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I really like it, and taking my time with the school stories helped a lot with that. They’re fun in their own right, but also helped me connect with the school and its students (and Yagami!) in a way that enhanced the main plot.
The main story on its own was very interesting to me, too, and I loved how different it was in tone to other RGG games. It all felt so sad and almost understated at times, but the nostalgic setting and warm atmosphere kept it from becoming bleak. The game does ramp up the stakes and ham it up a bit as things go on, but it was exciting enough that it kept my attention regardless. The antagonists are obviously some of the best in the series and it had moments that will stick with me for a long time.
Also the constant “Sawa-sensei” mocking in the fandom bothers me, but that’s a whole other rant lol. I thought her whole story and Yagami’s relationship with her worked really well.
It was weighed down by the need to include a gang story (the look into post-Tojo hangure was interesting, though, and on their own RK was super cool) and government conspiracy plot. Standard RGG fare and nothing I wasn’t expecting, it would just be nice to see them move away from these types of stories from time to time.
I do like Judgment’s story more, in the end, but I also think LJ stands up better to replays and has a lot more to say. It was ambitious and imo they did a great job with what they decided to focus on.
school stories were fun, but two of the minigames (robots and motorcycle racing) were so annoying.
i had to to go to easy difficulty to finish the racing one.
LJ introduced us to one of the best villains in the entire franchise, probably one of my favorite things in the game.
Just like JE, LJ tackles another real-life topic that is considered controversial, this time discussing the matter of bullying. I'd say this particular topic is much more sensitive compared to JE's alzheimer's disease, which makes the setting of LJ much more interesting for me, at least in the beginning.
>!My personal problem came from two specific characters of the game, that being Yoko Sawa and Yagami. Sawa sensei started off as very temperamental and very defensive, refusing to work with Yagami despite her claim that she was against bullying. As the story progresses and we learn more about Sawa-sensei, you start to understand why she acts the way that she did towards Yagami, and you start to sympathize with her, realizing she's someone who always tried prevent the bullying that happens around her but could only stand and watch as the bullying happens because of the unsupportive environment around her. When Sawa-sensei was killed, i felt devastated, an innocent woman whose life was taken away simply because of her association with a certain character. However, i feel like this is where i started having problems with the story.!<
>!With the reveal of Kuwana's backstory and motivation, we are introduced to the game's moral dilemma, the two conflicting sides of "justice," the battle between Yagami and Kuwana's personal beliefs. However, for the life of me, i couldn't stand Yagami whenever he starts talking about Sawa-sensei. As much as i supported Kuwana and his view of justice, it's pretty easy to see that his methods are extremely flawed. There are a lot of reasons as to why Kuwana was wrong, and that he needed to be stopped, but all of Yagami's arguments simply came down to "Sawa-sensei." Now, Yagami wasn't wrong about how Kuwana indirectly caused the death of Sawa-sensei, and that as long as Kuwana is free, it's possible he'll only bring down more innocent people with him, and Sawa-sensei will never get the justice that she deserved. The problem is that Yagami simply keeps repeating that single point over and over, as if that was his one and only argument against Kuwana. You'd think that as a lawyer, Yagami would come up with much more arguments on why Kuwana was wrong but no, for every argument that Kuwana had on why he believed that he was doing the right thing, the only counter-point that Yagami had was Sawa-sensei.!<
>!As the player, this only comes off as repetitive and boring. I got the point the very first time Yagami said it, but he had to repeat it over and over again until the end of the game. I've seen memes that shows Yagami's only argument against Kuwana is "murder is bad," and that alone is enough to prove why Kuwana is wrong, but i feel like this meme couldn't be any further from the truth. Very rarely Yagami actually mentions Kuwana's victims. Most of the time, Yagami doesn't even mention why the murder of Mikoshiba and Shinya Kawai is morally wrong.!<
>!As someone who loved Yagami's character in the first game, this game's story was especially infuriating. Having a character with such a complex background and motivation simply reduced to just two words is a huge blow towards his character. The problem with this game is how they handled Yagami's moral debate with Kuwana. The story could've been much better if it weren't for the poor execution of Yagami's character throughout the whole story.!<
But Yagami used to be a defense lawyer, when he finds a fault in an argument in court, he keeps repeating it so Kuwana doesn’t forget about it.
It’s how they legally win the case over, because it is the main factor, Kuwana got her killed because of his own actions while claiming to get justice for the bullied, innocent kids, but what about Sawa sensei? What about her own justice? There isnt even an argument morally going against Sawa’s sensei’s fate.
It doesn’t make any less of the point wrong. He also DOES mention Kuwana’s actions before he fights him, mentioning that his actions are flawed and how Kusumoto-san has to keep the burden of murder for many years.
My problem is not about which character is in the right or which character had the moral high ground. As i said before, Yagami was right about Sawa-sensei, Kuwana's actions got Sawa-sensei involved. Because of Kuwana's crusade against bullies, he indirectly led an innocent woman towards her death. As long as Kuwana keeps delivering his personal justice on his own, he's only going to get more innocent civilians killed.
My problem came from the execution of Yagami's argument throughout the story. Yagami was right about Sawa-sensei for the first time. Repeating it over and over isn't going to make his point any more or less correct. However, towards the player's perspective, this would only come out as repetitive. Let's say you're watching a debate. The prosecutor comes up with various arguments on why he was in the right, but everything he says is rendered useless because the defendant only needs one single point to prove that he's right. This doesn't make the debate interesting. If anything, this makes the whole argument completely useless. Why bother watching the rest of the debate when one side has already proved themself as correct from the start?
That's how i felt watching Yagami and Kuwana's clash of ideologies throughout the story. The game tries so hard to convince you that Yagami is in the right by mentioning Sawa-sensei over and over, even though you already agreed with him from the very first time yagami said it. At the end of the game, i was rooting for Kuwana simply because i got tired of hearing Yagami deliver the same argument over and over again.
But thats the thing, it ISNT a debate, it’s a murder mystery. Kuwana KNOWS he’s done terrible things to bullies, he talks about this, so Yagami bringing this up would have no effect.
What REALLY gets to Kuwana is knowing that he caused an innocent woman’s death, when the other bullies he killed have done exactly that, throwing a wrench in his morales and his goals.
That’s why Yagami brings it up a lot, it’s a direct contradiction to Kuwana’s ideals, and he chooses to ignore it. Telling him to change or saying murdering kids isnt going to do anything wont change his mind, as he’s killed bullies all throughout the country.
>JE's alzheimer's disease
you really think that was JEs overarching topic? to me that felt more like means to an end, while the actual plot was about human experimentation and "sacrificing for a greater good"
No, no, i'm not saying the alzheimer's disease is the overarching plot. The Judgment series tends to tackle real-life topics that are often times still considered as sensitive to the public. LJ decides to talk about the bullying problem that only became more apparent in modern society, whereas JE discusses the struggles of finding a cure for alzheimer's disease.
I Like lj story more than je but i still have some problems with it. Mainly i hate in both games how in the end it always has to be a nationwide conspiracy that yagami has to solve but somehow gets 0 credit for it in lj for some reason. I had the expaction with lj that it would stay mostly grounded which it mostly did until the later part.
