A well-liked franchise developed by an acclaimed studio should never be at risk of cancellation after only two installations. Nevertheless, that's where the Judgment series by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and Sega is at. Lost Judgment has yet to release, but a dispute between Sega and a Japanese talent agency over publishing Lost Judgment on PC might bring the adventures of private detective Takayuki Yagami to a premature end. Sega could find a way to keep the franchise alive without actor Takuya Kimura at the helm, but it'd be a major shift for the franchise. Lost Judgment may very well be the end of the franchise.
Sega should fight to find a way for Judgment to live on, though. While the Yakuza series is alive and well, Judgment is important to Yakuza. The spin-off provides an alternate way for fans to explore the mechanics, themes, and stories that are central to the Yakuza franchise. Judgment also preserves some important Yakuza traditions while Yakuza is in the midst of significant change. Lost Judgment's perilous position can't scare Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku off of letting this crime-solving franchise continue to flourish.
Comparing Yakuza and Judgment's Combat
Combat is a crucial reason that Judgment should stay afloat. For many years, the Yakuza franchise passed on a tradition of real-time action combat, with players taking control of Kazuma Kiryu as they fought off yakuza members and criminal thugs on the streets of Japan. That changed recently. Yakuza: Like a Dragon not only features a different protagonist from Kazuma, but also switched the combat to a turn-based JRPG format. Ichiban Kasuga and his friends even had access to a job system reminiscent of Bravely Default, certain Final Fantasy games, and other JRPGs.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon's combat puts an interesting twist on the franchise, but many fans mourned the loss of Yakuza's traditional action. Judgment, meanwhile, inherited action-oriented combat from Yakuza and continues to use it. Takayuki Yagami has a wealth of martial arts skills that players have to put to use as they investigate a slew of terrible crimes. Between Judgment and Lost Judgment, Takayuki seemingly learned a Snake style of fighting, a technique for counterattacking that nicely compliments his crowd-focused Crane style and dueling-focused Tiger style. Anyone fond of Yakuza combat will feel right at home playing a Judgment game.
That's exactly why Sega needs to find a way for Judgment to succeed. Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku are taking a big risk by shifting Yakuza from action-adventure to an RPG. Although Ryu Ga Gotoku will build on what it learned making Yakuza: Like a Dragon and improve the system as it goes, it may never appeal to some Yakuza fans simply because it's a different genre. Judgment offers long-time fans the kind of combat they're used to in a game still set in the Yakuza universe, which caters to a broad range of fans.
Judgment Uses Yakuza Well
Judgment also deserves to keep going for lore reasons. Because it's set in the same world as Yakuza, it inevitably works with similar tones and characters, exploring the dark underbelly of Japan while adding dashes of levity and fun. Whereas Yakuza examines this tonally diverse setting from the inside through Kazuma Kiryu and Ichiban Kasuga, Judgment looks at it from the outside thanks to its detective protagonist. Rather than working with and against their own established connections and relationships in the criminal world, players delve into the criminal world in search of justice. Takayuki Yagami opens up narrative threads within the Japanese justice system that aren't really on the table in the Yakuza series.
This refreshing storytelling angle also makes room for mechanics that would never really have a place in Yakuza. For instance, Judgment features investigation sequences where players have to help Takayuki investigate crime scenes in search of evidence and clues. Similarly, there's certain stealth and infiltration elements that aren't particularly necessary in a standard Yakuza game. Judgment is more than a Yakuza reboot with a detective at the helm instead of an ex-con. It's full of its own ideas that make it different from Yakuza while having the same spirit. Judgment can be as serious or as silly as Yakuza while telling a story that's all its own.
Will Judgment Keep Takayuki?
If Sega decides to keep making Judgment games, the question is whether Takayuki Yagami will remain the protagonist. One imagines that Sega would prefer to keep Takuya Kimura at the helm, and Takayuki uses Kimura's likeness as well as his voice, so recasting the character is out of the question. Sega could cave to Kimura's talent agency's aversion to a PC release, meaning Judgment would remain console exclusive in exchange for more adventures starring Takayuki. That's a huge market that Sega would sacrifice in the process, though.
The alternative is that Sega parts ways with Takuya Kimura and replaces his character with a new protagonist. It'd seem a little drastic so early into the franchise, but it wouldn't be impossible to do. After all, Yakuza ran with Kazuma as its protagonist for many years before replacing him with Ichiban in Yakuza: Like a Dragon, but Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio still made a very charming and worthy leading man. It could do the same for Judgment, creating a new protagonist with a different demeanor but similar objectives to Takayuki.
The bottom line is that Sega's dispute with talent agency Johnny's doesn't have to be the death of the Judgment series - and it shouldn't be. As far as potential is concerned, Judgment is only at the tip of the iceberg. There's plenty more that could be done with a detective-style series of action-adventure games set in the world of Yakuza. There's also ways to deal with the Takayuki dilemma, whether it's reconciliation or replacement. Yakuza fans would certainly be sad to see this spin-off go away so soon, so hopefully Sega takes decisive action sooner rather than later in order to preserve it. Until then, Judgment fans will be the ones searching for clues about the franchise's fate.
Lost Judgment releases for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on September 24, 2021.