Game Review: Tokyo Xanadu

Game Review: Tokyo Xanadu

Tuesday, June 11, 2019 / No Comments

Tokyo Xanadu is a Japanese Role-Playing Game (JRPG) developed by Nihon Falcom for the PlayStation Vita. Dive into an intriguing and unique story with plenty of button-mashing action that will keep you hooked from the start to the end. The key focus of this review will be on the gameplay while providing a very brief overview of the storyline and main characters.

Game: Tokyo Xanadu

Genre: Action JRPG (Dungeon Crawler)

Developer: Nihon Falcom

Year Released: 2015 (Japan) and 2017 (Global)

Platform: PlayStation Vita

Available in: Japanese & English/Chinese subs

Storyline:

Tokyo Xanadu takes place in a fictional world where Tokyo was ruined by a massive earthquake in 2005. Fast forward 10 years later, Tokyo has been rebuilt and peace fully restored. Beneath the facade of tranquillity lies something sinister. The game starts off with the following event scene. One day after his part-time work, Kou Tokisaka who is a student at Morimiya Academy, spots a girl being harassed by two delinquents. He follows the trio into an alley in an attempt to intervene. Just as Kou is about to make a move, a portal appears out of thin air and the four of them are warped into an alternate dimension known as an Eclipse (Dungeon). Within these Eclipses are evil monsters termed as Greeds. After the introductory scenes and as the game progresses, Kou will meet new allies from his school and together they will fight the Greeds, hopefully closing the Eclipse portals for good!

Main Characters:

Kou Tokisaka

Kou is the main protagonist of Tokyo Xanadu whom you will be playing as most often. A second-year student at Morimiya High School, Kou is portrayed as cool and aloof but also highly reliable. Aside from dungeons where you can swap over to other characters, you will be playing as him. 

Asuka Hiiragi

Hiiragi is the girl who was harassed by the two delinquents at the start of the game. She is also Kou’s classmate and has just returned from the United States. She is an enforcer from an organisation known as Nemesis, whose aim is to close the portals leading to the Eclipses.

Sora Ikushima

Sora is a first-year student at Morimiya Academy. She is a member of the school Karate Club and extremely talented, having learned the martial art from a young age.

Yuuki Shinomiya

Yuuki is a first-year student at Morimiya Academy. He is a genius and prodigy with a very high IQ. Yuuki lives in a lavish apartment and has a lot of money, earned using his exceptional intelligence. He barely goes to school, only attending the minimum number of days to successfully graduate. Many of his schoolmates are unaware of his existence.

Mitsuki Hokuto

Mitsuki is a third-year student at Morimiya Academy and the Student-Council President.

Shio Takahata

Shio is a third-year student at Morimiya Academy and the former leader of a delinquent group known as BLAZE.

Rion Kugayama

Rion is a second-year student at Morimiya Academy. She is a member of an idol group called SPiKA.

Gameplay:

The gameplay of Tokyo Xanadu is fairly standard as with most Nihon Falcom games. Discounting event scenes, the gameplay can be broken down into two parts, namely Free-Time Mode and Dungeon Exploration Mode. However, do note that after certain event scenes, you will be required to answer some questions. Depending on the choices you pick, you will be able to raise your Wisdom status parameter. There are three status parameters, Wisdom, Courage and Virtue. All three parameters must be raised to unlock certain events and to receive some items. 

Free-Time Mode

You will be playing as Kou in Free-Time Mode. In Free-Time Mode, you roam freely and talk to various Non-Playable Characters (NPCs) and the main characters. The two major things to do in Free-Time Mode are completing quests and attending bonding events. Depending on the quests involved, some are mandatory while others are optional. Bonding events are done by talking to the main characters and/or supporting characters at particular parts in the game. This will trigger an event scene showcasing the interaction between Kou and the specific characters you had chosen. Bonding events will consume one Infinity Shard for each character you interact with and raise your relationship level with them. You will only be given a limited amount of Infinity Shards during bonding events; therefore, it is vital to bond with the characters you prefer the most. 

Dungeon Exploration Mode

This is the main and combat portion of Tokyo Xanadu. You will get warped into the Eclipse via a portal where you have to defeat Greeds lurking inside and an Elder Greed (Boss) in the depths. You would probably be unfazed by the bosses if you have experience in playing dungeon crawlers, although some of the bosses were quite difficult to defeat. What I like about the combat in the dungeons is how seamlessly smooth the fights are. There is little to no lag while fighting the Greeds which is not very common in PlayStation Vita games but considering that this game was made specifically for the Vita, it is understandable.

Dungeon exploration allows you to use the main characters instead of solely playing as Kou. You can have up to 3 playable characters in your party but can only play as one at any given time. This enables you to freely change between characters in your party. The HP bar is the bluish-purple ring, as shown above, Hiiragi is at full health currently with 530 HP. The MP bar is the green bar towards the bottom which is next to the hp bar. You can use skills by consuming MP such as using Hiiragi’s ice strike as shown above. MP can be regenerated by using normal attacks on Greeds, hence you should alternate between the two.

Greeds in the dungeons are weak to specific elements. There are five elements in Tokyo Xanadu, Flame, Wind, Steel, Spirit and Shadow. As depicted above, the Greed is weak against the Flame element, therefore you should use a character such as Kou. Using specific characters that are strong against different Greeds is important because it gives you considerable advantage in terms of damage dealt to them. Fighting Greeds in the dungeons allows you to charge your X-drive gauge. X-drive can be used when the X-drive gauge reaches 100%. Notice the bar labelled X-DRIVE, that is the X-drive gauge. When X-drive is used, your character will have increased damage, HP regeneration and heightened resistance against knockbacks. 

