My personal emotions are actually quite complicated about the "Judgement" series login to PC.
On the one hand, I have played two works in the series on the PlayStation platform, and considering the way they change the soup before and after, and at most they just ask a few live actors to tell a new story, it is difficult for me to convince myself to play them from scratch on another platform now. But on the other hand, I personally don’t have any feelings for this series. On the contrary, when I first played it, whether it was the handsome face of the starring , Kimura Takuya , or the suspenseful atmosphere created by the story itself, I kept my enthusiasm for passing the level in the early and mid-stage of the two works in the series. Of course, I look forward to the continued launch of new works in this series, so I also hope that by taking advantage of this opportunity to log in to the PC platform, I can see the future of the "Rulong Studio" to give the "Judgment" series a clear explanation.
and we were also fortunate to be invited by Sega and obtained the evaluation qualification for the Steam version of the two works in the "Judgment" series in advance. Although the PC version has no upgrades in graphics and gameplay compared to the PlayStation 5 version of the two games released earlier, we can indeed take this opportunity to briefly talk about the "Kimura Ryu" series that may not be sequels in the future.
There is no doubt that the core charm of the "Judgement" series comes from the protagonist played by the well-known Japanese actor Takuya Kimura, the number one detective of Yakami Yakami Detective Firm, Kamimotocho Yakami Detective Firm.
This is the first time that "Rulong Studio" has changed the protagonist of the game to a character other than the Jidao member after working on the Jidao action game for so many years. Although he still has a close relationship with the Jidao forces, it is undeniable that after experiencing the portrayal of two works, this private detective who is exercising justice everywhere in Kamimorimachi has indeed brought a bright feeling to the players who are used to watching Kiryu Ichima as the protagonist. Takayuki Yajita, who appeared in the game
, not only changed the bitterness and deep hatred of the old "Red" series protagonist Kiryuchima, but also became a smooth-minded man who would act handsomely and cutely in front of the camera from time to time. Moreover, starting from his identity as a lawyer, the production team also provides players with a new perspective that is completely different from previous extreme characters to examine the bizarre crimes that occurred in Kamimotocho.
In fact, the stories of each generation of the "Royal" series almost contain a certain suspense. The protagonist Kiryu Kazuma is always involved in bizarre cases at the beginning of the story. After fighting and investigation, the truth of the incident is gradually revealed.
In essence, the "Judgement" series that succeeded the old "Royal" still failed to break out of this plot framework. However, after adding the identity of a lawyer and introducing a realistic reflection of the conviction rate of the Japanese judicial system of up to 99.9, the plot of the "Judgement" series seems to have added another layer of meaning in a realistic dimension.
For example, the first part of the series, "Eye of Judgment: The Last Word of Death", focuses on the issue of institutional rationality of the Japanese police and judicial system. In the second part, "The Death of Judgment: Evidence of Annihilation", on this basis, it further explores the problem of campus bullying that is still common in today's Japanese society. When these social issues are narrated through the perspective of a detective rather than a member of the extreme, it may really provide players with some different thinking directions.
But that being said, the "Judgement" series obviously does not want to portray Yakan Takano as a private detective who is only good at verbal criticism. In more than 90% of the game process, he is still like Kiryu Kazuma. He is a trainer who can do something but doesn’t talk much nonsense, and is more willing to use force to solve problems. Although the story retains elements of court defense and reasoning to a certain extent, these are basically just a formality in the game, and combat is still the core gameplay of the "Judgement" series.
Compared with Kiryu Ichima, who had longed to become a powerful figure since childhood, Yakami Takano also has his own unique style in combat. In "Eye of Judgment: The Last Word of Death", the moves used by Eight God are "flash" and "round dance". The former is a powerful boxing technique with stronger damage and accumulating power to break the defense, while the latter can be used to deal with multiple enemies at the same time, with low damage but emphasis on the attack range. These two move factions in the game
still retain the essence of the old "Royal" action system - players can use different combos through the combination of light and heavy attacks. During the attack, accumulate the "EX amplification" scale around the faction icon, wait until the appropriate real machine is available to launch the "EX amplification" effect, strengthen the attack and defense capabilities of the protagonist Eight God in a short time, and at the same time, you can also use more powerful EX amplification skills you have learned.
This combat system plus the immortal medicine system that allows Yaji to "take drugs to cause waves", constitutes the core combat mechanisms of the two "Judgement" series. On this basis, in "The Death of Judgment: Memories of Annihilation", the production team let the Eightos learn a move faction called "Rotation".
