Lost Judgment - The Kaito Files

Kaito files is a side story from Lost Judgement that shifts the focus to Kaito, Yagami's main partner throughout the series so far. Yagami itself is cast out from this adventure, which gives Kaito the spotlight, and its character and gameplay really delivers.

I keep mentioning in these Yakuza reviews that their strenght will always lie in the strenght of the story for me. A stronger story will invariably result in a strong yakuza game, and a weak story wont, no matter the combat. The combat has always ranged from mediocre to great in these titles, but never really amazing. If you want amazing combat you look elsewhere. Well this short DLC does both things really well.

The story manages to tell all the melodrama and charisma of a mainline yakuza series in the 4 hours or so it lasts. It manages so because all of the fat and fluff has been cutoff. There are no "obligatory" side quests woven into the main story, obligatory moments to explore the city , or mandatory bounding time with companions. Its pretty much non stop crime drama from start to finish, and a well told at that. Much more compelling than Lost Judgement, in part because of the personal stakes of the main character in the story. Kaito is very much a gangster with a heart of gold, similar to Kiryu and Yagami on the surface, but feels completly different by little nuances in his characterization. He his much more direct and spontaneos, full of warmth, unrestricted anger and passion according to the situation. The detective moments of the story shows that he can deduce facts from evidence, but this is greatly helped by outside characters that force him to slow down and think. The plot itself gets a bit too convoluted like in all yakuza games, but its driven home by the strenght of the rest of the characters that also have strong motivations and interactions. I also love that the proper ending takes a much lighter approach, bringing in that wankiness usually reserved for side quests to the main story, and it really fits incredibly well.

The combat is another beast, I dont think I ever felt so good with a combat system in these games, except perhaps Kiwami 2. Kaito basically brings back 2 styles from Kiryu, those being brawler and tank, with more focus on wrestling moves. These two styles are also great at characterizing the loud and gritty nature of the character, as Kaitos main approach to combat is always to hit harder than the oponents. He is not as agile as Yagami, and his dodging options are more limited, although still necessary for mortal attacks. You hit him and he returns the punch tenfold. He starts off rather limited but quickly expands due to the generous nature of skill points, to the point that he is a proper beast by mid game. The game is also well paced in this regard, as the enemies crowd grow larger by the end, which gives time for his arsenal to shine. Enemies are fun to fight against, they dont block too much and the bosses arent too frustrating to beat.

The main flaws of the expansion really lie in the fact that I wish I could use Kaito's kit more. There isnt any proper side content, and you cant use the character in the gauntlet mode, which is a huge missed opportunity. Its also a huge mistep how much fun skills are lacked behind finding them in the open world, considering that its an open world that has no reason to be explored.

This is a snack sized story by the series standards, but that belongs on the top tier easily. I found it the best thing to have come out the Judment subfranchise.