Controlling Kaito: Interview with Lost Judgement Kaito Files Producer Makoto Suzuki

Lost Judgement recently saw the release of its’ first story DLC in the form of the Kaito Files, a side story featuring everyone’s favorite arcade manager turned investigator, Masaharu Kaito, the partner of Lost Judgement’s main character Takayuki Yagami.

With the DLC launched to players worldwide, we got the chance to have a quick email interview with the producer of The Kaito Files DLC, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s own Makoto Suzuki, and ask him more about what his team had to do to put the player in Kaito’s shoes.

This is the first time that the Judgment series released a story DLC. What made Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio decide to make a story DLC for Lost Judgment?

Suzuki: We’ve received a lot of comments from our fans on social media that they would like to know about Yagami’s detective partner. We decided to create a story DLC to make the players happy, so we planned the project.

Since Kaito is the main character for the story DLC, is there a chance for us to see the other main characters such as Fumiya or Makoto have their own story DLC in the future?

Suzuki: Though there is nothing we can promise now, we have received a lot of messages from players showing their love for the DLC.

Can you elaborate more about Kaito’s fighting style concept?

Suzuki: Kaito is really tough. We take advantage of his toughness and imagine what kind of fighting technique Kaito might employ in a surprise attack on the Matsugane Family Office. Then we created these two fighting styles.

Since Kaito has a different approach to solving mysteries than Yagami (no gadgets), did the team feel pressured to write the stories differently to suit Kaito’s personality and methods better? 

Suzuki: We didn’t feel pressured at all. In fact, we did enjoy imagining what action Kaito, the man with Primal Focus, might do when he discovered his former lover was having problems.

Were there any unique gameplay features for Kaito that didn’t make it into the DLC? 

Suzuki: I thought it would be interesting if Kaito’s Primal Eye could sense the heat behind the wall, but I eventually gave up the idea since it seemed like too much, and adding that ability would make Kaito no longer be a human being.

The interview ended with a Message from Suzuki to all of Lost Judgement’s Asian fans

Suzuki: To all Asian fans, thank you very much for your patience.

Thanks to your kind encouragement, we are able to release The Kaito Files DLC. We hope you will continue to support the Judgment series!

And a big thanks to Makoto Suzuki for some insight into the story DLC, showing the world of the Yakuza and Judgement series through a fresh set of eyes.

Lost Judgement and the Kaito Files DLC are available for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox One X, and PC. The game is a spin-off from the Yakuza series which is available on most of the same platforms.