Judgment

I found Judgment just as I was settling into a brutal rut. Let me tell you, there’s few things as engaging as a Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios game when you’ve got nothing but time to devote to it. You’ve heard it a million times before and you will hear it a million more times, but games like the Like A Dragon series, and standalone spinoffs like Judgment, are more than worth the price of admission, and you will get more game than you bargained for.

Judgment, which is set in Kamurocho just like the mainline Like A Dragon/Yakuza games, follows Yagami, a private detective in the neighborhood. While Judgment features much of the same brawler action that can be found throughout the series, it also throws in classic mystery elements, like an intriguing conspiracy, foot chases, crime-scene investigations, and tailing segments to spice things up. If RGG’s immense series has intrigued you in the past, but scared you off due to the sheer depth of it all, I can’t recommend this spinoff enough. Judgment is just $12 right now, and it’s well worth it while it’s discounted.