Detective Takayuki Yagami is back in the gripping sequel to Judgment. Lost Judgment drops you into another gripping tale from the developers behind Yakuza. After a police officer mentions the murder of a student teacher who bullied his son to suicide, Yagami must go undercover as a high school club advisor to uncover the truth behind the vicious cycle of bullying and the worrying increase in victims.
Master 3 different fighting styles to overcome any situation with the signature fighting the Yakuza series is known for, but that isn't all. Feel like taking a break? Join the Dance Club and dance with your students or try to challenge your ingenuity by joining the Robotics Club or even join a Biker Gang. But can you do all of this on the Steam Deck? Well, just like the last game, you absolutely can!
Luckily, Lost Judgment plays out similarly to its predecessor and can run just as well! With the same settings from Judgment, you can get a more stable 40 FPS with around 3 - 3.5 hours of gameplay. Compared with the max quality the game could be, which drains the battery immensely, it is a welcome change overall!
Lost Judgment also utilizes FSR 2.0, which helps it keep stable a lot, but does have a bit more of a blurring effect on the hair and faces of individuals. While I was okay with this blurriness to keep the temps and battery down with stability, it can become a bit of a nuisance.
I did also notice that when the game pauses, it creates a smudging effect on any moving models on the screen. This was much more noticeable when paused in a cutscene, but it really only happens there and doesn't detract from the game itself.
I will be looking into how both of these issues can be solved and create an alternate build to solve these issues. It will come with higher battery drain though, which I was happy to try avoiding. I also will be testing the FSR 2.1 files and seeing if I can integrate those into Lost Judgment manually which could solve the issues.
Overall, the game does run and, especially on a smaller screen, is not nearly as noticeable. While I will be making a build that will eliminate this, and try to stay at 40 FPS as much as possible, the gameplay and story itself wasn't as impacted by these for me as much as it may seem.
Our review is based on the PC version of this game.
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Fight for the truth and uncover the crime running beneath the surface of Tokyo. In this Yakuza series spinoff, you play as Takayuki Yagami, a defense attorney turned detective, who takes on whatever case he can get. As you take on more, you get sucked into working to uncover the truth in a string of horrible murders while clawing your way through the underground crime network.
As a spinoff of the Yakuza series, there are a lot of elements that translate over. The fighting mechanics are similar with 2 different styles of fighting, gaining SP to upgrade and unlock new skills, and the signature story-telling that works so well in the mainline games. Judgment offers a different enough perspective and a fantastic story that makes this spinoff a notable game just on its own!
So far, I am impressed by the performance on the Steam Deck. I expected some more hiccups than I actually ran into, but it worked quite well! I got the game running at a 90% stable 40 FPS, which I felt feels amazing in this game, though there are some compromises. Though, compared to trying to play this game on max quality settings, it is a night and day difference.
Thanks to FSR 2.0, lowering the game's settings doesn't take as much of a hit visually, even though battery and temps are saved dramatically!
Thankfully, the game does have FSR 2.0 integration, which helps significantly for stability, but there are still some slowdowns when running through the town and a lot is being loaded in. You can drop the framerate down to 30 and those drops won't feel as noticeable, but the smoothness of the game outweighs the less noticeable drops by far. I also did notice the game running slightly better using Proton GE 7-33.
Overall, I would say Judgment is fantastic on the Steam Deck. It runs at a pretty smooth 40 FPS and looks fantastic on the screen with around 3 hours of battery. The game does support Cloud Saves as well, which is always a BIG plus. If you are looking to play on the Deck, this game will definitely run and will be more than serviceable.
FSR 2.0 disabled and enabled. Honestly, it looks significantly better enabled and runs MUCH more stable.
Our review is based on the PC version of this game.
If you enjoyed this review, be sure to check out the rest of the content on SteamDeckHQ! We have a wide variety game reviews and news that are sure to help your gaming experience. Whether you're looking for news, tips and tutorials, game settings and reviews, or just want to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, we've got your back!
