As most of you readers know, I’m a big fan of the Yakuza series. Ever since my first taste with Yakuza 3, I’ve been hooked and have eagerly anticipated whatever game Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios teased. Even if a few of the games have disappointed, the experiences are filled with wacky characters, crazy martial arts action, and an undeniable sense of style.
When Judgment was announced as Judge Eyes in Japan with a Western localization being worked on, I was ecstatic. The other Yakuza loyalists and I didn’t have to worry about potentially waiting three to five years for a single game in the series to come out. Now we were getting confirmations alongside the Japanese announcements, which was splendid news.
With that knowledge, I knew I could safely ignore any info about the game since it wouldn’t be too long before I got my hands on it. As much as I wanted to play this stylized take on a detective story and dig into the differences between Yakuza protagonist Kiryu Kazuma and Judgment star Yagami Takayuki, waiting mere months from the Japanese release was hardly difficult. I did my time leading up to the release of Yakuza 5, so this would be a cakewalk.
Imagine my surprise when Sega reached out to me to sample a pre-release demo. Even though I didn’t want to spoil too much about Judgment before launch, I enthusiastically agreed to head up to New York City because this was an opportunity I didn’t want to pass up.
It was a trip worth taking. I had a blast playing Judgment’s opening hours.
Source: Destructoid Judgment is poised to be another hit for the Yakuza devs