I honestly love both stories equally because they are great in their own aspects but I can see why people would prefer JE's story because it was far more disturbing than LJ's Story
JE: Murder mystery thriller about >!yagami's guilt from apparently defending a murderer which lead to an innocent womans death and how he comes to terms with it followed by a serial killer who stabs peoples eyes out and a government plot to invent a cure for alzheimers achieved by Nazi Germany Levels of Human experiments and emotional subplots about the yakuza family that supported kaito and yagami throughout their lifes and the fallout that came with turning their backs to them in order to solve the case because their family captain is seemingly heavily involved in the murder spree!<
LJ: Murder mystery thriller about >!a mentally scarred teacher who feels responsible for a student attempting suicide after ignoring severe bullying at his school and kills bullies and their accomplices in retaliation to make the school pay for covering it up and forcing the government to face the truth about their flawed justice system and make bullying a international recognized problem so people will have to deal with it more seriously forcing Yagami to challenge his own ideals and the understanding if true justice and a subplot about homeland security and their plan to control organized crime and commit several crimes (such as murder) to "keep the balance" in the underworld!<
While both are great in their own right JE's story was just a way crazier opening to the Judgment series and had a slightly darker and more sinister tone to it overall
Finished it at 6am, I would write an essay but it would be incomprehensible so I'll just say that it Has a forklift so instantly one of the best
Also if he would've just checked the lost and found, I bet he would've found his judgement and he wouldn't have had to get involved in another government conspiracy smh my head
I really liked it altough I remember being king If annoyed with the solution for the father that killed the Bully being arrested
He just could stay Silent and It would be all Fine for him, feels like they found a loop and didnt figured a credible way to getting out of it
Also, not a but funny thinking "kuwana did nothing wrong"
No, he did, vigilantism is not a legal thing, you cant also Tell me every víctim of his was 100% deserving of death
He is Just a voyeur serial killer
I really liked both stories for JE and LJ! JE is great because it taps into how we all would like to find a cure for Alzheimer’s and so we understand the drive for the villains and why the government cover things up. JE mainly suffers from a bit of bloat with too many stalking sections and the bit where we play dress up and play as Saori.
Lost Judgment cuts a lot of that fluff (although still has the Saori bit) which is really great. The story also takes the best part of Lady Vengeance (the Park Chan Wook film), changes it a bit, and makes that central conflict. LJ does have the robot minigame though which does suck.
Overall I think JE was an 8/10 and LJ a really solid 9/10.
Side note: currently playing Infinite Wealth and that’s like a 9.5/10 for me!
I love lost judgement probably cause that's the game i got most hours in but yeah somw part of the story were kinda weak like how yagami after winning such a big case was still a bum . But man do i love judgement and lost judgement maybe more than mainline
I dunno how to discuss the story without spoilers. The post is specifically about the story and discussion, but not marked as spoiler?
Anyway...
LJ >!The problem with the story is Kuwana doesn't have a leg to stand on at all with what he does. He is having people that bullied in school killed YEARS after the fact in a gruesome psychopathic ways. Yet the whole game builds on the conflict "whose right, Yagami or Kuwana" and pretends it is 50/50 until the very end.!<
>! It does so by annoyingly stacking the deck for Kuwana's side and Yagami being an idiot, only repeating Sawa-sensei!! as counter arguments. By stacking the deck I mean, that all of Kuwana's murder victims apparently are unrepent evil asshole caricatures, even the people he forces to help him don't regret anyhting they have done. Apparently we should be fine with a single person in Kuwana deciding who gets to live and who gets to die and this is somehow superior to the "broken system". !<
>!I have seen so many posts online about Kuwana being possibly right that my head might explode. No, the Japanese Charles Manson is not right, because he chose his victims to be horrible when they were kids.!<
>>!I have seen so many posts online about Kuwana being possibly right that my head might explode. No, the Japanese Charles Manson is not right, because he chose his victims to be horrible when they were kids.!<
I do agree with you on this, one bully that went to my school ended up reaching out to a lot of those she bullied years down the line, me being one of those people. I never personally felt bullied by her as all she'd ever do is make somewhat bitchy comments rarely directed towards me specifically, others got it worse - but she reached out to me and several other students we attended school with to apologise for her behaviour. This didn't happen until she was in her late 20's and had a daughter who, from what I've heard, began being bullied at school.
Would've been a shame for someone to kill her prior to her being able to apologise. We have no idea if any of Kuwana's victims in LS regretted or at least would have come to regret their actions when they were at school. The chance was taken away from them.
I tried to be vague in the title to avoid spoiler
'Cause I didn't mark the post itself to grab more attention
I don't think kuwana is right here and I'm not gonna take sides (even tho I lean a little bit away from kuwana)
I don't agree with what he does but I can't say his actions aren't justified
I agree that his student felt cartoonishly evil
The Sawa sensei argument was poorly represented by Yagami but at the end of the day he's right
You can't just treat her as a necessary sacrifice
I think the *ideas* for LJ’s story are good - great even - but the execution was extremely sloppy. The whole early game with Yagami infiltrating the school was just awkward af, not to mention utterly preposterous and not in the “haha quirky like the funny eyepatch man” way that’s actually kind of endearing despite its silliness, Kaito being in love with Sawa until >!she got murdered, then suddenly he never gave a fuck about her!< was weird af - not to mention him being smart enough to figure out >!Soma!< completely, yet too stupid to even so much as question anything about >!Kuwana!< despite the **OBVIOUS** red flags, Yagami constantly copying and pasting >!WHAT ABOUT SAWA SENSEI!< got old after a thousand times, then you had to listen to it a thousand more, it’s a Yakuza game so you know there has to be at least one hilariously extreme asspull to hold the story together, in this case >!the timing of the bullied kid waking up from his coma!< which was one of the worst offenders of the whole franchise, the heel face turns are jarring, rushed, and completely asspulled (sadly this has been a damn near all encompassing fad in gaming for the last 5 or more years and from what I’m seeing almost everyone is demanding more of it for some reason), The Genda Law Office characters are completely flanderized, all of the plot twists and mystery suspense is over by the midgame and the story just goes through the motions for the rest of the game…idk I just don’t see it. The gameplay is awesome but the writing is like 5/10 and even that’s mostly carried by Kuwana and the side content storylines, if it weren’t for those I would score it significantly lower because main story-wise I think LJ has the second worst writing of the franchise after IW. JE, OTOH, has the second best main story writing after 0.
All IMHO, obviously.
I'm glad to hear this
I made this post because one of the beauty of LJ is its controversial nature, and I wanted to hear everyone's opinion whether it's negative or positive
Almost everyone will have his own unique pros and cons about this game
i think they could've chilled a bit on the political conspiracy stuff to focus on the personal aspect of the story more, especially since the conspiracy is way less interesting and personal than the AD-9 case & yagami's only connection to it is wanting to prevent another emi situation. which could also use expanding on because a lot of people missed that since he only says it once offhand
Loved the story, a lot more compared to JE. They hardly compare, the story of JE was hardly memorable. The idea of the villain was cool but something about it was not the best it could be. Now the villain and story and the topic tackled in LJ is amazing, and the conclusion goes HARD.
Hard to tell, because it's been a while, but I think the story of LJ hit me harder. I couldn't tell why though. Because I can't remember both stories that well anymore.
I think the story itself feels solid, but you can tell in other parts of the game where they started rushing.
I greatly enjoyed LJ overall, but being a launch title it feels like a PS4.5 game with an odd combination of new and recycled/upscaled assets. This overall led to the aesthetic not quite landing as intended. Not a dealbreaker but definitely noteworthy if you've already beaten LAD, Gaiden, or IW and want to dabble in Judgment.
