
Reviews for Lost Judgment are starting to appear online, and at first glance, it's looking like RGG Studio has done it again. The action RPG is getting high scores pretty much across the board, but there's already some in-depth discussion over the game's story, which deals with some very mature themes.
Meanwhile, our own review is still in the works. Lost Judgment is a huge game — even by Yakuza standards — and we don't want to rush our verdict. You can read more about our findings through this link.
Pure Xbox - 9/10
Yakuza games have been arriving thick and fast over the years, but Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio still hasn't lost its touch. It's hard to think of another series with such regular entries that manages to constantly evolve at this level. While most don't add too much to alter the formula, Lost Judgment throws just about everything it can into its world without feeling over-saturated.
RPG Site - 9/10
If there was a category for most improved sequel this year, I strongly believe Lost Judgment might be in the running for winning it. The game offered so many new, cool things to do throughout my 45 hours with it and somehow striked a fine, delicate balance between the goofy Yakuza spin-off you know and love and a spectacular crime drama that tackles difficult themes not seen often enough in games.
VGC - 4/5
So yes: another obscenely overstuffed trip through the mean streets of Japan. But one with better mysteries – perhaps the biggest one being how on earth the team turn such massive, mad adventures around on a yearly basis. Rumours suggest actor contract woes means this might be the last outing for Yagami, which would be a real shame. He’s finally hit his stride. When he isn’t hitting teenagers, of course.
Destructoid - 8/10
Judgment may have been an acquired taste in many ways, but the sequel makes some of the bitterness go down easier. Given that you can basically dive in here and feel sufficiently caught up with a new case as the focus, it’s for the best. I really hope we haven’t seen the last of this subseries, because the creators seem to really care about it.
Game Informer - 7.25/10
When Lost Judgment stumbles, it never recovers. While there's a lot to love in the story and gameplay, at the end of the day, its issues become too much to ignore – especially when those issues are messy and irresponsible.
GameSpot - 7/10
The story is compelling with an endearing cast of characters, the sheer amount of stuff to do is astounding, and there's still an inherent joy that comes from pummelling the city's delinquents into the ground. But it's hard not to feel disappointed that you still feel like a passenger when it breaks away from the Yakuza mould. If this is indeed our last time with Yagami and co., then it's one to cherish. There will just always be a nagging feeling that this was a missed opportunity to do something truly special.
IGN - 7/10
Despite its intriguing whodunnit premise, Lost Judgment’s main story fails to sustain its suspense all the way to the finish and its detective methods remain only slightly less superficial than those of the previous game.
Are you planning on picking up Lost Judgment? Get yourself on the case in the comments section below.
Comments 37
Trying to get through Tales of Arise, near the end I think but this is next on my plate. I trust Ryu Ga Gotoku to deliver, even with a little bit of division on the story.
IGN and Gamespot giving the lowest scores again? no way.
I’ll get the game and play it as I liked the original enough and have been getting plats for all of the Yakuza games and spin offs as I find that very enjoyable, but if I never get to control this character again I really don’t mind; I just haven’t been able to engage with him, don’t like stealth, plus his combat is so loose compared to the Yakuza games
I'm just playing it for myself. I'm never trusting any site for reviews and especially when it comes to Yakuza titles.
@RubyCarbuncle. Who cares ign and gamespot are suspects anyways.a 7 is a good score.word up son
I feel like lowering the score because of superficial detective gameplay is a bit unnecessary. The detective part is mostly the narrative theme imo. Are we going to start punishing RPGs just because the minigames around the narrative theme are not as robust as the fighting gameplay? Just feels like double standards given how shallow minigames are in other highly rated games.
@Sakisa "near the end I think" is this your first Tales game? Expect a huge BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE and a second wind.
I've got nothing but faith in RGG studio. Really looking forward to it next week!
Gentle reminder that Famitsu is the only big publication to trust when it comes to reviews.
Oh look, a 9/10/10/10!
@playstation1995 I know but it just seems funny the way they're always the ones to give the lowest score when compared to everybody else. Apart from that no big deal.
I keep feeling like this game has already been released for months maybe a year!
@RubyCarbuncle. I agree i haven't paid attention vto ign and gamespot especially ign at least in 2013.both are no goid.word up son
@RubyCarbuncle they did give deathloop 10/10 and the review was on point
Can't wait for pushsquare to give it a 7/10, although purexbox gave it a 9/10..😛
Day 1 buy after playing Judgment through PS Now
Absolutely obsessed with the franchise. Game is jam packed with stuff to do and the characters and story is addictively good.
I loved the first one.
Finished both the PS4 and PS5 versions.
