This article is part of a directory: Lost Judgment: Complete Guide And Walkthrough
Table of contents

The cameras have been strategically placed throughout the school. The pupils and teachers are none the wiser, and we’ve already uncovered evidence of bullying on one of the feeds. Bingo! It’s all going to plan.

Or so I think. As I do a last-minute check of a malfunctioning camera, I suddenly find a schoolgirl shrieking at me and accusing me of being a pervert. Great. This begins a dramatic escape from the school in which I get to use Lost Judgment’s new Assassin’s Creed-style parkour mechanics; climbing walls, hanging from ledges, and springing from one surface to another. While grappling along a drainpipe, the camera cuts to an inside view where some poor male students trying to take a leak stare in confusion at the legs swinging past the window.

RELATED: Lost Judgment Interview: Kazuki Hosokawa On Pandemic Development, Dead Souls, and Leaving Kazuma Kiryu Behind

This see-saw between quirky comedy and serious drama is a staple of both the Judgment series and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s other major hit, Yakuza. While Judgment tends to keep it more down to earth — you won’t find castles springing up from the ground or anything — you’d be forgiven for thinking that the humor would undermine the game’s themes of bullying, suicide, and murder. Luckily Lost Judgment, much like its predecessors, manages to strike a fine balance between the two.

The subject matter gets pretty dark, not only jumping into the deep end with topics video games usually find difficult to discuss or even acknowledge, but also highlighting the uglier side of human nature. Lost Judgment tackles these issues with great sensitivity and despite its more humorous moments, the overall tone of the storyline is always spot on.

Lost Judgment Yagami and Koda

Lost Judgment once again follows Takayuki Yagami, a defense attorney-turned-private detective responsible for catching a serial killer known as the Mole in the previous game. The sequel has him and his buddies investigating bullying at a local high school, before finding themselves entangled in yet another murder mystery. A man has seemingly committed murder at the exact same time as the sexual battery he has been convicted for, with video evidence surfacing of each crime. So how is this possible?

As promised, Lost Judgment delivers a darker and grittier storyline than the first entry. You might be wondering how you can get darker than a serial killer gouging out people’s eyes, but Lost Judgment delves into the moral grey area of incredibly sensitive issues. Things are not black and white, and no person is entirely right or entirely wrong. The game takes a deeper look into what we perceive as “justice”, all with a large helping of murder, deceit, and intrigue.

I was patting myself on the back fairly early on, assuming that I had solved a good chunk of the mystery, but I couldn’t have been more off-base. The further you progress through the game, the more you realise that the storyline is a web thick with intricacies, surprises, and plot twists. If you think you can clearly see one part of the puzzle, it’s only because the game teases you into a false sense of security that you nearly have the full picture, when in reality, you’re still just digging through the box to find the flat edge pieces.

Yagami and masked man in Lost Judgment

As the game opened with Yagami and Kaito back in action in the midst of a new case, I couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear. However, the smile fell from my face when the first gameplay section was a tailing sequence — one of the many investigation mechanics that I, and many others, struggled to find endearing in the first game.

This time, however, things are much improved. Gone are the limited areas to hide, and if your target spots you, you can now pretend to be either fiddling with your phone or looking on the floor for some imagined thing you’ve lost at the press of a button. Stopping by walls or other obstacles makes Yagami automatically duck and hide too, ensuring the system feels far more intuitive.

It’s as if players are purposefully thrown into this right away, like the studio was anticipating the antipathy towards these segments and is saying “Look, it’s better. I promise!” This sets the bar for everything that comes afterward, proving that Lost Judgment is an improvement on the first game in every way.

The storyline is deeper and harder to untangle, the side characters feel fully formed and independent, rather than just supporting plot devices for Yagami, you have double the area to explore with the addition of Yakuza: Like a Dragon’s Yokohama, and the previously tiresome detective elements have all been greatly improved. For example, Active Search Mode now requires more effort. You can’t just pan around and wait for your controller to vibrate — clues only appear when you focus in, so you actually investigate and put in the extra gumshoe legwork.