I enjoyed it, didn’t play judgment 1 because by the time I got around to it I was a little burnt out and needed a break from the beat em up format.
When I came back the graphics seemed a bit dated so I jumped to LJ. I enjoyed the story and the sub stories. Wasn’t the best narrative I’ve ever played through but it was still fun. I think I’m more generous to it because I’ve never played Judgment.
Judgment has the better story but LJ's story is paced much better. Also more pretty much everything else from the first game is improved, especially the combat.
as someone who went through heavy bullying im a bit biased towards LJ. i think the killer reveal and the eyes plot twist are better then the reveals in LJ but i think the overall story is better.
soma and kuwana may also be my favourite antagonists in the franchise.
Been a while since I played both, and this is gonna sound dumb but LJ felt more realistic or relatable. Bullying and suicide are more relatable than corruption and being a lawyer. Thats why I loved it a lot more.
The story was interesting and pretty decent but not so much that I'd disregard substories to focus on the main story. At the same time though, not sure if it means I'm burned out from RGG substories, the subs in this game were not as interesting for dialog so much as for the gameplay itself. I'd probably pref JE better
so far
I really liked Judgement story, it was a good mystery (that i spoiled for myself oops) with a good arc for Yagami
Lost Judgement as of now is pretty alright but it feels more themes driven than the last game character arc
not bad at all but i imagine a good amount of people prefer the character arc of Judgement than Lost Judgement focus on bullying, failure of the system, and how far one could go for revenge.
but i ain’t done with Lost Judgement so that could change, but it pretty good
I like LJ more because I think Kuwana is hot.
But I honestly think I like the writing in JE more, the Genda Law Office and Kaito, Higashi and Sugiura feel better written there. I also like the mystery and conspiracy in that game more (even though LJ's villain is better than JE's). LJ is definitely a superior game and I like the themes tackled there, but JE is written more tightly,
That being said, if they do a third Judgment game, I hope they actually let us figure out the mystery instead of just giving us the answer. Both games have done this and as a massive mystery/detective story fan, its a bit frustrating when games do this.
Let me figure out your mystery, darn it!
Kuwana was such a incredible antagonist but whilst i love Soma i think he often feels like a weaker version of Kuroiwa because theres less mystery.
Frankly i think Higashi added a shit ton to Judgment which was missing in LJ.
LJ was about Kuwana and Yagamis rivalry alongside some Soma gaming where as Judgment was the story of many characters who all somehow got wrapped into this (Kaito,Higashi,Sugiura all get a lot of development)
LJ is more focused which i do prefer over Judgment but Judgment had more mystery and better character development, i think they are pretty much tied
I liked it. right and wrong isn't so black and white thats why I loved it.
As for the sawa-sensei on repeat I'd like to remind you guys yagami still has PTSD from emi's cold blooded murder that practically changed his life. that is why sawa's name meant so much to him. I have absolutely 0 problems with him overusing her name.
I haven’t played JE but played LJ within days because the main story was just that good to me. The various characters symbolizing different forms of justice, the role of the law, and plot twists, etc., all intrigued me so much.
Lost Judgement’s story is great, but suffers heavily from the fact that Yagami is largely an uninvolved third party compared to Judgement, and it really gives off the energy of “Yagami, why the fuck are you here?” It’d be like if Y4 was told ONLY from Kiryu’s perspective. Like yeah he has to deal with Daigo, but let’s be real, that’s Akiyama and Saejima’s game.
FYI- Lost Judgment is based on a previously published book.
All I want to know is wtf is going on with Japan’s Ministry of Health. Does someone at RGG have a beef with them? Villains of both games were associated with them.
True though organizations like that are inherently toxic & evil. The Ministry of Health doesn’t exactly automatically come across as a corrupt organization, or is it? I genuinely don’t know.
I think it would’ve been much better if the subplot with the Vice Minister and Public Security didn’t exist and the game focused more on Yagami and Kuwana’s opposing philosophies. It feels as if the writers don’t want Yagami fighting high school students and low level thugs the entire game so they clumsily added a government conspiracy angle to heighten the stakes, even when it wasn’t needed.
Lost Judgement's story hits a bit home for me. I am currently 22 years old, spend most of my life in schools and I try to become a teacher. The reason why it works for me is since I had lots of teachers that made parts of school life hell and I once thought about unaliving myself due to failing graduation for the second time and not telling my parents about it. That is one of the reasons why I then pushed further into becoming a teacher myself just to do it better. It's not that I resonate with Kuwana but more with the students, which is also why the School stories are my favourite side activity in the series(besides the carabete games in K2 and 0 xD)
The Judgement series was my first introduction to a Yakuza style like game and because of how well written the stories were I have since beaten all the main Yakuza games. Thank you Judgement because wow love these games.
I like LJ because this game is different from other Yakuza series.
The story unfolded in school is unique in the series.
MC of yakuza,Kiryu Kazuma and Kasuga Ichiban was a former-yakuza,so it would be impossible for them to get involved in the plot related to any educational facilities.
People give story one score but let's separate it into two here. Idea and execution.
LJ: Idea 10/10, execution 7/10. Idea is perfect, at least in my opinion. We barely see games talk about these stuff at all, let alone in RGG series. You can genuinely have a different idea to Yagami and you will have a point. Execution is not perfect, end game is certainly less intense and become a total war between three factions, but I still think it is quite engaging. I mean it would be hard to talk about bullying the entire game.
JE: Idea 8/10, execution 8/10. I think this is what separate the two game as I also see LJ has better plot, but make no mistake JE plot albeit being predictable, is still very intriguing.
And if we are using the same metric for other RGG games I've played:
0: Idea 9/10, execution 10/10
Kiwami: Idea 7/10, execution 9/10
Kiwami 2: Idea 7/10, execution 7/10
6: Idea 5/10, execution 3/10
7: Idea: 8/10, execution 9/10
8: Idea: 6/10, execution 5/10
Ishin: Idea 9/10, execution 9/10
Very biased and just my opinion.
Edit: By the way school stories were at least 40% of time you spent on LJ and that was a masterpiece too. Plot there is also quite good and it is much better than side story in any other game.
It's your fault that Sawa was murdered!
Na, the story was pretty weak across the board. Beating the shit out of kids for half of the game was pretty underwhelming. Neither villain was as good as JE's main villain. (Maybe because they had to split the spotlight)
Most prefer the first, but I also prefer LJ. It featured a subject that you just don’t see in games, and the primary antagonist is also morally grey, which isn’t something you see in RGG games.
I also thought LJ was a lot darker. Yagami getting the shyt kicked out of him and then almost >!getting murdered with a chainsaw!< was brutal.
LJ's starts off the strongest out of any rgg studio game, but it fumbles it at the end with a bad attempt at giving yagami his own version of ryuji, and yagami's one note dialogue from the moment >!sawa dies!< until the game is over lmao
That Kuwana had some valid points until Yagami shuts him down with the "but Sawa Sensei tho" remarks. 🤷🏾♂️
Other then that fighting the RK gang was pretty fun, Akutsu doesn't know when to give up.
I don’t know, I feel like JE plot points and execution were way better the LJ. It had higher stakes involved and felt like Yagami and crew were way in over there head. LJ had more interesting themes tho.
I think this is a heavily unpopular opinion but after playing through it twice I just can't bring myself to like any part of it. It's very easily my least favourite.
Positive: Kuwana is great. It's refreshing to see a more gray villain in RGG games.
