Is Judgment the BEST Yakuza Game?

[@SnowiestAngeman]

By the way the photo in the thumbnail is of Yagami's English voice actor shoving his face full of... bread or something bread related I don't know

[@thatrandomcrit5823]

cum

[@EirPlen]

nomnomonomnomnomnomonomnomnomnom

[@amberhernandez]

Greg Chun is an _ICON_

[@ri_c_e]

How can judgement be the best if theres no shinada

[@theperson8539]

I still feel like the Eng dub is immersion breaking, I’ll always opt for the Japanese dub, I just wish they’d better use the money they wasted on making a decent English dub to polish the games a little more. Also, as a fellow Australian, I kinda wish we weren’t so obsessed with Americans as to think their voices were an accurate representation of English. I think we could do better than that. Thanks For the Doggo mate, that pic is my new wallpaper… like, in my home.

[@linah1998]

I think on their own Judgement and Lost Judgement are the most sophisticated, polished and complete RGG titles. Especially if you leave out your nostalgia for the Yakuza characters

[@joaooooooooooo_]

they're really good games but I dont't they match Yakuza 0's storyline

[@linah1998]

@@joaooooooooooo_ Zero has my favorite story as well but I talked about the overall quality of the game

[@MugdhaMahdiShams]

Storywise maybe, but gameplay and side content wise Judgment 1 either barren or straight up bad.

[@ranorky999]

@@joaooooooooooo_not every good game has to be a love story

[@RiasKeilani-p7c]

Yakuza 0 clears

[@draydra]

"Don't worry, Kaito Files, this mole guy is gonna get his JUDGMENT"

[@liveakiyamareaction]

"Now... time to gouge out your Judge Eyes!"

[@vendingvending3371]

THIS MEME IS STUPIDLY DUMB BUT I LOVE IT

[@yellowgetbright]

​@@vendingvending3371The phrase STUPIDLY DUMB is so stupidly dumb I love it

[@ak-t7d6f]

Lockpicking with a controller that drifts was definitely an awful experience in Judgment...

[@DragonD_Dojima]

real

[@loganxi]

I had the same issue, didn't know it was happening until I played a different game....

[@TheDude-xp4vb]

Skill issues

[@Counselor-yj8hk]

High Frame rates on the PC also screws up the thumb-turn lock picks which is extremely annoying

[@panzershreck8077]

Dude I recently platinumed judgment and idk what was worse , puyo puyo on ps4, or stick drift thumb lock picking with stick drift lmao

[@TommuVA]

"When someone thinks they're in the right, that's when the real cruetly in people starts to come out. So what do you say? Are you really right?" - John Judgment (2018)

[@wertyppl]

Strangely, as much as I love 0, this was the first Yakuza game I 100% completed and fought Amon. It was brutal, I loved it, and I will never do it again.

[@MidlifeCrisisJoe]

Same here. Even though I've had like 99% on Y6 and Y7 for a while too. I think it's because, for whatever reason, it's Judgment where Mahjong FINALLY clicked for me, so going for that 100% completion on Mahjong was no longer so tedious.

[@acherest2768]

Judgements english VA for yagami is honestly iconic I can’t play without it

[@PsychicGirl]

I like the combat better in Lost Judgement but the story is way better in Judgement.

[@alexbromomento]

those were my exact thoughts upon finishing LJ, the story writing in JE is the best one that rgg ever wrote so far

[@LordRobaZe]

Not sure about that one...

[@bossmannn3415]

0 is no competition

[@kiixil9173]

I thought that originally, but after replaying it, I feel like both stories are equal in quality. Once you know the pieces of the mystery beforehand, the sequels story is way easier to follow/watch unfold

[@kain1799]

Sure but that doesn't mean that yagami hasn't taken a severe IQ dive and can only utter sawa-san.

[@ridgedaddy]

I loved the dub man. Matt Mercer as Kuroiua and Ryomen Sukuna as Izumida were fire. This game weirdly constantly reminded me of the first time I played Metal Gear Solid as a kid. Also you using the literal only frame where the dude in the black raincoat isn't the mole while describing the mole was a fun easter egg

[@Dylamn]

Yep. I was one that had Judgment as my first Yakuza game, and yes it was thanks to the fact that it's dubbed. And man oh man, was I blown away by the quality of the dub. Didn't think Persona 5 could be topped. Love the game, but I would probably not replay it, now that you reminded me of the tailing missions that kept putting me to sleep. Forever thankful that Lost Judgment not only decreased the frequency and bore of those missions, but also put more energy into the music to keep me awake.

