Judgment's Kamurocho district is pretty tiny, especially in comparison with some of the most popular open-world titles of the past couple of years. Yet despite this, it's filled with more things to do than many titles with sprawling, yet largely lifeless open worlds.
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Even though it is set in the same world as the Yakuza series, players will be surprised to find that there aren't really any recurring characters or explicit references to Judgment's parent franchise in the game. The game does, however, boast some pretty entertaining easter eggs, not all of which are glaringly obvious at first sight. Here are a few that fans might have missed.
8 Old-School SEGA Games At Arcades
Players may have conflicting opinions about the Japanese approach to game design and development. However, one aspect of Judgement and the Yakuza series with universal appeal is the presence of old-school arcade machines at various parlors scattered throughout Kamurocho.
Not only are they fully interactive, but they also come pre-loaded with retro SEGA games that used to break sales records back in the early 90s. Nostalgic gamers will get lost for hours in classics such as Virtua Fighter 5 or Motor Raid. Additionally, those who play Judgment on the PS5 will have access to a bonus game: OutRun, a 1986 arcade hit that was a precursor to many of the modern racing games.
7 Takayuki Yagami Is Inspired By An 80s Movie Character
The Verdict, a 1982 crime thriller classic, follows a disgraced lawyer on a long and twisted redemption arc. Much like Yagami, he has abandoned the legal profession after his involvement in a particularly messy case, and has to live with the consequences.
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Those who have seen the movie will surely notice Takayuki Yagami's resemblance to Paul Newmann's character, Frank Galvin. What they might not be aware of, though, is that this character was indeed Judgment's lead writer's inspiration for Yagami. Movie buffs will find similarities between the Yakuza spin-off many other courtroom dramas as well. Yet unlike The Verdict inspiration, none of them were confirmed by the developers.
6 Ass Catchem In The Twisted Trio Sidequests
The Twisted Trio chain of sidequests is definitely one of the creepier ones in the game, but also one of the more entertaining ones. In a nutshell, it entails Yagami scouring Kamurocho for some clever and mischievous perverts.
One of them is known in and around the district as "Ass Catchem", due to his affinity to grab women's buttocks out of the blue in public settings. This name is quite an obvious reference to Ash Ketchum, the main character in the Pokemon TV series, one of the most popular shows that ever came out of Japan.
5 Poppo Stores Are A Reflection Of Asian Convenience Stores
The Yakuza series strives to be a faithful representation of Asian mafia culture and Japanese big city nightlife. In general, it does a great job with this. One aspect that was recreated in Judgment with the most attention to detail includes the Poppo convenience stores, which are present all over Kamurocho.
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Players who have been to Asia will get the vibe of a 7/11 or a Family Mart from the area. From the shops' interior design to their inventories, these Poppo stores are a true testament to Ryu Ga Gotoku's dedication to a faithful recreation of contemporary Japan.
4 Social Media Platforms (MaiTube, Chatter)
Judgment overflows with engaging content and outlandish sidequests. Because of this, many players might not dwell too much on the minute details put in the game by the developers.
This easter egg is probably a result of copyright laws preventing creators to include real-world social media brands in the game. However, Judgment's devs got creative in the ways they went around it. They leave fans with no doubt as to which platform characters are referring to at all times. The game's equivalent of YouTube is MaiTube, and Chatter replaces Twitter.
3 Shono's Secret Lab Main Quest
In one of the final chapters of the story, Yagami and Sugiura explore an abandoned building in search of Dr. Shono's secret lab, where he illegally tested AD-9 on human subjects. True fans of Japanese survival games will notice that the gameplay in this part of the game is slightly different than the rest of Judgment, with a heavy emphasis on an eerie atmosphere.
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The retro-style gameplay and horror-like aesthetic is a callback to the golden age of Japanese survival horror titles. Fans of hits such as Resident Evil 2 or Silent Hill will recognize the vibe.
2 Persona 5 Phantom Thieves Reference
As players progress through Judgment's main story, they will encounter a gang of masked thieves who have a reputation for stealing from the wealthier individuals in Kamurocho. This gang of thieves wears masks that are nearly identical to those worn by the Phantom Thieves in Persona 5.
For example, the missing thief who later turns out to be Sugiura is known as the Jester, and wears the same mask as Joker in Persona 5. The same goes for the Crow, who's got a nearly identical copy of Akechi's mask. It's all a bit too similar to pass as coincidence.
1 "American Ninja" Ryan Acosta
When exploring the streets of Kamurocho, players can come across an oddly behaving foreigner with whom they can start a conversation. The man will introduce himself as Ryan Acosta. He's an American and an aspiring ninja warrior, although his climbing skills are rather clumsy.
As they develop a friendship with him, players will notice that Acosta is fond of screaming "Believe it!" This is a reference to Naruto's catchphrase from the English dub of the critically acclaimed anime. Some might even argue that Ryan's coming to Japan and trying to become a ninja was almost entirely influenced by that series.