SCORE: ★★ (Lost Judgment) ★★★★ (Kaito Files Expansion)
+Fantastic combat system that has the most fluidity and depth of just about any RGG Game
+Some exciting side stories and minigames such as the boxing gym
+Gorgeous animation work and graphics adding cinematic flair to cutscenes
-The story is massively disappointing, poorly paced, and dependent on the protagonist repeatedly failing to do his job properly
-Constant recapping of every plot beat drags things
-Much of the gameplay content feels diluted by poorly designed minigames or overly long, dragged-out gags
-Many major subplots and sidestories are locked behind time-padded minigames that are overly interconnected**
I'm going to start this review off by saying that Lost Judgment is, by most metrics, a fantastic game with a cinematic story, responsive and exciting combat, and loads of content. With that established, the two-star rating above may seem egregious - but despite these qualities, I simply found myself deeply unhappy with it. Some of the reasons were obvious in the moment; others, I had to sit and consider, but they became undeniable the more I thought about them and I realized that despite the buffet before me, I ultimately spent relatively little of my time playing the game actually having fun.
The game starts off strongly and makes a great first impression. With the Yagami Detective Agency in full tilt, Takayuki Yagami has successfully capitalized off the notoriety he got for solving the major case in the previous Judgment game. Soon, however, he's pulled out of series mainstay Kamurocho to investigate a bullying endemic in a private school in Ijincho, the city introduced in 2020's Like A Dragon. While hiring a PI might seem excessive at first, the early reveal of suicidal ideations in the victims effectively casts what could have been a 21 Jump Street-style plot into something darker.
Since there's no way he can pass as a high schooler, Yagami instead is set up as a counselor for after-school activities - which conveniently sets him up for a wide variety of minigames and the game's most major subplot regarding getting to the root of rapidly spreading delinquent activity. It was here I first started to struggle with Lost Judgment. See, this storyline - hunting someone named The Professor who seems to be corrupting the students - is fundamentally interesting, but it requires progressing EVERY school subplot; Dance Club, Motorcycle Club, Robotics, Boxing, so on. So if you happen to like half the minigames but despise the other half? Too bad. I did want to see this storyline through, but the fact that the minigames required varied wildly in quality (compare Boxing, which was so fun it could be its own spinoff to the Robotics Club whose awkward controls and grinding for parts made it utterly intolerable) meant that I spent at least half the time progressing the plot not having any fun at all, and that's not even including the inconsistent writing quality between each of the subplots.
The argument could easily be made that this is entirely optional content, and it's not wrong; but again, I DID like half of it, which made the fact that I couldn't engage with that half without having to put up with the other half that I grew to loathe all the more irritating. Interconnecting such a wide variety of minigames and substories into one greater plotline is conceptually interesting, but it's a gamble dependent on the quality being consistent - which it simply wasn't for me.
What isn't optional content is the main story, however, and if anything I had an even worse time with that. It starts off well enough, a pretty classic RGG Studios tale of layering conspiracy and fakeouts, but whereas in the last game, Yagami felt like a capable if idealistic detective, in this one he repeatedly gets blindsided by the most obvious plot points and consistently fails to do any actual investigative work. Every lead is dropped into his lap, and he's led by the nose into every major revelation. An inflated cast doesn't help, either; while Yagami's supporting crew remain a highlight, an influx of new villains who step in and out of the plot almost at random alongside a number of frienemy-type situations just dilutes what little screentime some of the better characters already get.
Thankfully, where the game is strong is the core gameplay. Like the previous Judgment spinoff and the Yakuza games it originates from, Lost Judgment employs a real-time arcade brawling system that is increasingly unique. More arcadey than the cinematic action combat of many modern games, but not quite as elaborately combo-focused as character action titles, the RGG games have always existed in an enjoyable middle ground, and Lost Judgment's fighting is more polished than ever. In addition to the powerful single-target focused Tiger Style and sweeping Crane Style from the previous game, Yagami also has a new Snake Style, focused on elaborate takedowns and intimidation, and Boxer Style - a simple, brutally effective beatdown based on timed dodges and counters. Snake Style is a little bit overtuned - despite being introduced as Yagami's way of 'going easy' on high-schoolers, it has some absolutely brutal takedowns and is easily able to handle every fight in the game on its own - but every style does its job well, and flipping between them rapidly in combat is a pleasure thanks to an entertaining time-slow that allows for some truly aggressive juggles. Boss fights are a highlight as well; bosses are aggressive enough to be difficult to stunt on TOO much, but they're not immune to every trick which makes it feel all the more rewarding to combo a full lifebar off them.
Unfortunate, then, that it's so often interrupted by gimmicks that aren't half as fun. Look, I get it; Lost Judgment is a LONG game. Maybe too long, and it could have been cut! But as it is, there was probably a desire to add variety, and I'm sympathetic to that. But like the previous Judgment, the 'detective' side of this detective action adventure just doesn't hold up. The minigame of following people for up to ten minutes is thankfully reduced in frequency (though, irritatingly, not gone entirely) but a new stealth sequence involving creeping around and flipping coins out to distract enemies is as dull as it gets - and frequently used in both in the main story and side quests. While there's still plenty of fighting to be had, between these and the side story in the school, even those who aren't completionists and just want to complete major narrative arcs have to invest hours upon hours into some truly awful gameplay.
I wish I wasn't so down on Lost Judgment, because I do see the vision. Nothing exemplifies this better than the Kaito Files Expansion, a brisk 5-ish hour expansion following Yagami's partner and heavy hitter, Kaito, as a lost love from his past resurfaces. Despite Kaito's combat not quite being as fun as Yagami's - he's mostly reusing Kiryu's Brawler and Beast Styles from Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami with a few extra moves - its tighter pacing and smaller cast are to its benefit. Considering how much the core game suffers from its glacially paced plot and enormously inflated cast, I wish it had gotten a second pass and taken some of the same lessons away.
Judging by the general reception to the game, I think I'm in the minority when it comes to just how hard I bounced off of Lost Judgment, and I don't take any joy in that. Knowing that there likely won't be a third game due to logistics issues, I really hoped to bid Yagami and company a fond farewell in this outing, but a strong expansion pack and enjoyable combat unfortunately just didn't manage to distract me from how much I was dreading each poorly-written plot twist, repetitive fight against a barely-memorable villain, or poorly balanced minigame. I wanted to love Lost Judgment, I really did; instead, it wound up as perhaps my least favorite game I've ever played from RGG Studios.
