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Help me choose: Judgment or Ai: Somnium Files ?

Alastor3

Alastor3

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Im a big fan of Yakuza and 999, and i honestly can't choose between one or the other.

I feel like judgment will go down in price much faster than Somnium. So maybe i should wait for an even better sales?

I wanted to get Judgment just to shake things up, to change from Kyriu after zero-1-2 and because im guessing it's going to take a while before the 345 collection is going to go on sales.

Tho for the price, it's the longest game out of the two.

For Somnium, i looove 999 but i still haven't played the other games of the serie. I know the game is not on par compared to 999, but im curious to see how much have changed in term of game design since i played 999 back on 3DS. I looove puzzles but i just heard there wasn't that much in the game but if the story and characters are good, im okay with this.
 
Annabel

Annabel

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Mar 22, 2019
1,677
I think they both have demos, or at least Ai does because I just finished that (loved it btw.) So maybe try those out if you haven't?
 

Deleted member 8861

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Didn't play Judgment. AI is pretty fun, a lot of it is on the more lighthearted side though, especially in terms of character writing.

Also, AI has had significant discounts already, if memory serves. So be on the lookout for more.
 
Kolx

Kolx

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,505
Judgement starts slow, but gets better with time. Somnium files is pretty good from the get go. I'd say if you're willing to push through the start of Judgement then both are pretty good games that you can't go wrong with either.
 
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Alastor3

Alastor3

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Tailzo said:
I haven't played both, but I loved Somnium
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You haven't played both but you love AI better? Did you watched a playthrough ?

Funyarinpa said:
Didn't play Judgment. AI is pretty fun, a lot of it is on the more lighthearted side though, especially in terms of character writing.

Also, AI has had significant discounts already, if memory serves. So be on the lookout for more.
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How is the characters compared to 999 if you have played it?

Also no, judging by the psdeal website Ai Somnium had only 2 sales and it's his biggest one to date
 

Deleted member 4494

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Oct 25, 2017
4,798
While it's true that AI's puzzles are ... well, not great, the story and characters are absolutely top notch and I believe the overall body of the work is better than 999 by a lot, though perhaps falls short of VLR. It's just a very *complete* story, no loose ends, and is absolutely fantastically told.

Judgement is a good game, though I have to admit I did not finish it. Its story didn't drive me to completion, and I got bogged down a lot in the sidequests of that game (which are pretty poor).

Unless you're in love with Yakuza, I'd go with AI. You will not be disappointed if you see it as an adventure game, rather than a puzzle one.
 

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Alastor3 said:
How is the characters compared to 999 if you have played it?
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999 is among my favorite games of all time. I thought AI's characters were often a touch too laissez-faire and not as memorable, but they're quite likable, I think.

Most people liked the game more than I did, and I don't regret my time with it either
 
SephLuis

SephLuis

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,343
Depends on what you want to play.

Judgment is a Yakuza game wih some mini-games mixed in the early parts. It's not that different from other titles in the series and the cast and story is really, really good.
The action is nice, but Takuya doesn't control as well as Kiryu or other protags in the series.

AI is like 999 and each player experience will vary greatly. You can go early in one of the most tense routes or go to the one which has a lot more exposure and is calmer.
Overall, I would say the story in AI is better than Judgment because of some twists and characters, but it also hits some lower points mostly because of pacing.
The puzzles are a lot more simple than 999, so this title focuses even more on the reading part.

Both are truly great games, so it boils down to if you want an action title (Judgment) or a more story driven one (AI).
 
Cirrus

Cirrus

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,124
I haven't played Judgement, but I loved AI.

Though I kind of feel like you should play the rest of the Zero Escape series first if you have any intention of playing them someday. There isn't any story relation or anything, its just that playing them in order lets you see design/graphics improvements over time instead of going backwards.
 
Tailzo

Tailzo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,955
Alastor3 said:
You haven't played both but you love AI better? Did you watched a playthrough ?


How is the characters compared to 999 if you have played it?

Also no, judging by the psdeal website Ai Somnium had only 2 sales and it's his biggest one to date
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No, I just said I loved Somnium.

I want to playJudgement when I get a ps5. I love the Yakuza games, but I only have a switch now
 
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Alastor3

Alastor3

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8,297
You know what, i jumped and i bought them both, AI for story, Judgment for action.

Now the real question: should i go judgment Dub or Sub? I usually love the original voice acting in yakuza games but maybe going english for a spin off would be a nice change of space.

