The Kaito Files downloadable content for Lost Judgment follows Takayashi Yagami's partner in the Yagami Detective Agency, Masaharu Kaito. It was the first piece of downloadable content by Ryu Ga Gotaku Studio that told a new story rather than adding content to an existing one. It also led to the creation of the side story Like a Dragon games, which tell contained stories focusing on characters other than the current protagonist of the series.
In The Kaito Files, Kaito is left as the head of the detective agency when Tak leaves town on a case. Kaito takes a case on his own and has to explore Kamurocho and Sotenbori to find evidence and interrogate supsects. Kaito has his own style distinct to Yagami. While Tak is more refined both in fighting and in his detective style, Kaito is all about brute force. He plows his way through adversaries, and is blunt about his suspicions. Although, Kaito does have his own charms in the friendly jock sort of way. He is also less intelligent than Yagami, but he makes up for it with his amazing charm. This difference in the personalities makes the story feel like a fresh take on the series, even though it takes place in the same cities as the main game.
Kaito has another interesting difference. Rather than using surveillance tools like Yagami would, Kaito uses his senses, which the game describes as primal like an animal. Kaito can look, hear, and smell for clues using his eyes, ears, and nose although the hearing portion still has the fuzz signifying slight interference with the signal that Yagami had with his devices. Although this doesn't make sense narratively, it is easy to overlook when playing the game.
Like Yagami, Kaito is not alone in his detective work, as he gets help from Yokahama 99 in Ijincho. Like the Yagami Detective Agency, the Yokahama 99 detective agency is a partnership. One partner is the shy computer genius. The other is a former criminal. He is Kaito's distorted mirror image, as Moriarty is to Sherlock Holmes. Whereas Kaito is large and bullish, the other is of average build and is quick in his movements. He shines here as he did in both Judgment games.
The voice actors return, of course, from the main game. They are just as good here, in Japanese and English, as they are in the main game. The new voice actors are great as well, in both languages. Kaito's case involves his ex-girlfriend, who is one of the best new voices in English and Japanese. He is asked, both by her husband and her son, who thinks Kaito is his dad, to search for her. The former is aloof, with the voice actors providing the right performance for his personality. On the other hand, the son is impetuous. The voice actors here do the most heavy lifting, as he follows Kaito on his investigation. This could easily become grating, but it never does because the voice actors don't provide him with an over the top performance as many impetuous teenagers have in many forms of media.
The Kaito Files is a fantastic downloadable addition to Lost Judgment. The story shines, as is usual with Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio. The returning characters are just as engaging as in the main game, and the new characters fit right in. The voice actors do an excellent job bringing the personalities of the characters to life. This is what DLC should be. If Judgment ever gets a new entry, it would be great for Kaito to be a protagonist, even if only in a side story downloadable content.
Final Verdict:4½ out of 5
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