Project Judge

A familiar beat with a different tempo, as Nagoshi returns to Kamurocho.

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Any successful franchise is a double-edged sword for a developer. Sequels all but guarantee money in the bank, but can be creatively stifling. So it’s no great shock to learn that Toshihiro Nagoshi has been planning to do something different for a while. “I did aspire to propose a new type of game even during the various Yakuza title releases,” he admits. And yet there’s no denying that Nagoshi’s new game isn’t a major departure. For the development team, comprised primarily of the main staff behind Yakuza 0 (which, as that series’ peak, is a promising sign), Project Judge must seem like something of a busman’s holiday.

Within seconds of its opening cutscene, we know exactly where we are, as the camera glides down a bustling street, past a Poppo store sign and through the window of a second-floor office. Our first objective, meanwhile, asks us to walk up Nakamichi Street, make a right before Smile Burger, and head down Nakamichi Alley towards Pink Street. The waypoint would be surplus to requirements if we weren’t playing in Japanese. The Yakuza series’ star – no, not Kazuma Kiryu – is back.

Surprisingly, that wasn’t the initial plan. “For a time we were considering not using Kamurocho,” says Nagoshi. “However, the goal here was to drastically change the game content from the Yakuza series, and we wanted to avoid exhausting our budget on a brand-new map. I also felt confident that we could create compelling new gameplay even without a new map.”