During the Kinda Funny Games Showcase, Sega announced that Project Judge/Judge Eyes (the Yakuza-like title that’s out in Japan this month) would be coming to the West in Summer 2019. Not only that, but it would renamed to Judgment instead. Check out the announcement trailer below.

Though an explicit release date wasn’t given, Sega did share more information on the star-studded English voice cast. Protagonist Takayuki Yagami will be played by Greg Chun (Nier Automata), while other big names like Crispin Freeman (Overwatch), Matthew Mercer (Overwatch, Pillars of Eternity 2) and Yuri Lowenthal (Spider-Man, Saints Row) will be in supporting roles. You can also expect guest appearances from the likes of SungWon Cho and Cristina Vee, among other actors.

The good news is that even if you don’t like the English voice acting, Judgment will have dual-audio options when it launches in the West. Though the game’s Yakuza inspiration can’t be denied, Judgment also features plenty of gameplay centered around investigation and courtroom drama. It’s currently slated to release for PS4 and will arrive in Japan on December 13th, just days from now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPqh8mD33fE

Project Judge (or Judge Eyes, as it’s being called in Japan), is approaching its Japanese release, but if you’re on the fence about whether or not you should get the game, you’ll get the opportunity to try it out soon before making a decision. A demo for the game – which is actually the second demo it’s receiving – will be released on PSN next week, on November 29 (via Ryokutya 2089).

PlayStation Plus subscribers, though, will get access to it a week earlier- which means tomorrow. The demo will contain a full chapter from the roughly 30-35 hour-long game, and any progress you make in it will be transferable to the full game when it launches. If the game looks like something you’re interested in but aren’t sure if you should purchase, this presents a great opportunity to give it a try. If you’re already sold on the game and can’t wait to get your hands on it, the demo will quench some of that thirst.

Project Judge launches in Japan for the PS4 on December 13, with a western release date scheduled for 2019. Recently, details on an in-game friends system were given by Sega, while 10 minutes of gameplay footage were also showcased shortly before that.

With Project Judge, called Judge Eyes in Japan, approaching its Japanese release, new details have been coming in thick and fast about the action adventure title. From first person investigations and new characters to in-game arcade titles and gameplay footage, we’ve seen and heard plenty of the upcoming Yakuza-offshoot.

In this week’s Famitsu, Sega have detailed another one of the game’s mechanics- namely, the Friend Event system (via Ryokutya2089). The Friend Event system is something that Persona fans might find familiar. Essentially, you befriend the residents of Kamurocho and Soutenbori by spending more time with them and doing more activities with them, which unlocks bonuses during gameplay or, at times, further activities and quests. Some friendships can develop into romances as well.

Sega also talked about a few of the characters players will be able to interact with through the Friend Event system. There’s Ryan Costa Ninja, who helps you out during combat if your friendship has developed enough; there’s Sakura Amamiya, a masseuse who can give you massages (which, I assume, will come with stat buffs); and there’s the boss of the Kyushu No.1 Star ramen restaurant (ring a bell, Yakuza fans?), who will give you items you can use during combat.

The music video for Alexandros’ “Arpeggio”, the opening song of Project Judge, has also been released. You can take a look at it below. Project Judge launches in Japan for the PS4 on December 13, while it is also scheduled for a 2019 western release.

Sega’s upcoming Project Judge is looking better with each showing. Recently, during a live stream held with the game’s executive director Toshihiro Nagoshi, over 10 minutes of new footage were shown off from the game, and it’s looking predictably amazing.

To start off, we got to see a montage of sorts, a cutscene that showed off some gritty-looking narrative aspects of the game. The cutscene direction’s looking strong here, as you’d expect from the studio that makes Yakuza. Coming to gameplay, footage from the game’s first chapter was shown off, beginning with the main character in his office (which you can also customize, apparently), and then moving into the larger city environment.

A good bit of combat was also shown, which looks quite a lot like Yakuza, except slightly more acrobatic and agile. Bombastic punches, picking stuff up and throwing it at your enemies, and other things you’d expect to see are all in here. Both the city and the combat are looking very reminiscent of Yakuza, which is just aces in my book.

You can take a look at the footage below. The video’s timestamped, so just hit play. Project Judge launches in Japan for the PS4 on December 13, with a western release coming some time in 2019. Recently, a bunch of details about several mechanics in the game were released. Read more on that here. Also, be sure to check out some of the game’s other latest trailers.

https://youtu.be/AdgsSKX-XyY?t=1789

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.

Project Judge, Sega’s upcoming title being developed by the team that makes Yakuza, has been getting a lot of footage recently. After getting to watch its complete opening cinematic, we were treated to over fifteen minutes of footage from the game, and all of it looks as slick and stylish as you’d expect from a game being made by this studio.

Sega have now released two more trailers of the game. Both are considerably shorter, at just 30 seconds long each, but they do showcase some interesting stuff. The first trailer is more focused on showing different characters and narrative moments, which seem to have the Yakuza sort of flair to them that you would expect. The second trailer, meanwhile, shows us glimpses of gameplay, with a very short passing snippet of the city, investigations, a lockpicking minigame, and more. Take a look at both trailers below.

Recently, we found out that Sega arcade titles Fighting Vipers and Motor Raid would be featured in full in Project Judge, as well as the fact that the game’s story can take 30-35 hours to finish. Judge Eyes launches in Japan for the PS4 on December 13, with a western release coming in 2019.

https://youtu.be/qZH0Wcb8nJY

https://youtu.be/o4cz6bmczNQ

Sega’s Project Judge was first revealed at the pre-Tokyo Game Show Lineup Event hosted by Sony. Though we know it’s the new IP that the Yakuza development team has been working on, it’s pretty interesting to see just how similar and yet how different the game looks in comparison.

That being said, Project Judge will mimic Yakuza’s penchant for a long storyline and plentiful side missions. Producer Kazuki Hosokawa spoke to Bahamut in a recent interview and confirmed that the main story would take 30 to 35 hours to complete. Playing just the main story without doing any Side Cases (aka side missions) will make things a lot more difficult, since the experience is balanced with that content in mind.

For those completionists who revel in the side missions and story, they’re looking at about 70 to 80 hours of total playtime (100 to 200 hours if you want all the Trophies). Due to the amount of dialogue, you shouldn’t expect the game to be fully voiced, as per Hosokawa when speaking to Dengeki.

Project Judge arrives for PS4 on December 13th for Japan, while Western audiences can expect to see it in 2019.