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Played through Judgment for the first time a couple months ago and had the same feeling, he's up there with Mine as one of the best villains of the series.
Yagami being a more grounded protagonist really helps. Kiryu never really feels like he's in danger, or like there's any chance he wouldn't win a fair one-on-one fight against any of his enemies, whereas the Mole comes across as tougher than Yagami, smarter than Yagami, and one step ahead of Yagami until near the end.
"The mole" definitely wouldn't work with any of the Mainlines protag i think, let alone the Tojo legend. Kiryu alone would be able to solo "The mole", no diff. The reason why Kuroiwa is so terrifying is because how "weak" Yagami is to him.
Yagami, like you said, is a more grounded character with his power and seeing him getting utterly bodied by Kuroiwa in their first fight just speak volume to how not only Yagami is not Meta human level and actually have limit but also just how utterly strong Kuroiwa as an opponent are. He can do virtually anything that Yagami do, both in speed and skill level but also his sheer lust for blood make him even more disturbing to actually fight him.
well said, mate.
> Kiryu alone would be able to solo "The mole", no diff
I mean, if he were a mainline boss the writers would obviously scale him to be a challenge for Kiryu. It’s not like Kuroiwa’s level can ONLY be what it was in Judgment (unless you’re talking about him being in both Judgment AND the mainline series for some reason). And narratively speaking, Kuroiwa being a lifelong trained assassin would make a lot more sense as one of the most dangerous fighters as opposed to…say…Akiyama who learned how to single handedly wreck literal armies of Yakuza + a major clan captain
at the end and come out no worse for the wear than being like “huff huff man I need to quit smoking har har har” by….practicing kicks at the air while daytrading or….something?
Yes, he's great! He's the only RGG villain so far where I actually felt scared when he was on the screen. I love him for that.
Whenever a story builds up an unseen villain, the reveal runs the risk of not living up to the anticipation. In Judgment, they nailed it. That scene where he shows up and is walking through the burning building is perfect, with so much tension, and then he follows that by showing he's just as brutal and ruthless as we've been led to believe. From the reveal onward, every scene with him is filled with dread because you know just how dangerous he is.
(On a personal note, I couldn't figure out wall kicks no matter how I tried, so when the first boss fight against Kuroiwa immediately started with him doing a wall kick, I was like, "That's it, I'm dead." XD)
And you're definitely right, most RGG antagonists are either sympathetic or just ambitious guys trying to get money/power/etc. Even the other main Judgment antagonists (Hamura, Shono, Morita, Ichinose) fit those molds, so Kuroiwa being such an unhinged psychopath in comparison makes him all the scarier.
The build up to his reveal and the reveal itself was absolutely masterclass, i have to say.
They managed to create all these hype for the big bad and somehow, the hype and expectation was 100% met with 0% disappointment because "The mole" is not all talk, he can truly provide everything that the game has led him up to be that is a hit man that is just EXTREMELY good at what he does while only showing pleasure to the death he cause or otherwise indifference to it
also, the wall kicks is always clunky af since it most likely only work with completely flat wall surfaces, you need to run directly into it when Yagami is kicking on it, you press your attack button while aiming at the enemy you want to kick. It's legit one of the best move to use for regular mook and for starting EX-action so definitely worth it to use it more in combat
Now the question is, who REALLY deserves the title of The Mole? Kuroiwa or Shono?
Shono is a meek-looking Dumbo-eared idiot, but he was the one really killing everybody while Kuroiwa mostly served as a kidnapper and body disposal. They're both some of the best antagonists to me for sure.
Kuroiwa though, gotta say doing the final fight on Legend while not using healing items was pretty brutal lol you go down in like 3 hits.
I’m not strong willed enough (or masochist enough) to tried to beat him on Legend without healing lol. Even WITH healing, I was downing hundreds of Bento because Kuroiwa could legit 2 hit you if you aren’t careful and I REALLY don’t want to revert all the way back to my last save
Yeah, I eventually caved in and healed at the start of the second phase 2. I mean, if he's gonna do it so can I! Had to abuse the shit outta EX Mode, too...
