Sega and Yakuza developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio have announced a sequel to the 2018 Yakuza spin-off game Judgment. Lost Judgment continues the story of private detective Takayuki Yagami, the protagonist of the first game, as he takes on new cases in the action-packed legal thriller. The announcement comes shortly after the original Judgment arrived on new-gen consoles and Stadia after initially debuting exclusively on PlayStation 4. Unlike the original’s trajectory, Lost Judgment will debut across both PlayStation and Xbox consoles in a simultaneous worldwide release this September.
In Lost Judgment, players partake in detective sleuthing and action combat across a noir-style story about a detective who takes the law into his own hands when the justice system fails. Yagami is joined by his partner and ex-yakuza Masaharu Kaito as the duo investigates a seemingly uncrackable case. Soon, the case leads to a conspiracy-laden tale that reveals just how broken the law system is. While the Yakuza series recently shifted to turn-based combat with Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Lost Judgment preserves the traditional Ryu Ga Gotoku-style of action combat featured in earlier games. Yagami has access to various fighting stances, including the new Snake style which allows him to deflect attacks and use enemies’ energy against them. Players will travel between Yokohama and Kamurocho as they investigate the case.
You can see the announcement trailer below.
Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio released Yakuza: Like a Dragon, the eighth mainline entry in the Yakuza series, last year. That game replaced longtime Yakuza protagonist Kazuma Kiryu with the more in-your-face Ichiban Kasuga. Judgment features a noir-style narrative, giving it a decidedly different feel than the traditional, mainline Yakuza series. If you’re a fan of the sillier side of things, don’t worry, as Lost Judgment seems to have plenty of excuses for goofiness built in as Yagami infiltrates a high school in Yokohama where he meets students and participates in quests involving everything from robotics to dancing.
Lost Judgment comes to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on September 24. To learn what we thought of the first Judgment game, check out our review here. For our review on the most recent Yakuza game, Like a Dragon, head here.