most enjoyable parts of the game is a mini-drone Yagami can send up in the air to snoop in places not easily accessed. Players can also use their cellphone to take pictures of important clues, and will be expected to both run from enemies and tail them without getting caught during the game.

Fairly Linear Gameplay

Although the game has detective tools and identifies Yagami as a detective, little to no thinking is required on the player’s part. There’s almost no possibility to fail, so players are free to stampede over the top of crime scenes and demand answers from suspects with relatively little finesse.

This is the biggest flaw of the game, and truly takes away from the power of it. Since there’s no wrong answers, the player doesn’t have to stop, think, or assess clues. In fact—there’s no real detective work at all.

The game is 35 hours long, and yet players will be asked to think for very little of it. This is the most disappointing part of the game, and it is particularly striking because of how well developed the story and other aspects of the game are.

Smooth Street Fighting

Despite this flaw, the game still has a lot to offer. Players will find themselves in some sort of street combat frequently through the course of the game. That combat is smooth, with intuitive controls and unlockable combos as time goes on. As befitting a Yakuza game, there’s plenty of combat to see too, so players have no shortage of opportunities to practice their new moves.

Pros:

• Smooth fighting
• Cool detective tools
• Involved story
• Decent graphics

Cons:

• Requires little to no detective work