Lost Judgment

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lost Judgment
LostJudgmentcover.png
Developer(s)Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio
Publisher(s)Sega
Director(s)Yutaka Ito
Producer(s)
  • Kazuki Hosokawa
  • Daisuke Sato
Designer(s)Natsuki Isaki
Programmer(s)Tomoaki Nakamura
Artist(s)Naoki Someya
Writer(s)
Composer(s)
  • Hidenori Shoji
  • Yuri Fukuda
  • Chihiro Aoki
  • Saori Yoshida
  • Satoshi Okamura
  • Keitaro Hanada
  • Takahiro Kai
SeriesYakuza
Platform(s)
Release
  • WW: September 24, 2021[1]
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Lost Judgment[a] is an upcoming action-adventure video game developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by Sega, set to be released globally in September 2021. A sequel to the 2018 game Judgment (a spin-off of the Yakuza series), the game focuses on private detective Takayuki Yagami as he investigates a criminal accused of both sexual harassment and murder.[1] Similar to how Yagami is voiced by Takuya Kimura in Japanese and Greg Chun in English, the game will feature two prominent characters voiced by two celebrities for the Japanese voiceover: Hiroshi Tamaki and Ken Mitsuishi. The game will retain the action sequences from the first game but further developed while stealth elements will also be revised.

Gameplay[]

In Lost Judgment, the player controls Takayuki Yagami as he explores the Japanese cities of Kamurocho and Isezaki Ijincho (recreations of the real-life Kabukichō and Isezakichō districts, respectively). Yagami can switch between three fighting styles in battle. Other than the crowd-control Crane style and the one-to-one Tiger style from Judgment, Yagami uses the newly-added Snake style for counterattacks against enemies.[2]

Lost Judgment also features stealth segments, "trailing" missions where Yagami chases suspects around the city,[2] platforming segments and a "School Stories" system featuring new side-quests with secondary characters.[1] The trailing sections of the game have been changed in order to give the players more activity in the segment.[3] Yagami can be aided by a Shiba Inu, labeled "Detective Dog", during stealth missions in order to find suspectful items.[4] Similar to host clubs, Yagami has access to the Seiryo High School, where the player has to make the character stop bullying in the form of sidequests. The three clubs involve the Mystery Investigation Club, where Yagami meets Kyoko Amazawa, a highly inquisitive student who serves as Yagami's partner when he acts as the club's advisor, when he is wandering around Isezaki Ijincho. The second club is the dance club, where there is a rhythm mini-game. The last club is the robotics club, where Yagami can build robots and fight against other students. The dance club and the robotics club.[5] A boxing mini-game is also available.[6]

Similar to previous games, the player has access to emulations of classic Sega games. In addition to the arcade games at Club Sega, as in previous games, Yagami can also play several Master System games in his office, including Alex Kidd in Miracle World; Fantasy Zone; Penguin Land; Quartet; Enduro Racer; Woody Pop; ; and Secret Command.[7]

As downloadable content, Sega is aiming to release a sidestory where the player controls Yagami's best friend, Masaharu Kaito. Although no details about the character's gameplay were revealed, the company aims to give his campaign over ten hours to play as Kaito.[8] Additional Master System games will also be available as downloadable content, including Sagaia; Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa; Alien Syndrome; and Global Defense.[9]

Premise[]

The game is set in December 2021. Three days after Akihiro Ehara is accused of sexual harassment, a dead body is found in Yokohama's Isezaki Ijincho district, and his defense lawyer Saori Shirosaki calls on private detective Takayuki Yagami to help investigate Ehara's involvement.[2] The main theme of the story will involve whether or not Yagami will "defend the law or renact justice" the more he is involved in the case.[10] Yagami's investigations will take place across Kamurocho and Ijincho.[2] The staff aims to balance the game's dramatic and comic stories.[3]

New characters include Kazuki Soma and Akihiro Ehara voiced by Hiroshi Tamaki and Ken Mitsuishi in Japanese and Matthew Yang King and Artt Butler in English, respectively. The former is a Head of the Hangure syndicate "RK" in Kamurocho while the latter is the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Officer.[11]

Development[]

Major Japanese voice actors include the returning Takuya Kimura (Yagami) and the newcomer Hiroshi Tamaki (Soma)

