QCF: Yakuza: Like A Dragon

espite all of the social and technological advancements we’ve made over the last century, there’s an old saying that still gets thrown in the face of anything progressive to this very day—the tired phrase of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” 

There are merits to the sentiment though—it isn’t often that an open-world action-adventure dynamic like that of the Yakuza series is able to work as well as it has for the last fifteen years, as each entry only worked to improve upon the foundation of the 2006 PS2 original. Fortunately, that isn’t the case here, far from it; Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio's Yakuza Like A Dragon is a revival, unlike anything we’ve seen from a legacy franchise before it, taking the series to a new generation of players while successfully carrying it to new heights for longtime fans all the same.

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PPR Presents Late to the Party: Judgement

f I were to liken Ryu ga Gotoku Studio’s Yakuza series to a mixed drink, I would compare it to the sweet, yet effectively potent combination of Rum and Coke. It has all the thrills, and action you could ever want, while maintaining an accessible sense of pacing that can synchronize with just about anyone’s rhythm.

I can’t say the same thing out of the studio’s newest release, however; Judgment is more like Whiskey and Coke—a mixture that commands time and patience the moment you press your lips to the glass. Toting itself as a spiritual successor to Yakuza, Judgement throws a twist on the crime-drama formula from Toshihiro Nagoshi that empathizes new Detective-focused dynamics, encouraging observational skills and deduction from players instead of relying on the trademark brute-force that the world of Kamurcho is famous for offering.

While the novelty of the concept is admittedly hampered by strict pacing that drags on the early hours of Judgment through an annoying slog, the game eventually opens up into one of the most fulfilling experiences from the developer yet, consistently rewarding the commitment it demands a slower-than-usual pace that Ryu ga Gotoku design is known for.

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