Judgment (video game)

The Japanese voice cast from Judgment include Takuya Kimura (Yagami), Shōsuke Tanihara (Kuroiwa), and Pierre Taki (Hamura).

According to Nagoshi, Korean films were the primary influences on the detective character.[26] Since the story of Yakuza series' protagonist Kazuma Kiryu ended with Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, the Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio's game developers wanted to create a distinctive character for Judgment. At the behest of producer Kazuki Hosokawa, the team decided the character should be a detective. To generate a major contrast between the leads, staff wanted to make Yagami a more relatable character based on the troubles he suffers in the narrative that caused him to quit being a lawyer. Details of Yagami's past and his new life as a detective were elaborated upon to attract players to him. Because of the popularity of detective stories, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio wrote Yagami as a man who would become more knowledgeable during the game alongside the player.[27] The biggest influence was the Paul Newman film The Verdict where his character suffers a crisis over his career as a lawyer similar to Yagami's.[28] Writers, Nagoshi and Masayoshi Yokoyama, who had worked on Yakuza 0, wrote the narrative to make it darker than the studio's previous titles but also balanced it with humor.[29]

Early in Judgment's production, the Sega staff considered using a star to develop Yagami and chose Takuya Kimura. Nagoshi remembers being surprised and thrilled when Kimura was selected because of the number of plot twists they could use with him. But he was also concerned the fans would consider the game lighthearted because of the stylish Kimura compared with the team's previous work. Several of the character's elements were produced with Kimura's approval.[23] Since detective dramas are uncommon in gaming, Hosokawa wanted Yagami to stand out; creating the new character presented a challenge. For Yagami to succeed properly Kiryu, the developer, wanted him "more grounded to fit the noir vibe". According to Nagoshi:

"[W]hen you're writing a story and there's a really solid character that's been around for a long time, the character dictates what happens next ... In contrast to that, with Yagami, at the start of development we didn't really have anything attached to him at all. It was a challenge, but also an opportunity for a development team that has been working so long on the same series."[19]

Realistic detectives inspired the team's portrayal of Yagami's life and work.[16] The plot focused originally on romance; this was eliminated because Nagoshi felt it would affect the game's courtroom-thriller feel.[30]

To fit the scenario, multiple actors were chosen based on their experience. Akira Nakao plays lawyer Takashi Genda, who originally looked after Yagami during the time he was not a detective. Similarly, Shosuke Tanihara was cast as detective Mitsuru Kuroiwa because of his strong visual appearance to make impressive scenes when he and Kimura appear together. Pierre Taki was cast to portray famous criminals with his character, Kyohei Hamura. While Yagami is linked with multiple female characters, none of them were created as a love interest, as the staff avoided using romance in the narrative.[16] Other recurring actors include, among others: Akira Nakao as Yagami's lawyer mentor Ryuzo Genda, Kenichi Takitoh as the detective Kazuya Ayabe, Shinshi Fuji as the former yakuza Masaharu Kaito and Risa Shimizu as Mafuyu Fujii.[31]

Japanese band Alexandros did the two main themes for Judgment

The game uses two theme songs by the Japanese band Alexandros: "Arpeggio" and "Your Song".[32] The band created these themes for Judgment along with the one in the Bleach live action film while they were in the United States. They sent their work to Japan in a video and received a positive response.[33] Nagoshi showed the band a demo of the game which enabled them to write a song quickly.[34] The studio spent considerable time choosing the right band for the songs.[16] "Arpeggio" was made on the rooftop of the Brooklyn studio. Member Yohei took a liking to an arpeggio that another musician happened to be playing on his guitar, so they took a break during their recording session and wrote that song on acoustic guitars on the roof.[35] A three-CD soundtrack was released in Japan on April 15, 2019.[36]

The new character model for Hamura (left) and Pierre Taki's model before his removal

Sega released the game was in Japan on December 13, 2018.[37] They halted Japanese sales of the game on March 13, 2019, after Pierre Taki, a Japanese actor whose voice and likeness had been used for the character of Kyohei Hamura, was arrested by officers of the Narcotics Control Department (NCD) of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for cocaine possession and use.[38] Sega did not comment on whether Taki's arrest would affect Judgment's Western release.[39] According to the NCD, Taki had been under investigation since 2018 following tips from unnamed sources[39][40] and was asked to submit a urine sample.[41]

