Judgment

 PlayStation 4
User Score
8.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 514 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 438 out of 514
  2. Mixed: 37 out of 514
  3. Negative: 39 out of 514
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  1. Kenmei
    Jul 18, 2019
    7
    Judgment would have been better served by not being related to the Yakuza series. The overall tone and the more grounded, gritty main story doesn't line up with the overall craziness from the usual side quests (or cases in this instance). I really liked the main story here. I feel its better then anything else that's been in any previous Yakuza games. If the main story existed in a vacuum,Judgment would have been better served by not being related to the Yakuza series. The overall tone and the more grounded, gritty main story doesn't line up with the overall craziness from the usual side quests (or cases in this instance). I really liked the main story here. I feel its better then anything else that's been in any previous Yakuza games. If the main story existed in a vacuum, it would be very good. However the side quests don't line up well with the main stories tone and its very noticeable that Kiryu is not here to carry the series during those moments. Also the lack of some of the series mainstay side stuff to do is very noticeable. No karaoke is a huge loss and not having a mode like the Cabaret mode in the previous games makes this the most barren Yakuza game in awhile. The main story though really is that good and makes the game easy to recommend for me. However, new players to the Yakuza series will probably get more out of this then returning players.… Expand
  2. MarcIsHere
    Jun 27, 2019
    7
    Good, but not Yakuza. I like investigating but it doesn't have that humour/violence quality the original series has. But still worth a day one purchase.
  3. Xenonexe2558
    Apr 30, 2021
    5
    Take Yakuza, remove the charming and crazy characters, then add tail and detective mechanics with no challenge and you pretty much have Judgement. Yes the Dragon engine GFX are pretty, but the sole driver is now the tension of resolving a mystery with one long grind to get there. Missions, pacing, side quests just seem to lack the humour and shine. Many just seem to be running across theTake Yakuza, remove the charming and crazy characters, then add tail and detective mechanics with no challenge and you pretty much have Judgement. Yes the Dragon engine GFX are pretty, but the sole driver is now the tension of resolving a mystery with one long grind to get there. Missions, pacing, side quests just seem to lack the humour and shine. Many just seem to be running across the map. And now that the signature quirkiness has been dialled back, oddities like the dating mechanic just seem creepy. I’m catching up with the Yakuza 4 remaster and even with the dated GFX I’m enjoying it more after 30 mins than 12 hours of Judgment, which is a shame, because I really wanted to like it.… Expand
  4. Toxic_Boy
    Jul 13, 2019
    6
    This game is a warning sign. Sega have now reused the same assets and mechanics on all the Yakuza remakes, and now have used them on a "new" franchise. Judgment is little more than just more of the same except the only difference is the "detective" aspect of the game involves dull, tedious mechanics. Tailing enemies is reminiscent of a long forgotten past time we associate with Assassin'sThis game is a warning sign. Sega have now reused the same assets and mechanics on all the Yakuza remakes, and now have used them on a "new" franchise. Judgment is little more than just more of the same except the only difference is the "detective" aspect of the game involves dull, tedious mechanics. Tailing enemies is reminiscent of a long forgotten past time we associate with Assassin's Creeds older games. Crime scene investigations I volve little more than clicking on obvious clues. Deductions are laughably easy and just serve to fill in time. How much longer until Sega delivers a fresh take on their formula. Or will fans be happy to eat up more of the same?… Expand
  5. Parik
    Aug 7, 2020
    6
    Judment - is a game for players who didn't play Yakuza series, but want to get familiar with it. That's not my words, but many Yakuza fans seem to agree with this statement.
