'Yakuza' Team Reveals Ambitious New Detective Game, 'Project Judge'

We already knew that the developers behind the Yakuza series were already busy with projects, including the just-released Yakuza Kiwami 2, as well as the forthcoming Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise, which drops next month. But as the team promised, it had a big surprise planned in time for next week's Tokyo Game Show, and it's shaping up to be its most ambitious game to date.

The developers at Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios have revealed Judge Eyes: Shinigami no Yuigon, or Project Judge as it'll be known over here. The detective adventure/drama is set to release sometime in 2019 for PlayStation 4.

Instead of taking the more playful route like the Yakuza games have done, Project Judge goes for a more serious approach, following a lawyer who quits his firm after a mistake leads to the death of an innocent woman. He then decides to take up the detective beat, but goes after those that somehow slip through judgment, Daredevil style. (But without the mask, obviously.)

The main "hero" is Takayuki Yagami, portrayed by Japanese actor Takuya Kimura, and he definitely looks the part, hunting after a mysterious killer who has left the streets in ruin. He'll need to gather clues and beat down suspects in the hopes of solving who's behind everything.

Though it'll be a while until the game's release, you can actually check it out now if you've got access to a Japanese PlayStation account. A demo is available for download, clocking in at around 7.5GB in size, and gives you a taste of what's to come with the full game. We haven't tried it yet, but based on the trailer above, we're in for quite the intriguing story.

The game will actually be released in Japan on December 13, but, again, we won't see it on our shores until sometime in 2019, as Sega will need time to work on the translation. But judging by its previous work on the Yakuza games, it'll certainly be worth the wait. Especially if you can kick someone in the face while riding a skateboard. Yes, you can do that in the demo. Check out the gameplay trailer below!