Judgment Reviews

Judgment is ranked in the 89th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
8 / 10.0
Jul 3, 2019

Judgment is the best Yakuza game ever...except for the fact that, formally, it is not a Yakuza game. Still, there are enough new gameplay elements to lure new players in, and enough old references for returning fans. Don't miss it.

Review in Dutch | Read full review

85%
Oct 7, 2022

Judgment is simply another great Yakuza game with a good enough PC port. No brainer if you're the one to enjoy a well-done detective story.

Review in Slovak | Read full review

4 / 5.0
Sep 14, 2022

Anyone who enjoys the Yakuza series should check out Judgment. While it doesn’t stand apart from the main series as much as I might have liked, with its most significant weaknesses being the places it tried to go its own way, the core gameplay from its parent series is as good as ever, and it features perhaps the best story in the entire saga.

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9 / 10.0
Jun 21, 2019

Judgment may still feel a bit like its pulling too much from the Yakuza series but its brand new cast of characters, satisfying narrative that draws the player in, and just enough detective mechanics help it stand on its own merits.

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Jan 31, 2021

With how much there is to do in Judgment, this is a game that looks like it could easily turn into a 60- or 70-hour experience even if you don't see yourself as a completionist. It's a crime drama for people who don't just want to smash square and triangle for endless combos and it's an adventure-driven brawler for people who don't just want to spend all day cracking cases. Judgment might have ridden on Yakuza's success to get people's attention, but with everything this game accomplishes, here's hoping we get another game in order to see more of Judgment and Tak in the future.

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8 / 10.0
May 1, 2021

Judgment presented a beautiful mixture between investigating cases and a fun fighting style in the world of Yakuza, despite the varying level of cases, but it has a beautiful story and offers a distinctive experience, especially with the improved version, which only increased it beauty, the design of the city and regions in the game is one of the best Stuff we've seen from the studio before in the Yakuza series and it's no different than that in Judgment. If you are a fan of the series or investigation games, I recommend you try the game and have a good time.

Review in Arabic | Read full review

8 / 10.0
Sep 8, 2021
Judgment (ACTUAL Review) [PS5] video thumbnail
8.6 / 10.0
May 10, 2021

For fans of the Yakuza series, Judgment is a must-have title. Those new to the genre can also slip into the role of detective Takayuki Yagami without any prior knowledge. The story develops great and is complemented quite well by the side missions. On the other hand, the title doesn't miss any action and even brawl fans will get their money's worth. Some activities are weird, crazy, strange or just entertaining. In any case, Judgment is fun. The drone races are unlocked relatively late, but then they are a great change from the daily routine as a martial arts detective. On Google Stadia, I liked the game even a bit better than on the initial release in 2019 on PlayStation 4, since the loading times are shorter and the game flow is more pleasant. Overall, you have so much to do that buying Judgment is worth it in any case. The potential playtime is quite high. I have just under 50 hours on Stadia now and am far from "done". In addition to the brilliant main story, Judgment offers almost endless content to keep buyers busy. Personally, I'm already looking forward to sequel "Lost Judgment" and will also play this one for many hours.

Review in German | Read full review

9.2 / 10.0
Jul 9, 2021

The seedy underbelly version of Kamurocho they have created, is home to superbly written detective story you didn’t know you wanted.

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Jun 17, 2021

If you haven’t played the Yakuza games then I guess you may have been hiding under a rock. Either that or you simply haven’t stumbled upon the series just yet. Judgement is essentially a spin-off of the Yakuza series and an excellent place to start for newcomers to this genre of game. Judgement was originally released way back in 2019 for the Playstation 4 and has now found its way to other platforms.

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May 26, 2021

Judgment is an easy game to recommend, especially with the sequel coming out in September, and I’ve had as much fun with it as any other mainline Yakuza title. Plus, it’s hard to argue with getting a full-fat, high quality Yakuza narrative experience in a $40 price point. This is a really promising start for a new franchise, and it’s only going to get better from here. Seeing RGG Studio stretching itself and finding new ways to apply and change the formula it’s already found so much success with is an exciting and welcome shift. Whether you’re racing drones, playing a Mario Party inspired VR board game for cash, tracking down cheating spouses, chasing a local parkour crime gang through the streets, or solving a really thorny murder mystery, you’re going to find yourself having a blast.

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8.5 / 10.0
May 8, 2021

Judgment is an excellent spinoff, with an intriguing script, striking characters, a fun combat system and an immense amount of content, as traditional in the Yakuza series. In addition, it introduces new mechanics that, despite not shining as much, differentiate it from other games in the series. The game is fun and can provide you with hundreds of hours of entertainment, and my caveats are the lack of Brazilian Portuguese localization and some mechanics that could be revised. Technically the game is very well polished and the remastered version, despite being visually very similar to the original, is advantageous for the accompanying DLC.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review

8 / 10.0
May 8, 2021

This remastered version of Judgment is the definitive edition that all newcomers should go with first. The fluidity of the combats are very smooth and the loading times are basically completely gone. Its just too bad that this upgraded version doesn't really bring anything new to the table to entice returning players.

Review in French | Read full review

9 / 10.0
May 5, 2021

Judgment is a great crime thriller and Kamurocho an amazing place for it to take place in. I enjoyed the story, but I had even more fun just going off and spending time with the wide variety of interesting characters and solving side cases. While there are parts that could be improved, overall I had a great time and feel that most people would.

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9.5 / 10.0
May 4, 2021

Judgement was already a brilliant game on last-gen consoles, but the PlayStation 5 enhancements see it moving close to perfection. It is renowned for its excellent story, action-packed battling, and wealth of content, but the revamped visuals and slick performance really take it to the next level. It’s a real shame that it’s not available as a free next-gen upgrade, but it’s the only real sticking point in what is otherwise a stellar release. If you missed out on Judgement the first time around, don’t make the same mistake again… play it now!

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INVEN
Top Critic
8.5 / 10.0
May 4, 2021

Jugdment itself is a brilliant masterpiece, but this remastered version sometimes seems to be complacent. However, it is also worth playing.

Review in Korean | Read full review

8.5 / 10.0
Apr 29, 2021

The PS5 version of Judgment is a pricey endeavor for those who already own the PS4 version. That said, it has a lot to offer to Yakuza fans who have yet to experience Yagami’s story.

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95 / 100
May 1, 2021

The perfect detective title with the Yakuza twist

Review in Spanish | Read full review

88 / 100
Apr 30, 2021

The original game which was released on PS4 has received some visual and performance upgrades on the latest generation console. The game is known for its artistic structure along with the writing and interactions which is highly renowned as the key element of the game. Also so great that they’d cover up some minor hiccups if there were any. While the story plot is somewhat spectacular in scale, players don’t need to study up on any background history or other articles to understand and enjoy the game to its fullest. So if you haven’t played this game already, there’s no excuse to give it a try. Since there aren’t any added contents in this new version, if you’ve already played the PS4 variant, there won’t be much of a difference in gameplay. But all in all it’s a great value for a PS5 game so there’s plenty of replay value on its upgraded platform.

Review in Korean | Read full review

9.5 / 10.0
Apr 27, 2021

Pertaining a semblance to its Yakuza roots while its disparities demonstrated a distinguished difference was appreciated, and I hope to see more Judgement, with the potential of an impending announcement soon to come. Judgment on PlayStation 5 and XBOX Series X, is truly an essential for thrill seekers and third-person exploration conessuirs.

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