[@Greeny445]

Takayuki Yagami is my favourite protagonist in gaming, he's just that guy 🐐

[@Sal_II14]

atlast, another Yagoatmi fan

[@weedGato]

YAAAAAGAAAAMIEE

[@Hezzadude12]

Glad to see the Judgment love. Man, I remember playing it for the first time and being the same as you, I just thought “there is no way they can make this franchise any better”. The music, the story, the characters, the gameplay, and did I mention the STORY?!?! It had me on the edge of my seat the entire time and does foreshadowing and reveals in such incredible and masterful ways. The final boss is so memorable for me despite the hundreds and hundreds of games I’ve played in my lifetime because the stakes were SO insanely high, and the composition of everything leading up that moment is just… CHEF’S KISS. While I don’t think any other game in the entire franchise can even remotely touch this game from a plot perspective, Lost Judgment did certainly crank the gameplay dial up to 11 though. If someone could backport LJ’s combat into Judgment, I would think that is the definitive Yakuza experience, and it wouldn’t even be a proper “Yakuza” game. Crazy.

[@warriorjgamer]

I'm sold on trying this game out

[@SpadeOfNades]

I remember not really feeling the combat during the beginning of the game since I found the attack speed without upgrades coupled with the attacks bouncing off being really annoying to deal with in comparison to the other Yakuza games. It got a little better as I kept playing and upgrading, but I'm glad Lost Judgment improved that aspect by a whole lot.

[@mattmark94]

still better than Y6 and Kiwami 2

[@OneTrueBelmont]

Being able to wall jump adds so much

[@callumrolston]

kiwami 2 almost as good ngl@@mattmark94

[@piscessoedroen]

getting thrown back when frogleaping some enemies feels fun for some reason

[@mpmatik]

Judgment has by far my favourite atmosphere in the whole series. Despite having the best story for me the most memorable moments were in-between story elements when you're supposed to just quickly restock on healing and continue. I always took extra time to think about what might happen, appreciate the overworld music (inharmonic is definitely the most memorable track) and just walk around like I'm sightseeing (despite knowing Kamurocho like the back of my hand at that point), not even looking for a substory or some other side activity just appreciating the vibes.

[@pokechamp3987]

Played 0 for 200 hours, booted up Judgement and got so engrossed I had to just start walking around in first person mode, looking at every little detail. Unforgettable atmosphere. Always play it at night with headphones and close to monitor (looks amazing on an ultrawide).

[@MarioTainaka]

The amount of research you did for the English dub section made me smile, finally someone who does their homework ❤

[@wertyppl]

Koga's theme goes so hard, one of the best tracks in the entire series.

[@UmiZoomR]

Ye but the chainsaw boss fight can suck my KOG

[@mattieice4785]

I didn’t really vibe with Judgement like I did the other Yakuza games, but I’m always up to hear people enjoying it.

[@BuryTheLight-tds]

From what I've heard from people, Judgement seems to be a "realistic" detective simulator while Lost Judgement is an more "action" oriented detective simulator like the mainline games

[@carlosldg]

Awesome retrospective, and while I’m a Kimura fan through and through, the dub of this game is absolutely excellent. Absolutely adore Greg Chun and his take on Yagami.

[@MarioTainaka]

I have a theory on the lighting change At the time of the PS4 release their TAA barley worked especially on hair,so they used the hero lighting and bloom to cover it up. By the time LAD and Lost Judgment came out they actually improved their TAA so they just backported it to the remaster P.S: the new model has a higher polygon count and better hair strands compared to PS4

[@OneTrueBelmont]

I'm one of those rare idiots who enjoyed tailing, but I can see why it can get old real fast. Judgment somehow perfected the feedback loop that got started in 0. By that I mean that you take a moment to push the plot ahead. Then you check out some side cases that all make sense for a detective to do. Then because your job is to talk to people and get information, you make friends. Which as you get to know them, unlocks more people and more sub stories so you're balancing out moving the amazing plot forward and getting sucked into a black hole of side goodness.

