20 Best Video Games Of 2019 (So Far)

12. Judgment

The first new game from Yakuza devs Ryu Ga Gotoku since 2012's Binary Domain, Judgment is a VERY similar-looking title on its face, only for the underpinnings to be drastically different.

Here you're no longer playing as ex-yakuza chairman Kazuma Kiryu, but private detective Takayuki Yagami, trading over-the-top leaps and bullet-dodges for an array of gadgets and minigames to get by instead.

Don't get me wrong, the game still has all the high-kicking, acrobatic combat you've come to know and love, but the overall pace of Judgment is far more methodical; far more about case files, chasing leads and teasing out a serial killer detective thriller until everything comes full circle.

Because although I personally adore the Yakuza games' stories, rare is the one where you're actually propelled by the events at hand, as oppose to the combat. Here the devs have found a much better balance, and after a good 6-8 hours, Judgment hits its stride, resulting in a spin-off with a TON of memorable plot swerves, characters and locations.