After Taki's arrest, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio producer Daisuke Sato tweeted that he would not allow Taki's arrest to interrupt the game's success or allow the actor's contribution to the game to be deleted. CyberConnect2 president Hiroshi Matsuyama criticized companies that stop marketing their products when a person connected with their work is arrested.[42] Sega later said that Taki's voice and likeness would be replaced, but the game's planned Western release date was unchanged.[43] The character's new design was not based on any actor.[44] Sega announced the release of a new version in Japan on July 18, 2019, with a new character model and actor Miō Tanaka replacing Taki in the role of Kyohei Hamura.[45]

Sega released the game worldwide on June 25, 2019.[46] Unlike previous games developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios, they gave Judgment an English dub. This was conceived following the release of Yakuza 0. Since Kiryu's games were always released in Japanese, Sega thought it might be unsuitable to give the cast of Yakuza 6: Song of Life an English dub. As a result, Sega believed that starting a dub with Judgment might be more fitting, as they looked at different ways of attracting newcomers.[47] Sega announced that for the first time, the franchise would receive an English dub; other languages would follow.[48] The company's rationale for the dub and the short timeframe before its release was a response to increased fan demand;[17] the staff said that the game's Western version would be identical to the Japanese one.[22] Scott Strichart, localization producer for the Yakuza series, ordered the western release to have two subtitle tracks: one with Japanese audio and English subtitles matching the Japanese translation, and the other matching the English dub. There were also localizations in French, German, Italian, and Spanish focused on the Japanese audio. The developers believed they had managed to make the dubbed Yagami identical to the Japanese version in terms of characterization, despite different words being used in the translation.[49] Following the changes, the staff made revisions to the character's facial animations to fit the lip-syncing.[47] In scripting, Strichart insisted that the English actors keep using Japanese honorifics to retain the Japanese cast's impact.[50] A game demo became available in August 2019 for English-speaking regions.[51]

During the game, there is a scene where players control Saori Shirosaki in a hostess club. Strichart told game website Polygon that, "[s]ensitive scenes are tricky to get right", and that the team had to be careful when dubbing this. He added that to bring realism into the narrative, characters' responses to Shirosaki would come across as "uncomfortable" as the non-playable characters were unsympathetic during this scene. Since the Yakuza series was popular primarily thanks to the male demographic, Strichart wanted English language gamers to understand how gross men can be as they controlled Shirosaki compared with the Japanese scene where the men are attracted by her looks.[52]

Multiple auditions were held to cast the English actors with a positive result according to Strichart. The team aimed to make the English dub as natural as possible.[47] Greg Chun was pleasantly surprised when he was selected to voice Yagami in Judgment, since he was familiar with the franchise. Chun said, "I'm super psyched to be a part of this game", and that he liked what he had seen of the character.[53] He called his work in the game satisfying: "It really did require me to let go of the tricks that you use to push a performance through, and I really did need to fall back on authenticity and genuine groundedness." Although he found the faithfulness to the original Japanese audio challenging, Chun was pleased with his character's balance of seriousness and comedy; however, the game's screaming segments were difficult. Noting that fans tended to choose the original Japanese audio, Chun suggested that they try the English dub to test his voice.[54] He was surprised by Yagami's deep character arc (involving him in the present while dealing with his past life as a lawyer), and said that he would never forget the role.[55] Matthew Mercer enjoyed voicing Kuroiwa but found the character's different tones challenging. Crispin Freeman enjoyed his work because he considered Kaito to be likeable.[56] Other actors include Brian McNamara as Genda, Matthew Yang King as Ayabe and Cherami Leigh as Fujii.[31]