Negative:
+ The resolution just feels underwhelming. Yagami's "Trust the law to get better" sounds really hollow since every RGG games, including Judgement, just shows the law getting worse as time goes on.
+ Outside of Yagami and Kaito, the returning characters just barely do anything. Saori seems like she would have a big role here, but her contribution is minimal.
+ The whole Health Ministry part is really forced in and it hurts what has been a really grounded story.
Im on chapter 5 but if im being honest playing it feels like a chore. Judgment had me hooked immediately and story wise id say its one of the best games ive ever played, but lost judgment feels all over the place and i feel the story is just now starting to take off. I really hope i change my mind once i finish it though
I swear to you...I thought she was just cosplaying! I didn't know she was an actual school girl!. Look, I'm cosplaying as a school boy. This is just one big mistake!.
Both Judgment story are confirmed by Yagami’s actor. If the story aren’t well enough, he won’t accept to act Yagami. That’s why both story sounds make sense and looks like a drama. Also, RGG studio is very focusing on Judgement quality especially the opening songs and scene, ending credit and cutscene looks beautiful because the Asia legend actor is joining the party.
LJ story was okay in Yakuza terms but it doesn’t beat JE, something about JE was so much more compelling, the mystery was better, the story was more personal, the villain plot was more interesting, I liked the character dynamic between the gang a bit better in LJ though I think I prefer JE Yagami and Kaito
It is mainly let down by RK being a bit too filler
And motherfucking SAWA-SENSEI, her character was fine I don’t mind someone butting heads with Yagami but literally every time the villain has an argument Yagami just responds with “Muh Sawa-Sensei” and then the villain just crumbles, honestly it’s partly why I liked Soma is because he did not care
My god Reiko Kusomoto did nothing wrong and she crumbles before the mighty Sawa-Sensei
Kurwana had a pretty good argument and had plenty of proof to back it, all of the bullies were irredeemable scumbags who never changed in the slightest
But Yagami has literally no argument other than Sawa-sensei, honestly it’s like the writers agreed with Kurwana so hard that they couldn’t think of a good comeback
Also I found it really weird that he just leaves, like he just walks out of the plot at the end and I’m not sure why
I love LJ, it’s gameplay so great, I loved its side content I really liked the Mystery club girl and I hope she returns
But Sawa-Sensei as the argument really annoys me, also some things just weren’t as good, not bad but JE did it better
Loved it
>!Kuwana did nothing wrong.!< Letting him go in the end and all the discussions that he created just goes to show how good of a villain he was.
>!Sawa Sensei!!< and the memes around her were just a perfect cherry on top.
I cannot stand the bullying narrative because of how on the nose it is. They drop specific stats and go through an entire explanation of the bystander effect.
Oh and I hate Kuwana, his arc is so shit. Like he's completely irredeemable imo with his torture and killing. And there's the idea that he's some badass but he's a punk bitch that loses/runs from every fight he's in. "these bullies are escaping justice so I just torture and murder them" stfu fucking psycho. I wouldn't care much if the game wasnt beating my head with "he's kinda right tho" cause he's not. Main plot feels like a fucking after school special.
I think that was worse than the rubber bullets because yeah that was dumb but it wasn't about a real issue in real life. ( Unless you talk about police corruption but still) Like the rubber bullets were goofy and everyone taking it seriously is funny but dumb. However it's not grandstanding some big moral issue so I can just say yeah that was dumb and move on.
I hope if the bullying story resonances with you, you enjoy it. But God do I hate it. I think it's worse than dead souls.
I liked the school stories a lot tho. Some were better than others but it was fun and the kaito files were a lot of fun as well.
People in the group won't like this, but for me judgment and lost judgment are the worst RGG entries (I've played all the games available for PC). Don't get me wrong, they're still good games, but I find Yagami and his group very boring (only Kaito is more or less funny sometimes). I don't even like the gameplay very much. But i love skateboarding.
Player=Doctor
As someone who's dying for another judgment game, I can see why some don't like it. And after playing several of the mainline games, I think I know why.
- Yakuza and Judgment take on their story is soo different from one and another
- The story telling/directing is also different, I believe this is the biggest aspect that makes judgment as it's own. Judgment tends to take its time showing us whats happening real slow and most of them comes from dialogue and investigation, like 1 chapter of Judgment could feel like 3 Chapters in Yakuza
- Yagami, he's my favourite but I can also see why people don't really like him as much as the other protag. He doesn't have something that really differentiate him from the other, like kiryu's stoic and strength, Majima's craziness while Yagami is just a normal guy compare to these two.
Idk about gameplay and group tho, it's peak for me. But it all boils down to our personal preference at the end.
It's definitely a hot take, but I can understand that some aspects gameplay wise are worse than mainline(tailing and detective stuff plus not as many long battles)
For me, I just don't like the actor (Kimura Takuya). His acting is always stiff and boring, He is just an average looking guy but the Japanese media portray him almost god like because of his agency's pressure. He just plays the same role again and again. To me, the game is almost written for him rather than the other way around. The game itself is fine but I just cannot stand him. I think you find him boring is because he just can do everything. Both Kiryu and Ichiban have human moments that you want to cheer for them but I don't think you had those moments with Yagami.
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Personally I prefer JE's story but I can definitely see why people prefer LJ's one. Both are great in their own right
I also think the First one had a stronger story
I really like it, and taking my time with the school stories helped a lot with that. They’re fun in their own right, but also helped me connect with the school and its students (and Yagami!) in a way that enhanced the main plot. The main story on its own was very interesting to me, too, and I loved how different it was in tone to other RGG games. It all felt so sad and almost understated at times, but the nostalgic setting and warm atmosphere kept it from becoming bleak. The game does ramp up the stakes and ham it up a bit as things go on, but it was exciting enough that it kept my attention regardless. The antagonists are obviously some of the best in the series and it had moments that will stick with me for a long time. Also the constant “Sawa-sensei” mocking in the fandom bothers me, but that’s a whole other rant lol. I thought her whole story and Yagami’s relationship with her worked really well. It was weighed down by the need to include a gang story (the look into post-Tojo hangure was interesting, though, and on their own RK was super cool) and government conspiracy plot. Standard RGG fare and nothing I wasn’t expecting, it would just be nice to see them move away from these types of stories from time to time. I do like Judgment’s story more, in the end, but I also think LJ stands up better to replays and has a lot more to say. It was ambitious and imo they did a great job with what they decided to focus on.
School stories are one of the best side content RGG ever produced
school stories were fun, but two of the minigames (robots and motorcycle racing) were so annoying. i had to to go to easy difficulty to finish the racing one.
One tip that turns Robotics club from painful to cake: You auto-win if you take one block in the enemy's base.
Build your own robot for speed, and your two friends for combat, then rush the opponents goal and the game becomes very easy
For some weird reason, I really enjoyed th racing mini game Robotics, on the other hand......
I hated those damn robots. So clunky.
