Judgment

Between its compelling story and memorable characters, engaging gameplay and high production values, this is an underrated story worthy of your collection. Judgment is an exceptionally fun (yet mature) urban adventure that fuses combat with detective work, racing, and other gameplay elements -- and presented with impressive visuals and audio. While some missions and side stories might not be as exciting as the combat, the game gets most things just right. Specifically, the real-time fights are so rewarding, especially as you learn to master Tak's moves and combos in both Crane and Tiger Style battles. To compliment your punches and kicks are the many props you can use -- ranging from chopsticks to concrete pillars to chairs -- as well as special chained moves and powerful attacks that result in supernatural color and motion effects, and dramatic camera and zoom angles. While triggered, there are some break-dance like attacks, running up walls and other parkour moves, and "Quick Time Events." You really do feel like you're in a kung fu movie. It's also notable that the PS5, Series X/S, and Stadia versions have been enhanced, making this movie presentation feel slicker and faster paced. It's hard not to feel immersed into the action across these systems, and the bonus of getting the additional DLC added in just gives you a bonus leg up in your quest for justice.

The detective work is mostly engaging, too, except some long or repetitive tailing side missions where you need to remain discrete while ducking out of the way to sneak behind a suspect or other person of interest. But as with games like the Grand Theft Auto series, you can select what missions to take (with a similar map you can open to see where you need to go). There are benefits for helping people, as they'll remember your assistance and reward you with help in fights, giving you extra items, and so on. There are many mini-games, too, ranging from casino diversions and a Mario Party-like board game to a light-gun shooter and simpler 2D arcade games. Judgment may not enjoy the same level of fanfare of other games in the west, but adult gamers looking for a virtual thrill in a seedy and glitzy Japanese world should enjoy their hands-on time with this game.