SkylineRKR
Member
I agree with lots of your points, but I still think LJ is better than the previous game. I think the story is more engaging. The first one had a great story, for the first half anyway, but fell apart and there were too many parties involved. In LJ, I do feel the pacing is higher. By chapter 4 you have a general idea of where its going. But I put it on hold about halfway through. I think, contrary to my initial feelings, the school is awesome. Currently I'm spending all my time on that. The dance club grinding does go on for too long, but once you hit those social stats you rapidly open up the other clubs. So far I dislike the Robotics one, but the rest has been fun to do.
The gameplay is an improvement over the first, disarming enemies is good. But it does feel clunky still. I like the parkour they added, I didn't expect it to be like Creed or Spidey but it does add some verticality though its very limited. The tailing is slightly better as you can just hold triangle if you're being suspected and you can hide anywhere. Chase sequences are worse. You just have to deplete your opponents health by keeping it going and you quickly find you're just running laps without change. Also the FP mode sucks, you can't run in it. And indeed you have to select gadgets each time but again they seem to be largely for side missions. This struck me as odd in the 1st game, where you use the drone like twice in the story. It seems to be the case here.
As for some issues I have with it. Well I played Like a Dragon last fall, and I noticed I like the turn based combat more than I realized. Its pretty chill and you were always walking around with a full party including banter. Judgment has okay combat, but its getting stale. Bosses still super armor and block a lot, though you can reversal their supers now. Its not always that fun to play, its difficult selecting targets, and the slow getups become a chore especially when done repeatedly. I'd say both random battles take about the same time, eventually you would one shot goons in LaD anyway but you had the introduction and winning screens slowing the pace. The beat em up gameplay needs an overhaul. It needs to flow better, with easier crowd control, less turtling and simply more responsive.
Another issue is that Lost Judgment doesn't add any new playgrounds aside from the school (which is largely your side missions base). We know the Yokohama map from Like a Dragon, where it was new and unexplored in typical RPG fashion. LJ is treading mostly familliar ground.
When Judgment came out it shot up to be my fave Yakuza game along with 6 and 0. Lost Judgment just feels a bit more of a rehash after Like a Dragon. I'm ok with how its being handled though, I think I have my beat em up fill here. Its fine to go back to turn based in 8.
The gameplay is an improvement over the first, disarming enemies is good. But it does feel clunky still. I like the parkour they added, I didn't expect it to be like Creed or Spidey but it does add some verticality though its very limited. The tailing is slightly better as you can just hold triangle if you're being suspected and you can hide anywhere. Chase sequences are worse. You just have to deplete your opponents health by keeping it going and you quickly find you're just running laps without change. Also the FP mode sucks, you can't run in it. And indeed you have to select gadgets each time but again they seem to be largely for side missions. This struck me as odd in the 1st game, where you use the drone like twice in the story. It seems to be the case here.
As for some issues I have with it. Well I played Like a Dragon last fall, and I noticed I like the turn based combat more than I realized. Its pretty chill and you were always walking around with a full party including banter. Judgment has okay combat, but its getting stale. Bosses still super armor and block a lot, though you can reversal their supers now. Its not always that fun to play, its difficult selecting targets, and the slow getups become a chore especially when done repeatedly. I'd say both random battles take about the same time, eventually you would one shot goons in LaD anyway but you had the introduction and winning screens slowing the pace. The beat em up gameplay needs an overhaul. It needs to flow better, with easier crowd control, less turtling and simply more responsive.
Another issue is that Lost Judgment doesn't add any new playgrounds aside from the school (which is largely your side missions base). We know the Yokohama map from Like a Dragon, where it was new and unexplored in typical RPG fashion. LJ is treading mostly familliar ground.
When Judgment came out it shot up to be my fave Yakuza game along with 6 and 0. Lost Judgment just feels a bit more of a rehash after Like a Dragon. I'm ok with how its being handled though, I think I have my beat em up fill here. Its fine to go back to turn based in 8.
Did Judgement started out on psp?