Judgment Review (PS4)

A lot of Yakuza games have started appearing in recent years, but this latest take on the franchise takes everything in a whole different direction

I was a big fan of the Yakuza series when it first came out and when I heard that they were releasing a new title, I was both happy and sad at the same time.  Happy because I heard it was made by exact same studio, and featuring almost identical mechanics, but sad that I was no longer actually going to be playing as part of the Yakuza clan anymore. Of course, the developers managed to twist and turn the story in such as way that I was a hero this time, but now I got the chance to bust some heads like a Yakuza enforcer...you know, in the name of Justice!

Yakuza 2.0

The game takes place in the same Universe as the Yakuza series, with throwbacks and references pretty much all over the place if you have a keen eye. You still have the Tojo clan present and pretty much half the people you know belong to it, so that should be enough of a dose of home. More so, plenty of elements are similar (almost identical) to previous incarnations, especially the UI elements and the combat mechanics. this means that fans of the series will feel right at home, while newcomers might become interested in how the previous titles behaved.

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The story is tailored to feel very much like a typical Japanese police / drama TV show, with dialogue, over-dramatic acting and epic camera angles being common throughout the entire span of the game. As for the gameplay, there are actually very few moments when you actually have to do something, since more than 50% of the game time will be spent looking at extremely well-made cut-scenes. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, especially since I got hooked to the story and spent the first 4 hours playing (well...watching) without even realizing it.

A living, breathing world

Of course, no story would be relatable without a cast of extremely well-rounded characters, and Judgment has plenty off them. We’ll top off the list with Takayuki Yagami , the game’s protagonist. He’s a former lawyer that has gone through a dramatic change in his life once a client he acquitted of murder kills his girlfriends as soon as he is released. Takayuki now acts as a detective that also does part-time investigative research for his former law firm, with the occasional odd job of being a debt collector for the Yakuza.

Everyone he encounters during his investigations will either be his friend or foe, and all characters have several layers of depth to them, no longer being just simple NPC you get quests from. Because the developers knew this system may actually be successful, they even implemented a “friendship system” where you can bond closer and closer with certain characters. Being friends with a character means they will sometimes give you extra side-quests to do, as well as randomly give you gifts whenever you visit them.

Even the average passerby  acts like a real person (which is a features I love). You run into them, they will be knocked aside or will get out of the way, and look at you funny until you put some distance between them and yourself. You've just finished a fight and mopped the street with thugs? the crowd that gathered will either applaud or shake in fear when you pass them afterwards. All of these are simple visual elements that make you sometimes forget that the city that surrounds you is nothing more than a virtual world.

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The fist is mightier than the jaw

Obviously, this is a game set in the Yakuza universe, so not everyone in town is all that friendly. While you won’t actually go against the Yakuza, except on very few story-related occasions, the street is riddled with gangs of enemies just waiting to start some trouble. Depending on the difficulty you chose for the game, things will either go smoothly or you will end up begging for your life. The combat system that made the Yakuza series famous is present here as well, as Takayuki  can engage enemies using the same two fighting style you know and love: Crane style against large groups of enemies, or Tiger Style against single foes. Combat movements are extremely fluid, and you’ll find that chaining together attacks efficiently to be extremely rewarding as you might even end a fight without getting hit even once. Once you get the hang of it, you might actually end up running through the city and looking for thugs on purpose, once you realize they can drop items and impressive amounts of cash.

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A Japanese Sherlock Holmes

Takayuki is a simple man, and while he may know martial arts on a level that makes Neo from the Matrix series look like a white-belt. some missions will require finesse rather that a dragon’s fury. As such, there are plenty of ways he can get what he wants: he can follow a target and hide to avoid detection, look for key elements in crime scenes, scout out enemies by himself or by using his trusty drone, and can even drive conversations in a way that is advantageous for himself and the case. Regardless of which, Takayuki is extremely versatile and that allows him to get out even from the most dire of situations.

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The Good

The Bad

Conclusion