    The main story of Judgment doesn't hav any common characters or background with Yakuza series, but the action takes place in the same location called Kamurocho. And, as I can understand, gameplay and mini-games are    Judment - is a game for players who didn't play Yakuza series, but want to get familiar with it. That's not my words, but many Yakuza fans seem to agree with this statement.
    The main story of Judgment doesn't hav any common characters or background with Yakuza series, but the action takes place in the same location called Kamurocho. And, as I can understand, gameplay and mini-games are quite similar to Yakuza.
    The game has immerse story and few very funny side quests. But lots of gamedesiner's mistakes (or lack of ideas) generate lots of annoying situations. There aren't many mechanics besides fighting, so you'll be bored after another tailing or chase. Even if you like fighting gameplay of Judgment, I think that they have to reduce enemy spawn rate. For example, once when I was on my way to main quest point I had 6 fights with street thugs and route of 500 meters long took about 5-6 minutes, 'cos after a few fights you have to go to the shop to restock.
    Conclusion. The game isn't bad. Story line will thrilled you. Main characters have their own temper, dialogue and cut scenes are perfect; you will meet many funny persons with weird requests and it will dilute serious tone of the main case. But, still... almost 40 hours, I think they should have cut it half.    … Expand
  6. MakeEmSweat
    Jul 19, 2019
    5
    Worst climax ever, i really hope there is no more judgment in the future, the story line is great but the detective mechanics are terrible, fighting is boring and the minigames...no karaoke neither hostess?really??This game doesn´t look like a Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio game
  7. Bollywongaloid
    Oct 1, 2021
    5
    Okay I guess. Main story is somewhat compelling but in terms of gameplay you’re basically being pointed from A to B and just follow a linear path with no real deduction involved. Some mini games and side quests can be fun but the detective mechanics may as well not be there they’re so irrelevant. Found myself getting bored a lot. O and the combat is terrible. This game tries to doOkay I guess. Main story is somewhat compelling but in terms of gameplay you’re basically being pointed from A to B and just follow a linear path with no real deduction involved. Some mini games and side quests can be fun but the detective mechanics may as well not be there they’re so irrelevant. Found myself getting bored a lot. O and the combat is terrible. This game tries to do everything and graphically speaking is well polished with nice menus but found myself tuning out from the game far too often.… Expand
  8. Cybercafe
    Aug 30, 2019
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Jogo bem fraco, cópia mal feita de sleeping dogs, gráficos deixam a desejar, infelizmente a Sega está no fundo do poço, já foi melhor, o jogo é bom mas não tem comparação com as obras primas da Sega dos anos 90… Expand
  9. Chenze
    Jul 3, 2019
    7
    Spin off of Yakuza series, so if you don't like Yakuza you may want to use some common sense and get something your'e interested in. Otherwise the story is well written and very expanded if you decide to do every side mission. Not perfect so not a 10, combat does not feel as good as Yakuza games but not bad in a specific way. It can be a little too similar sometimes, like a deja vuSpin off of Yakuza series, so if you don't like Yakuza you may want to use some common sense and get something your'e interested in. Otherwise the story is well written and very expanded if you decide to do every side mission. Not perfect so not a 10, combat does not feel as good as Yakuza games but not bad in a specific way. It can be a little too similar sometimes, like a deja vu effect if you have played previous Yakuza games, however that may not be a bad thing for most.… Expand
  10. f1o_o1f
    Jul 22, 2021
    7
    Liked the game, but there were many things that really bugged me. I never played any Yakuza game or anything from the studio, so I didn't have any expectations.

