Lost Judgment is a 2021 action-adventure video game created by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and released by Sega. It was available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on September 24, 2021. It later came to Amazon Luna on March 31, 2022, and to Windows on September 14, 2022. The game is a follow-up to Judgment, which was released in 2018 and is part of the Yakuza series. Lost Judgment follows private detective Takayuki Yagami as he investigates a man accused of sexual harassment and murder. Yagami discovers a link between the suspect, Akihiro Ehara, and a series of murders involving bullies in Kamurochō and Isezaki Ijincho. The game includes action scenes similar to the first game but changes how stealth is handled. Yagami can use two fighting styles from the previous game, plus a new aikido-based style called Snake. If players purchase a special extra content pack, they can also use the Boxer fighting style.
Major Japanese voice actors include Takuya Kimura, who returns as Yagami, and new actors Hiroshi Tamaki (as Soma) and Koji Yamamoto (as Kuwana). These characters challenge Yagami, and their stories explore the topic of bullying and whether Yagami can stop it.
Like its earlier game, Lost Judgment received good reviews from critics. Many praised the story for addressing difficult issues seriously, though some critics had mixed opinions about the game’s pacing and style. Yagami and the other characters were generally well liked. The game’s gameplay was also praised, especially the new fighting styles. However, some players found the stealth and movement mechanics less well developed. Additional content, such as new side missions and a story expansion focusing on Yagami’s partner, Masaharu Kaito, was later released.
Gameplay
In Lost Judgment, the player controls Takayuki Yagami as he explores the Japanese cities of Kamurochō and Isezaki Ijincho (copies of the real-life Kabukichō and Isezakichō districts). In the main game, Yagami can switch between three fighting styles during battles. These include the crowd-control Crane style and the one-on-one Tiger style from Judgment, as well as the new Snake style, which helps Yagami counterattack and disarm enemies. If the player purchases the School Stories DLC pack, a fourth style called Boxing becomes available.
Like the previous game, Lost Judgment includes stealth sections, platforming sections, and "tailing" missions where Yagami chases suspects through the city. The tailing sections have been redesigned to give players more actions to perform during these segments. A new feature in Lost Judgment is the "Detective Dog," a Shiba Inu named Ranpo that Yagami can walk with to find hidden items or track suspects by scent. The game also includes a "School Stories" system, where Seiryo High School's Mystery Research Club president, Kyoko Amasawa, asks Yagami to help solve a larger mystery by completing side missions and playing minigames. These missions include coaching the school's dance team in a rhythm game, building and controlling a robot for competitions, racing against a biker gang on motorcycles, and helping a troubled student improve through boxing training.
Similar to previous games, players can access copies of classic Sega games. In-game Club Sega arcades include multiple playable arcade machines, such as Space Harrier, Fantasy Zone, Super Hang-On, Fighting Vipers, Sonic the Fighters, Motor Raid, and Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown. Yagami can also play several Master System games in his office, including Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Fantasy Zone, Secret Command, Quartet, Enduro Racer, Penguin Land, Maze Hunter 3-D, Woody Pop, and Snail Maze.
Yagami's partner, Masaharu Kaito, can be played as a character through downloadable content. Kaito uses two fighting styles: Bruiser, which focuses on attacking quickly and dodging; and Tank, which focuses on defending and using items from the environment. Sega has stated that Kaito's story campaign takes about 10 hours to complete.
Synopsis
Lost Judgment takes place in December 2021, three years after the events of Judgment. Private investigator Takayuki Yagami (Takuya Kimura / Greg Chun) returns as the main character, along with supporting characters such as Masaharu Kaito (Shinshū Fuji / Crispin Freeman), Ryuzo Genda (Akira Nakao / Brian McNamara), Saori Shirosaki (Yūko Kaida / Stephanie Sheh), Issei Hoshino (Yū Hayashi / Joe Zieja), Mafuyu Fujii (Risa Shimizu / Cherami Leigh), Toru Higashi (Yoshihisa Kawahara / Steve Blum), Fumiya Sugiura (Junta Terashima / Mark Whitten), and Makoto Tsukumo (Jun Miyamoto / River Kanoff).
