Hey guys and I'd like to wish you all a belated Happy New Year as this is a rather last post to begin the year with on this blog. So, this post is a new one (at last!) and features some new content on a video game, which I have reviewed before, the only difference is this will be on the DLC for that game, which is Lost Judgment, which is a sequel to Judgment, a spin-off of the Yakuza series.
So, with that all said, let's take a quick look at Kaito Files and see how it fairs to the full game...
The usual warning is coming up...
PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!
STORY
So, the story focuses around Kaito (voiced by Shinsu Fuji in Japanese and Crispin Freeman in English) the partner of Takayuki Yagami, who both run their detective agency in the city of Kamurocho in Japan, only this time Yagami is out of town and not involved in the story (only via some text messages as he is working a different case).
So, while Kaito is on his own and at a loose end with no jobs lined up, he get's a message from his friend and former Yakuza, Higashi that a boy has been looking for him at Higashi's arcade. Kaito himself is soon paid a visit by a new client, Kyoya Sadamoto (Katsuyuki Konishi/Stephen Fu) a wealthy tech CEO, who offers Kaito a large sum of money to find his wife, Mikiko (Eri Miyajima/Suzie Leung) who also happens to be a former lover of Kaito's. Kyoya suggests that Mikiko had committed suicide as she left a note behind but regardless wants Kaito to find her, Kaito however given his close connection to her, decides against taking the case.
Not long afterward however, Kaito soon runs into a teenager named, Jun (Yuki Shin/Paul Castro Jr) who turns out to be the son of Mikiko and Kyoya and he also asks Kaito to find her, Kaito is initially reluctant but then decides to help him. Jun also tells Kaito then that he believes him to be his biological father based on reading Mikiko's diaries, although he is just guessing at this stage.
So, from here, Kaito and Jun set out to find Mikiko with quite a few twists and turns on the way...
THOUGHTS
As a DLC, The Kaito Files is very enjoyable and basically more of the same type of stuff from the main game albeit, Kaito does have some unique features himself I will get a bit more into below. The DLC also has a good, involving story once again, which has plenty of twists and turns throughout as well as featuring one of the series more chilling of villains, which I will try and not give too much away on. Kaito does well as the main protagonist for a change and also enjoys a nice relationship with Jun, who supposedly thinks Kaito is his real dad.
GAMEPLAY
As for the gameplay, the DLC features much the same features and mechanics of the main game but with some new additions, which I will mention more about in the following sections. Although as the DLC shares most of the main game's gameplay features, I will try and stick to the newer additions instead.
FIGHTING STYLES
So, as for the first new feature of the DLC, Kaito has two distinct fighting styles, the first is called Bruiser, which involves Kaito using his fist fighting skills and quickly evading attacks and the second one is Tank, which focuses more on defense and using items he can pick up to hit enemies with, e.g. chairs, bikes etc. These styles also have a number of skills that can be unlocked (some of which are by default) to boost Kaito's moveset and are awarded by collecting skill points, which Kaito will get on defeating enemies.
KAITO'S SENSES
Another new aspect to them game is Kaito's senses, which in contrast to Yagami, he has heightened senses of sight, sound and even smell, which allows Kaito to look for clues to crimes or points of interest more easily. Kaito can also freely switch between normal and detective modes at will unlike in the main game, which is also a good feature as before Yagami in the main game could only do this on missions in certain parts of the game.
GRAPHICS
As for the graphics, the DLC is based on the exact same game engine, so there is no difference in the visuals here, however they are still of course excellent as the game features richly detailed environments that are also quite varied in design. The character models are also again excellent, even though they aren't quite lifelike, they still look really good and in line the models of the main game itself.
VOICE ACTING
As for the voice acting cast, they all do a fine job here once again, although only some of the regulars make a return here. I will however refer to just the English speaking voice cast, as I haven't played the game with the Japanese voice actors.
So, starting with Crispin Freeman, he does a great job here as Kaito, the main protagonist of the DLC and he shows some hidden depths to Kaito that we haven't seen before, particularly about his former relationship with Kimiko. Freeman also conveys Kaito's heroism and decency very well, as well as his awkward and ambivalent feelings toward Jun, who claims Kaito is his father (even though he hasn't any real proof). Its also good to see Kaito be given such a prominent case to deal with to show how capable he can be as a detective also.