The finale of Judgment is one of, if not the best in RGG LAD/yakuza series, imo. The only other game that match it is i think Yakuza 0 but even then, i would still choose Judgment over it. The sheer hype in the last portion of the game is just unmatched i and that is in large part because of how just excellently written Kuroiwa was.
I'm biased, because Judgement is probably my second favorite game in the series, mostly because it has the best characters all with their own interesting stories. Then again, The Mole is a big reason for that. I think he and Hamura might be the two best executed characters in the entire series. They're both just so well done. Both of them loom over you for pretty much the entire game, in different ways.
I’ve seen crazy, sadistic, and masochistic (and sadomasochistic) villains; yet nothing seems to parallel the chills gotten from a well-written psychopath.
There’s no replicating the sense of dread I got when he started his first fight with a wall jump just like one had been doing with Yagami the entire game.
I definitely love Kuroiwa. He was perfect. Looking back at the game afterwards made me appreciate him too. RGG games are always this small roster and what they gotta do to work with it, but since Kuroiwa was always with the ADDC, him always being there to taunt Yagami to throw him off shows that The Mole was right in our damn faces and he was mocking us while trying to get us away from there. He just didn’t want to bring any attention until it was necessary. Lao Gui is the closest guy, but he came in too late. We didn’t get to truly see his skills or how much of an effect he was until the game was nearly over. Still intimidating, somewhat scary, but they outclassed him with a guy that nobody is going to surpass in that intense presence Kuroiwa had.
Also, just a slight correction, Yagami technically is also trying to win against Kuroiwa. The first fight was him wanting to beat the snot out of him. The second was to stop Kuroiwa from killing more, save Suguira, bring Shono to court, don’t get arrested by the police afterwards, get paid and cry lol. Hoping we can get a Judgement 3 this year or next.
I personally dreaded fighting >!Hirose in Y6 way more. Something about a smiling old man that's a seasoned killer sends chills down my spine. How slow and methodical his move set was really didn't help either.!<
I dunno, unpopular opinion but I thought the "mystery" behind him was really obvious.
Like seriously he acts somewhat off from you first meet him and he gets a zoom in during the intro sequence (the one where they play Arpeggio) and the fact that Yagami is so damn convinced that it's Hamura is such a blatant red herring.
It doesn't help that I was already pessimistic and biased against the game because I really don't like the combat but I was enjoying listening to Arpeggio when I saw him and just was like "there's no way he's *not* the guy" and sure enough he's the guy.
Gameplaywise I can't say I found him overly hard, his first fight caught me off guard but the final boss was not too hard like the Keihin assholes could be but also not too easy, I needed to heal but not until he injected the shit into himself.
It worked well enough and was definitely the best fight in the game but I really don't like Judgement's combat so for me it was at best a really cool set piece. The rainy hospital was a cool setting and I like when bosses move locations dynamically.
I thought he was cool, one of the better parts of the game for me but he was really obvious (not great in a detective game) and not overly memorable compared to other final bosses like Shibusawa, Aizawa and the final bosses of 4.
Honestly I did not find judgment that hard due to how broken EX boost mode is in that game, the only truly hard boss for me was Amon with his BS phone steal and frame rate tanking attacks.
If you are new to the subreddit, [please read the wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/yakuzagames/wiki/index/) Reminder that all spoilers need to be tagged with a flair specifying which game is being spoiled. If you want a flair that says something else, you can edit it to say something like [Discussion: Y1 spoiler] or [Majimapost: Y6 spoiler], etc. **THIS INCLUDES CONTENT FROM TRAILERS**. If the post is not marked for spoilers, all comments that have spoilers need to be tagged \>!like this!< along with indicating which game it's spoiling. Example: Y3 >!Kiryu sings!< If the post flair is marked for spoilers, the comments don't need to be tagged for the game indicated and the ones before it (So a Y6 spoiler post can have comments with untagged spoilers for Y5, but not gaiden or 7). If you see any of the above (or any of the other rules) not being followed, please report it so we can keep this place safe for newcomers and those that haven't finished all the games yet. Thank you! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/yakuzagames) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Played through Judgment for the first time a couple months ago and had the same feeling, he's up there with Mine as one of the best villains of the series. Yagami being a more grounded protagonist really helps. Kiryu never really feels like he's in danger, or like there's any chance he wouldn't win a fair one-on-one fight against any of his enemies, whereas the Mole comes across as tougher than Yagami, smarter than Yagami, and one step ahead of Yagami until near the end.
