Lost Judgment
Available Platforms
Release Date
September 24, 2021
Developer
Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio
Publisher
SEGA
Deals
Lost Judgment
Release date: September 24, 2021
Published by: SEGA
Developed by: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio
Reviewed on: PlayStation 5
Available on: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, XBox One, XBox Series X
Reviewed by Carrie Rogers-Whitehead
Lost Judgment is a new spinoff of the popular Yakuza action-adventure series, allowing the player to fight and explore their way through the red light district and criminal underground of fictional Kamurocho.
Lost Judgment is the spinoff of the Yakuza series, action-adventure games that have become increasingly popular outside of Japan. Yakuza 0 is one of them, which I reviewed earlier.
Lost Judgment is the sequel to 2018’s Judgment, which had mixed reviews. The Judgment games are set in the same gritty streets of Kamurocho as the Yakuza series. You explore Kamurocho and surrounding series and solve mysteries through examining evidence, tailing potential criminals, flying drones and taking pictures and more. The detective mode is a new addition to the Yakuza world.
With the debut of another RPG-style Yakuza spinoff, Like a Dragon (reviewed here) the developers at Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios decided to have the brawler play style continue in Judgment while turn-based RPG play would be in Like a Dragon.
Lost Judgment premiered to better reviews with increased game play and an improvement on the fighting system in Judgment. It also added more side quests and minigames and allows more techniques to battle. We found it more fun and engaging to play than Judgment, particularly the sprawling School Quest side stories where you investigate odd goings-on at a local high school.
Like any game in the Yakuza universe, Lost Judgment is a commitment to play. It takes many hours, but also provides many hours of entertainment. It has mature themes like drinking, smoking, violence in the fighting and sexual content throughout your quests and activities in the host clubs, brothels and bars of Kamurocho’s red light district. As with Yakuza O and Like a Dragon, I don’t recommend these games for children.
Parent Score
3 out of 10
Lost Judgment has very mature themes with sex, violence, swear words and smoking/drinking.
Fun Factor
8 out of 10
Like other Yakuza games, Lost Judgment is very entertaining with wacky characters and sidequests and a detailed city to explore.
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Pros
- Like other Yakuza games, Lost Judgment is very entertaining with wacky characters and sidequests and a detailed city to explore.
Cons
- Lost Judgment has very mature themes with sex, violence, swear words and smoking/drinking.