Judgment – PlayStation 4

Buy PS4 Judgment an action-adventure video game developed and published by Sega for the PlayStation 4. A spin off to the Yakuza series, the game initially began development in 2015 under the codename Project Judge. It was released on December 13, 2018 in Japan, and on June 25, 2019 worldwide. The game follows lawyer-turned-detective Takayuki Yagami as he and his allies explore a case involving dead bodies whose eyes were removed. The player controls Yagami in the fictional Tokyo district of Kamurocho, where he fights thugs and yakuza while carrying out side missions which involving chasing, stealth and searching for clues.

The game was written by Toshihiro Nagoshi who wanted to write a new type of story which contrasted the team’s work in Yakuza with a detective case. As a result, the game was created to be accessible to detective-game newcomers. Singer and actor Takuya Kimura was cast to play Yagami both in facial features and Japanese voice acting. Due to popular demand, the game was given an English voice-acting option; a number of languages were placed to attract more gamers. Alexandros performed two songs in the game.

PS4 Judgment was withdrawn from the Japanese market in March 2019 after the arrest of Pierre Taki, one of the game’s actors. During the process of localizing Judgment for international markets, Taki’s likeness was removed and his vocal performance replaced. The game received a generally positive response from critics, with many praising the game’s plot and side content but criticizing the simplicity of its investigation mechanics. Judgment has been a commercial success, winning two awards with the possibility of a sequel.

PS4 Judgment is an action-adventure game with a third-person perspective. The game follows private detective Takayuki Yagami (Takuya Kimura) as he investigates a serial-murder case in Kamurocho, a fictional district of Tokyo, Japan previously featured in the Yakuza franchise. When asked about similarities between Judgment and other Yakuza titles, series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi said that “the location and assets might be the same, but the gameplay and story here are drastically different”.

PS4 Judgment features a similar combat system to that of Yakuza 0, where players can change between two different fighting styles at will: crane-style, focused on fighting groups of enemies, and tiger-style, which is focused on fighting individuals. Yagami also incorporates parkour elements, such as wall-running and leapfrogging, in his fighting style.