I appreciate the first part of your response, thank you, I feel the same way towards you and everyone in general.
I feel I did write my Judgment post accordingly otherwise I wouldn't have started a thread for it outside of the Yakuza thread. I received some serious well intended answers and input from YourBoyLeroy and xatruio regarding Judgment as well as some of their thoughts on Yakuza. In our back n forth it was established that I may not enjoy the Jugdment gameplay due to not liking Yakuzas but that it's possible Judgment may have the depth I seek in its story that I don't feel Yakuza has. There's no harm in the way I'm expressing myself or the way they are responding to me just because some people don't like it. While I didn't initially like my separate thread being moved into this one by the admins it's actually working out better because you and I are getting an opportunity to better understand ourselves and each other in our exchange here, and I have also received some of the input I wanted regarding Judgment which was what I originally was focused on, not Yakuza. When my Judgment post gets moved into the Yakuza thread and at the same time when the first response I get to Lost Judgment is someone comparing it to Yakuza(which I honestly expect to be fair with it being the same studio)then the conversation moves in a new direction.
Your Zelda example seems to be taken completely out of context considering were on a Shenmue forum. If I sought out this forum and came here to express my dislike for Shenmue then I could see your point, but since this forum is a Shenmue forum and I love Shenmue, all other games are subject to reasonable scrutiny. I'd hope that everyone here loves Shenmue, the same way everyone on a Zelda forum would hopefully love Zelda, otherwise why are they on that site other than to spread negativity? 'You know how it is' isn't an accurate view on the way I'm presenting my feelings and opinions but if you would like to view it that way that is cool. If I say "Yakuza is absolute trash and you're an idiot if you like it!" then I'd be out of line and unfair, which is why I don't say that. I only say the first part because that's my feelings on it, but to degrade or judge someone else for liking it? That's abusive, toxic and unfair to do as they may see value in it even if I don't. You seem to be suggesting that since Judgment is made by the Yakuza studio that it's a spinoff? Is it a spinoff? I'm honestly not sure but from what I've got in response it seems to be its own game entirely just using the engine of Yakuza and with the same people behind it. Just because I love Mortal Kombat doesn't mean I like Injustice. I love Ghost of Tsushima but can do without inFamous for the most part. Loathing Yakuza doesn't mean I'll automatically loathe Judgment, on the contrary I'm open minded to it.
Okay,
i'm just going to answer your questions in the best way i can.
Yes, Judgment and Lost Judgment are like spin offs, both of them
take place in the same universe as all of the main Yakuza games.
But that doesnt mean that you have to know everything about every Yakuza game, you dont.
All of the characters in Judgment are new and the storyline of Judgment is completely its own thing.
No connections. No knowledge required.
Yagamai, the main character in Judgment, is a private detective,
so he is not part of some Yakuza clan or family, hes a neutral person.
Which means his story is not about Yakuza honor, clan negotiations or stuff like that.
Hes investigating a weird brutal murder case
and somehow it seems like the events are tied to his own past when he worked as a lawyer.
The story is dark and about themes that are not typical for videogames.
It is a very personal story about Yagami but it has different layers on top of it.
It has a lot of surprises and it takes a while to unfold.
The gameplay has typical elements from the Yakuza series, brawler fighting gameplay
with level up mechanics and skills. So yes, when Yagami meets bad guys, or when there is a boss fight,
you have to fight them in the classic brawler style. The only difference is that Yagami is pretty fast.
It also has new elements because of Yagamis job as a detective.
Like picking the correct evidence in a dialogue, finding clues in specific areas in first person,
ask the correct questions in a correct order, find people with your drone, lockpicking doors and some other things.
These gameplay mechanics are not hard or complicated at all and more for the immersion.
The main story is cutscene and dialogue heavy, this is a full on story game.
Even if you only do story missions back to back and nothing else, the game is probably still 20-30 hours long.
Pretty much all of the funny, weird, grinding content is not in the main story.
For example Yagami can accept optional side story missions
where he is looking for a ghost or where some pervert is molesting people etc.
Most of this stuff is lighthearted, has a funny twist or just some small message.
You can also grind money in a VR mini game, do drone races, make friends with the staff of shops
and other things. All optional. If you do all of this stuff, the game is probably more like 60-90 hours long.
See, i could have answered your questions without all the negative Yakuza discussion and comparison.