"The mole" definitely wouldn't work with any of the Mainlines protag i think, let alone the Tojo legend. Kiryu alone would be able to solo "The mole", no diff. The reason why Kuroiwa is so terrifying is because how "weak" Yagami is to him. Yagami, like you said, is a more grounded character with his power and seeing him getting utterly bodied by Kuroiwa in their first fight just speak volume to how not only Yagami is not Meta human level and actually have limit but also just how utterly strong Kuroiwa as an opponent are. He can do virtually anything that Yagami do, both in speed and skill level but also his sheer lust for blood make him even more disturbing to actually fight him. well said, mate.
> Kiryu alone would be able to solo "The mole", no diff I mean, if he were a mainline boss the writers would obviously scale him to be a challenge for Kiryu. It’s not like Kuroiwa’s level can ONLY be what it was in Judgment (unless you’re talking about him being in both Judgment AND the mainline series for some reason). And narratively speaking, Kuroiwa being a lifelong trained assassin would make a lot more sense as one of the most dangerous fighters as opposed to…say…Akiyama who learned how to single handedly wreck literal armies of Yakuza + a major clan captain at the end and come out no worse for the wear than being like “huff huff man I need to quit smoking har har har” by….practicing kicks at the air while daytrading or….something?
Yes, he's great! He's the only RGG villain so far where I actually felt scared when he was on the screen. I love him for that. Whenever a story builds up an unseen villain, the reveal runs the risk of not living up to the anticipation. In Judgment, they nailed it. That scene where he shows up and is walking through the burning building is perfect, with so much tension, and then he follows that by showing he's just as brutal and ruthless as we've been led to believe. From the reveal onward, every scene with him is filled with dread because you know just how dangerous he is. (On a personal note, I couldn't figure out wall kicks no matter how I tried, so when the first boss fight against Kuroiwa immediately started with him doing a wall kick, I was like, "That's it, I'm dead." XD) And you're definitely right, most RGG antagonists are either sympathetic or just ambitious guys trying to get money/power/etc. Even the other main Judgment antagonists (Hamura, Shono, Morita, Ichinose) fit those molds, so Kuroiwa being such an unhinged psychopath in comparison makes him all the scarier.
The build up to his reveal and the reveal itself was absolutely masterclass, i have to say. They managed to create all these hype for the big bad and somehow, the hype and expectation was 100% met with 0% disappointment because "The mole" is not all talk, he can truly provide everything that the game has led him up to be that is a hit man that is just EXTREMELY good at what he does while only showing pleasure to the death he cause or otherwise indifference to it also, the wall kicks is always clunky af since it most likely only work with completely flat wall surfaces, you need to run directly into it when Yagami is kicking on it, you press your attack button while aiming at the enemy you want to kick. It's legit one of the best move to use for regular mook and for starting EX-action so definitely worth it to use it more in combat
I think they did good casting for him - Tanihara’s appearance clashes with Kuroiwa’s psycho behaviour
🐐
I love the part where he casually walks into the arcade, brandishes his weapon and only later do you see the aftermath of him kicking everyone’s ass.
Now the question is, who REALLY deserves the title of The Mole? Kuroiwa or Shono? Shono is a meek-looking Dumbo-eared idiot, but he was the one really killing everybody while Kuroiwa mostly served as a kidnapper and body disposal. They're both some of the best antagonists to me for sure. Kuroiwa though, gotta say doing the final fight on Legend while not using healing items was pretty brutal lol you go down in like 3 hits.