Yagami’s investigation leads him to Kamurochō in Tokyo and Isezaki Ijincho in Yokohama. He meets new allies and faces new enemies. A key person in his investigation is Akihiro Ehara (Ken Mitsuishi / Artt Butler), a police officer charged with groping and linked to the murder of Hiro Mikoshiba (Shohei Kajikawa / Andrew Morgado), a teacher at Seiryo High School. Opposing Yagami is Kazuki Soma (Hiroshi Tamaki / Matthew Yang King), leader of the "RK" (Red Knife) Hangure gang, which tries to take control of Kamurochō after the Tojo Clan and Omi Alliance broke up, as shown in Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Soma is helped by his right-hand man, Daimu Akutsu (Kenji Hamada / Brent Mukai). Yagami is aided by Jin Kuwana (Koji Yamamoto / Todd Haberkorn), a mysterious handyman connected to the case; Tesso (Jun Kasama / SungWon Cho), leader of the White Mask branch of the Yokohama Liumang gang; and Kisuke Watanabe (Shigeo Kiyama / Edward Bosco), a detective from the Kanagawa Prefectural Police. At Seiryo High School, Yagami meets Mami Koda (Misuzu Togashi / Kayli Mills), a student targeted by bullies, and Yoko Sawa (Mai Yamane / Erica Lindbeck), an English teacher who teaches Koda’s class and is connected to Ehara’s son, Toshiro, who committed suicide years ago. Other characters in the main story include Yuzo Okuda (Yusaku Yara / Jamieson Price), chairman of Seiryo High School; Reiko Kusumoto (Marika Hayashi / Sumalee Montano), the Vice Minister of Health who took her position after her predecessor was arrested; and Hidemi Bando (Yutaka Aoyama / Andrew Kishino), an officer from the National Police Agency’s Public Security Division.
The Kaito Files expansion focuses on Kaito as the main character and introduces new characters, including Kyoya Sadamoto (Katsuyuki Konishi / Stephen Fu), a tech CEO; Mikiko Sadamoto (Eri Miyajima / Suzie Yeung), Kyoya’s wife and Kaito’s former lover, who was believed to have committed suicide; Jun Sadamoto (Yuki Shin / Paul Castro Jr.), Kyoya and Mikiko’s rebellious son; Shusuke Kenmochi (Hiroshi Nakamura / Alexander Gross), leader of the Crimson Lotus gang; Masao Igarashi (Taichi Takeda / Peter Jessop) and Shiro Senda (Tōru Nara / Dave B. Mitchell), former yakuza members who now run the Bato Detective Agency; and Yasutaka Shirakaba (Kenta Sasa / Yong Yea), a doctor in Chiba Prefecture connected to Mikiko’s disappearance.
Private detective Takayuki Yagami and his partner Masaharu Kaito are asked by friends Fumiya Sugiura and Makoto Tsukumo to help their new detective business in Ijincho. They are requested by Seiryo High School chairman Yuzo Okuda to secretly investigate bullying claims to avoid damaging the school’s reputation. One of Okuda’s students, Toshiro Ehara, committed suicide four years earlier after the school failed to find evidence he was being bullied. Yagami finds proof of bullying and secretly helps Mami Koda, a new bullying victim.
Later, Yagami is called by his friend Saori Shirosaki at the Genda Law Office. Shirosaki explains that Akihiro Ehara, who is in custody for sexual battery, told the court about the location of Hiro Mikoshiba’s body before police could find it. Ehara also claims Mikoshiba was a bully who caused his son’s suicide and accuses the court and Seiryo High of letting Mikoshiba go free. Shirosaki asks Yagami to help appeal Ehara’s case, believing Ehara is using the sexual battery charge as a cover for Mikoshiba’s murder. Okuda overhears and explains his goal: to prove Seiryo High was not negligent in the bullying case. Yagami secretly investigates Mikoshiba, who was a teacher at the time of his death. He asks Yoko Sawa, Mikoshiba’s mentor, about his background, but she refuses to help.
It is later revealed that Sawa was pressured by the school not to blame Mikoshiba for Toshiro’s suicide. Sawa was also a classmate of Mitsuru Kusumoto, who is in a coma after a suicide attempt caused by bullying. Mitsuru’s homeroom teacher, Yu Kitakata, now works as Jin Kuwana, a handyman, and blackmailed Mitsuru’s bullies into helping him kill other bullies across Japan. One of his victims was Mikoshiba. Yagami concludes that Ehara was helped by Kuwana and his students to fake an alibi and murder Mikoshiba. Kuwana is then hunted by the RK, a Hangure gang led by Kazuki Soma, who kills Sawa in a crossfire.
Yagami discovers that the RK invasion was led by Hidemi Bando, a coordinator for the National Police Agency’s Public Security Division, who wanted to harm Reiko Kusumoto, Mitsuru’s mother, who is the Vice Minister of Health. Bando planned to expose Reiko’s secret of murdering Shinya Kawai, one of Mitsuru’s bullies, to force Kuwana and his students to testify against her. The RK is revealed to be a front; Soma was Bando’s agent but decided not to harm Reiko because he respected her leadership. Soma killed Sawa because she knew about Kuwana’s murders, which would implicate Kusumoto.