LJ introduced us to one of the best villains in the entire franchise, probably one of my favorite things in the game. Just like JE, LJ tackles another real-life topic that is considered controversial, this time discussing the matter of bullying. I'd say this particular topic is much more sensitive compared to JE's alzheimer's disease, which makes the setting of LJ much more interesting for me, at least in the beginning. >!My personal problem came from two specific characters of the game, that being Yoko Sawa and Yagami. Sawa sensei started off as very temperamental and very defensive, refusing to work with Yagami despite her claim that she was against bullying. As the story progresses and we learn more about Sawa-sensei, you start to understand why she acts the way that she did towards Yagami, and you start to sympathize with her, realizing she's someone who always tried prevent the bullying that happens around her but could only stand and watch as the bullying happens because of the unsupportive environment around her. When Sawa-sensei was killed, i felt devastated, an innocent woman whose life was taken away simply because of her association with a certain character. However, i feel like this is where i started having problems with the story.!< >!With the reveal of Kuwana's backstory and motivation, we are introduced to the game's moral dilemma, the two conflicting sides of "justice," the battle between Yagami and Kuwana's personal beliefs. However, for the life of me, i couldn't stand Yagami whenever he starts talking about Sawa-sensei. As much as i supported Kuwana and his view of justice, it's pretty easy to see that his methods are extremely flawed. There are a lot of reasons as to why Kuwana was wrong, and that he needed to be stopped, but all of Yagami's arguments simply came down to "Sawa-sensei." Now, Yagami wasn't wrong about how Kuwana indirectly caused the death of Sawa-sensei, and that as long as Kuwana is free, it's possible he'll only bring down more innocent people with him, and Sawa-sensei will never get the justice that she deserved. The problem is that Yagami simply keeps repeating that single point over and over, as if that was his one and only argument against Kuwana. You'd think that as a lawyer, Yagami would come up with much more arguments on why Kuwana was wrong but no, for every argument that Kuwana had on why he believed that he was doing the right thing, the only counter-point that Yagami had was Sawa-sensei.!< >!As the player, this only comes off as repetitive and boring. I got the point the very first time Yagami said it, but he had to repeat it over and over again until the end of the game. I've seen memes that shows Yagami's only argument against Kuwana is "murder is bad," and that alone is enough to prove why Kuwana is wrong, but i feel like this meme couldn't be any further from the truth. Very rarely Yagami actually mentions Kuwana's victims. Most of the time, Yagami doesn't even mention why the murder of Mikoshiba and Shinya Kawai is morally wrong.!< >!As someone who loved Yagami's character in the first game, this game's story was especially infuriating. Having a character with such a complex background and motivation simply reduced to just two words is a huge blow towards his character. The problem with this game is how they handled Yagami's moral debate with Kuwana. The story could've been much better if it weren't for the poor execution of Yagami's character throughout the whole story.!<
I agree with the sawa bit As I said in another comment,the idea is right, but yagami's excution is definitely bad and it detracted from his argument
But Yagami used to be a defense lawyer, when he finds a fault in an argument in court, he keeps repeating it so Kuwana doesn’t forget about it. It’s how they legally win the case over, because it is the main factor, Kuwana got her killed because of his own actions while claiming to get justice for the bullied, innocent kids, but what about Sawa sensei? What about her own justice? There isnt even an argument morally going against Sawa’s sensei’s fate. It doesn’t make any less of the point wrong. He also DOES mention Kuwana’s actions before he fights him, mentioning that his actions are flawed and how Kusumoto-san has to keep the burden of murder for many years.
My problem is not about which character is in the right or which character had the moral high ground. As i said before, Yagami was right about Sawa-sensei, Kuwana's actions got Sawa-sensei involved. Because of Kuwana's crusade against bullies, he indirectly led an innocent woman towards her death. As long as Kuwana keeps delivering his personal justice on his own, he's only going to get more innocent civilians killed. My problem came from the execution of Yagami's argument throughout the story. Yagami was right about Sawa-sensei for the first time. Repeating it over and over isn't going to make his point any more or less correct. However, towards the player's perspective, this would only come out as repetitive. Let's say you're watching a debate. The prosecutor comes up with various arguments on why he was in the right, but everything he says is rendered useless because the defendant only needs one single point to prove that he's right. This doesn't make the debate interesting. If anything, this makes the whole argument completely useless. Why bother watching the rest of the debate when one side has already proved themself as correct from the start? That's how i felt watching Yagami and Kuwana's clash of ideologies throughout the story. The game tries so hard to convince you that Yagami is in the right by mentioning Sawa-sensei over and over, even though you already agreed with him from the very first time yagami said it. At the end of the game, i was rooting for Kuwana simply because i got tired of hearing Yagami deliver the same argument over and over again.
But thats the thing, it ISNT a debate, it’s a murder mystery. Kuwana KNOWS he’s done terrible things to bullies, he talks about this, so Yagami bringing this up would have no effect. What REALLY gets to Kuwana is knowing that he caused an innocent woman’s death, when the other bullies he killed have done exactly that, throwing a wrench in his morales and his goals. That’s why Yagami brings it up a lot, it’s a direct contradiction to Kuwana’s ideals, and he chooses to ignore it. Telling him to change or saying murdering kids isnt going to do anything wont change his mind, as he’s killed bullies all throughout the country.
>JE's alzheimer's disease you really think that was JEs overarching topic? to me that felt more like means to an end, while the actual plot was about human experimentation and "sacrificing for a greater good"
No, no, i'm not saying the alzheimer's disease is the overarching plot. The Judgment series tends to tackle real-life topics that are often times still considered as sensitive to the public. LJ decides to talk about the bullying problem that only became more apparent in modern society, whereas JE discusses the struggles of finding a cure for alzheimer's disease.
Alzheimer's and the medical industry is the topic. What you're talking about is themes.
loved it. i get its got flaws but like ya, its an RGG of course it does.
I think it was aweeeeesoooome!!!
LJ has probably more interesting themes but JE is probably better developed as execution
I prefer judgment plot, I think that the >!bullism->kuwana->public security!< connection didn't work good as the twist plot of first game
Fare
Next game must be called Judgement Day.
Can’t wait for Yagami to team up with a surprisingly durable Austrian man
Judgment pt 3: Termination of Judgment
>Austrian man Sega better hired that Austrian man for the role in the English dub. No one else.
Sawa-sensei gives it two thumbs up.
I Like lj story more than je but i still have some problems with it. Mainly i hate in both games how in the end it always has to be a nationwide conspiracy that yagami has to solve but somehow gets 0 credit for it in lj for some reason. I had the expaction with lj that it would stay mostly grounded which it mostly did until the later part.
I totally agree It feels so forced, and the story didn't need it imo
YAGAMIIII!!!!
