Yakuza games have a rich narrative, but they're pretty well known for giving you plenty of options for wasting your time. Since the original release, the franchise has made a name with its incredible number of mini-games.
One of the most common recurring mini-games is baseball. The game returns again in Lost Judgment, and there are some pretty cool rewards for completing the batting center challenges at the Yoshida Batting Center in Kamurocho and the Mirai Batting Center in Isezaki Ijincho. Here's a guide to succeeding at baseball in Lost Judgment.
How to Hit Balls and Understanding the Batting Center's Patterns
Before launching into things, it's important to understand the basics of batting and the methodology this guide uses. In order to succeed, players must get eight or more runs for the challenge courses and eight or more home runs in the home run courses. Essentially, the computer will throw a pitch, and a yellow circle with a ball in the center will start shrinking as the pitch comes at Yagami. Swing when Yagami's targeting reticle is bigger or the same size as the yellow circle.
The ball will always land in the dead center of one of the nine square zones. Because of how the game is designed, batting in Lost Judgment relies on a number of set patterns. For the purposes of this guide, imagine those squares like the numbers on a phone dial pad so that 1 is in the upper-left corner and 9 is in the lower-right. It will look like this:
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
From there, Yagami will have an option for one of three bats: Standard, Serenity and Expert. Yagami starts the game with the Standard Bat, and he can buy the Serenity and Expert Bats from Ebisu Pawn in Kamurocho and the hidden casino in Chinatown (unlocked through the School Stories), respectively. The Serenity Bat will have the largest sweet spot, so choose that one to make things as easy as possible for the TownGo tasks. However, if trying to get as many points as possible in order to get items, use the Expert Bat, which has a smaller sweet spot but a higher pay out.
How to Beat the Batting Center's Challenge Courses
For the Local Legend Challenge Course, the order is:
Level 1: 5 3 6 4 1 8 1 6 7 5
Level 2: 6 1 8 7 4 6 2 7 4 2
Level: 3 6 7 1 5 2 8 8 9 4 3
For the Titan of Tokyo Challenge Course, the order is:
Level 1: 7 5 4 6 3 2 2 5 1 9
Level 2: 3 4 2 9 7 5 8 4 9 2
Level 3: 4 7 1 6 5 9 5 2 1 6
For the Ace of Japan Challenge Course, the order is:
Level 1: 4 6 3 1 5 4 8 1 5 9
Level 2: 4 3 7 6 1 7 4 5 2 5
Level 3: 5 2 3 2 2 9 5 7 9 1
For the Global Goliath Challenge Course, the order is:
Level 1: 4 5 7 9 5 8 1 4 8 4
Level 2: 7 2 4 1 6 8 5 2 2 6
Level 3: 2 3 6 7 6 8 3 7 2 9
The Home Run Competition, which unlocks after clearing the Ace of Japan Home Run Course below, will loop through the above challenge courses, working its way through Local Legend Level 1 to Global Goliath Level 3. Once the Home Run Competition finishes its twelfth round, the pattern will start again with Local Legend Level 1.
How to Beat the Batting Center's Home Run Courses
For the Local Legend Home Run Course, the order is:
5 4 7 9 2 3 6 1 3 9
For the Titan of Tokyo Home Run Course, the order is:
1 6 7 8 4 5 3 2 5 9
For the Ace of Japan Home Run Course, the order is:
6 9 7 6 4 5 7 3 2 5
For the Global Goliath Home Run Course, the order is:
6 8 4 5 9 2 5 3 9 9
What Yagami Can Win at the Batting Center
At the batting center, Yagami can exchange points he's earned for the following items: Show Duel Records: Man (2,000 pts, gives ), Tauriner (500 pts), Hug Bomb (2,500 pts), Dog Food (150 pts), Play Pass (4,000 pts), Royal Joker Card (2,500 pts), Sacred Rot (1,500 pts), Sacred Wood (3,000 pts), Sacred Tree (4,500 pts), High-Tech Shin Guards (1,250 pts), Ankle Booster (2,100 pts) and EX Maintainer Belt (10,000 pts). The rewards are the same regardless of which batting center Yagami is at.
In early access now, Lost Judgment releases Sept. 24 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.