5/5 ★ – Hill417's review of Lost Judgment.

After I beat “Judgment” back in 2019 I never stopped singing its praises nor did I stop recommending it to anybody who would listen. So you can only imagine how ecstatic I was when “Lost Judgment” was announced. It feels like all my love for the original had persevered and this was my reward for spreading to good word. However there is always that lingering fear: “what if it isn’t as good as the original”. How foolish was I to even consider that thought because Ryu Ga Gotoku yet again outdoes themselves as they delivered my personal game of the year. You’ll once again take control of Takayuki Yagami who’s new case takes him to Isezaki Iijincho the same setting as Yakuza: Like A Dragon. When asked by the principal of a prestige high school to look into potential bullying incidents he learns that there is more than meets the eye and the instigator of the bullying might be tied into a series of murders. Sounds heavy, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have some fun on the way. The studio is keen on establishing Iijincho as the new permeant home for both Judgment and Yakuza as there are barely any side cases to solve and no new side content to partake in Kamurocho. You have your usual Batting cages, arcade, and darts, but the new content really helps Lost Judgment stands apart from its predecessor. As you spend more time at the school you’ll be roped into uncovering the identity of a criminal called “The Professor” by the leader of the Mystery Research Club “Kyoko Amasawa”. In order to learn their identity then you’ll have to infiltrate nine social circles in the school. These activities are known as “School Stories” where you’ll take part in: Dance Club, Robotics Club, E-Sports Club, and the Photography Club. You’ll have to go beyond the school to help students in a Skateboarding crew, a motorcycle gang, a girls bar, a secret casino, and a boxing gym. Dance Club is a rhythm based mini game and the closest thing we will ever get to Karaoke. Skateboarding is easy and entertaining, you’ll need dumb luck to get the win, Photography is no different than taking regular pictures on cases, boxing is very entertaining and unlocks a new combat style. E-Sports is the easiest one to complete because the whole club sucks at video games. The only bad ones are the Motorcycle gang that has huge spikes in difficulty, but it’s fun in the first. The absolute worst club is the Robotics Club. It goes on for way to long, it’s boring, and despite encouraging to build new robots I could never find the parts and I’ll never get rewarded with them when I win practice battles. The fact I did complete all nine School Stories is nothing short of a miracle. At least it was all worth it and I solved the identity of the Professor in a very heartfelt side campaign. Maybe they should’ve cut out one or two clubs. I haven’t talked about the girls bar yet because that needs its own discussion. Here you have to bond with all four girls, but you’re only allowed to romance one of them. If you want extra girls to date then you’ll have to fork up the money for the Girlfriend DLC. Shameful. Now that the School Stories are out of the way I can focus all my attention on the Side Cases and they still haven’t lost the ridiculous factor. You’ll have to find a missing game director, hunt for UFOs, stop a new Panty Professor, help a man confess his feelings to his high school sweetheart, and even stop the fake Yagami who’s been smearing your good name. However there is a series of side cases where you must expose an evil detective, this is where the new mechanics come in. You’ll have a sound amplifier, a noise detector, and a detective dog named Ranpo to sniff out clues and follow leads. All of these mechanics are a welcome addition, but are hardly used in the main campaign. It would’ve been nice to use outside of these specific side cases. That goes along for the grappling and stealth. Now you can climb onto rooftops and navigate into a window and sneak around with a new stealth cases that are in the main story, but are used so minimally that I forgot they were even in the game to begin with. Still they are a welcome edition and perhaps they can be expanded upon in a future sequel. One new idea that the developers get right is the Snake combat style. Parrying is your new best friend as hitting the right button at the last time performs a perfect counter and a series of new EX Finishers. This was so fun that I barely used Tiger and Crane style. 99% of the cast reprises their roles and not surprisingly they all nailed their roles. It’s the new characters that really stand out. Veteran voice actor Todd Haberkorn delivers some of his finest work as the rogue Jin Kuwana and that’s really saying something if you’ve seen Haberkorn’s portfolio of work. Kayli Mills portrays Mami Koda in a very sympathetic light to the point that you’ll feel the need to protect her. The most interesting casting decision is Matthew Yang King as Kazuki Soma. I say interesting because King was previously a major character in the first Judgment and here he is playing one of the primary antagonist. However I can see why he was brought back because there is a coldness to his delivery that sells the sociopath in Soma’s character. Lost Judgment is everything I wanted from a sequel. More of the same, but with just the right amount of new content that you can sink dozens upon dozens of hours into.