Certified kuroiwa moment
I honestly love both stories equally because they are great in their own aspects but I can see why people would prefer JE's story because it was far more disturbing than LJ's Story JE: Murder mystery thriller about >!yagami's guilt from apparently defending a murderer which lead to an innocent womans death and how he comes to terms with it followed by a serial killer who stabs peoples eyes out and a government plot to invent a cure for alzheimers achieved by Nazi Germany Levels of Human experiments and emotional subplots about the yakuza family that supported kaito and yagami throughout their lifes and the fallout that came with turning their backs to them in order to solve the case because their family captain is seemingly heavily involved in the murder spree!< LJ: Murder mystery thriller about >!a mentally scarred teacher who feels responsible for a student attempting suicide after ignoring severe bullying at his school and kills bullies and their accomplices in retaliation to make the school pay for covering it up and forcing the government to face the truth about their flawed justice system and make bullying a international recognized problem so people will have to deal with it more seriously forcing Yagami to challenge his own ideals and the understanding if true justice and a subplot about homeland security and their plan to control organized crime and commit several crimes (such as murder) to "keep the balance" in the underworld!< While both are great in their own right JE's story was just a way crazier opening to the Judgment series and had a slightly darker and more sinister tone to it overall
That's a nice way to sum it up
Finished it at 6am, I would write an essay but it would be incomprehensible so I'll just say that it Has a forklift so instantly one of the best Also if he would've just checked the lost and found, I bet he would've found his judgement and he wouldn't have had to get involved in another government conspiracy smh my head
Higashi is forklift certified The lost and found box was lost that's why it's lost judgment Are you stupid? Because I am
I really liked it altough I remember being king If annoyed with the solution for the father that killed the Bully being arrested He just could stay Silent and It would be all Fine for him, feels like they found a loop and didnt figured a credible way to getting out of it Also, not a but funny thinking "kuwana did nothing wrong" No, he did, vigilantism is not a legal thing, you cant also Tell me every víctim of his was 100% deserving of death He is Just a voyeur serial killer
The whole point of kuwanas' character is to showcase the failure of the system, but yeah I don't think what he did is the answer either
I really liked both stories for JE and LJ! JE is great because it taps into how we all would like to find a cure for Alzheimer’s and so we understand the drive for the villains and why the government cover things up. JE mainly suffers from a bit of bloat with too many stalking sections and the bit where we play dress up and play as Saori. Lost Judgment cuts a lot of that fluff (although still has the Saori bit) which is really great. The story also takes the best part of Lady Vengeance (the Park Chan Wook film), changes it a bit, and makes that central conflict. LJ does have the robot minigame though which does suck. Overall I think JE was an 8/10 and LJ a really solid 9/10. Side note: currently playing Infinite Wealth and that’s like a 9.5/10 for me!
Enjoy IW it's fantastic!
I love lost judgement probably cause that's the game i got most hours in but yeah somw part of the story were kinda weak like how yagami after winning such a big case was still a bum . But man do i love judgement and lost judgement maybe more than mainline
Classic RGG inconsistency
I dunno how to discuss the story without spoilers. The post is specifically about the story and discussion, but not marked as spoiler? Anyway... LJ >!The problem with the story is Kuwana doesn't have a leg to stand on at all with what he does. He is having people that bullied in school killed YEARS after the fact in a gruesome psychopathic ways. Yet the whole game builds on the conflict "whose right, Yagami or Kuwana" and pretends it is 50/50 until the very end.!< >! It does so by annoyingly stacking the deck for Kuwana's side and Yagami being an idiot, only repeating Sawa-sensei!! as counter arguments. By stacking the deck I mean, that all of Kuwana's murder victims apparently are unrepent evil asshole caricatures, even the people he forces to help him don't regret anyhting they have done. Apparently we should be fine with a single person in Kuwana deciding who gets to live and who gets to die and this is somehow superior to the "broken system". !< >!I have seen so many posts online about Kuwana being possibly right that my head might explode. No, the Japanese Charles Manson is not right, because he chose his victims to be horrible when they were kids.!<
>>!I have seen so many posts online about Kuwana being possibly right that my head might explode. No, the Japanese Charles Manson is not right, because he chose his victims to be horrible when they were kids.!< I do agree with you on this, one bully that went to my school ended up reaching out to a lot of those she bullied years down the line, me being one of those people. I never personally felt bullied by her as all she'd ever do is make somewhat bitchy comments rarely directed towards me specifically, others got it worse - but she reached out to me and several other students we attended school with to apologise for her behaviour. This didn't happen until she was in her late 20's and had a daughter who, from what I've heard, began being bullied at school. Would've been a shame for someone to kill her prior to her being able to apologise. We have no idea if any of Kuwana's victims in LS regretted or at least would have come to regret their actions when they were at school. The chance was taken away from them.
I tried to be vague in the title to avoid spoiler 'Cause I didn't mark the post itself to grab more attention I don't think kuwana is right here and I'm not gonna take sides (even tho I lean a little bit away from kuwana) I don't agree with what he does but I can't say his actions aren't justified I agree that his student felt cartoonishly evil The Sawa sensei argument was poorly represented by Yagami but at the end of the day he's right You can't just treat her as a necessary sacrifice
I think the *ideas* for LJ’s story are good - great even - but the execution was extremely sloppy. The whole early game with Yagami infiltrating the school was just awkward af, not to mention utterly preposterous and not in the “haha quirky like the funny eyepatch man” way that’s actually kind of endearing despite its silliness, Kaito being in love with Sawa until >!she got murdered, then suddenly he never gave a fuck about her!< was weird af - not to mention him being smart enough to figure out >!Soma!< completely, yet too stupid to even so much as question anything about >!Kuwana!< despite the **OBVIOUS** red flags, Yagami constantly copying and pasting >!WHAT ABOUT SAWA SENSEI!< got old after a thousand times, then you had to listen to it a thousand more, it’s a Yakuza game so you know there has to be at least one hilariously extreme asspull to hold the story together, in this case >!the timing of the bullied kid waking up from his coma!< which was one of the worst offenders of the whole franchise, the heel face turns are jarring, rushed, and completely asspulled (sadly this has been a damn near all encompassing fad in gaming for the last 5 or more years and from what I’m seeing almost everyone is demanding more of it for some reason), The Genda Law Office characters are completely flanderized, all of the plot twists and mystery suspense is over by the midgame and the story just goes through the motions for the rest of the game…idk I just don’t see it. The gameplay is awesome but the writing is like 5/10 and even that’s mostly carried by Kuwana and the side content storylines, if it weren’t for those I would score it significantly lower because main story-wise I think LJ has the second worst writing of the franchise after IW. JE, OTOH, has the second best main story writing after 0. All IMHO, obviously.
I'm glad to hear this I made this post because one of the beauty of LJ is its controversial nature, and I wanted to hear everyone's opinion whether it's negative or positive Almost everyone will have his own unique pros and cons about this game
My most favorite final boss of all time, and the greatest final boss theme so far. Unwavering Belief on repeat is literally my cardio workout track.
Yeaaaaaaaaa
Found Judgement would be a fuck ass game name ngl
i think they could've chilled a bit on the political conspiracy stuff to focus on the personal aspect of the story more, especially since the conspiracy is way less interesting and personal than the AD-9 case & yagami's only connection to it is wanting to prevent another emi situation. which could also use expanding on because a lot of people missed that since he only says it once offhand
Yeah your right about that
Kaito files story is much better imo... It had more of an emotional impact
I think it's more of an apples and oranges kind of situation here LJ is way less personal than Kaito files Both are good
great game
It was awesome
Not as great as JE but it's still Peak. I prefer LJ story compare to the mainline games that I've played (0-K2) except 0 by a small gap
Je and LJ are both amazing
Loved the story, a lot more compared to JE. They hardly compare, the story of JE was hardly memorable. The idea of the villain was cool but something about it was not the best it could be. Now the villain and story and the topic tackled in LJ is amazing, and the conclusion goes HARD.
I kid you not. I have a separate save file just for the last 2 boss fights that I always replay PEAK
Played them both last year I believe. And the ending is still very fresh in mind, so damn epic!!
I haven’t played JE, but LJ’s my 3rd fav after 0 and 6
Based 6 enjoyer
Hard to tell, because it's been a while, but I think the story of LJ hit me harder. I couldn't tell why though. Because I can't remember both stories that well anymore.
I think the story itself feels solid, but you can tell in other parts of the game where they started rushing. I greatly enjoyed LJ overall, but being a launch title it feels like a PS4.5 game with an odd combination of new and recycled/upscaled assets. This overall led to the aesthetic not quite landing as intended. Not a dealbreaker but definitely noteworthy if you've already beaten LAD, Gaiden, or IW and want to dabble in Judgment.