Bando later convinces Kusumoto to hide her secret, but she refuses after learning it caused Sawa’s death. Mitsuru wakes up, and Bando persuades Kusumoto to follow
Development
Lost Judgment faced challenges during its development, according to Kazuki Hosokawa. He stated, "About a year ago, when we started working on the game, there was no lockdown in Japan, and the situation was not as serious. However, once we reached the final stages of production, the situation became more difficult. Communication slowed down, and we wished we could have talked faster. If we had been in person, we would have been able to do that. This caused stress for the team." To help the staff, Hosokawa wanted them to feel comfortable while making the game. The team aimed to balance different types of gameplay, including fighting, puzzles, and disguises. One change was how Hosokawa communicated with the development team. Many team members still saw Ito as a programmer because of his previous role, so Ito had to ask them to also ask him about planning and design, not just programming issues. Hosokawa noted that directors from specific teams often do not hold back when working with their former teams. As a designer, Hosokawa became strict with the design team when he became a director. Similarly, Ito was strict with the programming team when he became a director. Hosokawa wanted both Judgment and Lost Judgment to be seen as unique. Programmers changed several elements, making characters feel more realistic. For example, tailing targets now run when they hear sounds and turn back. Hosokawa hopes players notice these changes.
Ito mentioned that becoming a director showed him how different sections of the team sometimes tried to reduce work for others. Ito said the team spent a lot of time on tailing sequences in the first chapter. Previous tailing sequences in the game were divisive, and players outside Japan wanted to skip them to get to fights faster. To improve this, the team worked hard to make tailing sequences feel tense and fun. They tested these sequences many times and spent a full year working on them.
The game was designed to let players experience the story while giving them some freedom. The game balances fun and stress-free play for all players. It uses the original Dragon Engine, but the visuals look more realistic than the Like a Dragon series, with a film-like feel. Sega believes this effect is most noticeable in suspenseful scenes. They developed this technique by working on the Like a Dragon series for many years, and Lost Judgment benefited from this experience. For better resolution, Nagoshi recommended playing on new-generation consoles. A new fighting style called Snake was added. It is based on Aikido, and Nagoshi said it is a merciful style.
Although Judgment was a spin-off of the Like a Dragon series, which became a turn-based RPG with Yakuza: Like a Dragon, executive director Toshihiro Nagoshi and producer Kazuki Hosokawa said Judgment would stay true to the action system from Like a Dragon. The open world in Yokohama includes a high school based on real life. Nagoshi said Lost Judgment was made because of positive feedback for Judgment and aimed to improve the system based on that feedback. The game was set to release worldwide on September 24, 2021. On May 27, Sega announced that the 1996 arcade game Sonic the Fighters would be playable in the game’s arcades, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Despite Judgment and Like a Dragon taking place in the same universe, there will be no crossovers because they are different intellectual properties.
On July 6, Lost Judgment’s intro cinematic was revealed, featuring the theme song "Rasen" by Jon-Yakitory with Ado. Jon-Yakitory created the song after discussing it with Nagoshi. Ado enjoyed working with Jon-Yakitory and looked forward to how the song would be used in the game.
Judgment was originally called Judge Eyes in Japan and Asia, but Sega liked the name "Judgment" for the Western version, so it was used in the sequel even in Eastern regions. The story was written to be realistic, which was challenging for the team, especially when addressing sensitive themes like bullying and the meaning of justice. Yagami’s character explores these themes. The youth drama balances dark storytelling with how Yagami interacts with teenagers. Because the previous game’s story was well-received, Sega tried a new story to appeal to players. Although Hosokawa cannot give an exact timeline, he said work on the story began before the development team was formed. Writer Furuta created the story outline first, then worked with Nagoshi to add details. After the story was partially completed, the planning team and director joined the project and began turning the story into a game.
The game features returning and new characters. Takuya Kimura, who voices Yagami, said the story is "deep and suspenseful" but also has lighter scenes, like the School Stories. Hosokawa said the school interactions show a "unique side" of Yagami’s character. Hiroshi Tamaki focused on realism while recording, comparing the game to a film. He described Soma as "aloof" and "clearly perceptive" but hiding a true side he wants fans to discover. Ken Mitsuishi said Judgment was popular in the acting world, so he was excited to join the cast as Akihiro Ehara. He found it easy to understand his character, especially with motion capture. Mitsuishi said Ehara’s character has a mysterious air. Koji Yamamoto, who plays Jin Kuwana, said he was fascinated by the work, especially since it was his first video game role. He was surprised by Kuwana’s role and the story because Kuwana’s character changes throughout the game. Akira Nakao reprises his role as Ryuzo Genda, who mentors Yagami. Nakao said he became popular with younger audiences because of Judgment.