Lost Judgment is the directional debut of Kazuki Hosokawa who aims to make it superior to its predecessor from which he worked as producer while attemtpting to also create an appealing narrative. He claims "About a year ago when we were in the initial phase of development there was no lockdown in Japan, and the situation wasn’t as severe, but once we entered the final stages of production, things were getting serious and it became harder to communicate. There was a loss of speed and we wished we were able to discuss things faster. If we were in person, we would have been able to do that, so it was definitely a cause for stress." As a result, Hosokawa claims that he wanted the staff to be comfortable in the making of it. They aim to properly balance the different types of gameplay: fight, puzzles trailing, and disguises.[12]

Although Judgment was a spin-off to the action series Yakuza which became RPG with Yakuza: Like a Dragon, executive director Toshihiro Nagoshi and producer Kazuki Hosokawa claimed that Judgment would stay true to the action system originally developed for Yakuza.[13] The open world from Yokohama features a high school which was based on real life.[2] Nagoshi claims Lost Judgment was made thanks to the positive responses towards Judgment and thus aimed to improve the system based on the feedback.[1] The games is set to be released on September 24, 2021 worldwide.[1]

Although Judgment was originally titled Judge Eyes in Japan and Asia, Sega liked the naming for the Western version, resulting into "Judgment" being part of the sequel's title even in Eastern territories. The plot was written to be realistic, something the staff found challenging while providing themes seen as sensitive to the audience like bullying as well as the what should people call justice, with the latter being explored through Yagami's characterization. The youth drama is meant to balance the dark storytelling based on how Yagami interacts with teenagers.[14] The cast features multiple returning and new characters. According to Yagami's Japanese actor Takuya Kimura, the story is "deep and suspenseful"[2] but also features lighter scenes like the School Stories. Hosokawa claimed that the school interactions reveal a "unique side" of Yagami's character.[2] Hiroshi Tamaki focused on realism when recording, comparing the entire game with a film. His first work in video game, the actor found it as an "out-of-body" experience. He described Soma as looking like "aloof" and "clearly perceptive" but hides a true persona he wanted the fans to look forward in the game.[15] Ken Mitsuishi recalls Judgment was popular within the acting world so he felt engaged when being offered the role of Akihiro Ehara. He did not find troubles understanding his character especially thanks to the motion capture. As a result, of the two crimes that Ehara claiming he committed two crimes, Mitsuishi said that his character was given a mysterious air.[16] Akira Nakao reprises his role of Ryuzo Genda who often mentors Yagami. The actor noted that he became highly popular thanks to Judgment especially within the young demographic.[17]

On May 27th, it was announced by Sega that the 1996 arcade game, Sonic the Fighters, also known as Sonic Championship, is planned to be playable in one of the game's arcades;[18] this addition is to celebrate Sonic the Hedgehog's 30th Anniversary, which happens to be 4 months before the game's release. Despite Judgment and Yakuza taking place in the same universe, there will be no crossovers as a result of the two being different IPs despite similarities.[3]

On July 6th, Lost Judgment's intro cinematic was revealed, featuring the song "Rasen", by jon-YAKITORY feat. Ado.[19] jon-YAKITORY produced the theme after multiple talks with Nagoshi. Ado enjoyed working alongside jon-YAKITORY and looked forward to how it will be executed in the game.[20]

Localization[]

The new English voice cast from Lost Judgment includes Todd Haberkorn (Kuwana), Erica Lindbeck (Sawa), and Stephanie Sheh (Shirosaki).

The English recording studio was made in PCB Productions owned by Keith Arem with major aid by Vicky Lee. The translation was done by Jyun Takagi, shored up with support from Shun Fukuda and Mino Iwasaki. Josh Malone, who worked on Yakuza: Like a Dragon and Shinada in the Yakuza remasters, stepped up in a big way to help handle voice over. He was supported by Shervin Zadeh, Shaun Gannon, and Stephanie Spoleti, who was also a Like a Dragon vet.[21]

Localization director Scott Strichart said that Lost Judgment might be one of the most challenging works he has done due to the multiple requirements, including the dual audio, the multiple subtitles and the game being released for four consoles. Nevertheless, he believes he has already produced similar content ever since Yakuza 0.[22] Multiple words have to work in multiple situations, which Stritchart considered localization challenge. There is also the "chatter posts" in the buzz researcher that use variables for the keywords players are searching. Strichart considered this one of the most challenging parts of the making of the game's localization.[23] Having felt nostalgia from the years he localized the heavily school themed game Persona 4, Strichart claims that the narrative involves multiple dark elements involving students involving bullying or suicide. Although Judgment is not a popular game, Strichart finds challenging releasing the game at the same time as the director's cut of Death Stranding, a game by the famous Hideo Kojima.[24]