[@di-gun5791]

I hated tailing at first but it's not so bad. If I had to choose between lost iudgment's stealth or judgment's tailing, i'd probably pick tailing. The friend system is cool if you're doing them as intended (visit the npcs while you're doing the main story) but if you hold them until later i can see why some people would hate it lol

[@mintman3533]

I really enjoyed the Like a Dragon and Judgement dubs. Ichiban's VA was especially excellent.

[@BuryTheLight-tds]

Best part was when Kengo said it's Hyena Wheezing time and Wheezed all over

[@xtreme-ninja2611]

Fist of the North Star also introduced juggling to the series. It came out first so it was the first in the franchise to do it.

[@Darkcomet222]

What people hated about Judgement: tailing missions What I hated about Judgement: THE KEIHIN GANG IS BACK AGAIN!

[@badlotusxo]

Preston Garvey of Judgment lmao.

[@the47thsoldier67]

I love your videos keep doing these king

[@ItsFaisal7266]

i genuinely forgot this was a judgement retrospective halfway through lmao

[@crowzur6055]

Lost Judgement is the absolute best. Looking forward to that video

[@albinwallen634]

My second after 0 i love lost judgement

[@ExtremeGamer9951]

The Judgement games were so refreshing for me after marathoning the mainline Yakuza games, real breaths of fresh air

[@david_8745]

I can see that you have a good judgment of the game

[@chadnarukami4]

I just finished it not even an hour ago. Except the tailing missions it was great all the way to the end.

[@BuryTheLight-tds]

Same here, finished it last week. Definitely one of the best RGG games, 9/10 for me because I know they did the combat justice in 2

[@kaparoveldar2628]

My man really just woke up one day and decided to make the best dynamic style of video and absolutely delivered

[@Hilversumborn]

Having a grandmother who’s suffering from dementia right now, makes the story hit even harder then before Edit: My grandmother passed away a few months after leaving this comment.

[@SnowiestAngeman]

Yeah I'm unfortunately in the same boat :( ironically taught me a lot of stuff though lol

[@CloudyWolf713]

Hey. Hope your grandmother’s doing alright.

[@CloudyWolf713]

⁠@@SnowiestAngemanI hope your grandmother’s doing OK as well.

[@Hilversumborn]

@@CloudyWolf713 She passed away not too long ago, but even so thank you.

[@CloudyWolf713]

@@Hilversumborn Of course. My sincere condolences for your grandmother.

[@paritoshd]

15:37 and why Kim-san is voiced by JAMES HONG!

[@mat8791]

10:00 In Kiwami 2 there's unused files for Yagami's beta model (Before they got Kimura's likeness) as you pointed out and his beta moveset that had both Tiger and Crane meshed into one. It's very likely they took those animations from that Beta moveset and put it in there since Judgment was developed alongside Kiwami 2 and Lost Paradise. You can see it on the cutting room floor on the part that says "Judgment leftovers".

[@tim14022000]

Fun fact btw. In Kiwami 2 are actually references to Crane and Tiger style left in the files so the meshed together one that's left in the game is probably an even older version of Yagami's moveset

[@Apples05]

not a single Destination mention? crying on floor rn, in tears, sobbing

[@BuryTheLight-tds]

Probably prefers the LJ version😢

[@bohdanchique]

​​@@BuryTheLight-tds Judgment - "Destination" Lost Judgment - the cooler "Destination"

[@BuryTheLight-tds]

@@bohdanchique Lost Judgement: "missing the guitar" Destination

[@Maxler5795]

if i can say one thing, i dont know if this was in lost paradise, and i heavily doubt it, but since judgment, the games have all had text in many other languages. Checking like a dragon 7, the languages are german, french, italian, corean, spanish (steam says its peninsular. but i havent seen any slang. i think its neutral.), simplified and traditional chinese, russian and brazilian portuguese. as a native spanish speaker in a country where not many people know english, this is a godsend. you have no idea how many times i recommended the yakuza games but they couldnt enjoy them because of the language barrier. It also just makes me happy more people can enjoy this goated series.

[@ANeMzero]

2:11 Not really seeing how there are less lights in the remastered version. The contrast isn't as high, and I think the specularity on his hair has been altered but the shadows and highlights on his face and jacket are all the same. The change was largely in post-processing effects like contrast and colour grading and those are incredibly cheap, cutting light sources would save significantly more resources but it doesn't look like they did that so performance was probably not the reason.

