Full Review of Lost Judgment

Lost Judgment is one of the latest titles by the studio Ryu Ga Gotoku and is a spin-off of the Yakuza video game series. It also serves as a sequel to 2019’s Judgment. This is a game that attempts to tackle a lot of sensitive topics including bullying, sexual assault and suicide. Overall, it could have done better in the way it addresses these topics, but despite this, I still have a lot of fun with the game thanks to it’s strong cast of characters and great battle mechanics.

Story

As eluded to above, the story centres around the theme of school bullying. The game has many twists and turns and it was unique among Ryu Ga Gotoku games in that part of it included infiltrating and doing detective work at a school. On the side mission, you could also join lots of different school clubs. It was overall an engaging experience. The only complaints I had were the way in which it tackled some of the more sensitive themes. In addition, I felt that it could have done better to tie up loose ends once it came to its conclusion. Nevertheless, the story was still enjoyable for the most part and some of it’s themes really resonated with me, making it a game I probably won’t forget in a rush.

Gameplay

The gameplay is varied and was one of the strong points, in my opinion. The action battle system felt sleek and intuitive and I appreciated the multiple battle styles as has also been seen in previous Yakuza games. I became mostly used to the Tiger and Crane battle styles. It was satisfying and rewarding until the end to defeat enemies with them. The ability to pick up and use weapons and to perform EX commands was also a highlight to the battle experience. This is then topped off with the skill system allowing you to learn new abilities and upgrade your health and attack amongst other things. Overall, I have few complaints and, if anything, this was one of the best action battle systems I have experienced from a Ryu Ga Gotoku title.

Performance and Visuals

I have nothing bad to say concerning the performance. I was playing on PS5 in the 60 FPS performance mode. There were few frame rate drops and it runs at a locked 1440p. The visuals were also quite impressive. It runs on the Dragon Engine and the game was very much on par with recent titles in the series from a visual standpoint.

Verdict

Lost Judgment was a unique and engaging experience from start to finish. The story was meaningful and kept me interested throughout the entirety of the game. Having said that, certain themes and certain loose ends could have been better addressed, but overall, I still found Lost Judgment to be another entertaining title from Ryu Ga Gotoku with a plot that mostly hit the mark. From the battle system, to the side content, to the visuals, there was a lot to love outside of the story, and as a result, my final judgment is that of a largely positive one. I would happily recommend this game to any fans of JRPG’s/Action Games.

8.5/10