Sega’s promotion for Project Judge is at full steam, as there’s less than a month now before the Japanese release date. The game is even getting multiple collaborations in Japan, with ramen stores or karaoke Joysound.
Moreover, the demo that was revealed along with new gameplay now got a release date. It will be downloadable from the Japanese PlayStation Store, on November 22 for players with a PlayStation + subscription, and on November 29 for everyone else.
The demo will feature a full chapter of the game’s story, and save data will be transferable to the main game.
As a reminder, Project Judge is the latest game by Yakuza Studio and stars Takayuki Yagami, an ex-attorney whose reputation plummeted after one of the men he got acquitted immediately got arrested again for murder. Takayuki is now a hard-boiled detective, investigating a serial murder case among the yakuza.
The game takes place in Kamurocho, one of the towns featured in Yakuza games, and includes many new features such as drones, eavesdropping, disguises, a friend and dating system, and of course, amazing fights.
All main characters in Project Judge were also modeled after various actors and actresses, who voice the characters as well. Takayuki is played by Takuya Kimura, one of the members of SMAP, a now-defunct boys-band which reigned all over Japan and Asia for decades. I’m convinced a considerable amount of Japanese middle-aged ladies will get the game solely for Kimura-san. He is part of why I’m getting the game as well, as SMAP’s appeal and talent reached far wider than the usual teen girls audience. If you’d like to know more, we’ve previously translated a making-of video and multiple interviews of the actors.
You can find the latest information on the game in our previous article, which includes a story summary, an introduction of various new characters, and a list of the minigames and arcade games, which includes Fighting Vipers. You can also watch our playthrough of the first demo.
Project Judge releases exclusively for PlayStation 4 on December 13 in Japan and in 2019 in the west. There is no information on a possible demo coming to the west for now.