Hosokawa said the team read books by authors like Keigo Higashino and Hideo Yokoyama while preparing the game. The story focuses on bullying, which the team sees as "distorted justice" that conflicts with Yagami’s morals. Strichart said Yagami is not a hero and cannot solve all cases, unlike the fantasy style of Persona 5. In Lost Judgment, Yagami meets Kuwana, who tries to solve bullying no matter the method. Unlike Judgment, the sequel does not end happily for Yagami, as Kuwana escapes. However, Yagami influences the bullies he meets, making them heroic figures by the end of the game.
The English recording studio was made by PCB Productions, owned by Keith Arem, with help from Vicky Lee. The translation was done by Jyun Takagi, with support from Shun Fukuda and Mino Iwasaki. Josh Malone, who worked on Yakuza: Like a Dragon and Shinada in Yakuza remasters, helped with voice acting. He was supported by Shervin Zade.
Reception
Lost Judgment received "generally favorable" reviews, according to the review website Metacritic. Critics discussed the story and Yagami's role in the game. Destructoid praised Yagami for showing new parts of his personality that are explored in the story. The sidequests were praised for balancing the game's story by mixing both light and dark themes. GameSpot noted that the sequel focused on Yagami's struggle with whether he can deliver justice on his own. The subplot where Yagami works at a school was positively received for being fun. Although Yagami does not team up with Kaito often in the sequel, GameSpot said Yagami became more likable and could act emotionally well. The story was praised for handling themes like the law, bullying, and sexual harassment. Both Game Informer and GamesRadar+ agreed but warned that the adult themes might upset some players because they include more social commentary than earlier games. Game Informer said the sexual harassment subplot was the weakest, even though it was moving. IGN criticized the game for revealing the main plot idea early, making the second half of the game feel disappointing because there were few surprises. Shacknews liked the improved visuals but said the main story was confusing, especially because the plot focused too much on Ehara's case, which made the pacing poor.
For gameplay, IGN enjoyed the action style, as Yakuza: Like a Dragon changed the series' beat 'em up style to turn-based role-playing, and said Yagami was more enjoyable to play than in the previous game. GameSpot praised Yagami's fighting style, which includes aikido, but said there were no major new features in the sequel and the stealth mechanics were too simple. Destructoid liked Yagami's improved moves, which looked better and were easier to use. Loading times were shorter, especially on the PlayStation 5 version. The many sidequests and arcade games, like Sonic the Fighters, made the game appealing to both Yakuza and Shenmue fans. GamesRadar+ said the game was an improvement over previous Yakuza games but lacked innovation compared to Judgment. IGN said the sidequests were too tedious because they were hard to unlock and had many stories. Shacknews said the stealth quests were too simple and some sidequests slowed the game down. Eurogamer said the game had a large open world but had weak additions and a story that did not fit well. Game Informer said the sidequests balanced the dark story but said the parkour and stealth features were poorly done.
GameSpot and Collider praised the game's graphics, character designs, and the two districts Yagami can visit. Collider also praised the Japanese and English voice actors, saying their performances were good, though the lip-syncing was better in Japanese unless a cutscene was playing. Shacknews noted that Yagami's voice actors, Takuya Kimura and Greg Chun, gave strong performances, especially in serious scenes. Metro said Kaito and Soma's actors also performed well, regardless of the language.
RPG Site listed Lost Judgment as one of the best 2021 video games. The game was also nominated for "Xbox Game of the Year." In the 2022 "Famitsu Dengeki Game Awards," it won "Best Scenario Award" and "Best Actor Award" for Takuya Kimura's performance as Yagami.
During its first week, the PlayStation 4 version of the game topped Famitsu's list of best-selling games with 111,852 copies sold, while the PlayStation 5 version sold 33,151 units. In the United Kingdom, the game reached fourth place, with most sales being the PlayStation 5 version.
The Kaito Files also received "generally favorable" reviews on Metacritic. RPG Site praised the story, especially how it handled Kaito as the main character. The Mako Reactor said the story was easy to follow because it did not reference past events and was more enjoyable than Goro Majima's side story in Yakuza Kiwami 2. Crispin Freeman and Suzie Yeung's performances were also praised. Siliconera said the story was fun, even though it felt predictable.
The gameplay was enjoyable for offering different fighting styles for Kaito, but it was criticized for being smaller than expected for the price. Boss fights and visuals during battles were well received. Siliconera said the gameplay lacked new features compared to Lost Judgment, as Kaito used the same deductive skills as Yagami, unlike Yagami's hand-to-hand combat, which was more original.