Tokyo Xanadu is an action JRPG developed by Falcom, of The Legend of Heroes and Ys fame. It was originally for the PlayStation Vita but it was ported and remastered for PS4 and PC with additional content. The game takes place in modern Tokyo, at a satellite suburb called Morimiya City. Unlike Falcom's other games, this is based on the real world. It follows Kou, a high school student who one day encounters his classmate, Asuka, and witnesses a red crack in midair.
Asuka enters the crack and Kou unwittingly enters as well, to find out that this is the Eclipse, an alternate reality where monsters run free. In this reality, Kou has access to his Soul Weapon which can dispatch the monsters called Greed. The game has a fairly basic action battle system and is quite similar to Ys. One button is used to jump, one for a normal attack, one for a special skill and finally there are special X-Attacks.
Later on, you'll unlock partner bonuses, charged attacks and area attacks. This is a 3D action game so the camera can be rotated freely and there is a lock-on function, which shows the enemy's weakness. The characters can also dash and dodge, which is critical for surviving boss battles without too much damage. While there are plenty of playable characters, you control only one at a time and only one is onscreen at a time.
You can freely swap between three characters, with the one in Support able to regain health. Each character has an element, thus you are encouraged to switch characters often to exploit the enemies' elemental weaknesses. Dungeons are linear and designed to be finished as quickly as possible. You are given a rank upon clearing dungeons based on the same optional objectives each time such as fast clear time, no damage and other factors. The short dungeon makes the story bits in between feel long and slows down the pacing.
Dungeons in later chapters have annoying obstacles/traps. These include platforming when the jumping mechanics isn't great int he game, or moving poles that paralyze you. Dungeon design is uninspiring and feels lazy in later chapters when it reuses similar settings and actually the same bosses, only that you're fighting several at once. While the gameplay is similar to Ys, the game and story structure is similar to Trails of Cold Steel.
The story focuses upon Kou's high school life as well and he will get Free Time in each chapter which allows him to talk to NPCs (all with multiple unique dialogue which refreshes after each major story event and fills up an in-game index). There are also the familiar Bonding Events with his friends to gain more backstory and deepen their relationships, purchase items and do quests.
There are both optional and mandatory quests, however, a lot of these are gained by talking to NPCs and thus it is extremely easy to miss some of them. If you have played Trails of Cold Steel, then a lot of Tokyo Xanadu will feel familiar. Everything from the graphics to the school setting uses the same engine. There are a lot of other common elements such as equipping Elements to your characters. It shares a lot of stylistic designs and aesthetics to the point that it feels like as spin-off. Characters and minigames from Trails of Cold Steel I and II make an appearance here.
Despite being a cross of two great games, it is shallower than both. However, the simple combat is still heaps of fun, especially since there are no ridiculous difficulty spikes. The game on the whole on Normal difficulty is very easy. However, there are two higher difficulties, Hard and Nightmare, as well as Infinity on New Game Plus which boosts all enemy levels by 50. Sadly, all higher difficulties do is that enemies hit a lot harder and become bullet sponges.
Higher difficulties end up becoming very tedious when you fight a boss with a limited and predictable attack pattern for minutes just because they have so much HP, even more so when they constantly dodge or move around. Unfortunately, the story is extremely predictable in how the Eclipse is formed (negative human emotions) and how it is affecting the people that Kou know. It shows all the potential of his friends who also have the ability to be a Wielder and join the party.
The story is simply not engrossing enough, therefore the long cutscenes are a bore unlike Trails of Cold Steel. You're usually just itching to go back to the dungeons. One of the nitpicks is that the game is extremely guilty of slowly panning cutscenes that takes a few seconds before anyone actually speaks, which feels like padding the game's length out. However, the game has a very good ending. The big revelation, while you suspected it a while before it actually happens, still hits you hard once you realize the massive impact it has on the characters.
The ending scene is a sad one leading to a bittersweet finale and helped redeem the story overall. Sadly, this is quickly dashed in the Epilogue, or the game's true ending since what happens there cheapens the original ending. The game has Japanese voiceovers with English subtitles. The translation is functional for the most part but more obvious in later chapters are spelling mistakes, formatting issues, inconsistent use of pronouns and even sections where the Japanese is left untranslated.
It takes 30-40 hours to finish and New Game Plus unlocks six new optional dungeons, and allowing you to carry over pretty much everything. If you're aiming for Trophies or 100% completion of the game, one of the most annoying thing is the RNG required for cooking all required dishes. It is extremely aggravating when you cook 40 times in a row and still not get the Failed Dish that you wanted.
Overall, despite the bland story, uninspiring dungeons and simple combat, Tokyo Xanadu is still a ton of fun. Being a Falcom game, plenty of attention has been spent in the game world, with varied NPCs with unique personalities, a variety of sidequests and fun gameplay. It is a solid JRPG that's recommended for anyone who's into the genre.
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