[@suparsonik]

Something else cool about Keith Arem is that he had his own industrial band in the late 80s/early 90s called Biohazard PCB (where the PCB Productions name comes from) which was then renamed to Contagion in the later 90s. His band, Contagion, did the sound and music for the cancelled Thrill Kill, which then became the Wu-Tang fighting game.

[@revv0o]

JE Games > Yakuza Games They're both really good, don't get me wrong. Not hating on Yakuza since it's really good and I'm excited for the upcoming games. But there's just something about the JE games that make me love it more.

[@BuryTheLight-tds]

They really went balls out on Judgement by bringing in famous Japanese actors for this game and it's sequel

[@Sal_II14]

im on the same side with you, im on the middle of playin Y0 and finished kiwami not long ago. i really wanted to love the game just like with JE series but it just doest feel the same. idk if JE ruins it for me or it’s just not my cup of tea.

[@Bacon956]

Funnily enough, Fist of the North Star Lost Paradise was the first RGG game I Platinumed and Judgment was my least favorite so far. Takes all kinds I suppose

[@MidlifeCrisisJoe]

Describing Matt Mercer as "Discount Troy Baker who unironically became Troy Baker 2" is spot on to such a ridiculous degree.

[@vgun7]

that clip of the xbox being thrown out the window. Holy shit thats the Rooster teeth life of rage quit when michael takes a crowbar to it after playing catherine! "gonna need a new xbox!" man that takes me back!

[@Tybell702]

(SPOILER) missed opportunity to have a qte when yagami gets thrown out of the addc in the final boss where yagami just misses the glass frame and falls to his death

[@929Finn]

Seeing the lighting/filter made me so sad when we finally got the port. I talked to some people on the Yakuza modding discord and they said the lighting/filter was neigh impossible to change since it wasn't an overlay like in Kiwami 2. Edit: wait a second did you make Saori look like Kson lmao

[@Ruby2Marine]

Best part in judgement is Kaito’s CAKE

[@Mr_Kaldwin]

Telling that the light changed because needed to play in 60 fps in Series S and hating on the console is dishonesty, many games have only the 30fps on the S, so all console needed the less light or RGG just decided to change

[@Chunk22]

I just found this channel after only playing through 0 and half of Judgement and I love you❤

[@Genericname-2224]

I still can't get over how Kim is voiced by the bird dad from Kung Fu panda

[@pepexp2]

Hey mr ManSnowAngeEst from the land down under, have you come across an amazing series that is The World Ends With You? If you have not i'm pretty sure it would be up to you liking since you're stangely into a lot of stuff from Square Enix and OST will blow your socks off (i've only played NEO: TWEY myself but i appreciate original OST all the same).

[@chuckfinley1501]

Judgement and Lost Judgment were actually the only yakuza games i played dubbed because i felt like yagami's japanese voice was a bit too deep for how he looks, his english voice fits him so much better in my opinion.

[@dmitrisemenoff6455]

Which is funny because it's the voice of the actor he's modeled after

[@cryguy0000]

I find the dub voice just as deep.

[@hayasher]

1:35 as a series s’er, im offended

[@kuze1198]

The thing is thats not even true💀

[@hayasher]

@@kuze1198 i know

[@GravityLoL]

I went into RGG world thanks to Judgment And this game will always have special place in my heart, even if just for that reason but gladly, there's much more: Fantastic story and voice acting, solid graphics and fun gameplay (that i admit, has few problems but no game is perfect) keep bringing a smile to my face whenever i start new save file. I finished this game on PS4, later on PS5 and now again on Steam and i'm surprised how much i'm engaged in the story even after playing through it multiple times.

[@LACHY-oz7vv]

This game is so good bro i loved it kept me on the edge of my seat and the twists this game is so slept on to i actually think its the best game

[@ImpulsiveIncarnate]

John Judgement Yakuza

[@thegood5226]

I love this better call saul

[@gabrieleriva651]

I really like the new lighting system a lot more than the og PS4 one. The characters seemed radioactive before.

[@ahmeryaa865]

the dragon engine uses a deferred renderer which were designed to counter the performance cost of multiple light sources, it seems the difference between the og and remaster is an artistic one.

