A Sequel for Judgment Called Lost Judgment Announced, Releasing in September

After leaking on the PlayStation Store yesterday, and after significant buildup in teases on Twitter, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has finally unveiled a sequel to the Yakuza spin off Judgment called Lost Judgment. Hell yeah.

The sequel will take protagonist Takayuki Yagami, a disgruntled former lawyer turned local private investigator, away from the familiar setting of Kamurocho and to Yokohama, the setting of last year’s Yakuza: Like A Dragon. There, Yagami will be solving a new case about a man who takes justice into his own hands after the system fails his family.

Along the way, Yagami will ingratiate himself in the new city and his investigations will bring him to a high school, which has been fully modeled to be explored and looks to play a significant part in the story. Here, Yagami will be able to undertake what the developers are calling “School Stories,” which are intended to be lighthearted, and occasionally deep, side-activities, much like what you see out of the sidequests in a mainline Yakuza game. Come for the deep characterization, stay for Yagami moving those hips like it’s nobody’s damn business with the cheerleading squad in a rhythm game.

You can also skateboard in the game. It’s perfect, I’m calling it now.

Everything and almost everyone from the original title is back and has seen some form of upgrades. Chases and investigations now show off even more of Yagami’s athleticism and as well as the returning “Crane” and “Tiger” fighting styles, RGG Studio has added a “Snake” style that seems to focus on waiting and countering.

In a Q&A at the end of today’s reveal event, executive director Toshihiro Nagoshi (the coolest man alive) answered a question that seemed to suggest that the Judgment series should stand apart from Yakuza by being an action game, since Yakuza became a turn-based RPG with its latest installment. Despite this they did initially consider pivoting Lost Judgment similarly, but ultimately decided against it.

You can watch the full reveal here and you can play Lost Judgment for yourself when it releases simultaneously around the world on Sept. 24 for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S and the Xbox One . In the meantime, you can pick up Judgment, which was just remastered on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and I guess if you really want to, Google Stadia. Judgment rules and we can’t recommend it enough so do yourself a favor and pick it up.