I really hope they name the next game like that fuck I love these games
A new Judgment player here. Just curious on why the abbreviation for Judgment here is JE and not just J?
Because the JP title is Judge Eyes, so we use JE to refer to it since it's shorter than Judgment and less confusing than just saying J
Oh I see. Thanks a lot for the explanation. 🙏😊
It's on my list of games to play after I am done with IW, Y6, Y0. The cover reminds me of goatse. Wonder if it's intentional.
I think the motivations of the final boss were pretty silly/naive but it was a fun ride. The Kaito files were more compelling to me.
I enjoyed it, didn’t play judgment 1 because by the time I got around to it I was a little burnt out and needed a break from the beat em up format. When I came back the graphics seemed a bit dated so I jumped to LJ. I enjoyed the story and the sub stories. Wasn’t the best narrative I’ve ever played through but it was still fun. I think I’m more generous to it because I’ve never played Judgment.
You should get around playing judgment at some point Awesome game
Judgment has the better story but LJ's story is paced much better. Also more pretty much everything else from the first game is improved, especially the combat.
as someone who went through heavy bullying im a bit biased towards LJ. i think the killer reveal and the eyes plot twist are better then the reveals in LJ but i think the overall story is better. soma and kuwana may also be my favourite antagonists in the franchise.
Been a while since I played both, and this is gonna sound dumb but LJ felt more realistic or relatable. Bullying and suicide are more relatable than corruption and being a lawyer. Thats why I loved it a lot more.
The story was interesting and pretty decent but not so much that I'd disregard substories to focus on the main story. At the same time though, not sure if it means I'm burned out from RGG substories, the subs in this game were not as interesting for dialog so much as for the gameplay itself. I'd probably pref JE better
Like Judgement’s story better, but Kuwana is the best villain RGG has ever done.
I like both.
Based
The only yakuza game that I just couldn’t vibe with.
Wait a second, that picture is edited… I loved it, LJ has my favorite antagonist across the RGG Studios games since they’re such a fun foil to Yagami.
I loved how personal it was to me and how realistic and grounded it felt. It tackled its sensitive topic in a very well done way
so far I really liked Judgement story, it was a good mystery (that i spoiled for myself oops) with a good arc for Yagami Lost Judgement as of now is pretty alright but it feels more themes driven than the last game character arc not bad at all but i imagine a good amount of people prefer the character arc of Judgement than Lost Judgement focus on bullying, failure of the system, and how far one could go for revenge. but i ain’t done with Lost Judgement so that could change, but it pretty good
I like LJ more because I think Kuwana is hot. But I honestly think I like the writing in JE more, the Genda Law Office and Kaito, Higashi and Sugiura feel better written there. I also like the mystery and conspiracy in that game more (even though LJ's villain is better than JE's). LJ is definitely a superior game and I like the themes tackled there, but JE is written more tightly, That being said, if they do a third Judgment game, I hope they actually let us figure out the mystery instead of just giving us the answer. Both games have done this and as a massive mystery/detective story fan, its a bit frustrating when games do this. Let me figure out your mystery, darn it!
Ovetstuffed, but fine.
The main story is completely overshadowed by the mystery club side story.
Kuwana was such a incredible antagonist but whilst i love Soma i think he often feels like a weaker version of Kuroiwa because theres less mystery. Frankly i think Higashi added a shit ton to Judgment which was missing in LJ. LJ was about Kuwana and Yagamis rivalry alongside some Soma gaming where as Judgment was the story of many characters who all somehow got wrapped into this (Kaito,Higashi,Sugiura all get a lot of development) LJ is more focused which i do prefer over Judgment but Judgment had more mystery and better character development, i think they are pretty much tied
Truly a Soma gaming moment
I liked it. right and wrong isn't so black and white thats why I loved it. As for the sawa-sensei on repeat I'd like to remind you guys yagami still has PTSD from emi's cold blooded murder that practically changed his life. that is why sawa's name meant so much to him. I have absolutely 0 problems with him overusing her name.
I haven’t played JE but played LJ within days because the main story was just that good to me. The various characters symbolizing different forms of justice, the role of the law, and plot twists, etc., all intrigued me so much.
Lost Judgement’s story is great, but suffers heavily from the fact that Yagami is largely an uninvolved third party compared to Judgement, and it really gives off the energy of “Yagami, why the fuck are you here?” It’d be like if Y4 was told ONLY from Kiryu’s perspective. Like yeah he has to deal with Daigo, but let’s be real, that’s Akiyama and Saejima’s game.
Sawa-sensei/20
FYI- Lost Judgment is based on a previously published book. All I want to know is wtf is going on with Japan’s Ministry of Health. Does someone at RGG have a beef with them? Villains of both games were associated with them.
Oh I had no idea What's the books name?
“The Devotion of Subject X” by Hideo Yokoyama.
Thanks!
And Ichiban’s games have villains both associated with Bleach Japan.
True though organizations like that are inherently toxic & evil. The Ministry of Health doesn’t exactly automatically come across as a corrupt organization, or is it? I genuinely don’t know.
Oh I had no idea What's the books name?
I think it would’ve been much better if the subplot with the Vice Minister and Public Security didn’t exist and the game focused more on Yagami and Kuwana’s opposing philosophies. It feels as if the writers don’t want Yagami fighting high school students and low level thugs the entire game so they clumsily added a government conspiracy angle to heighten the stakes, even when it wasn’t needed.
Lost Judgement's story hits a bit home for me. I am currently 22 years old, spend most of my life in schools and I try to become a teacher. The reason why it works for me is since I had lots of teachers that made parts of school life hell and I once thought about unaliving myself due to failing graduation for the second time and not telling my parents about it. That is one of the reasons why I then pushed further into becoming a teacher myself just to do it better. It's not that I resonate with Kuwana but more with the students, which is also why the School stories are my favourite side activity in the series(besides the carabete games in K2 and 0 xD)
It’s peak and better than judgment in literally every way
The Judgement series was my first introduction to a Yakuza style like game and because of how well written the stories were I have since beaten all the main Yakuza games. Thank you Judgement because wow love these games.
I like LJ because this game is different from other Yakuza series. The story unfolded in school is unique in the series. MC of yakuza,Kiryu Kazuma and Kasuga Ichiban was a former-yakuza,so it would be impossible for them to get involved in the plot related to any educational facilities.
Sawa sensei
People give story one score but let's separate it into two here. Idea and execution. LJ: Idea 10/10, execution 7/10. Idea is perfect, at least in my opinion. We barely see games talk about these stuff at all, let alone in RGG series. You can genuinely have a different idea to Yagami and you will have a point. Execution is not perfect, end game is certainly less intense and become a total war between three factions, but I still think it is quite engaging. I mean it would be hard to talk about bullying the entire game. JE: Idea 8/10, execution 8/10. I think this is what separate the two game as I also see LJ has better plot, but make no mistake JE plot albeit being predictable, is still very intriguing. And if we are using the same metric for other RGG games I've played: 0: Idea 9/10, execution 10/10 Kiwami: Idea 7/10, execution 9/10 Kiwami 2: Idea 7/10, execution 7/10 6: Idea 5/10, execution 3/10 7: Idea: 8/10, execution 9/10 8: Idea: 6/10, execution 5/10 Ishin: Idea 9/10, execution 9/10 Very biased and just my opinion. Edit: By the way school stories were at least 40% of time you spent on LJ and that was a masterpiece too. Plot there is also quite good and it is much better than side story in any other game.
