Coming from Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, the minds behind the Yakuza series, Judgment initially released back in 2018 to strong reviews, with the action-heavy detective game offering a fun detour from the company’s long-running crime franchise. As of today, the title has officially made its way to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Google Stadia, launching with updated visuals and a jump to 60 FPS.
To celebrate the enhanced port, Sega has dropped a high-octane launch trailer for the title over on its YouTube channel, showing more of the game’s action and story. Clocking in at just over 1 minute, the footage offers a breakneck deconstruction of what makes the game tick, looking at its protagonist Takayuki Yagami and the mysterious murder case he’s trying so desperately to solve.
Along the way, the promo highlights the game’s fictional Japanese city of Kamurocho, which fans of the Yakuza series will no doubt be familiar with. Those games used the metropolis to show the battles between Kiryu and the various eccentric faces that inhabited its seedy underworld. Judgment tells a very different story, although the trailer makes clear that it’s no less bombastic, including clips of masked serial killers, mass shootouts, and battles against gangs of katana-wielding thugs.
For those wanting a little extra clarification on what to expect from Judgment, its story follows Yagami looking into a string of bizarre cases in which members of the Yakuza have been found murdered with their eyes removed. Much like Yakuza, the experience is heavily reliant on beat ’em up action, throwing players into large street brawls against several opponents. However, the big addition to the title is the ability to examine crime scenes, with players having to uncover the sinister secrets behind the murder mystery. Although it was criticized for being slightly simplistic at times, it has received a lot of praise since its debut.
Now might be the best time to get into Judgment seeing as Ryu Ga Gotoku recently posted a new countdown clock to an event known as “Judgment Day.” Although it’s not entirely clear what this is referring to, fans have speculated it could reveal a sequel to the detective title, which has been heavily rumored in recent weeks. The countdown concludes in 13 days, so there’s still a fair amount of time left before the studio reveals what it’s teasing. Considering the game’s return on next-gen hardware, it’ll be interesting to see if the port is laying the groundwork for another entry in the near future.
Judgment is out now on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Google Stadia.
