I didn't know what to expect from Judgment at first. I am a big fan of most of the Yakuza / Like A Dragon series and got this as a gift for my birthday back in 2022. Finally getting around to it in 2024 it really had my attention from beginning to end. I love the detective and crime drama they brought to the table here with a new cast of characters.

I just found the game underwhelming. I have loved the Yakuza series, with the exception of that like a dragon dumpster fire. The main story was rather lack luster. A former lawyer turned private eye, who gets on the wrong side of the yakuza. Really made no sense that someone who was not really a fighter would be able to survive being hunted by two different clans at points. When you have a cut scene where they are just going to shoot your eyes out and kill you, you have to be saved by a thief with a heart of gold. Someone you can get away, but you constantly go back to your office, where they could kill you right away but don't because "story".

The fight mechanics left a lot to be desired for me. The fights grew to be very repetitive, with having to keep changing styles mid fight depending on the number of enemies left. The combo system was just a large amount of button mashing, with no real coherent system of stringing combos together. Coupled with the pathetic block system, lack of real dodge dynamics and the relentless "advice" on doing wall strikes, which you have to time just right or jump right past your target.

The friend system was ok, and did provide something to do other then just the main quest. The whole food/drink/smoking system was a different approach, but really fell short for me. Not a fan of the QTE chase events, but at least they were something different. Getting around the city was a pain, whether it was walking or running, it was annoying. There were so many times I just wanted to punch the lights out of the pedestrians in the way, especially after a fight; when they all get into defensive stances after you walk away.

The chapters were very short, and before you know it you are deep into the game. Spent a long time just running around trying to find side cases, or friend events, rather then just dropping deep into the story and not leveled up enough to have a chance. The tailing mechanics of the game were ok at best, whether it was on foot or with your drone. The "disguise" system seemed very lazy. Oh he put a black hat on, I don't know who that guy wearing the same clothes is.

Overall just didn't like the game, and sorry I spent the money on it. I have tried going back a few times, but its just more of the same.

This game takes too long to finish. The story was devoid of logic and I stopped questioning so I could finish the game.

If you like Phoenix Wright then this game might be for you.

For someone who is supposed to be a smart lawyer-type, Yagami the main guy is pretty dumb and doesn't seem to use his brain very much. I think RGG writers are better suited for creating simple stories like the brawler action in yakuza and not venturing into the crime drama/suspense genre. I already bought Lost Judgment, the main reason I went on a buying spree was because of Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Great game, but Judgment is a lot worse. I think the idea of mortal wounds (Permanent, unhealable damage) was a kinda cool gimmick, but it is things like that which add nothing to the game but downgrade the quality of life and slow down your progress to burn time that I really don't like about this game. It feels like money is also a lot harder to come by and that's really annoying because it is gated by further grinding to try out all of the things in the game. I spent 40+ hours total and I still couldn't experience more than half of the goals/items because I couldn't farm enough money.

I think you'd need to spend like 80-100+ hours at least to unlock 80-90% of the stuff and that's if you know what you're doing, so I am not going to try to play the game again, nor am I going to recommend anyone I know try it.