[Review] Judgment Remastered, A Beautiful Upgraded Version That Still Ends!

The announcement of Lost Judgment as a sequel to the Yakuza spin-off game which became a big hit in 2018 and brought a breath of fresh air. Apart from being successful in offering an evocative storyline to the beat em’ up gameplay typical of the Yakuza series which is no longer the focus of the main franchise, Judgment does have the potential to continue into the more dramatic adventure story of the wild detective Takayuki Yagami.

But before getting carried away with enthusiasm for the new sequel, we certainly highly recommend you to play the first game first, which is currently available on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. We happened to have finished the game on PS4, but recently had the opportunity to try out the new version The PS5 which happens to be a re-release in remastered form.

Considering that the original game is still relatively new, of course, our curiosity is inevitable about how the Ryu ga Gotoku Studio developers can perfect this game that already looks fantastic in terms of graphics. Instead of lingering, here is a summary of our review after trying the first few hours of Judgment Remastered on PS5.

Before entering the review..

As we mentioned above, this is a remastered version of a relatively new PS4 exclusive game. So as you can expect, there are not many significant changes in terms of content, concepts and gameplay mechanics offered. The review that we have summarized this time only focuses on the aspects of the overhaul that was brought along as well as a comparison with the original game.

If you are really curious about the quality of the game as a whole from all aspects, you can check out the full review that has been summarized by our media partners HERE.

So… what’s new?

Whether it’s a new game or an old game, being able to get a remastered version is definitely an additional option that’s hard to resist, especially if you’re tempted to go back to playing classic games at their best. In the case of Judgment Remastered or also known as Judge Eyes: wills of death Remastered, this is a game that attracted our attention enough to buy it again, even though we had already finished it on PS4.

The reason for our interest is very simple, because the game looks more visually appealing and manages to get rid of one big complaint we had with the original game, namely the long loading times. For people who have enough patience, the loading time in Judgment is indeed too long, especially for a semi-open-world game that is not so massive. But fortunately, thanks to the performance of the PS5 SSD, this problem immediately disappeared and provided a more enjoyable gaming experience. The 60 FPS support that it offers also makes the sensation of gameplay even when watching cutscenes feels very smooth compared to before.

Comparison of PS4 version (left) and PS5 version (right)

Talking about the graphics quality which is more charming, the graphics offered do look better and we can feel it enough when playing it. If I’m honest, at first we thought the graphic overhaul was just texture quality and a few modifications that weren’t that different, but we ended up liking the changes, especially the character model. Even though they still use the same model base, each character has a skin tone to hair style that looks more realistic and natural, especially when blending with the lighting effects of the surrounding environment. In fact, every area in the game also looks better due to various graphic effects improvements that make it even more pleasing to the eye.

In terms of graphics the game looks stunning, while for gameplay there is no difference at all except for high framerate support, so what is left to discuss? Yes, so unfortunately this remastered version still has one big drawback that also exists in Yakuza: Like a Dragon Remastered, namely the absence of Save Data transfer support. So basically you can’t continue the game progress from PS4, because Judgment Remastered can only be played from the beginning on PS5 only. This makes the game much more suitable to be recommended among newcomer players.

I think we should also add that Judgment Remastered already comes with all the DLC, except for the “All-in One Pack” which has the Girlfriend Present Pack and what we can call the best DLC to get. If you really want to get all the content that the game has to offer, then we can recommend choosing the Deluxe Edition version which, although it is indeed more expensive, but at least the price offered is still in the range of IDR 400 thousand which is still much more affordable than most AAA games at full price in Indonesia. market.

Conclusion

Although the response we have given to this new remastered version of Judgment sounds positive, we don’t think this is an easy game to recommend to all players. For example, we can’t immediately say it’s the best version of the original game, and think that everyone can play it when they only have a PS4. Not to mention the graphic overhaul is not so drastic. This PS5 version does look more charming and realistic as we discussed above, but the original game still looks very good from the visual aspect. It’s a different story, of course, if you have a PS5 which as you know is very rare, then this is the best version that can be taken thanks to all the quality changes offered.

Judgment still ranks as one of our favorite games in 2019, so getting the opportunity to try out the adventures of a quirky detective at its best is something we welcome. Not the best remastered version, but it’s not a cheap version either. One thing is clear, this is the best Judgment release that we highly recommend for newcomers, but again only for those who already own a PS5.

Be sure to stay up to date with other game news on Gamerwk.

Judgment

Publisher: SEGA

Developer: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio

Release Date: 2018-12-13

Console, PS4, PS5

Telling the story of a freelance detective named Takayuki Yagami, Judgment will take players on an exciting and thrilling adventure to solve a serial murder case that occurred in Kamurocho.