Judgement (PS4) - Video Game Review
It took me a while, but I've been pretty darn excited to review this game as it's been a long-time running. Lately, all the games I've been reviewing have been old survival-horror games, so I figured I'd lighten things up with a modern game review of something a bit more light-hearted. My only experience with Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio's previous games was Yakuza 0, however I never actually finished that one as it had some minor issues that eventually dragged it down (I might one day go back and try to beat it though). With that said, I'll likely be using Yakuza 0 as a point of reference to show how far the studio has come.
1
Judgement (also known as "Judge Eyes" in Japan), was developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by Sega, exclusively for the PlayStation 4. It was released in Japan first in 13 December 2018 and later in the U.S. on 25 June 2019. It's an action-adventure game, but I'd liken it to a 3D beat-'em-up game with light RPG mechanics. It is a spin-off of the incredibly popular Yakuza series that remains Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio's main franchise since the original hit shelves in 2005.
Something I love about Sega's franchises, in general, is their proud display of modern Japanese culture and their ability to go all-out with their localization. A lot of gangster games that portray organized crime rarely delve deep into the sub-culture of how the criminal underworld really operates, but Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has consistently shown that they get it. Beyond the yakuza gangsters though, this game gives brilliant views of the Tokyo red-light district, as well as even Japan's political and judicial systems. Being an American, there are definitely some cultural differences I noticed in this game, but I find this is something to be celebrated as I'm glad that Sega didn't try to change this game when they localized it for the U.S. market. If you want a great non-fiction introduction to Tokyo's underbelly, from an American perspective, I recommend reading Tokyo Vice by Jake Adelstein.
2
The story of Judgement follows a disgraced ex-lawyer/private detective named Takayuki Yagami, who operates a private detective agency out of the red-light district, Kamurocho (based on Kabukicho, Tokyo). He's plagued with guilt for having defended a murderer who went on to kill others after being proven innocent in an initial homicide trial. Three years after hanging up his hat as a lawyer, Yagami will team up with an ex-yakuza thug, Masaharu Kaito, to investigate a series of grisly murders that involve yakuza winding up dead with their eyes removed.
First and foremost, the story is where Judgement is at its best and remained the main pull for me to continue playing. The characters are all incredibly well-written and the story (like Yakuza 0) is incredibly grounded. You won't be saving the world in this game, but there is an incredible amount of depth to be had. Nearly every main character gets some time in the spotlight. I found Kaito's role in the game to be particularly endearing as both he and Yagami share a bond built around redemption with a chemistry that you just don't see much of in most video games. With the exception of one specific villain, the other antagonists presented genuine motivations that had me questioning if Yagami was even right to get in their way at certain times.
3Beyond the main story is a massive amount of side-quests that each contain their own minor stories and sub-plots. There's a whole multi-segmented questline that involves Yagami chasing down a group of perverts, as well as numerous cases where Yagami must chase after a man's wig that refuses to stay attached to the owner's head. These side-cases and friendship quests are well placed out so you don't burn yourself out, however they are a bit of a mixed bag. Some of the cases were painfully dull, others were comical, and a handful were exceptional. Although these side-quests add more to the game, I felt that they hindered the story at times as some of them were so thematically different from the main story that it felt a little absurd. I do want to point out that I much prefer the side-quests in this game though, over the ones in Yakuza 0 as it never made sense as to why random street-toughs were taking on quests from the local citizenry (it's kind of Yagami's job to do this kind of stuff, so it's a bit more understandable).
4
Don't mess with the Twisted Trio!
Like the Yakuza series, this game centers around pounding dirt-bags into the pavement as you punch and kick your way through torrents of thugs who impede your progress to discovering the secret behind the murders in Kamurocho. Like Yakuza 0, Yagami has access to different fighting styles (Crane and Tiger) that each have their own combo variations and specialties. I honestly found Crane to be kind of useless as Tiger was my primary fighting style through most of the game. Both styles can be upgraded by spending experience points, while you can also spend points to unlock new EX attacks (special takedowns) as well as upgrades for non-fighting actions like lockpicking boosts.
