Any thoughts on Judgment's friend system? I felt like it really helped show Yagami as someone who lives in Kamurocho, making connections with so many kinds of people who belong to the town (food service employees trying to keep business up, nightlife workers with hopes and dreams, athlete who liked how Yagami runs from the cops) while getting his name out to keep his source of income (an actual job in the town! not some wandering warrior who cleans up messes once a year or so!) running. Seemed like a fresh and interesting perspective on Kamurocho coming off of Y6's Kiryu "every damn time with this town" Kazuma.
i LOVED the friend system it was one of my favorite mechanics in the judgment games. i find it really really interesting how *rooted* in his community yagami is, quite unlike kiryu as you've noted (though okinawa becomes that for kiryu later on), but it doesn't stop him from being... individualistic? like, you'd think he'd have more collectivist leanings with a community like that, but he doesn't. it's a contradiction i cant really make sense of. i think yagamis individualism is also kinda atypical in that it doesn't make him selfish? like, he likes doing everything by himself and doesn't like feeling beholden to anyone, but he's still doing everything he does for other people's benefit. but actually i would say the fact that he's helping people is almost *secondary*, like side effect, and what he actually cares about is truth and justice, though that's not unrelated to the fact that he believes those things are good for people, either
anyway im getting offtopic lmao. i hope we see similar mechanics in future rggs games, yakuza or not, it really helps you feel immersed in the game world too. i think it's hard to implement a game with a yakuza as the protagonist, at least in kamurocho, or unless it's someone like nakahara or rikiya, because locals tend to be wary of yakuza. in that sense i think it was a good way of subtly letting the players know that this is a different game with a different tone as well
I need to hear something from you about Yagami what do you think about him what do you like and hate of him what are your feelings about him
ANON..... i dont even know what to tell u like im insane about yagami. im not normal. hes #2 blorbo for me after majima even though i couldn't string together 2 coherent sentences about him. putting the rest under a read more because frankly its embarrassing. and long. and rambly
hes the most "he's just like me fr" of like. ANY rgg character. but he's specifically like. a version of me that developed in the opposite direction so instead of becoming a more well rounded person imagine if you sharpened your every edge to the max and became really really good at doing things youre naturally good at. but the cost is that you become an insufferable asshole and remain emotionally immature beyond your wildest nightmares. but all my feelings about yagami stem from this projection because every time hes on screen it's like watching a dark timeline mirror version of myself and i both envy him and want to strangle him for being the way he is. he is simultaneously the best and worst version of myself. lost judgment was INSANITY inducing for me and it makes me want to hit him with hammers just for how petty and in denial and ARROGANT AND CONDESCENDING AND FULL OF HIMSELF he is but also. he is so traumatized and i feel for him like i feel SO bad for him and i understand him. I AM JUST CURSED WITH UNDERSTANDING YAGAMI. it takes no effort it's so intuitive for me. this is why i cant do yagami analysis because i couldn't tell you how im reaching the conclusions i reach about him. i just Know. its completely different from how i approach majima because majima's whole appeal is that hes a mystery to me and im trying to figure him out. and i can retrace and articulate my steps. yagami? its like watching an alternate timeline version of myself. what do you do with that.
so its like. what do i like and hate about him? basically, everything i like and hate about myself. except HE doesn't hate the same things about himself that i do. hence the difference in developmental paths. but i specifically went insane during lost judgment because i was like. YOU ARE LITERALLY SO TRIGGERED RIGHT NOW THAT YOU HAVE COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN HOW TO REASON..... his arguments are so. HES NOT EVEN MAKING ANY LOGICAL ARGUMENTS. AND HES BEING A MASSIVE HYPOCRITE.... but of course this is the case like of course. because when youre really good at Logic and Reasoning its the most crucially devastating ability that can become Compromised. this is true of anyone with Any ability theyre particularly good at. because the cost of sharpening that skillset to such a high level is that you become entirely reliant on it. so he does not become more well rounded and hes really really good at what he does AS LONG AS. his judgment remains uncompromised. ahahaha. NIGHTMARE.
judgment was so fun for me because every other scene was like. id say something and then yagami would say the same thing. and i was constantly going soooo true bestie. and lost judgment was the Opposite of that with me yelling at the screen for him to use his brain. so yagami mostly just. frustrates me like no other rgg character but i also love him and care about him in a way that's different from any other rgg character. i also dont trust myself to talk about yagami because of this because im sure im 100% biased like i cannot claim to be an objective/reliable source of yagami analysis at all. im just insane
also spoilers for kaito files i guess but the fact that kaito and mikiko get together at the end just makes me so. upset on yagamis behalf (very happy for kaito tho) because yagami could've had this with kaito if only he wasn't an emotionally stunted asshole. like. YOUUUUU FUCKINGGGGGG IDIOTTTTTTTT. i need him to lose like 80% of his ego. but i also can't deal with the thought of him being. (throws up) lonely
ultimately he is very very different from me but its like. someone picking the same class as you in an rpg but building their character completely differently and its like. fascinating for exactly the same reaons as that. does that make sense
