Preview: Judge Eyes; New Frontier For Yakuza

                                                      NOTE: This is a spoiler-free preview
     For those of you who do not already know, Judge Eyes (Judgement in the west), is a game set in the Yakuza universe, with new characters and story. With that said, if you have played the more recent Yakuza games you are in familiar territory while enjoying new aspects that are hopefully added to the newest entry in the next Yakuza game.
    
     Mechanically and aesthetically, the game still has the 'feel' of the Yakuza series that so many fans have grown to love. While thankfully building upon ideas and mechanics that have needed improvement, even if only slightly. The movement feels much improved from the most recent Yakuza games, not ridiculously different, but just feels more 'refined' like you are walking on solid ground, rather than slightly slipping on an ice rink. You could say that 'refinement' is the word of the day when it comes to Judge Eyes, and that is a good thing for sure. It is easy to tell that the developers have gotten comfortable with the Dragon Engine since it's introduction with Yakuza 6.

     With this being written by the people responsible for Yakuza 0, expectations were elevated, and so far, have not been disappointed in the experience it has given. The characters are some of the strongest and most interesting up to this point in the larger series. The main character, feels much more grounded than Kazuma Kiryu, who seems more like a legendary semi-mythical person. The interactions between the characters is some of the most interesting, while mentioning the pasts that some share with each other helps to add to the depth of the story and the affect it has on the main character and how he interacts with those around him.

     Overall Judge Eyes is a great game, and while only slightly halfway through, it feels like the future for the Yakuza series is exciting, and want to see what can be done with the series in the next gen. Hopefully, Judge Eyes can be a game series that is updated concurrently with Yakuza because it is something that deserves more attention.

~Koyuuki Aihara