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Judgment

Judgment

|Japan|Role-playing (RPG), Adventure

8.4 /10

Aww Great!

Hot

104 ratings
Time to beat
Main + extras
30.5h
Complete
72h
Trailers & screenshots
Why play it

Judgment is an action-adventure game played from a third-person perspective. The game is a legal thriller set in the Yakuza world of Kamurocho and follows private detective Takayuki Yagami as he investigates a serial murder case. It stars Japanese actor Takuya Kimura and employs a fighting system similar to that of Yakuza 0 where players can change into different styles, namely crane-style which is more focused on fighting groups and tiger-style which is more focused on fighting individuals. Additionally, the game features an investigation mode where the player must find traces of the criminal.

Story and worldbuilding

A lawyer pulls off a miracle, only to have the verdict cost him everything. Now, as a string of murders casts a shroud over the city and the law begins to fail, justice cannot afford to be blind. The son of a murdered lawyer, Takayuki Yagami was raised on the streets of Kamurocho by a yakuza patriarch who paves the way for Yagami to follow in his real father's footsteps. Taking a job at the Genda Law Office, Yagami accepts a high-profile case: Proving Shinpei Okubo, a man suspected of murder, innocent. Against all odds, Yagami succeeds and is hailed as a hero, but his prolific career is short-lived. Only months later, Okubo brutally murders his girlfriend, stabbing her over ten times with a kitchen knife before setting their apartment on fire. Yagami becomes the lawyer who let a murderer walk - and everything he had worked for comes crashing down. Three years later, Yagami has taken off his lawyer's badge to run a small detective agency in the red-light district of Kamurocho, scraping by on odd jobs and evidence collection. But even a city as seedy as this is shaken by a string of serial murders, where the victims' bodies are discovered with their eyes gouged out. Yagami is drawn into the case by his old law firm, where he discovers that in order to bring this killer to light, he must seek the truth that slipped from his grasp three years ago. But can a man haunted by his failures prevail over his own past?

Game highlights
Rating momentum

Aww Great!: 8.4/10 across 104 ratings. Word of mouth is strong — if you like the genre, go for it.

Play style

Leans into Role-playing (RPG), Adventure, with a main story around 30.5h. Check if that style and time commitment fit you.

Reviews

20 media reviews

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Media

Member

IGNTristan Ogilvie · 20 Jun, 2019
8.2/10

Judgment is a superficial detective experience, but an extremely good Yakuza one.

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GameSpotEdmond Tran · 24 Jun, 2019
7/10

Lovable characters and an intriguing mystery-drama elevate this otherwise run-of-the-mill Ryu ga Gotoku joint.

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EurogamerMartin Robinson · 20 Jun, 2019
7.5/10

Sega's spin-off has a few ideas of its own as it takes a detective's perspective on Kamurocho, though it all ends up feeling a little flat.

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PolygonJeffrey Parkin · 24 Jun, 2019

This is the same city, just seen from a very different perspective.

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GamesRadar+20 Jun, 2019
6/10

Despite the fantastic story, Judgment stops short of being a must-play thanks to its shallow and unfulfilling crime-solving gameplay.

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Game InformerJeff Cork · 26 Jun, 2019
8/10

Judgment is a Yakuza game in all but name, offering the same dizzying array of action, side content, and a lengthy (and convoluted) story

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DestructoidChris Carter · 20 Jun, 2019
7.5/10

I appreciate that the Yakuza studio wanted to try something different with Judgment, even if the biggest deviations are the absence of the bankable character Kazuma Kiryu and the addition of some detective busywork. Given that said work is typically brief, this is an easy one to recommend to Ryu Ga Gotoku acolytes and folks with patience.

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Push SquareRobert Ramsey · 23 Apr, 2021
9/10

Judgment is a truly gripping detective thriller, and it plays better than ever on PS5. As a standalone adventure, it's an excellent action RPG, boasting some outstanding storytelling and a brilliant cast of characters. And as a Yakuza spinoff, it's arguably the perfect gateway into SEGA's stellar series.

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Pure XboxDaniel Hollis · 26 Apr, 2021
9/10

If you've never played Judgment before, what are you waiting for? The remaster is one of the best next-gen exclusives to play right now and has never looked better. If you've already played it, it may be hard to justify the price tag at this point, but the substantial upgrades ensure it's the best the game has ever been. There's nothing in the way of new content outside of all previously released DLC, but Yagami's adventure is just as compelling and original as it once was.

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RPG SiteKazuma Hashimoto · 20 Jun, 2019
8/10

Judgment brings new levels of narrative and mechanical intricacies to the familiar setting of Kamurocho in Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio's latest title.

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