Lost Judgement fuses serial killings and a skateboarding detective. You should play it.

At the heart of Lost Judgment is a moral dilemma that it isn’t afraid to wrangle with – a serial killer who is targeting former school bullies, and specifically ones whose actions led to severe, or in some cases fatal, outcomes for their victims. It doesn’t pull its punches. Yet I spent just as much time soaring around its streets on a skateboard, building competition-level battle robots, and strutting my stuff in a full-scale dance tournament. Somehow, it balances both sides masterfully.

The first Judgment is a rip-roaring detective tale in its own right, with a winding mystery at its core that you’ll be hard-pressed to figure out before its final act. Yagami’s second outing, by comparison, starts a little slower, with you travelling to the Isezaki Ijincho setting (of Yakuza: Like A Dragon) to investigate bullying at a school. By its conclusion, however, Lost Judgment had risen to join the ranks of my favorite stories from developer RGG Studio, and stands alongside Yakuza Ishin as its two best action games.

The central plot of Lost Judgment is simpler than Judgment’s (and doesn’t require you to play them in order, though both are good). It’s less a tale of ‘whodunnit’ but how and why. Faced with a seemingly impossible pair of crimes, Yagami and pals must attempt to catch their suspects slipping up to overturn a miscarriage of justice.

Like most of the developer’s games, Lost Judgment also offers a range of other activities to fill out the world, although here they’re largely tied into the most ambitious side project RGG has built. Taking on the role of advisor to Seiryo High School’s ‘Mystery Research Club,’ you find yourself dragged into a vast underground web of teenage drama, test cheating, student exploitation, and more that spreads across ten different extra-curricular clubs.

Yagami must spend time with each of them, and all have a unique tale to tell, some of which stretch out for several hours. You’ll be building battle bots to take part in a national competition, training at the local boxing club where one student is rising up the ranks, racing biker gangs, helping the dance team to compete in a Step Up-style showdown, and hitting the ramps with the skateboarding kids. There’s even the opportunity to join an esports tournament and play games of (actual) Virtua Fighter 5 to root out a cheater. The full arc is almost as long as Lost Judgment’s main story, and doesn’t really miss the whole way through.

Then there’s the best-in-class action. This is very much in the classic brawler corner of the Yakuza games, but Yagami’s two fighting styles from the first entry are supplemented by a pair of new additions. Crane is high-flying and perfect for groups. Tiger lets you lock down single targets. Snake specializes in counterattacks and disarms, making it ideal for dealing with rowdy students who don’t deserve any serious retribution, but also great against major threats. Finally, you can also bring your boxing skills out onto the streets as you learn them through the side activity. It feels sublime, and you’re actually given enough opportunities to really flex your moves, swapping between forms on the fly to put even the most dangerous foes in the ground.

Finally, there’s The Kaito Files, Lost Judgment’s story expansion. This puts you in control of Yagami’s eponymous accomplice, who has two unique, heavy-hitting approaches to combat of his own. This is every bit as fulfilling as the main game, and much like Lost Judgment’s central narrative it climaxes with one of my favorite final fights. It’s a beefy 8-10 hour aside, and while it does come in a little pricey, you can buy it as part of a collection pack (one that frequently goes on deep discount).

I don’t know if we’ll see another Judgment game. There have long been difficulties surrounding the image rights of Yagami’s actor, Takuya Kimura, who is most famous for his past as a member of top-selling Japanese boy band SMAP. Then there’s the departure of long-time RGG head honcho and writer, Toshihiro Nagoshi, who is now working on the Yakuza-like Gang of Dragon with his new team, Nagoshi Studio. Don’t let that put you off; if you’re a Ryu Ga Gotoku fan, or simply enjoy having a good time, you owe it to yourself to play Lost Judgment.