For the English version, most voice actors are returning but Strichart said some were replaced for logistical reasons.[25] Greg Chun noted that the predecessor helped to properly develop Yagami to the point he seemed like another person when quitting his lawyer occupation as he took a liking to being a humble detective; This was mostly seen through the scene where Yagami tells Kaito that they should search for a lady's cat as part of their job in pleased manner something the localization team enjoyed recording. As a result, he claims that for the sequel "the game kind of teed me up to really be in that Yagami mindset where, yeah, I love being a detective, but some cases are real bummer and super boring." However, in regards to the narrative, he claimed that he had to keep "living the character" due to new elements provided. He believes that Lost Judgment explores more Yagami's anger, something the first game did not focus on.[26] New English actors include Artt Butler (Akihiro Ehara), Matthew Yang King (Kazuki Soma), Todd Haberkorn (Jin Kuwana) and Erica Lindbeck (Yoko Sawa). Shirosaki was voiced by Aimee Castle in Judgment, but in the sequel the actress was replaced by Stephanie Sheh.[27]

Promotion and release[]

Following the release of the game, Sega staff felt that if there should be a sequel to Judgment, Yagami and his partner Masaharu Kaito would retain their lead roles and would still be set in Kamurocho.[28] Rumors of a sequel were reported by publications in March 2021, hinting the return of both Takayuki Yagami and Kaito.[29] In April of the same year the official website announced a major tease related to Judgment on May 7 titled "Judgment Day".[30] The official twitter account of the game also revealed new footage of Yagami, hinting the sequel.[31] On May 6, 2021, a day before "Judgment Day", Lost Judgment, the sequel, was leaked by PlayStation Network in Japan. According to Playstation Network, it is supposed to come out on September 21 (at least the Digital Deluxe edition).[32] The game was officially announced on May 7, 2021 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Xbox One.[33] The team listened to fan demand in regards to what elements from the gameplay would they want to improve.[3] A demo is set to be released to the PlayStation Store in September 10.[34]

Downloadable content for the game includes the launch exclusive "Detective Essential Pack" which include more variety of detective dogs, more characters to date among other items. The second DLC is the School Stories Expansion Pack, set to be released in October 26. It consists of new vehicles and more interactions with the highschool students Yagami meets. The third DLC is will be released in Spring 2022 and it focuses on Masaharu Kaito.[8]

Reception[]

The PlayStation 5 and Xbox series X received generally positive reviews according to Metacritic.[35][36]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Known in Japan as Lost Judgment: Sabakarezaru Kioku (Japanese: LOST JUDGMENT (ロストジャッジメント)：裁かれざる記憶, lit. Lost Judgment: Unjudged Memories)