Will definitely pick up Lost Judgment soon.
And Tales of Arise
And Kena Bridge of Spirits
Gonna be quite busy for a while.
I still have to play yakuza 3, 4, 5 and judgement 1. Ill play this in about 10 years
Technically GameSpot and IGN gave a lower score, but Game Informer is the weirdest summary of this list. They're the only one talking about messy irresponsible issues that are too much to ignore. IGN's gripng about the story like it's a linear narrative, and I'm assuming they raced through the game for review. GameSpot's review reads better than the score, but it's GameSpot, so... But GI is just an oddity here.
@shadow2k It is not my first Tales, I’ve passed the mid-game twist and gotten certain revelations as well. About 43 hours on my file.
hilarious that IGN and Gamespot get flak for having low reviews or having high reviews. They can't win in the eyes of those not capable of objective thought.
This game looks lame and the reviews absolutely highlight more than just story that holds it back. Most of which are half baked and boring gameplay elements.
Hard pass
@Golem25 they also have their questionable reviews but i think its best to look at a few reviews and renove the highest and lowest scores.
@KundaliniRising333 Gamespot has their own memes because if their weird reviews. Its not the site i woyld take my advice from.
But if their worst score is a 7/10 then i believe its save to buy.
The more time goes by, the bigger my backlog of Yakuza-related games gets.
At least I'll never run out of games to play in this series!
@Flaming_Kaiser Yeah I hear yah.
I basically take the trial and error approach when it comes to which reviews i pay attention to. If a game is reviewed poorly and in turn also share that sentiment after having played it then i usually at least pay attention to that individual. However its usually far easier to pay attention to the text in reviews and not their scores. If a game highlights excessive handhilding, dull mechanics and story, and specifically states why and how, I usually will heed that type of explanation far more than an overall score.
@Ralizah I am just as tentative about the series. Forever on the fence but haven’t played one yet…
@SystemAddict I completed Yakuza Kiwami and played through part of Yakuza Zero. They're fun games. I just... can't run through them as quickly as Sega is pumping them out, lol.
tbh, far more than Judgment, I'm tempted to grab that Fist of the North Star game the Yakuza team developed.
@KundaliniRising333 Reviews are so objective to me i have had ao many reviews i totally disagree with ill just check different reviews and check if i like the gsmes myself.
In my opinion stories that put extreme adult themes for the sake of shock value no less, should be criticized, a lot of people watch entertainment and play games as an escape they dont need to be reminded of how screwed up our world really is even in their means of escape.
Its fine to have some mature themes, but a lot do disturb people, and might trigger a PTSD for some who had similar experience from a past life
Sounds great in a lot of ways and not so great in others.
Having the protagonist - a 40 year old man - consistently go to a school and beat up school kids (who are bullies) but also try and tell a meaningful story about bullying is very poorly thought out.
If you're going to deal with such weighty issues they deserve some care and respect.
I am glad only bad sites are giving them a lower score lol
But for real, this seems like another fun entry on the Yakuza universe! I just need to finish Judgement first
It's suffering from one issue nobody's mentioned yet. The fact that it looks the same as the previous game. As a rule, if your sequel is so similar you should target next gen, same thing that they're doing with god of war. I know this is japanese with a lower budget but still.
@Dragonaged Good luck, that's what I used to think. Then I grew up a few years, lost interest and now wish I had played the stuff I used to be interested in as a kid. It's too late now for me.
@Z390 We already have entertainment that's heavily filtered and tries to avoid controversy and discussion constantly, what are you on about? Adults watch silly superhero movies while 25000 people die of hunger every day. Remember that scene in iron man where he saves innocents from the taliban, yet in real life, we have a superpower that ignores it and leaves the victims to them and while the women are forced to wear burqas, the world ignores it and discusses morality on social media. We're already so 'pampered' we become complacent and ignore real life atrocities is what I'm saying.
I can't decide if I should play this at launch or wait till the season pass content is out.
The studio always does an excellent job crafting their narratives so I find it hard to believe that that's what's at fault. Sorry but I've played plenty of Yakuza games and have never been left dissatisfied with the story.
If you liked Judgement you'll probably like this installment. If you haven't tried it, check it out on PS now. I try to avoid reviews because they are inherently subjective and are based typically on one person (or a handful of contributers). More demos to try yourself would be a positive way forward
I'm still playing thru the original Judgment so will most likely not buy this day one anymore.
Well see how it holds up after more reviews come in but so far on Metacritic, 84 on PS5 after 50 reviews. The first game, which I thought was awesome, settled at an 80, so this actually tracking better right now.
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