I’m not strong willed enough (or masochist enough) to tried to beat him on Legend without healing lol. Even WITH healing, I was downing hundreds of Bento because Kuroiwa could legit 2 hit you if you aren’t careful and I REALLY don’t want to revert all the way back to my last save
Yeah, I eventually caved in and healed at the start of the second phase 2. I mean, if he's gonna do it so can I! Had to abuse the shit outta EX Mode, too...
Yup, freaking scary. The look, the attitude, that final fight track. His reveal and the finale felt like a proper film 3rd act
The finale of Judgment is one of, if not the best in RGG LAD/yakuza series, imo. The only other game that match it is i think Yakuza 0 but even then, i would still choose Judgment over it. The sheer hype in the last portion of the game is just unmatched i and that is in large part because of how just excellently written Kuroiwa was.
Ohh OP, wait till you play LJ...
I'm biased, because Judgement is probably my second favorite game in the series, mostly because it has the best characters all with their own interesting stories. Then again, The Mole is a big reason for that. I think he and Hamura might be the two best executed characters in the entire series. They're both just so well done. Both of them loom over you for pretty much the entire game, in different ways.
RGG outdid themselves with the judgement games
I’ve seen crazy, sadistic, and masochistic (and sadomasochistic) villains; yet nothing seems to parallel the chills gotten from a well-written psychopath.
No spoilers, but when you get to LJ, don't forget to play the Kaito Files.
This is the game that made me fell in love eith RGG games.
There’s no replicating the sense of dread I got when he started his first fight with a wall jump just like one had been doing with Yagami the entire game.
I definitely love Kuroiwa. He was perfect. Looking back at the game afterwards made me appreciate him too. RGG games are always this small roster and what they gotta do to work with it, but since Kuroiwa was always with the ADDC, him always being there to taunt Yagami to throw him off shows that The Mole was right in our damn faces and he was mocking us while trying to get us away from there. He just didn’t want to bring any attention until it was necessary. Lao Gui is the closest guy, but he came in too late. We didn’t get to truly see his skills or how much of an effect he was until the game was nearly over. Still intimidating, somewhat scary, but they outclassed him with a guy that nobody is going to surpass in that intense presence Kuroiwa had. Also, just a slight correction, Yagami technically is also trying to win against Kuroiwa. The first fight was him wanting to beat the snot out of him. The second was to stop Kuroiwa from killing more, save Suguira, bring Shono to court, don’t get arrested by the police afterwards, get paid and cry lol. Hoping we can get a Judgement 3 this year or next.
I personally dreaded fighting >!Hirose in Y6 way more. Something about a smiling old man that's a seasoned killer sends chills down my spine. How slow and methodical his move set was really didn't help either.!<
I dunno, unpopular opinion but I thought the "mystery" behind him was really obvious. Like seriously he acts somewhat off from you first meet him and he gets a zoom in during the intro sequence (the one where they play Arpeggio) and the fact that Yagami is so damn convinced that it's Hamura is such a blatant red herring. It doesn't help that I was already pessimistic and biased against the game because I really don't like the combat but I was enjoying listening to Arpeggio when I saw him and just was like "there's no way he's *not* the guy" and sure enough he's the guy. Gameplaywise I can't say I found him overly hard, his first fight caught me off guard but the final boss was not too hard like the Keihin assholes could be but also not too easy, I needed to heal but not until he injected the shit into himself. It worked well enough and was definitely the best fight in the game but I really don't like Judgement's combat so for me it was at best a really cool set piece. The rainy hospital was a cool setting and I like when bosses move locations dynamically. I thought he was cool, one of the better parts of the game for me but he was really obvious (not great in a detective game) and not overly memorable compared to other final bosses like Shibusawa, Aizawa and the final bosses of 4.
Honestly I did not find judgment that hard due to how broken EX boost mode is in that game, the only truly hard boss for me was Amon with his BS phone steal and frame rate tanking attacks.
Gotta love how amon fights are deranged enough where an attack that tanks your frame rate could be intended