Judgment

Judgment is an action-adventure game with a third-person perspective. It follows private detective Takayuki Yagami 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". Yagami can buy items to restore his health in stores based on real-life counterparts, similar to the Yakuza games.

However, Yagami can suffer from Mortal Wounds, which permanently decreases Yagami's maximum health. The only way to recover is to visit an underground doctor for treatment or purchase a medical kit, which are relatively expensive.

Judgment takes place in 2018, and stars Takayuki Yagami (Takuya Kimura/Greg Chun), a former attorney-turned-private investigator residing in the Kamurochō district. The story of Judgment involves Yagami investigating several yakuza murder cases committed by an unidentified serial killer, dubbed "the Mole", which eventually leads to him uncovering a massive conspiracy linked to his last case from his attorney days. Yagami's supporting cast includes: Masaharu Kaito (Shinshū Fuji/Crispin Freeman), a former member of the Tojo Clan's Matsugane Family who is Yagami's detective partner; Ryuzo Genda (Akira Nakao/Brian McNamara), director of Genda Law Office and Yagami's former mentor who is also one of his father figures; Mitsugu Matsugane (Tomomichi Nishimura/JB Blanc), patriarch of the Matsugane Family who raised Yagami after the latter's parents were murdered; Saori Shirosaki (Yūko Kaida/Aimée Castle), Issei Hoshino (Yū Hayashi/Joe Zieja), and Masamichi Shintani (Takuya Kirimoto/Keythe Farley), defense attorneys working at Genda Law Office; Mafuyu Fujii (Risa Shimizu/Cherami Leigh), a public prosecutor and close friend of Yagami and Shirosaki; Makoto Tsukumo (Jun Miyamoto/River Kanoff), a recluse and technology expert who often assists Yagami in his investigation; Toru Higashi (Yoshihisa Kawahara/Steve Blum), a Matsugane Family member who looks up to Kaito; Fumiya Sugiura (Junta Terashima/Mark Whitten), a masked thief who offers to help Yagami's investigation with unknown motivations; and Kazuya Ayabe (Kenichi Takitō/Matthew Yang King), a corrupt police officer who sells top-secret information for his own gains.

Yagami's investigation of the Mole brings him into conflict with several characters: Kyohei Hamura (Miou Tanaka/Fred Tatasciore), captain of the Matsugane family who has ties to the murder cases; Mitsuru Kuroiwa (Shōsuke Tanihara/Matthew Mercer), a detective working for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's organized crime division; Yoji Shono (Makoto Nagai/Michael Gough), a researcher at the Advanced Drug Development Center (ADDC); Ryusuke Kido (Hiroshi Shirokuma/Andrew Morgado), the director of the ADDC; and Kaoru Ichinose (Takaya Hashi/Kirk Thornton), the Vice Minister of Health who oversees the ADDC's activities. Other characters featured in the main story include: Shinpei Okubo (Shinji Kawada/Yuri Lowenthal), a former ADDC janitor who was acquitted from a murder charge by Yagami, only to be arrested for allegedly murdering his girlfriend, Emi Terasawa (Eri Goda/Amy Walker); Ko Hattori (Tetsu Shiratori/Sunil Malhotra), a reporter who is in constant conflict with Yagami and created the smear campaign against him following Okubo's second arrest; Shigeru Kajihira (Haruhiko Jō/Ed O'Ross), chairman of the Kajihira Group and secret financial backer of the Kyorei Clan, a Kyoto-based yakuza organization; Satoshi Shioya (Masaki Terasoma/Keith Silverstein), captain of the Kyorei Clan; and Kunihiko Morita (Junpei Morita/Jamieson Price), chief prosecutor and Fujii's superior.

Ideas for Judgment were conceived after the release of Yakuza 5. Producer Kazuki Hosokawa suggested that Sega produce a new IP instead of focusing solely on the Yakuza series. Senior Executive Manager Daisuke Sato originally believed that Yakuza would only last three games but agreed with Hosokawa about the need to create a new title. Sega hired new employees, who were asked about their preferences to get ideas for the new game.

The development of Judgment began in 2015, and was first hinted at in August 2018 during a Sega live stream by the series' director Toshihiro Nagoshi, who called it "something completely different". Hosokawa and Nagoshi refrained from calling Judgment a spin-off from Yakuza, despite its development by the same team, because of its different narrative. Nagoshi said that he enjoyed the finished product.

Judgment received "generally favourable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. Due to Kimura's popularity, Japanese fans have often nicknamed the game Kimutaku ga Gotoku (キムタクが如く; lit. "Like KimuTaku") with "Kimutaku" being short for Takuya Kimura, while "Gotoku" ("Like a") was a reference to the original Japanese title of the Yakuza franchise.

Although its gameplay was praised, critics had mixed opinions regarding its case-solving elements. Hobby Consolas praised the game for relying on multiple types of gameplay, giving it more variety. com reviewer, players attracted to the Yakuza series would enjoy Judgment because of its similarities in action. He noted that the fighting system was superior to Yakuza 6: The Song of Life and would attract fans, while the varied side missions gave players far more playing time.

Rumors of a sequel were reported by publications in March 2021, hinting at the return of both Yagami and Kaito. That April, the official website announced a major tease related to Judgment on May 7, titled "Judgment Day". The official Twitter account of the game also revealed new footage of Yagami, hinting toward a sequel. On May 6, 2021, a day before Judgment Day, the sequel Lost Judgment was leaked by PlayStation Network in Japan. It released worldwide on September 24, 2021.