How are the dub?

Does AI have dual voice acting too?
 
LazyLain

LazyLain

Member
Jan 17, 2019
6,506
Both games are stellar, there really isn't a wrong option here.

Both games have fantastic dubs as well.
 
Strings

Strings

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Oct 27, 2017
31,457
Prefered Somnium, but neither is really a wrong answer, even if I think Judgment is weaker than usual from that team.
 
eXistor

eXistor

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Oct 27, 2017
12,315
Somnium Files for me. I liked Judgment too, but like Yakuza, it very much overstays its welcome and it all feels too familiar. Somnium Files, while certainly no masterpiece either at least felt like something new and I enjoyed the story and characters. It's not overly long either.
 
beelulzebub

beelulzebub

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,611
I've played both. Both are absolutely worth your time. But Judgment is currently on sale for $29.99 on the PSN Store.
 
HaremKing

HaremKing

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Dec 20, 2018
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Alastor3 said:
You know what, i jumped and i bought them both, AI for story, Judgment for action.

Now the real question: should i go judgment Dub or Sub? I usually love the original voice acting in yakuza games but maybe going english for a spin off would be a nice change of space.

How are the dub?

Does AI have dual voice acting too?
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Click to shrink...
The dub for both are actually very, very good. Unless you are a complete Japanese audio purist I can recommend the playing the dub of either.

Also, I likely don't have to say this since you're a Yakuza fan, but the main story in Judgment is very, very good, so don't go in just with a 'for action' mindset.
 
Apollo

Apollo

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Oct 25, 2017
8,107
Alastor3 said:
You know what, i jumped and i bought them both, AI for story, Judgment for action.

Now the real question: should i go judgment Dub or Sub? I usually love the original voice acting in yakuza games but maybe going english for a spin off would be a nice change of space.

How are the dub?

Does AI have dual voice acting too?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Judgment's dub is astounding. One of the greatest dubs I've played. It's weird hearing English in Kamurocho, but I don't regret it. AI also has a really incredible dub. The kicker is that both games have Greg Chun playing the protagonist. He's a real talent.
 
hank_tree

hank_tree

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Oct 26, 2017
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There's no puzzles in AI so don't buy it for that. Play VLR instead.
 
Yippiekai

Yippiekai

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May 28, 2018
1,477
Toulouse, France
Both games are very good but I'll have to go with the Somnium crowd on this one.
Judgement is an awesome game but it's not as good as most of the mainline Yakuza.
 

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Alastor3 said:
You know what, i jumped and i bought them both, AI for story, Judgment for action.

Now the real question: should i go judgment Dub or Sub? I usually love the original voice acting in yakuza games but maybe going english for a spin off would be a nice change of space.

How are the dub?

Does AI have dual voice acting too?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Don't miss out on AI's dub. It has arguably the best dub in a game I've played. And this comes from someone who always picks sub if I can.
 
Salarians

Salarians

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Oct 25, 2017
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the answer is actually both lol

ai is fantastic, easily on par with (or possibly surpassing) 999 imo, my only complaint is that the protagonist is weirdly super horny but it's honestly not a big deal
ai is prob 25-30ish hours

judgment is also great, while I haven't finished it, it feels close to yakuza 0 in terms of quality
it's probably the longer game with plenty of side content too

so yeah, both but maybe judgment first for the length

fun fact: both games' english dubs have the same actor (Greg Chun) playing the two protagonists lol

Edit:
oh now I see you did get both lmao

ai's dub is generally really great, I'd recommend it
I played judgment subtitled but what I've heard of the dub sounded good, it's nice to have the option for people who want it
 
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Alastor3

Alastor3

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I started playing AI the Somnium Files and i know im still at the beginning but im just not so sure...

As much as I adore 999, Somnium is errr.... cringy. I just finished the first dream sequence and boy, what's with all the sexual references? Is this written by a 12yo?
 
Dec

Dec

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Oct 26, 2017
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both good, judgment my pick though

andd yea somnium has some questionable sexual references
 
beelulzebub

beelulzebub

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,611
Alastor3 said:
I started playing AI the Somnium Files and i know im still at the beginning but im just not so sure...

As much as I adore 999, Somnium is errr.... cringy. I just finished the first dream sequence and boy, what's with all the sexual references? Is this written by a 12yo?
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Somnium Files' biggest flaw is it never stops being way too horny. Still a great game despite that. Stick with it.
 
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