[@ak-t7d6f]

Bros dropping bangers after bangers

[@NMWVID]

Hey Snowiest Angerman, I'm curious after you review all RGG games do you plan on making a discussion, or tierlist on the various Jo Amon bossfights? I've only done Y4, Y0, Y6 (so far the worse) and plan to go back and do the rest, but I am curious what you think of the secret super boss of each game.

[@lemonov3031]

All this talk about how thoughtful the localizers are and then they gi and cast Yong Yea

[@optimus27000]

Let's solve that Mystery, the track that was used for 3 side cases where you solved a maths puzzle. Which was so good that they reused it in Lost Judgement for almost evey side case. Meming comment aside, Judgement whole heartedly had a very captivating and interesting plot. Me and friends who were with me playing it, all agreed that it was a fantastic story. While Lost Judgement played better, man was Judgement's story an 11/10.

[@AntonioRedgrave]

19:12 When does this happen??

[@briand2136]

I'm 7 chapters in... when does it get good? :/ Loved all the yakuza 0-k2, Y7, Y8 and Gaiden.. i just get so bored playing this it's hard to get through.

[@Particle_Ghost]

It doesn't, the entire game is a slog.

[@user-bl6oj1hl8i]

These new games set in the Yakuza universe really make me pine for a Kurohyou remake or a Kurohyou Kiwami situation. If Ishin got that treatment after all these years, perhaps there's hope. I doubt that they'll keep all the fighting mechanics of Kurohyou if they do though. It would be too easy to break or worse, it might put off newer players

[@jasonblundelldobebussing]

SMT Dx2 ost in the background? Man...

[@dish-wu9vb]

I fkn love this game, i fkn love yagami, he's badass but cares about his relatives ❤

[@kukkukuttu]

For all the combat mastery they achieved with Judgment, it is the only RGG game I almost rage quit because of that one tailing mission across Kamurocho at the end when u r looking for the lab lol

[@sashapinesnguyenhienhoa8003]

Kaito being a big loveable man as he is zoom at his dump truck i wonder why

[@RAIN_2001]

9:17 thanks for reminding that a have this POS since day one i cant sleep at night thinking about it TWT

[@synthiandrakon]

Maybe hot take but i don't think the series s is holding back the next gen quite the opposite, the existence of the series s might arguably be the thing stopping devs from going back to making games that run at 25 fps on next gen hardware. having to accomodate the series s means devs are actually trying to optimise their games instead of just relying on the fact console gamers are just used to dealing with games running like shit

[@HeavySandvichGuy1]

If you think Series S hold back development, I have a low end PC to sell to you

[@pamdabeep]

Almost all modern AAA games have PC min specs way above that of the series S.

[@BobbyDigital_TheCode]

Shout out to you for using soundtrack music from Metal Gear Revengence! I LOVE that game and sometimes I feel like I’m the only person who did lol. A GREAT game🔥🔥🔥

[@mr.marvin]

The Judgment is Real

[@MrGrimlocke]

Lost Judgment was even better than the first game

[@masturcheef123]

I just beat it. Big shoutout to all the chairs in that lobby during the final boss fight. Saved my life by spamming heat actions with them

[@art-cs6us]

Ugh tak you're back

[@patr4286]

one funny thing I found out years after playing was tailing went through several complete redesigns before they settled on the final product. Imagine being the poor dev who had to playtest every iteration of tailing missions

[@xqawas]

How many more times can you re-use the clip of ichiban eating bread?

[@VideoGamer110]

I just finished this game and I love it so much. Yakuza series is now on xbox games pass, never knew anything about the franchise at all before (honestly i thought it was just, like, Japanese GTA or something) and downloaded Kiwami on a whim. I've now beaten Kiwami, Kiwami II, Like a Dragon, and now Judgment. I know I'm not playing then I'm the right order or whatever. I'm playing through 0 now. Judgement is by and large one of my favorite games ever now. I love Yagami as a character, the combat is fun and feels good, there's so much content without it feeling overwhelming, and the story is phenomenal. My wife bought be Lost Judgment because of how much i love this have do I'm really excited to play it.

