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How does the sequel compare to the original? The scores are aggregated around the same wavelengths. It’s almost too much of a good thing. There are quite a few things Lost Judgment could have done better, especially as a sequel and a long game at that. Hopefully, these issues can be patched into the game as soon as possible.

6 Remove The Watermarks

Like the previous title, Lost Judgment is lousy with watermarks. This persists through native video or photo capture on the consoles. There is a plus side to the watermarks in that the copyright is relatively small. It used to be a lot worse when the last generation started.

It’s better than it could be but removing them altogether would be a step above that. The watermarks don’t seem to have a purpose outside of perhaps preventing people from posting stuff online. This is an age where people can buy relatively cheap equipment to capture video and photos. Watermarks only hurt those who are just trying to play the game.

5 HUD Customization

Lost Judgment doesn’t have the busiest HUD in the world but the game can certainly look cluttered. Players can alleviate part of this mess if they remove subtitles and the mini-map from the options menu. The subtitles tip only works if someone is playing Lost Judgment with the dubbed audio.

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Removing the mini-map helps but then it’s a lot harder to know where to go. There’s also the quest pop-up text which doesn’t go away along with several other key mechanics. It would be nice if there was an added way in the options to remove more content from the HUD. A better alternative to that would have the HUD fade in and out based on context.

4 Taxis Need To Go

Fast travel has been a part of gaming for some time now. This series, from Yakuza to Judgment, uses taxis in order to get around the various environments. This was nice back in the day when fast travel wasn’t as prevalent but the mechanic has evolved so much. By this point, the taxis should be gone almost completely. It makes sense to keep them around in order for players to drive to new cities like going from Kamurocho to Yokohama.

It doesn’t make sense to hinder movement and make taxis the only way to travel quickly. It would be better if fast travel was just an option on the map like other games. Thankfully, load times are quick on the new systems, so at least taking a taxi doesn’t take long because of this improvement. Cab fare is also very cheap. This seems more of a wish for future games but if the team can implement better fast travel in a patch then that would be great.

3 Allow For Saving In Dungeons

Players have to keep on top of saving because they never know how much time a mission needs to complete. Quests could take Yagami and crew to enemy yakuza buildings or schools. Not being able to manually save for a long time can be a hassle for those people without a lot of time to play.

The autosave system is there but it isn’t flawless. Sometimes Lost Judgment can leave huge gaps in-between autosave times. Not being able to save in the middle of a battle is one thing, but outside of these moments, players should be able to save whenever they want to. Adding the option for more manual save opportunities would be appreciated.

2 Add A Separate Equip Menu

All items in the game are condensed into one solid menu. This works relatively well, but for what is essentially an action RPG, it could be more organized. It might be better to have a separate menu for equipment which could also include changing costumes. This addition might backfire.

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Putting more menus or apps on Yagami’s phone might clutter it more than it already is. That might be the reason why there is one item menu to rule them all. For this reason, the way Lost Judgment is set up now is fine, but again, it could be better. Sega will never know unless they try. If it doesn’t work then they can always revert the process.

1 Add A Skip Button For Missions

One of the most prolific open-world video game series is Grand Theft Auto. Without that franchise, the open-world or sandbox city style of gameplay may not exist today as the world knows it. It stands to reason then that the Yakuza series has borrowed a lot from the Grand Theft Auto playbook. There is one element not a lot of games have attempted to copy though.

Grand Theft Auto 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 both offered players ways to skip ahead in a mission or to pass it completely. More games should implement a feature like this. There are main missions in Lost Judgment that players may find tedious or too hard such as trailing suspects or chasing them. The worry might be that adding in a skip option could throw off the balance of the game. However, if it worked for those two juggernauts then it stands to reason that this series overall could benefit from some skips as well.

Lost Judgmentwas released on September 24, 2021 and is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

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