Fans of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s Judgment will be excited to hear that a sequel called Lost Judgment was recently announced in separate story and gameplay trailers. Judgment is a spin-off of Sega's highly popular Yakuza series and takes place within the same world but in a vastly different environment.
In Judgment, players navigate the criminal underworld of Japan, but unlike Yakuza, they do so on the other side of the law as a private detective on a case. While the mainline Yakuza series is remaining firmly in the RPG territory, Judgment is continuing the legacy of Yakuza's groundbreaking beat 'em up gameplay.
Taking place a few years after the events of the first game, defense lawyer turned private detective Takayuki Yagami is tasked with investigating a case involving a man named Akihiro Ehara, who’s accused of sexual harassment and murder. From what the trailer shows, there’s a web of lies and deceit involving more people than just Ehara, who knowingly implicated himself at his trial, and might lead to bigger mysteries as the story progresses. Lost Judgment is also moving the focus away from Tokyo, instead having the game also set in the fictional cities Kamurocho and Ijincho. A number of characters from the previous game are returning such as Yagami’s partner, Masaharu Kaito, along with some new ones.
While the main story of Lost Judgment is meant to have a very serious tone, the game will give players the chance to follow a number of side quests called School Stories. These missions are focused on the Yokohama High School, where Yagami will have to go undercover as part of his mission to solve the main case. Here players can engage in all-new activities like boxing, skateboarding and dancing with teenagers. Not sure how likely Yagami could pass as a student at this school, but in a crazy world like Yakuza, we can suspend our disbelief.
Like its precursor, Lost Judgment will be an action-adventure game with a third-person perspective. Much of the gameplay is the same as the last game, but with a number of upgrades and improvements made. Like the Yakuza titles, players will be able to explore the city engaging in all manner of activities. This will include things like going to the arcade to play classic games, drone racing and side quests. Judgment also shook up the formula with a day/night cycle intended to show different sides to both cities depending on the time of day. Stores can be open and streets bustling with people in the day, while night brings out a more neo-noir atmosphere, with gangs to fight, criminals to chase after and more.
Yagami will be able to fight a variety of enemies throughout his journey with different fighting styles. Unlike the latest entry in the Yakuza series, which now has a turn-based RPG combat system, Lost Judgment will still have the classic real-time beat’em up mechanics fans know and love. Besides Crane Style which focuses on crowd-control and Tiger Style that’s for one-on-one fights, a new fighting stance, Snake Style, will be added with a focus on countering enemies armed with weapons. Platforming, trailing missions and stealth mechanics are also making their way back to the sequel
It will still be a while before more info on this game is available in the coming months. Fortunately, fans won’t have to wait long, as Lost Judgment is set for a worldwide release this fall. More information will likely be revealed in the coming months, be it via another event or at E3 itself.
Developed by Ryu Ga Goktoku Studio and published by Sega, Lost Judgment releases September 24 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.
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