Lost Judgment Yagami skateboarding

Annoying elements such as Mortal Wounds — where your HP bar is permanently limited until you use a Medical Kit — and having to fiddle through every key you have ever collected when entering doors are thankfully gone, while new mechanics like the aforementioned parkour, stealth infiltrations, skateboarding, and new detective gadgets are welcome additions. The friendship system is also gone, but I never cared for that either.

Digging up some side cases can feel like a chore with the new Buzz Research feature, which has you collecting keywords on the streets in order to target points of interest and discover possible leads. While it’s obvious that the idea was to get you to hit the streets and work for your cases in true detective style, this whole system feels a little messy and repetitive thanks to having to dig around city hotspots or the Chatter app for keywords. Then, once you’ve successfully found a keyword, you’ll need to use it to filter down Chatter posts and identify a new case.

Lost Judgment retains its action combat style, rather than the turn-based battles that Like a Dragon adopted. In addition to the Tiger and Crane styles, Yagami has a new Snake fighting style that is a godsend against enemies with weapons.

You’re never going to get the more exciting (and far-fetched) boss battles that some of the Yakuza titles offer, as Judgment likes to keep it real. If you’re expecting Yakuza-style bosses where you can enlist the help of Nancy the Crawfish, you might find simply hammering down HP bar after HP bar on bosses a little arduous here. Investing in your skills and EX actions while making the most of your different styles and the environmental objects can make the battles feel more fluid and less of a chore, however. That’s not to mention seeing Yagami and Kaito reprising their kick-ass joint EX actions is always a plus in my book.

Yagami and Kaito joint EX action in Lost Judgment

It’s hard not to get nostalgic when stepping back onto the streets of Kamurocho. From the now-derelict Shangri-La that went out of business because Majima ram-raided it back in the first Yakuza title to the passing appearance of Kamulop, Kamurocho’s mascot from Yakuza: Like a Dragon, the streets are steeped in RGG Studio history. You can even stroll into Survive Bar, although disappointingly there’s no karaoke on offer.

Lost Judgment delivers plenty of fan-service moments, including a cameo or two. I won’t ruin them for you but just know that I squealed loudly when they happened, even if the appearances were a little hollow. More than once I found myself gushing over a character’s on-point entrance or some funny quip between the guys. There are also plenty of callbacks to the first game, such as another Saori makeover, Kaito jokingly telling Yagami about what the term “mole” means in the West, and the very similar credits sequence.

There’s clearly a lot of Like a Dragon present in the game, and I don’t just mean the obvious inclusion of Yokohama or the continuation of canon plot points. For example, animated character models appear above text boxes in certain dialogue sequences and you can once again have your ass handed to you by a passing car.

Completing the main storyline is just the tip of the iceberg. With two densely populated city maps to explore, a whole host of side cases, an abundance of minigames, collectibles, and more, you can easily rack up the hours in Lost Judgment. Side cases offer some of the best and funniest stories within the game, not to mention you can enjoy the dating scene, for those who want to see Yagami get his mojo on.

In addition to the usual side cases, Lost Judgment offers a whole subsection of content called School Stories — an additional overarching mystery to unravel with new minigames, such as the Dance Club minigame. It even sees Yagami protest that he is not a dancer before pulling off some sick moves and having the students squeal over his “pro dancer” skills. Other humorous and enjoyable club activities include the Biker Gang and the Photography Club, to name just a couple.

Lost Judgment delivers another fantastic thriller that ups the ante when it comes to its intricately woven plot and interesting cast of characters, all while making you question where the line is drawn between the law and true justice. And when all is said and done, you can sit and celebrate with some sushi.

Lost Judgment Review Card

Score: 4.5/5. A review code for Xbox Series X|S was provided by Sega.

lost judgment
Lost Judgment

A second spin-off from the Yakuza series, Lost Judgment again sees you play investigator Takayuki Yagami. This time, you must look into a violent criminal, dealing with whoever gets in your way.

Next: Lost Judgment: Complete Guide And Walkthrough