Judgment received "generally favourable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[57] Famitsu gave the game a score of 37 out of 40.[59] Although its gameplay was praised, critics had mixed opinions about its case-solving elements. Hobby Consolas praised the game for relying on multiple types of gameplay, giving the Yakuza spin-off more variety.[68] According to a VideoGamer.com reviewer, gamers attracted to the Yakuza series would enjoy Judgment because of its similarities in action. He noted that the fighting system was superior to Sega's latest game, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, and would attract fans; the varied side missions gave players far more playing time.[67] Although a GameInformer reviewer liked the action, they found the tailing missions frustrating and that the investigation areas did penalize a player for failing them.[60] USGamer said that the tailing missions might drag, but the new chasing missions were more entertaining.[66] Destructoid agreed, disliking the former but enjoying the latter; the reviewer felt that the action scenes were not difficult.[58] Tristan Ogilvie of IGN praised the game's combat system and diversified side content but criticized its shallow investigation mechanics saying, "There's surprisingly little room given to make your own decisions."[64] Edmond Tran of GameSpot described the game's tailing and chasing sections "dull, slow and arduous", and called the investigation sections "incredibly straightforward". Nevertheless, he enjoyed the melee combat for the options it gives to the player.[61] GamesRadar+ writer Bradley Russel criticized the core gameplay as "lacking in its execution" and over-relying on combat, rather than investigation.[62] On the other hand, Hardcore Gamer enjoyed the balance between the different style of gameplay.[63] RPGamer.com also praised the action elements but felt that the develeopers needed to fix the detective sections.[65]

The plot was generally well-received. Because it introduced a new cast instead of reusing characters, GameInformer found the story "refreshing" and called Yagami's investigations intriguing.[60] USGamer also praised the story for standing on its own, despite Yagami's similarities to Kazuma Kiryu; the new lead character had his own way of life.[66] A Destructoid reviewer said that despite the game's similarity to Yakuza—because of its balance of seriousness and comedy—Judgment had a unique narrative which they felt was on a par with Hollywood films.[58] B. Russell praised the story, calling it "potentially one of the best in the medium".[62] VideoGamer liked the game for using deep moral themes which would entertain players for many hours.[67] GameSpot praised the storyline and Yagami and Kaito, calling them "genuinely likable characters".[61] A HobbyConsolas reviewer noted that Sega added subtitles for the first time for languages other than English making Judgment far more accessible, but Yagami was a less appealing character than Kiryu.[68] Hardcore Gamer regarded the storyline as "the closest one can get to an entry point for those anxious about such an overbearing legacy that the Yakuza series presents" and how the Dragon Engine provides for facial expressions that are important for solving cases.[63]

VideoGamer's reviewer liked the original Japanese cast's striking performances, despite the reviewer's initial preference for an English dub.[67] The English voice actors' performances were praised;[69][70] Ogilvie called the game's English voice acting "excellent", but noticed an inconsistent lack of English lip-syncing.[64] EGM Now said Chun gave a more striking performance than Kimura, whom the writer did not find suitable for the character.[71] RPGamer praised Sega's decision to add two languages to the audio, praising both Japanese and English versions equally.[65]

Several Giant Bomb reviewers listed Judgment as one of their favorite games from 2019,[72][73][74][75] with Chris Tilton listing it at the top.[76] USGamer included it in its list of the twenty best games of 2019.[77]

Imported sales of Judgment rose in Japan when the game was withdrawn from Japanese store shelves; about 97 percent of its stock was sold, and it reached number three on Amazon's sales rankings. Nagoshi stated that although the sudden interest in the game because of the controversy was disappointing, he was "glad in any case".[85] Kazuki Hosokawa considered a Steam port possible in April 2019 but was unsure about this as the team was still working on Yakuza ports.[86] In 2019 Nagoshi said that while Sega claimed there was already work put into a sequel, it was a rumor.[87] According to Media Create, the game had a strong opening in its first week in Japan with sales of 148,246 copies.[88]

This made it the most successful release for a new IP for the eighth generation of video game consoles in the country, although this record was later broken by Death Stranding.[89] On January 13, 2019, Famitsu revised its sales figures to 310,000 copies.[90][91] Producer Daisuke Sato said that Western sales of Judgment had exceeded expectations.[92]

Although producer Kazuki Hosokawa said in April 2019 that the studio planned to port the game to the PC for wider audience appeal, this was unconfirmed.[93]