JUDGMENT
Yakuza is in a transitional period, with Kazuma Kiryu’s story having wrapped up and next year’s Like a Dragon taking the franchise in a much different direction. This year, as a stopgap between the two, RGG Studio released a spinoff in the form of Judgment, a game that was simultaneously fresh and familiar. Though it had a completely new cast of characters, Yamagi and co. still proved to be excellent personalities, while the game still had that narrative flair the Yakuza series had always been known for. Add to that addictive minigames, tons of side activities, fun combat, and some interesting new mechanics to tie into the game’s central detective motif, and Judgment turned out to be yet another impressive notch on RGG Studio’s belt of accomplishments.