5Right off the bat, when we first see the Genda Law Office, the game just looks outstanding. Most of the character models are really well done, although I kind of felt many of the woman and children NPCs looked a bit more bland at times. Kamurocho itself is a beautiful sight to behold as there are tons of people walking around with multiple buildings you can enter. You can literally run from one end of Kamurocho to the other without requiring a single loading screen, and the few areas where loading is needed are generally quite brief.
A major improvement Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio made with Judgement over Yakuza 0 is that they vastly improved cut-scenes and in-game interactions. Yakuza 0 had weird segments where the game would shift from fully-rendered cut-scenes to static frame shots with no audible dialogue to in-game animations with dialogue, which was all very jarring and broke immersion. Cut-scenes in Judgement are all fully voiced and the static frame shots are fortunately not included. The only parts of the game where dialogue is actually read is outside of the main story, but even those do have snippets of actual dialogue.
Speaking of dialogue, Judgement is outstanding with its use of it. I switched from Japanese with English sub-titles to dubbed English as I quickly noticed that the localization for Judgement was fantastic. They've got some great voice actors on-hand, with even James Hong (see Big Trouble Little China) making a surprise guest appearance. It reminded me of the voice acting in Persona 5 (another Sega title), and I never encountered a part of the game where the voice acting was bad.
As this is a modern game, there is downloadable content for Judgement, however it is blissfully unnecessary. You can purchase in-game items like play passes for the DiQ virtual mini-game and presents for Yagami's girlfriends, but these are all items you can easily earn in-game. Thankfully, Judgement does not harass you about its DLC and I never felt inclined to touch anything but the free sandwich pack that gives you some free food to replenish health.
Judgement does have a New Game Plus option, which is great to see since it is pretty dang hard to fully unlock every ability, EX attack, and skill on the first play-through. Despite that, I don't see myself returning to Judgement anytime soon. There is very little player-agency in the game as this is clearly Yagami's story through and through. There's no alternate endings and, since the story is centered around a mystery, I imagine the main draw of the game will be less compelling when you already know who the killer is.
The Best of the Best: The look on Renji Honda's face when Yagami comes at him with bicycle.
Would I Recommend?
6If you like Japanese culture or compelling mystery thrillers, I think this game is for you. I found the side-content to drag a bit too much at times, but if you don't care about beating everything, I'd just play the game through its main story. Those that like action will have plenty to enjoy here as well. If you see this game on sale, I totally recommend picking it up and giving it a try!
-------------------------------------------------Spoiler Comments-----------------------------------------------------
- Just as I was surprised that Yakuza 0 seemed to center around something as benign as real-estate scams in 1980's Japan, I never would have believed that the murders in Judgement centered around a mad scientist's attempt to cure Alzheimer's.
- I really loved the political intrigue and Captain Hamura is probably one of my favorite villains in a modern-day PS4 game.
- I wasn't entirely shocked that the Mole was Kuroiwa as he just always came off as a bit of a creep.
- Of all the villains, Kuroiwa was the biggest let-down as he just didn't seem like he had much of a motivation. Shono and Morita committed crimes out of their passion to stop Alzheimers, while Hamura sought to rise through the ranks of the Tojo Clan, but Kuroiwa seemed like he killed people simply because the plot demanded that he be evil.
- I thought that the final showdown with him was awesome, but felt a little let-down that the game had you fight him once prior to that dramatic closing battle. I wish they had saved Kuroiwa exclusively for the end-game section as I think it would've paid off more. I would've loved to duke it out with Ichinose though! That dude's chin looked like it could use a good punching, and the guy looked jacked in that fancy suit of his.
----------------------------------------------------References--------------------------------------------------
(2) Amazon. (2010). Tokyo Vice book cover image. Retrieved from:
(3) Devilleon7. (2018). Kaito gif. Retrieved from: https://gfycat.com/absolutehelpfulbasenji-yakuza-kiwami-2-playstation-4-sakingshiro.
(4) Lockstin. (2019, July 13). Ass Catchem image. Retrieved from: https://twitter.com/lockstin/status/1149938198950207488.
(5) Judgement. (2019, August 18). EX action gif. Retrieved from: https://gfycat.com/fantasticnegligibleaphid-ruy-ga-gotoku-ex-action-judgment-yagami-yakuza.
Comments
Post a Comment