    First of all, I really liked the story. It was quite long and had serious pacing issues, but it really felt like a top-tier crime series. Overall very well written and engaging. Funnily enough, the last third of the game, which    Liked the game, but there were many things that really bugged me. I never played any Yakuza game or anything from the studio, so I didn't have any expectations.

    First of all, I really liked the story. It was quite long and had serious pacing issues, but it really felt like a top-tier crime series. Overall very well written and engaging. Funnily enough, the last third of the game, which is made up of the shortest chapters, felt extremely stretched out and wasn't particularly fun (except for the story bits).

    I really did not like the combat, though. The system itself is not necessarily bad, but it seemed very rushed. Many mandatory fights are straight up badly designed and some bosses are pretty unfair (I'm talking Bed-of-Chaos-unfair here...). It doesn't help that the game basically consists of constant fighting. For the first 15 hours it was pretty fun, but after that it just felt tedious and unnecessary.

    Some mechanics are just not good. Singled out, they do have a lot of potential, but in this game they seemed just crammed in with little effort to shake up gameplay.
    The mechanics that I disliked:

    - Tailing missions; fun for the first two times. Just annoying afterwards. Especially towards the end they seemed to have skipped any kind of testing on them.

    - Perma-damage; generally not a bad idea and definitely effective in keeping the player on their toes. The implementation was just poor. It basically just meant that long fighting sequences without any chance of accessing the open world became a risky endeavour. As soon as one was in the open again, it basically was just a waste of time and money. (The worst was one "boss" who dealt out non-dodgable perma-damage. Depending on the last save-point, this fight could become a huge problem for some players)

    - Bosses; I don't mean the bosses as characters - they usually were rather intriguing. How the fights were arranged was very bad, though. No consideration for how the combat works. The fact that I had to eat up to 30 meals during a fight just to heal up from some random non-dodgable combos is ridiculous. The worst was one passage were I had to fight one certain "boss" four or five times over. Really made the single fights seem useless and insignificant.

    - Threat Level; probably the worst thing about this game. Increased chance of random battles basically for the rest of you playtime... Seriously? Definitely one of the most annoying, unnecessary and time-consuming things they could've thought up. Clearly, this was a last-minute implementation that was not thoroughly tested.

    Overall everything related to combat simply felt lazy in terms of design. It doesn't help that apart from fighting, there is very little in terms of gameplay if you concentrate on the Main Story.    … Expand
  11. Juggajuggaoneli
    Apr 8, 2021
    7
    This is one of the better games out recently. Its amazing its not a AAA title like most of the overhyped ones Sony is stuff doing throats through PR stunts which ultimately fail due to too much hype and very little attention to detail when it comes to fixing bugs. Probably the best Yakuza game from Sega in fact that there is no driving activities but still the whole approach of doingThis is one of the better games out recently. Its amazing its not a AAA title like most of the overhyped ones Sony is stuff doing throats through PR stunts which ultimately fail due to too much hype and very little attention to detail when it comes to fixing bugs. Probably the best Yakuza game from Sega in fact that there is no driving activities but still the whole approach of doing tasks to kill item just for the sake of doing so can get tiresome. The developer adds some puzzle solving skills to break the monotony. I found the girlfriend side quests also to be a waste of time in that its essentially sterlized for courtesties in japanese culture even with some of the mature themes involved. As with any Yakuza game, the fighting leaves something to be desired and is a mash of buttons as the main character can be overpowering rather easily with early ability upgrades attained easily. Another annoying thing, is the random battles that pop up constantly even during down times. Its fortunate the player's character is again overpowering to simply outrun enemies and avoid these endless battles.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

66
#66 Best PS4 Game of 2019
36
#36 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2019
23
#23 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 83 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 70 out of 83
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 83
  3. Negative: 0 out of 83
  1. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Aug 2, 2019
    70
    It’s obvious the team didn’t have the budget of Yakuza 6 for this game. But that gives the game its own charm, like those criminal dramas on TV that you would never watch on purpose, but if you stumble upon one, you’re going to see it to the end. [Issue#239, p.52]
  2. Critical Hit
    Jul 31, 2019
    85
    Whether you’re a long-time Yakuza fan or just coming to this series, Judgment is well worth the investment. Boasting a cracking story, oodles of content and a fantastic fighting system, this spin-off can keep you glued for days… possibly months.
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  3. Vgames
    Jul 25, 2019
    70
    Judgment is too afraid to let go of its defining "Yakuza" features, pushing detective gameplay to the side to let the combat mechanics shine. Its story is gripping and very enjoyable, running alongside the extra side content which is full of heart and entertainment. Give Judgment a shot, whether you're a die-hard Yakuza fan, or a newbie to the franchise.
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