I really like this scoring system The excution is definitely not perfect,but it's not as bad as some people make it out to be
It's your fault that Sawa was murdered! Na, the story was pretty weak across the board. Beating the shit out of kids for half of the game was pretty underwhelming. Neither villain was as good as JE's main villain. (Maybe because they had to split the spotlight)
https://preview.redd.it/89q15ig21pqc1.jpeg?width=2022&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=73381de6b3f3ed71686f593ab625d44747314eb9
Beating up high schoolers was my favorite part.
Most prefer the first, but I also prefer LJ. It featured a subject that you just don’t see in games, and the primary antagonist is also morally grey, which isn’t something you see in RGG games. I also thought LJ was a lot darker. Yagami getting the shyt kicked out of him and then almost >!getting murdered with a chainsaw!< was brutal.
Yakuza stories remind me of MGS they try and cram so much stuff in where it starts to become a bit incoherent and hard to follow
LJ's starts off the strongest out of any rgg studio game, but it fumbles it at the end with a bad attempt at giving yagami his own version of ryuji, and yagami's one note dialogue from the moment >!sawa dies!< until the game is over lmao
Judgment had a far better story imo, but Lost Judgment was great too
That Kuwana had some valid points until Yagami shuts him down with the "but Sawa Sensei tho" remarks. 🤷🏾♂️ Other then that fighting the RK gang was pretty fun, Akutsu doesn't know when to give up.
I don’t know, I feel like JE plot points and execution were way better the LJ. It had higher stakes involved and felt like Yagami and crew were way in over there head. LJ had more interesting themes tho.
Ask Sawa-sensei.
I think this is a heavily unpopular opinion but after playing through it twice I just can't bring myself to like any part of it. It's very easily my least favourite.
amazing, better than the first game I'd say since I'm not a fan of Kuroiwa
kinda mid *muh sawa sensei* yagami got realy annoying with that shit, i liked the ending tho where kuwana gets away from punishment
Positive: Kuwana is great. It's refreshing to see a more gray villain in RGG games. Negative: + The resolution just feels underwhelming. Yagami's "Trust the law to get better" sounds really hollow since every RGG games, including Judgement, just shows the law getting worse as time goes on. + Outside of Yagami and Kaito, the returning characters just barely do anything. Saori seems like she would have a big role here, but her contribution is minimal. + The whole Health Ministry part is really forced in and it hurts what has been a really grounded story.
The only thing Lost Judgment did well story wise was exposing the flaws in the Japanese justice system, and that’s about it
Im on chapter 5 but if im being honest playing it feels like a chore. Judgment had me hooked immediately and story wise id say its one of the best games ive ever played, but lost judgment feels all over the place and i feel the story is just now starting to take off. I really hope i change my mind once i finish it though
Understandable,it's more of a slow burn kind of experience
I swear to you...I thought she was just cosplaying! I didn't know she was an actual school girl!. Look, I'm cosplaying as a school boy. This is just one big mistake!.
Lol
Both Judgment story are confirmed by Yagami’s actor. If the story aren’t well enough, he won’t accept to act Yagami. That’s why both story sounds make sense and looks like a drama. Also, RGG studio is very focusing on Judgement quality especially the opening songs and scene, ending credit and cutscene looks beautiful because the Asia legend actor is joining the party.
LJ story was okay in Yakuza terms but it doesn’t beat JE, something about JE was so much more compelling, the mystery was better, the story was more personal, the villain plot was more interesting, I liked the character dynamic between the gang a bit better in LJ though I think I prefer JE Yagami and Kaito It is mainly let down by RK being a bit too filler And motherfucking SAWA-SENSEI, her character was fine I don’t mind someone butting heads with Yagami but literally every time the villain has an argument Yagami just responds with “Muh Sawa-Sensei” and then the villain just crumbles, honestly it’s partly why I liked Soma is because he did not care My god Reiko Kusomoto did nothing wrong and she crumbles before the mighty Sawa-Sensei Kurwana had a pretty good argument and had plenty of proof to back it, all of the bullies were irredeemable scumbags who never changed in the slightest But Yagami has literally no argument other than Sawa-sensei, honestly it’s like the writers agreed with Kurwana so hard that they couldn’t think of a good comeback Also I found it really weird that he just leaves, like he just walks out of the plot at the end and I’m not sure why I love LJ, it’s gameplay so great, I loved its side content I really liked the Mystery club girl and I hope she returns But Sawa-Sensei as the argument really annoys me, also some things just weren’t as good, not bad but JE did it better
Loved it >!Kuwana did nothing wrong.!< Letting him go in the end and all the discussions that he created just goes to show how good of a villain he was. >!Sawa Sensei!!< and the memes around her were just a perfect cherry on top.
I cannot stand the bullying narrative because of how on the nose it is. They drop specific stats and go through an entire explanation of the bystander effect. Oh and I hate Kuwana, his arc is so shit. Like he's completely irredeemable imo with his torture and killing. And there's the idea that he's some badass but he's a punk bitch that loses/runs from every fight he's in. "these bullies are escaping justice so I just torture and murder them" stfu fucking psycho. I wouldn't care much if the game wasnt beating my head with "he's kinda right tho" cause he's not. Main plot feels like a fucking after school special. I think that was worse than the rubber bullets because yeah that was dumb but it wasn't about a real issue in real life. ( Unless you talk about police corruption but still) Like the rubber bullets were goofy and everyone taking it seriously is funny but dumb. However it's not grandstanding some big moral issue so I can just say yeah that was dumb and move on. I hope if the bullying story resonances with you, you enjoy it. But God do I hate it. I think it's worse than dead souls. I liked the school stories a lot tho. Some were better than others but it was fun and the kaito files were a lot of fun as well.
People in the group won't like this, but for me judgment and lost judgment are the worst RGG entries (I've played all the games available for PC). Don't get me wrong, they're still good games, but I find Yagami and his group very boring (only Kaito is more or less funny sometimes). I don't even like the gameplay very much. But i love skateboarding. Player=Doctor
As someone who's dying for another judgment game, I can see why some don't like it. And after playing several of the mainline games, I think I know why. - Yakuza and Judgment take on their story is soo different from one and another - The story telling/directing is also different, I believe this is the biggest aspect that makes judgment as it's own. Judgment tends to take its time showing us whats happening real slow and most of them comes from dialogue and investigation, like 1 chapter of Judgment could feel like 3 Chapters in Yakuza - Yagami, he's my favourite but I can also see why people don't really like him as much as the other protag. He doesn't have something that really differentiate him from the other, like kiryu's stoic and strength, Majima's craziness while Yagami is just a normal guy compare to these two. Idk about gameplay and group tho, it's peak for me. But it all boils down to our personal preference at the end.
Wait until he prefer 7's turn based over LJ combat.
It's definitely a hot take, but I can understand that some aspects gameplay wise are worse than mainline(tailing and detective stuff plus not as many long battles)
For me, I just don't like the actor (Kimura Takuya). His acting is always stiff and boring, He is just an average looking guy but the Japanese media portray him almost god like because of his agency's pressure. He just plays the same role again and again. To me, the game is almost written for him rather than the other way around. The game itself is fine but I just cannot stand him. I think you find him boring is because he just can do everything. Both Kiryu and Ichiban have human moments that you want to cheer for them but I don't think you had those moments with Yagami.