[@illusma7822]

Im replaying it on legend and will buy LJ next. Judgment was great. Besides tailing missions, one of my gripes was the lack of hype boss battles until the end of the game when we fight the mole. Cane man was alright but he wasn't really that relevant to the story. Hamura was kinda easy, and higashi mostly fought along with his group of thugs. The only other boss fight that felt hype was the one against hamura's big lackey around the ring of fire

[@dinglebingus2625]

Always liked doing one playthrough in English and another in their native language. I do the same thing with stalker and metro for example.

[@NullVoid-rm7jm]

I really hope we get another Judgment game someday soon

[@KingJaeTV]

One of my fave games!

[@bertanderny8927]

Great game. Had the chance to run the ps4 version recently but with the added grunt if the ps5. It ran flawlessly and was great. Easy recommendation to any yakuza fan, and a tentative recommendation to any game fan.

[@begallampung8582]

bruh, i just finished kaito files not 2 hours ago

[@turboshell]

7:14 hi im the one person who liked the tailing missions they felt cool and made me feel like i was actually doing detective stuff, but i havent replayed the game yet (I just beat it) so i'd imagine it's annoying as hell on replays

[@bushywushy6061]

This game always felt like yakuza kiwami 2.8, everything always felt kinda slower then it should have. Liked the game, but yagami kicks like a bitch unless you buy all the speed upgrades

[@jordan20910]

I do prefer the japanese dub of the RGG games, having gone through the games with japanese only and then suddenly english is quite changing (especially since I'm not native english but I do agree that the english dub is good even very good from what I've seen) but also a more it's a me thing but it weirds me out always hearing the same VA's from Sega games. I wouldn't mind if it were 1 or 2 but it's usually the same group of people.

[@BuryTheLight-tds]

Yeah, doesn't feel the same after finding out Yagami's English VA also voiced Nanba later on

[@AwkCrafty]

The thumb turn bypass is the hardest thing in this series if your controller sticks are a bit shit.

[@joshdavis8381]

Yakuza LaD is my favorite RGG game, but Judgement is a close second. I'm saving up for LJ now XD

[@IsabellaPark-t8x]

I really wonder if I’m missing something here bc I just played this game and I was absolutely miserable from chapter 1-11… the story was predictable except for moles identity . I just wish I loved it as much as everyone else did 😭😭😭😭😭

[@Aaryan.S]

Thata ok. You have to go in the game like a innocent confused airhead for best experience (jk). But i personally found it very unpredictable because of random events that was happening, i think mole identity being difficult to understand is what made the game best and it was done purposefully. You always think you're close and right to find his identity just it to be someone else, making you rethink all your opinions on every characters. Making you think you're always close to the mole identity even though you're not. Even after the mole identity was discovered they still confused you one last time thinking it was actually someone else.

[@purehollow]

It would have been my favorite RGG game if it wasn't for two things Tailing and chasing Nothing more to say

[@anunusualname5344]

One of the biggest issues I had with Judgment was how lacking the side content is compared to other games in the series. Besides that the game is good with arguably the best story in the series.

[@raikoedgymoto]

I will forever be eternally grateful to Judgement for giving me the opportunity to appreciate Crispin Feeeman playing yet ANOTHER short tempered himbo in a suit with the strength of a gorilla -Durarara!! x3 never😢-

[@abdullahakhtar9824]

I like to stare at the cat in the main menu of lost judgement

[@majicweather4890]

To me, this game is like if Shenmue and Yakuza had a baby. This is awesome, especially what ive seen with Judgment 2.

[@TehNewParalyzer]

The physical case calls it Judgment Remastered in the west. It'a very small Also it isn't Xbox One because there's no point in making a build for it PS5 and Series is the new Remastered Build. If One got it, they would have to downgrade the Remaster version OR they would have to port the PS4 version, y'know the one with pinball?, anyways yeah Xbox didn't get it because it wouldn't make sense to make a backwards build of a next gen game.

[@vinegar4556]

Judgment and LJ combined are the peak of Yakuza for me. I love the series, but something about Yagami and the gang just clicked with me in a way that no other game in the franchise has. A part of it could be that feeling of a fresh slate; There aren't twenty years of backstory to keep on top of with every release. The first one in particular is probably my favourite game of all time, for the story, the characters, the music and for teaching me that Dragon Engine combat can actually be fun.

[@ScarNoobXD]

Thank you, for judgment status.

[@MadDogSolo]

Speaking about English dubs or whatever, I find it baffling that Shenmue 3’s dub still sounds like a 90/2000’s English dub.