Compared with "waving dance" and "flash", I personally do prefer the "circulation" in the sequel. It gives people the feeling that it is like Tai Chi in Chinese Kung Fu , emphasizing the use of softening and leveraging force to fight. In the game, when Eighths activated the moves of this faction, although their movements did not open and close like "flash" and "round dance", each move showed the game skills of close combat. When the enemy attacks, the Eight God can block and take the opportunity to drain the opponent. After taking advantage of the situation to press the enemy to the ground, you can immediately execute the attack and easily solve most of the miscellaneous enemies that appear in the process. After learning more skills in the later stage, Eight Gods can further reduce the threats brought by enemies on the field directly by "forced surrender" and "disarming". The addition of
"flow" not only significantly reduces the overall combat difficulty of the game, but also makes up for the shortcomings exposed by the previous "flash" and "walk dance" in the move design - the connection between combat movements is smoother and more natural, and it will not leave the enemy with sneak attack flaws because the hard value of the start and stop movements is too long. Even when facing the level boss, most of the time, I will not blindly fall into a passive beating like in the previous work. It can be said that after two works polishing the new action system, Takanoyuki Yaji has the strength to replace Kiryu and take over the old "Rolong" series as a benchmark for action games.
It is also worth mentioning that the "Judgement Death: Annihilated Memory" which logs onto the PC platform this time will also include the DLC chapter "Masaji Kiyoto Event Book" that can be played after the main story. In this DLC, players will experience the unique fighting style of Masaji Kikito, a member of the former Jiji organization who appears as the main supporting role in the main game. His two move factions called "Huo Fighting" and "Iron Plate" have a clear distinction from the moves used by the protagonist Eight God in the main story. In terms of actual combat effectiveness, Masaji Hitoshi's fighting style is closer to the combat style of Kiryu Kazuma in the old "Royal" series, with its moves opening and closing, vigorous and powerful. In addition, the independent DLC story specially written for Masaji Hitomi, players who like the old "Red" battle and story style may try the content of this DLC.
Back to the main content of the "Judgement" series, in addition to the exclusive combat style, another feature of the "Judgement" series gameplay lies in the many detective mini-games tailored for detective Takayuki Yakami, including tail tracking, escape and pursuit, on-site certificate search, lock unlocking, house parkour, etc.
But obviously, the production team itself also understands that it is somewhat unreasonable to make a detective solve problems with his fists all day long. So, they specially developed these mini-games in an attempt to make Yagami look more like a serious private detective.
Unfortunately, during the actual gameplay, these detective games are generally designed to be too perfunctory and casual, which often leads to players not even willing to experience these contents in the process. The main reason for
is that these inference mini-games themselves have almost no fun or depth of the game. The end-line level is both lengthy and there is no challenge difficulty; to put it bluntly, press QTE against the screen. Even after the improvement and optimization of the two works, this bad gaming experience has not been completely solved. They are often like tools that games forcefully use to drag their pace, and they don’t care whether the players really need them. In my personal opinion, in terms of quality and playability, both the quality and playability of the detective mini-games are far beyond the design of the detective mini-games in terms of quality and playability.
arranges various interesting mini games in the map, which has always been the tradition of the old "Red Dragon" series, and has even developed into a series feature, which has also been inherited into the current "Judgement" series. In addition to the Sega Arcade Hall and Baseball Strike Training Ground that are familiar to veteran players, the "Judgement" series also adds VR and drone competitions, which are more in line with modern backgrounds, to the map of Kamimotocho, to further enrich the playability of map exploration.
And in the sequel "The Death of Judgment: The Annihilation of Memories", more mini games are integrated into a large side mission called "Youth Group Picture Drama". I personally like this design. It not only makes the existence of the mini-game itself more reasonable in the game, but also further sets off the relaxed atmosphere of campus themes in this work in addition to the main plot. After playing for a long time, I can’t help but recall my student days.
In fact, looking back now, although the "Judgement" series nominally inherits the spiritual mantle of the old "Rolong" series, after the accumulation and polishing of the two works, it has found its own unique development path. Even though there are still many things to be improved in terms of gameplay, compared with the previous and last two works, players can clearly feel the growth and progress of the sequel compared to the previous ones - such as the well-received plot of the sequel, more exciting side missions, and richer combat elements.
These all make the "Judgement" series still have very good development prospects in the eyes of many players. Players hope that the story of Takayuki Yajima can continue. If the series is completed in a hurry, it may become a regret in the hearts of many players.
We don’t know whether the fate of this series will turn around after logging on to the PC platform this time. Even if there is really no sequel, as a player, I hope that the classic gameplay of "Rolong" can be continued through other works.
So, after all, it is still a matter of sentiment, and it has nothing to do with whether there is Kimura Takuya.
Of course, it is definitely the best to have it.
Rating: 8.0 points
Advantages:
inherited from the old "Rolong" series action system, and on this basis, it made good improvements.
From a new perspective, telling the crime story of Kamitsumachi
Character creation is very successful
Interesting side missions and various mini games
Disadvantages:
Detective gameplay lacks fun, monotonous and repetitive
Open world map is still the same old content, lacking novel
Story is slightly clichéd in the later stage