Stephen Fu also does very well as Kyoya Sadamoto, who asks Kaito to find his wife, Kimiko for him, although we later discover that Kyoya isn't all he seems to be at first. Fu's delivery is also simultaneously benign but also quite creepy too, as we learn more about him as the DLC progresses and it isn't all good!
Suzie Yeung is also pretty good in her role as Mikiko, who was Kaito's former love interest, who Kaito tries to track down along with her son, Jun. Mikiko's character is pretty headstrong and she isn't afraid to stand up to bullies, so Yeung does a good job at conveying that throughout the game in the scenes she appears in.
Paul Castro Jr next up does well enough in his role as Jun, the son of Mikiko and Kyoya, who recruits Kaito's help to find his mother, even though he harbours the notion that Kaito is in fact his true dad. Jun can be a bit annoying at times in the game given he is a somewhat cocky brat and tries to act like some kind of vigilante although he faints at the first sight of a knife when confronting enemiess, which we find out later why.
Peter Jessop also is very good as Masao Irigashi, a former Yakuza, who now heads up a rival detective agency in Kamurocho. Irigashi at first appears as something of an antagonist to Kaito as he is direct competitor to him but later on, he does help Kaito in his quest to locate Mikiko.
WARNING: PLOT SPOILER AHEAD!!!
Yong Yea is also pretty good in his role as Shirakaba, a Doctor, who we discover took in Mikiko after she suffered a fall and develop amnesia. We also later discover that Shirakaba is in love with Mikiko and is later intent on challenging Kaito for her affections, as he is somewhat pretty good at the martial arts!
And last of all, River Kanoff is very good in his reprised role as Tsukumo, the tech whiz, who helps out Kaito at certain points during the DLC and is one of the few cast members to reappear in the DLC. Kanoff's light hearted delivery works well during the DLC in the scenes he features in, even though he isn't in the DLC that much.
MUSIC
As for the music, it was composed by different artists but the chief composer is Hidenori Shoji although the score is primarily the same as the score in the main game with probably one or two additions. Overall its a pretty good score, which does feature the familiar themes used particularly when Kaito goes into detective mode and its well suited to the game.
FLAWS
As for flaws, well yes The Kaito Files isn't exactly perfect.
For starters, I think the DLC inherits the same problems of the main game, especially in its use of the detective mode, as its not always obvious where the clues are and you can spend ages trying to find them. This is especially the case in one part of the game where Kaito has to try and discover how to get a bellboy uniform at a hotel, which is quite late on in the DLC, but I spent AGES trying to actually find how complete this and in the end all it took was to eavesdrop on two bellboys chatting but they were tucked around a corner in the hotel! So, yeah that was pretty tedious to get through.
Another issue is to do with the fact there are some cutscenes that have some very length exposition and this is very notable in a scene where Kaito later drives to Injincho with Irigashi, its important not to miss them given the story is very involved but they can drag on a bit.
I also found Jun to be a bit of an annoying dweeb at times, who was keen to pick a fight with anyone, who bulliyng someone in trouble, which is admirable but there are times the kid is just asking for it all the same. There is also a scene where Jun does a runner on his kidnappers using some fancy parkour moves but its obvious he is too keen to get himself into trouble throughout the DLC, which does get a bit grating.
The absence of Yagami in the DLC is also a little bit disappointing as it would have been good if he had even made a cameo appearance toward or at the end but he's not in the DLC at all, which is a bit of a bummer. Kaito-san does communicate with Yagami in a few scenes via text but that's all we get, so not sure if this was a creative choice, or was down to the voice actor(s) not being available for recording at the time.
So, that's it for the flaws.
SUM UP
So, to sum up, The Kaito Files is an enjoyable DLC and expansion to Lost Judgment's base game and it features a solid story as well as some fun combat. The performances of the voice acting cast are also pretty good overall, although this is just the English voice actors and cannot comment on the Japanese actors, as I've not played the game using the Japanese VA option. The DLC is also a pretty decent length at 7 hours to complete the story campaign but it can last as long as 10 hours to complete all the side content, which makes it pretty decent value. So, overall its a nice compliment to the main game and well worth checking out and if you enjoyed the main game, you are sure to enjoy this.
So, I willl rate the Kaito files:
8.5 out of 10
So, that's all for now guys and I will be back soon with another post.
Until then its bye for now!
