5/5 ★ – asoola's review of Lost Judgment - The Kaito Files.

I didn’t hate Kaito in Judgment or Lost Judgment I genuinely loved his character but The Kaito Files story made me appreciate and love his character more. The entire story in this DLC is written extremely well and I loved every second of this DLC. The ending was so well done and it made me emotional it was a very sweet ending and I hope Kaito remains with Mikiko and Jun forever 🥹. The untold story of Takayuki Yagami’s trusted investigator partner is something I never expected to see but it’s something I needed. His story in this DLC was so well written, this story just like Judgment and Lost Judgment had the amazing detective stories vibes that I love and it shines brightly in The Kaito Files! Kaito’s past up until this DLC released was a mystery but it was nice to see that vulnerable side of him! I also really loved his dad side showing more here to me he’s always like a big brother to Sugiura in Judgment & Lost Judgment but to see him act like a positive father figure to Jun, that is a side of Masaharu Kaito that I would love to see more in the future. Kaito was always smart in an unexpected way in both Judgment and Lost Judgment so I wasn’t surprised to see him handle a case alone perfectly. (He predicted previous plot twists previously as a joke I mean come on he’s obviously smart, he just didn’t believe in himself that much till now hehe) Kaito aside though the new characters in this DLC were definitely great! They all were interesting, likable characters. The ones that I loved the most got to be Mikiko and Jun Sadamoto, Mikiko especially is a character that I love very much and her story will always stay with me. Jun is the most adorable character ever and his story will always make me cry. These two characters are characters I would love to see again in the future as well. New and returning characters were handled perfectly in this story, by returning I mean Higashi I love his character so much and a Kaito story wouldn’t be the same if Higashi isn’t in it so I’m glad they included him in a way that doesn’t overshadow Kaito. Same goes with Yagami they included him in a way that doesn’t overshadow Kaito dealing with this case, it’s the first time we see Kaito handle a case alone and he did that perfectly! Yagami would be proud. 🥹 The antagonist was extremely unlikable and evil and that means they did something right, in Lost Judgment the story dealt with a sympathetic antagonist (Jin) but unsympathetic antagonists are no strangers to the series and Kyoya Sadamoto falls under the unsympathetic antagonists category. I think if we are judging him as an unsympathetic antagonist which is his role and the game doesn’t shy away from that he definitely is a well antagonist. (His boss fight was fantastic too!) The gameplay was fantastic as always I was scared that it’ll be slow, unenjoyable, and makes me wanna close the game like Saejima’s gameplay or Kiryu’s gameplay in Yakuza 3 BUT they actually did a good job with Kaito’s gameplay as expected and his gameplay wasn’t copy paste of Kiryu’s either which I really love too! Overall the gameplay in Judgment and Lost Judgment didn’t disappoint and I’m glad to say it didn’t disappoint in The Kaito Files! Music oh fantastic every new track was fantastic that’s all I have to say because not enough words can describe the great music! (especially the final FINAL boss one) In conclusion The Kaito Files DLC is a pleasant surprise and I loved playing it very much and I hope in the future more Judgment characters get a DLC as well written as this and Kaito will forever be a loved character by me! (I love him and his iconic orange shirt) Oh worth mentioning I played the DLC when it first released back in 2022! 🧡