It’s called Lost Judgment and once again stars celebrity Takuya Kimura as lawyer-turned-detective Takayuki Yagami.
According to Sega producer Toshihiro Nagoshi, with this sequel Judgment has officially become a series. For Nagoshi, the keyword for these games will be “action”, in contrast with the RPG turn-based style of Yakuza: Like a Dragon. The difference between the two series isn’t only gameplay. According to Nagoshi, the Judgment games are more thrillers with plot twists, in comparison to the drama of the Yakuza series.
In this latest installment, a body turns up in what appears to be a revenge killing, and it’s up to Yagami to figure out what happened as footage of the murder goes viral.
The previous game was set in Kamurocho, a fictional area in Tokyo, but Lost Judgment is mainly set in Yokohama. Players can explore the city, including its famous Chinatown and the waterfront. One of the most important locations in the game is a high school where Yagami looks for clues. Sega says the location might take players back to their school days. (Probably minus the investigating a murder part.)
Adding to the previous game’s two fighting styles, Tiger and Crane, Sega has added a new one called Snake to disarm enemies carrying guns or blades. This fighting style can also be used when battling high schoolers to parry their attacks in a merciful manner, instead of beating the crap out of the kids.
Lost Judgment will launch worldwide on PS5, PS4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on September 24, 2021.