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When it was first released on PlayStation, Judgment was a new style of game for RGG Studio, primarily known for its excellent combat-focused Yakuza titles. Instead of a Yakuza member, players control a lawyer-turned-detective who gets embroiled in a dark, gritty story with a mystery killer.
It can now be experienced on PC after SEGA announced both Judgement as well as its 2021 sequel, Lost Judgment, with little warning. While both games can be purchased together, we will do separate reviews of each.
There’s a great deal to say about the two games, and as someone who reviewed the original releases of both, I’m more than prepared to dive back into the gritty world of Kamurocho, with Judgment.
Judgment finally arrives on PC, but which version is it?
From what I’ve seen, the PC version is based on the PlayStation 5 re-release of Judgment. It comes with all of the DLC and the Extracts that came with that particular version of the game. This is good news for PC gamers because combat was an absolute chore in the original version.
The gameplay is solid but moderately flawed
Players control Takayuki Yagami, a former defense attorney-turned-detective. Both games have incredible plots, and while the sequel's overall narrative might trump the original in terms of topic and structure, for my money, Judgment has a better, grittier detective story. It is filled with twists, turns, and compelling moments that are still worth experiencing, despite the game’s flaws.
And oh, does it ever have them. While I love Judgment, it also features some truly glaring issues that may frustrate many players. However, for the first attempt at a detective game, it’s a treasure, and there are some memorable moments, characters, and music throughout the game.
The opening gives players a solid idea of what they’re going to be doing throughout the game. It introduces detective work, trailing suspects, chasing suspects, and of course, combat.
Players need to avoid people and things on the ground while keeping an eye on their target. While I enjoy detective work and tailing, I do think it lasts too long at times. Tailing a suspect feels like an eternity, and you do it often, and almost every detective mission and side-case requires you to do it.
It is very slow and steady, which makes sense, but I could not stand how long these portions of the mission lasted. The detective work was fun, but zooming in to focus on specific things to find clues slows the cursor to an absolute crawl.
However, chasing feels great in both games. It is essentially a mini-game where you hit the right button at the right time and avoid crashing into people and things.
In Judgment, Takayuki Yagami has two combat styles: Crane and Tiger. Crane is better for groups and Tiger is more geared towards solo fights. For much of the early part of the game, combat felt stiff and weak. It's only when you unlock a few skills that it gets better.
You can use the various Extracts you have — items you can craft with trash found on the ground — to easily win the fights. You don’t really have to do much crafting in this version either; there's an unlimited supply of several of these Extracts, including the Instant Kill Extract. It has a timer and deals a massive amount of AOE damage.
It’s a simple combat system though; easy to stance-change, and satisfying to jump off the walls and batter opponents. It does a solid job of employing Yagami’s parkour and running skills alongside his martial arts expertise.
It’s also worth noting that despite being the PC version, it is a game that is arguably better-played with a controller. That said, attacks done via mouse felt excellent. It was also rather easy to access all of the menus and buttons.
The worst part of the combat has to be Mortal Wounds, though. Occasionally, you’ll come across strong characters or characters with guns/swords. Being struck by them leaves you with a Mortal Wound, which cuts a percentage of your HP bar and it cannot be healed by normal means.
It requires a medkit or visiting the doctor in the sewers. He can sell you medkits or heal you outright. However, it is very expensive — minimum 30K Yen investment for the weakest one — and there are many important fights that can do this to you. I was so glad when I learned the sequel does not feature this system. I understand it, though; Yagami’s not tough and invincible like Kiryu, so it makes him feel more human. Nonetheless, it just left me frustrated.
Kamurocho is a living, breathing city
This is what RGG Studios does best - create a living city that players can get lost in. It’s the same city fans of the more recent Yakuza games have explored; however, it has been redone and contains new characters like Kaito.
It also has a system that ended up frustrating me. The Friendship system is key to the game. Yagami is a detective, so he needs to have friends and contacts to help him get jobs, and just get by in general. There are around 50 people/businesses to befriend, and some are easier than others.
This system is key to getting the most out of Judgment, but it feels kind of forced. The payoff was good though, with free items, access to more dating options, and some really satisfying side-cases.
While the Friendship system is pretty hamfisted, it leads to one thing I did not enjoy. Occasionally, players will be hassled by the Keihin Gang. They have a few powerful leaders, and Yagami will be guilt-tripped into helping out against them. While on its own, this isn’t too bad, it is dreadful when combined with Mortal Wounds.
All of the bosses in this section of the game deal them out, and it can get infuriating. It became very costly in my original playthrough of the game.
Despite these problems, the city was beautiful, it was easy to traverse, and Kamurocho genuinely felt alive.
How is the port’s audio and visual quality?
The game is, in a word, gorgeous. Even on the default settings, the game looked beautiful on my 4K monitor. The character models are fantastic, and the visuals and sounds were solid overall. The music of the game is among the best in the franchise, and the animations are quite smooth.
I didn’t really notice any graphical issues. No artifacting, or anything of that nature. It’s a dirty, gritty city, and even that is somehow beautiful. This is also the first time I’ve listened to the English dub of the game, or any RGG game, for that matter. It is terrific, and worth playing in either Japanese or English.
Conclusion
The Judgment port to PC is really impressive. I didn’t notice any problems with optimization, crashes, or anything of the sort. The game is visually appealing, and despite some of its issues, I had fun.
Yagami’s story is worth enduring the game’s flaws, and I felt genuinely emotional by the end of the story. It made me want more, and thankfully, Lost Judgment did cover up and fix all of this game’s issues. If the whole story of these characters is important to you, I’d recommend you to pick this up and play it before Lost Judgment. Takayuki Yagami’s tale is a wonderful experience.
Judgment
Reviewed On: PC (Code provided by SEGA)
Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, Luna, Stadia
Developer: RGG Studio
Publisher: SEGA
Release Date: September 14, 2022
