Project Judge – Details Revealed on Trailing Missions, First Person Investigations, New Characters, and More

Yesterday, we got two short teaser trailers for Sega’s upcoming Project Judge, which showed off plenty of things from the game, including things such as cutscenes, glimpses of the game’s setting, and a lockpicking minigame. Today, courtesy of DualShockers, we have some more interesting new details on a few of Project Judge’s mechanics to delve into.

The most interesting thing is, of course, investigations, which seem to be central to the game (which makes sense, since you play as a disgraced lawyer turned private investigator). Investigations will be conducted through a first person camera (we actually caught a glimpse of this in one of yesterday’s trailer), and while in first person view, if, say, you’re looking for a specific person, you’ll have to make sure that all their visual attributes and details match with the information that you’ve gathered about them previously.

Investigations will also extend in other ways, such as trailing missions. Before you start groaning, the mechanics in play here actually sound kind of interesting. While trailing a person, how aware they are of you and your presence will be shown via a gauge, which you will have to keep from filling up. Once that happens, the target realizes they’re being tailed, and you fail the mission.

If that doesn’t sound enough like Assassin’s Creed, you will also be required to eavesdrop on people, which is something that you can actually interact with through choices of your own. It’s unclear exactly what these choices will amount to, but they will determine how much SP you get from eavesdropping objectives, which, in turn, affects how much (or if) you can upgrade Takayuki (the protagonist). There will, additionally, also be chase sequences, which will invole quick times events for avoiding obstacles (similar to Shenmue, perhaps).

You can also present evidence in conversations to prove that someone is lying, while taking photos is also a feature in the game. Lockpicking will also vary in difficulty depending on which type of lock you’re picking (there will be multiple types), while you can also, interestingly enough, wear disguises.

Sounding very interesting all in all, and very different from Yakuza. Which is a good thing- colour me intrigued.

That’s not all, though. We also have some new details on some of the characters in the game, and the actors that will be portraying them. Shiori Shirosaki is a lawyer who’s all about the business. She’s quite and reserved, but strong willed, and works at the office that Takayuki used to work at. She’s being portrayed by Yuko Kaida.

Shintani Masamich is also a lawyer who works for the agency that Takayuki used to work at. He has a bit of a grudge against him though, since he seems to believe Takayuki stole his work. He is, apparently, all bark and no bite, acting all tough around people, but quickly dropping the act when he meets someone who’s willing to go up against him. He’s being voiced by Takuya Kirimoto.

Then there’s Kaito Masaharu, voiced by Shinshu Fuji, who’s a veteran detective who works with Takayuki, and has known him for years. As an older, much more experience man, he has an air of confidence (and arrogance) about him, but seems to have a good heart. Interestingly enough, he was once yakuza, part of Kamurocho’s Tojo Clan (Yakuza fans, rejoice), but was expelled from the family. He regrets what happened in his past, but doesn’t ever let that show.

Recently, we also found out about arcade games that will be featured in full in Project Judge, while details about its length were also revealed by Sega. Project Judge is set for a release on PS4 in Japan on December 13, with a western launch coming in 2019.