The player controls Yagami in the fictional Tokyo district of Kamurocho, where he fights thugs and yakuza while carrying out missions involving chasing, stealth, and searching for clues.

It follows private detective Takayuki Yagami as he investigates a serial murder case in Kamurocho, a fictional district of Tokyo, Japan, previously featured in the Yakuza franchise.

When asked about similarities between Judgment and other Yakuza titles, series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi said that "the location and assets might be the same, but the gameplay and story here are drastically different".

Other characters featured in the main story include: Shinpei Okubo (Shinji Kawada/Yuri Lowenthal), a former ADDC janitor who was acquitted from a murder charge by Yagami, only to be arrested for allegedly murdering his girlfriend, Emi Terasawa (Eri Goda/Amy Walker); Ko Hattori (Tetsu Shiratori/Sunil Malhotra), a reporter who is in constant conflict with Yagami and created the smear campaign against him following Okubo's second arrest; Shigeru Kajihira (Haruhiko Jō/Ed O'Ross), chairman of the Kajihira Group and secret financial backer of the Kyorei Clan, a Kyoto-based yakuza organization; Satoshi Shioya (Masaki Terasoma/Keith Silverstein), captain of the Kyorei Clan; and Kunihiko Morita (Junpei Morita/Jamieson Price), chief prosecutor and Fujii's superior.

In 2015, attorney Takayuki Yagami investigates the Advanced Drug Development Center (ADDC) for the death of patient Koichi Waku, successfully clearing accused worker Shinpei Okubo of the murder charge.

Three years later, Yagami has become a private detective in Tokyo's Kamurocho district and accepts investigation requests with his partner, ex-Tojo clan member Masaharu Kaito.

Yagami accepts a murder case concerning Matsugane Family captain Kyohei Hamura, who is suspected of killing a Kyorei clan member using the same methods.

After further investigation, with help from masked thief Fumiya Sugiura, Yagami meets construction mogul Shigeru Kajihira at a Kyorei Clan hideout.

Kajihira reveals a failed plan to seize land around the ADDC for redevelopment, which was foiled when researchers claimed to have discovered AD-9, a potential cure for Alzheimer's disease.

Guilt-ridden, Hamura reveals that the Mole is Mitsuru Kuroiwa, a detective in the Metropolitan organized crime division, and later gives Yagami definitive evidence that the ADDC participated in Shintani's murder.

Kido confirms Shono's human experiments at Ayabe's trial and explains that the victims had their eyes removed to conceal evidence of experimentation.

The court acquits Ayabe; Ichinose and chief prosecutor Kunihiko Morita are imprisoned for their involvement; Kajihira is placed under investigation; Okubo is freed after three years on death row and reconciles with Sugiura, who is revealed to be Terasawa's younger brother; and Yagami and Kaito resume their daily work lives.

Senior Executive Manager Daisuke Sato originally believed that Yakuza would only last three games but agreed with Hosokawa about the need to create a new title.

[13] The development of Judgment began in 2015, and was first hinted at in August 2018 during a Sega live stream by the series' director Toshihiro Nagoshi, who called it "something completely different".

[23] Yagami's largest influence was the Paul Newman film The Verdict, in which the main character suffers a similar crisis over his career as a lawyer.

[25] Localization producer Scott Strichart observed that the portrayals of yakuza are faithful to the main series due to multiple characters being involved in the clans.

[18] Other recurring actors include Kenichi Takitō as detective Kazuya Ayabe, Shinshū Fuji as former yakuza Masaharu Kaito, and Risa Shimizu as Mafuyu Fujii.

Since the Yakuza series was primarily popular among men, Strichart wanted English-language players to feel "gross" from these bystanders' catcalls and empathize with Shirosaki and women in general for enduring this treatment regularly.

[41] He called his work in the game satisfying: "It really did require me to let go of the tricks that you use to push a performance through, and I really did need to fall back on authenticity and genuine groundedness."

Although he found the faithfulness to the original Japanese audio challenging, Chun was pleased with his character's balance of seriousness and comedy; however, the game's screaming segments were difficult.

[27] Judgment was announced under the Japanese title of Judge Eyes on September 10, 2018, at the PlayStation Lineup Tour shortly before Tokyo Game Show 2018.

He noted that the fighting system was superior to Yakuza 6: The Song of Life and would attract fans, while the varied side missions gave players far more playing time.

[77] Although a Game Informer reviewer liked the action, they found the tailing missions frustrating and criticized the investigation areas for penalizing players who failed them.

[68] Tristan Ogilvie of IGN praised the game's combat system and diversified side content but criticized its shallow investigation mechanics, saying, "There's surprisingly little room given to make your own decisions.

[70] A HobbyConsolas reviewer noted that Sega added subtitles for languages other than English for the first time, making Judgment far more accessible, but Yagami was a less appealing character than Kiryu.

[73] Hardcore Gamer regarded the storyline as "the closest one can get to an entry point for those anxious about such an overbearing legacy that the Yakuza series presents" and appreciated that the Dragon Engine provided for facial expressions that were important for solving cases.

[87][88][89] Both David Martínez from HobbyConsolas and Stan Yeung from Gaming Age found that the frame rate was stable even with a large enemy count, while the visuals remained polished.

The reviewer added that the graphics update might bother fans due to the new lighting, which changes colors to make the characters look more realistic.

[95] RPGFan praised the new style of the remaster's visuals, stating that the changes to the lighting "have given Kamurocho a bluer, cooler appearance, better fitting the noir feel of the game.

[107] Judgment was the most successful release for a new IP for the eighth generation of video game consoles in the country, although this record was later broken by Death Stranding.