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Lost Judgment to Release Worldwide in September 2021". Siliconera. 7 May 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g "Lost Judgment announced for PS5, Xbox Series, PS4, and Xbox One". Gematsu. 7 May 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "LOST JUDGMENT DEV REVEALS HOW SEQUEL "TRIPLED THE STRUGGLES" OF THE TEAM". Inverse. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  4. ^ "The Lost Judgment Detective Dog Stars in Its Newest Trailer". Siliconera. July 22, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  5. ^ "Youth Drama Plotline in Lost Judgment Lets You Dance and Fight Robots". Siliconera. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
  6. ^ "Lost Judgment Mini-Games to Include Drone Races and Tailing Missions". Siliconera. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
  7. ^ "Lost Judgment Will Let You Play Eight SEGA Master System Games". Siliconera. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b "Lost Judgment DLC schedule announced". Gematsu. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  9. ^ https://blog.playstation.com/2021/09/20/the-classic-sega-games-of-lost-judgment/
  10. ^ "Lost Judgment – over an hour of gameplay". Gematsu. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  11. ^ "Lost Judgment Kazuki Soma and Akihiro Ehara Details Revealed". Siliconera. 11 June 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  12. ^ "Lost Judgment Interview: Kazuki Hosokawa On Pandemic Development, Dead Souls, and Leaving Kazuma Kiryu Behind". GameRant. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
  13. ^ "Yakuza series to remain turn-based RPGs". Gematsu. 7 May 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  14. ^ "龍が如くスタジオの名越総合監督と細川Pに聞く、『ロストジャッジメント』開発秘話。木村拓哉さんの続投や新たなアクションなど気になる点を直撃！". Famitsu. July 6, 2021.
  15. ^ "Lost Judgment Hiroshi Tamaki Behind The Scenes". Youtube. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
  16. ^ "Lost Judgment Ken Mitsuishi Behind The Scenes". Youtube. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
  17. ^ "Lost Judgment Akira Nakao Behind The Scenes". Youtube. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
  18. ^ McWhertor, Michael (2021-05-27). "Sonic the Hedgehog's fighting game will be playable in Lost Judgment". Polygon. Retrieved 2021-05-28.
  19. ^ "Lost Judgment Sequel Game's Opening Cinematic Video Reveals, Previews Theme Song". Anime News Network. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  20. ^ "『ロストジャッジメント』主題歌「蝸旋」を手掛けるAdo、jon-YAKITORYからのコメントが到着。人気アーティストが楽曲に込めた想いとは？". Famitsu. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
  21. ^ "Lost Judgment Interview: Scott Strichart on Simultaneous Launches and Wrong Answers". Siliconera. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
  22. ^ Scott Strichart [@TriggerRedd] (May 7, 2021). "This one in particular though feels like a flag in the sand. Yakuza 0 was one platform one subtitle language two years out. Lost Judgment is multi platform, 5 sub languages, dual audio, sim shipped. Mission... accomplished? Not just for me though of course" (Tweet). Retrieved May 7, 2021 – via Twitter.
  23. ^ "Lost Judgment Interview: Scott Strichart on Simultaneous Launches and Wrong Answers". Siliconera. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
  24. ^ "How 'Lost Judgment' became the first global launch for the 'Yakuza' franchise". nme. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
  25. ^ Scott Strichart [@TriggerRedd] (May 7, 2021). "I'm sure it's pretty easy to pick up on the returning EN VO cast members, but a full cast reveal will be down the line. All I'll say for now is that we did our utmost to reunite returning characters with their original actors and any recasts were purely logistical" (Tweet). Retrieved May 9, 2021 – via Twitter.
  26. ^ "The Trials and Tribulations of Localizing Sega's Lost Judgment". Fan Byte. August 30, 2021. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
  27. ^ "WHO'S IN THE LOST JUDGMENT ENGLISH VOICE CAST?". Inverse. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
  28. ^ Madsen, Hayes (June 14, 2019). "Judgment Interview: Producer Talks Kamurocho's Future, Friendship System, Creating Yagami & More". Twinfinite. Archived from the original on September 22, 2019. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  29. ^ "A Sequel To Yakuza Spin-Off 'Judgment' Rumoured To Be In Development". GameByte. 24 March 2021. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  30. ^ "Judgment countdown website teases May 7 announcement". Gematsu. 23 April 2021. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
  31. ^ "Judgment Twitter account shares possible sequel footage". Gematsu. 29 April 2021. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
  32. ^ "Judgment sequel Lost Judgment reveal leaked by Japanese PlayStation Store". Gematsu. 7 May 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  33. ^ "Lost Judgment announced for PS5, Xbox Series, PS4, and Xbox One". Gematsu. 7 May 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  34. ^ "Lost Judgment Demo Will be Available Through PlayStation Store Soon". Siliconera. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  35. ^ Jump up to: a b "Lost Judgment for PlayStation 5 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
  36. ^ Jump up to: a b "Lost Judgment for Xbox Series X Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
  37. ^ Ogilvie, Tristan (16 September 2021). "Lost Judgment Review". IGN. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  38. ^ "Lost Judgment: "More of the same, but better" | Aces high". GamesRadar. 16 September 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  39. ^ Hester, Blake (16 September 2021). "Lost Judgment Review – Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge". Game Informer. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  40. ^ Wakeling, Richard (16 September 2021). "Lost Judgment Review -- Back To School". GameSpot. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  41. ^ Carter, Chris (16 September 2021). "Review: Lost Judgment". Destructoid. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  42. ^ Jarrard, Chris (16 September 2021). "Lost Judgement review: Patchy procedural". Shacknews. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  43. ^ Dozsa, Preston (16 September 2021). "Lost Judgment (PS4) Review". Computer Games Magazine. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  44. ^ Semeraro, Alessandro (16 September 2021). "LOST JUDGMENT – Recensione". . Retrieved 16 September 2021.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""