Sega has made its latest Yakuza spin-off game official after a premature PlayStation Network reveal: Lost Judgment is the next entry in the Judgment series and is slated for a 24th September, 2021 worldwide release.

Here’s what we know so far.

New Plot

Just like any Sega action-adventure game from Sega producer Toshihiro Nagoshi, Lost Judgment features an epic plot involving murders, mystery, and probably some political statements about Japan. Lost Judgment puts you in the shoes of Takayuki Yagami, a private detective who has to solve a new mystery. He’s once again voiced and played by renowned Japanese actor Takuya Kimura.

The sequel also boasts a bigger script and more than “1,000 minutes of recorded dialogue”.

New Area: Yokohama

In addition to Kamurocho, Lost Judgment takes place in a new fictionalized harbour city located in Yokohama.

New Fighting Style: Snake

Yagami’s Tiger and Crane fighting styles are back in Lost Judgment. Tiger stance consists of single-target power attacks, while Crane stance utilizes AoE fast strikes that hit multiple foes for crowd control.

Yagami now has a new fighting stance called Snake. This fighting style is meant for disarming and neutralizing aggressive foes. Think defensive counters and counter-throws and you’re not too far off. Yagami glows green while he’s performing Snake moves. Something tells us that there will be bosses that will require Yagami to switch between stances furiously.

New School Minigames & Side Stories

In Lost Judgment, Yagami has to pose as a student in a prestigious school in Yokohama to solve his case. This means pretending to make friends with students, make rivalries with kids who want to pick a fight with him for some bizarre reason, and also participate in a heckaton of minigames.

These include and aren’t limited to:

• A boxing minigame & side-stories like a high-school version of Hajime no Ippo.
• An RC-racing minigame where you create your own remote-controlled car of destruction and take on RC competitors.
• Music rhythm dance minigame where you have to lead a team of school dancers to victory.

Major Tweaks To Investigations Gameplay

Lost Judgment aims to improve the previous game’s Investigations mode. Previously, players need to tail suspects and give chase to them. Many folks have said that this part of the game got a bit repetitive, so the Sega team are planning to fix and upgrade it.

Yagami will be more agile and nimble when doing investigations, be it giving chase to suspects or planting wiretaps like a boss. We’ll definitely see more variety in these portions of Lost Judgment.

The Yakuza Series Will Be Turn-Based RPGs From Now On

According to Toshihiro Nagoshi, the Yakuza series will remain turn-based RPGs in the future, with Judgment carrying the action-adventure torch (via an IGN interview).

“The Yakuza series has been transformed into a turn-based RPG. On the other hand, over the year, Ryu ga Gotoku Studio has accumulated resources and know-how of making flashy and exhilarating action games that are effortless to enjoy. We decided that we should let our signature action gameplay live on through Lost Judgement.”

The Game Will Be Out For Consoles

Lost Judgment will be out for PS4, Xbox One, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. The game’s frame rate and resolution will be much higher for the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, naturally. So expect 4K resolutions and 60fps gameplay for the next-gen consoles.

No word on a PC port as of yet though; fingers crossed that it’ll happen.