SEGA and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio have announced Lost Judgment, a sequel to Judgment that’s due to release on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One on September 24, 2021.
Lost Judgment once again sees “lawyer turned street-fighting detective” Takayuki Yagami investigating a murder, working around a broken legal system to try find his away to the truth. It’s a mix of legal drama, action game, detective sim, and minigame-filled open-world adventure in the style of Yakuza (of which Judgment is a spinoff). This time around, Yagami’s investigation drags him into a story of revenge, where “he must choose between defending the law or exacting justice.”
“In this sequel, Lost Judgment, we sought to overcome the many walls we created for ourselves in the first game,” said Toshihiro Nagoshi, executive director of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, in announcing the new game at today’s Judgment Day event. “The script writing required countless hours to get right, and we recorded over 1,000 minutes of voiced dialogue for the cutscenes.” He went on to say that the story of Lost Judgment came about after “a lot of heated debate, so I’m confident we’ve created a game unlike anything you’ve seen before.”
Yokohama will be a key location in the new game, with all the sights and attractions that come with such a location—the Cosmo Clock 21 ferris wheel features prominently in the game’s footage. A high school will play an important role in Yagami’s investigation, and he’s obtained a skateboard for getting around this time, too, inspiring no shortage of “How do you do, fellow kids” memes.
The school component will be a source of a variety of different side stories, which contrast the “serious main story” with tales “full of laughs, tears, struggles, and maybe even a little suspense too.” In the Judgment Day preview footage, you can see Yagami jumping into a boxing ring, taking part in robot battles, and even competing in a High School Dance Jam.
Today’s announcement doesn’t come as a complete surprise, after a store listing on the Japanese PlayStation Store accidentally revealed the game’s title yesterday. There was little information there beyond a title, though, so today’s reveal still came with plenty of surprises.
Lost Judgment is coming to PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One, with a planned release date of September 24. It’s a sequel to Judgment, which originally came out in 2018 in Japan before getting a worldwide release in 2019, and came to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S last month.
