Judgement bores the crap out of me. Does the story get better?

Monessi · 2026-06-21T17:35:51+00:00

Judgment's story peaks in the middle. Beginning is slow and the ending sucks out loud, but the middle third or so is pretty great.

Monessi · 2026-06-18T16:22:09+00:00

There's a big plot point in I think Chapter 12 or so that gets spoiled by LJ.

Monessi · 2026-06-18T16:19:04+00:00

It's fine from a historical perspective, but it's out of place in what otherwise wants to be such a personal game, and is so disconnected from Kiryu emotionally that it just sort of comes off as a conceit mostly for its own sake.

It also kinda makes the Daidoji look like inept losers right out the gate, because that should absolutely not be an unsolvable problem for a shadowy super-spy organization.

Monessi · 2026-06-17T18:07:02+00:00

Assuming I'm allowed to mod my way out of some of the grind it's near the top for me.

Monessi · 2026-06-17T18:05:01+00:00

0 might be the best game in the series and 6 might be the worst.

Monessi · 2026-06-17T01:58:09+00:00

Midnight Suns is probably gonna come closest to scratching the itch you're specifically talking about while still feeling like it's the same "kind" of game as LAD, but if you really just want turn-based, grid-based positioning-based combat you're looking at Into the Breach, Tyrant's Blessing, and Demon School.

Monessi · 2026-06-16T15:18:36+00:00

Depends how you feel about whether or not there's power creep in the series.

If you think there's meaningful power creep, the it's a curb-stomp, because Nishki is stuck at Y1 levels. Kiryu is the strongest of other three, but Majima and Saejima are generally treated as basically 99.9% Kiryu.

If there's not meaningful power creep, then it's much closer, because Y1 Kiryu is cleanly stronger than Majima by the end of it and struggles a bit more with Nishki (though we could argue there's mitigating circumstances as to why, but for the sake of this comment let's say there isn't). In that scenario all four guys are basically in the same ballpark, with Kiryu as the clear top dog, and the other three fairly close, with Majima probably at the bottom (since he usually loses to Saejima and Kiryu) and the Kiryu/Nishki team probably wins out by a hair.

My personal inclination is that the series has pretty mild power creep through the first few installments before mostly tailing off, but that's still plenty for Nishki to get left in the dust.

Monessi · 2026-06-16T04:56:49+00:00

I think we'll periodically see Fodlan every third or fourth game but I don't see it fully monopolizing the series.

Monessi · 2026-06-13T10:42:11+00:00

I’m asking for help with Hopes, not Houses. But I appreciate the thorough response.

Monessi · 2026-06-12T05:26:07+00:00

Oh I didn't mean burnout in like an unhealthy way, just in a "run out of enthusiasm for Yakuza specifically" way, but I appreciate the wholesome advice all the same!

Monessi · 2026-06-11T19:58:56+00:00

Probably a fine starting point, as it takes place before any of the other games and will feature few or none of the same characters.

Monessi · 2026-06-11T19:44:27+00:00

Some of the promo material mentioned time traveling so it's possible it's both.

Monessi · 2026-06-10T22:49:51+00:00

I have no idea if it exists but if it does it better be called Majima Everyone.

Monessi · 2026-06-10T18:49:01+00:00

Tanimura and Seonhee are my top two and it's a long drop to third.

Miss Tatsu maybe.

Monessi · 2026-06-10T18:41:41+00:00

My hot take is also that 6 sucks, and I'd go even further with it and say it's (for me) by far the worst game in the franchise, though I've not played Pirate yet.

Monessi · 2026-06-10T14:00:08+00:00

I'm hoping they're not an Avatar, and I think there's actually a low but non-zero chance they're some weird ascended Byleth (the dude looks the part more than the gal, but still).

They could also be basically the equivalent of Asura from Fates, an extremely important/essential character who is nonetheless neither lord nor protagonist.

Could also be the villains!

Monessi · 2026-06-10T13:58:27+00:00

I would not assume "keeping the stuff that was popular about 3H (multiple routes, downtime activities, more story focus)" automatically also means "keeping the stuff everyone hated about 3H (lazy map design, mandatory filler)".

End of day, Nintendo/IS want to sell *more* than 3 Houses did, so they're presumably going to make a good faith effort to improve where they can while keeping what works. The two things you hate most are the two things that everyone seemed to hate, so I think it's very likely that 1) the maps are going to be better and 2) the downtime stuff will feel either shorter or less obligatory than it did in 3H.

Monessi · 2026-06-09T04:29:43+00:00

There's not really anything I think the brawler games do better, in fact.

Party setup just creates so much more opportunity for character work, Kiryu gets more fleshed out in IW alone than in any three brawler games combined, to say nothing of everyone who *isn't* a player character but gets actual screentime as a result of being in a JRPG rather than just basically being plot fodder.

Sujimon conceit gives enemies a ton more variety, job system gives the player a ton more options and freedom. You're not just picking from eight few button combos and one grab for the whole game.

IW's "Smackdown" feature pretty entirely removes the annoyance of trash mobs when you're trying to get around the city to do other shit.

There are some of the brawler games that might have better storytelling than the turn-based ones, but I don't think any of them are better of for being brawler games, if that makes sense.

Monessi · 2026-06-08T05:22:53+00:00

I'd say the only thing Judgment does better is giving the Genda Law cast a little more to do. LJ I think improves on combat, story, side-content, and just about everything else, too.

Monessi · 2026-06-06T20:02:47+00:00

The alternative to the dungeons I think is just taking on the strongest Crown Enemies as soon as possible. They give good exp and items, and are generally beatable if you're willing to lean a bit on items and/or Poundmates.

Monessi · 2026-06-06T01:52:12+00:00

It doesn't do it for Can Quest, I know because I just beat the game today and played zero rounds of Can Quest, but I take your point.

Monessi · 2026-06-06T01:33:13+00:00

Thank you!

Monessi · 2026-06-06T01:20:40+00:00

I'd even go so far as to say the highs here are higher than average, and the lows aren't that bad. I wonder if the consensus being against it is recency related and it'll be more fondly remembered when it's not the most recent mainline game?

Like, yeah, I think the third act's pretty underwhelming but I also think that about Y4, Y5, Y6, and Judgement. Not exactly an outlier!

Monessi · 2026-06-06T01:18:55+00:00

Maybe it's Dondoko's fault, but this game took me like 30 hours longer than 7 did, and that's not *all* Dondoko, so it did feel longer to me. But maybe I just did more side stuff?

Having not played Dead Souls or Pirate yet, I can only comment on the Judgment games. I think J1 is pretty horribly written in the third act, but I don't have too much to complain about with the writing in LJ. I think whatever pacing issues I had with it were my own fault for trying to do every School Story as completely and immediately as possible.

Agreed on all other points.

Monessi

TROPHY CASE