X-Strike is a powerful special attack that deals tons of damage to Greeds. X-Strike can only be unleashed when the X-Strike gauge is full. The X-Strike gauge is the yellow meter with the lightning symbol next to the HP bar. The gauge is charged by attacking Greeds, similar to the X-drive gauge. A good tip would be to save your X-Strike for bosses as using them on normal/cannon fodder Greeds is redundant. Each character has their own unique X-strike and is very eye-catching, fitting for their ultimate ability. 

Some of the Bosses in Tokyo Xanadu:

Pros (+) of Tokyo Xanadu:

I would like to reiterate the smoothness of the gameplay as lag is virtually non-existent. This is a major plus point of Tokyo Xanadu as I have played many PlayStation Vita games of which enjoyable gameplay is hindered due to lag and random screen freezes. The graphics of Tokyo Xanadu are also visually appealing like with most Nihon Falcom games. The bonding events allow you to enjoy event scenes with your favourite character. Note: Rion best girl! You will get more attached to the characters as the game progresses.

The combat system is really amazing as well. You are able to use a combination of moves to suit the situation, such as using skills while jumping in mid-air. The bosses in the game are challenging to a certain degree. For example, some of the bosses do not follow an easily predictable pattern of attack which makes the fights much more challenging and not boring. Besides the actual combat, the layout of the dungeons is also interesting as most dungeons are non-linear. There are many obstacles in dungeons which is typical in Nihon Falcom games, such as switches you have to engage in order to progress. This makes the gameplay much more fun and non-repetitive.  

Cons (-) of Tokyo Xanadu:

Majority of Nihon Falcom games suffer from the same inherent issue which is the long event scenes. Despite the fact that you can fast forward event scenes, you should watch the entire event scenes at least once in order to truly appreciate and understand the story. The second flaw of Tokyo Xanadu is the slow pacing. The pace was slow but not unbearable. If you are willing to look past these two issues, a truly exciting adventure in the Eclipses awaits you!

Overall Rating: 4/5

If you have a PlayStation Vita and have yet to play Tokyo Xanadu, I highly recommend picking up a copy because this is definitely one of the best Vita games out there.

Written by Kou

Fire Emblem: Three Houses + Pokemon: Sword & Shield

Fire Emblem: Three Houses + Pokemon: Sword & Shield

Saturday, March 2, 2019 / No Comments

Hello hello my little nuggets!!!

There's a spot of good news in a dark period: Three Houses finally has some news I'm vibrating with excitement~~

So instead of being on one opposite end of a war, this time there is peace all around and you're actually a professor of the Officer's Academy. The Officer's Academy is the training school for the Church of Seiros, which maintains the balance of power between three kingdoms. Around this time when you're recruited into the Academy, you also start to be able to see Sothis, who appears in your mind?

For the Three Houses, we have the Black Eagles, the Blue Lions, and the Golden Deer, led by Edelgard, Dmitri, and Claude respectively. So far it seems like the goal is to train the students and to increase their battle abilities in terms of magic, weapons, and specialized skills. 

You get to pick one house to main, and bring them out on missions and battles in the usual grid battle system. It also seems that this time the students will be able to interact with each other and increase support bonds. 

Honestly, this feels very different from the previous Fire Emblems, there has always been war and a conclusive ending, a sole enemy to defeat before we can end the game. However, after watching the trailers, I can't tell how the plot is going to proceed. Will we have the main antagonist or will it just be bringing students out on battles over and over? 

Three Houses is set for release on 26th July 2019. and the European limited edition set comes with an Artbook, Steelbook, Sound Selection USB, and a Pin Badge set.

The North America one gets a CD instead of a USB, and a Calendar instead of the Pin Badge Set. I'm a little undecided on getting the limited edition, but I think I'll end up ordering it mainly for the artbook. I did get the limited edition for Fates so maybe I should get for this one as well.. 

But that aside, the next piece of news I have is for Pokemon!

Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield coming soon in late 2019!! I'm so excited for it!!!!

The starters are too adorable, and I can't decide between picking the Fire-type or the Water-type. I don't think they've released the evolutions yet, so there's plenty of time to decide. After watching the trailer, Sword and Shield feels more realistic to me, mainly for the fact that the players are carrying huge backpacks.

Sword and Shield will be set in a brand new region (Galar region) with brand new pokemon to collect. The scenery looks amazing, and Nintendo has mentioned the Galar region to have "idyllic countryside and contemporary cities; vast plains and snow-covered mountains."


Here's the trailer!

I'm so stoked for this year, and I really hope both Three Houses and Sword and Shield will not be disappointing. Well for now, nerd out!

Written by: ninetylives

「Mobage」Fairy Tail Dice Magic

「Mobage」Fairy Tail Dice Magic

Saturday, February 16, 2019 / No Comments

One month has passed, and I've finally gotten a bit used to this game to write a review! In addition, I was requested by a friend to provide it in a format that worked more like a guide, as the game is completely in Japanese, thus this may be a bit different to my usual game reviews!


1. Very basic login screen

Two buttons on the left, one for entering data transfer codes, and the other is for clearing the cache/data. It's a very simple and clean layout. I do like that it is not completely static, and that the character bobs up and down, and blink as well (her eyes are not permanently closed!).

2. Regular user interface

On the top bar you will see your current rank, stamina gauge, amount of rainbow gemstones, gold and points. The key here is that your stamina recovers every 3 minutes, and does not overflow when you rank up. The rainbow gemstones are for card/character gacha, while the points would be like an in-game currency used to gacha for memoirs.

On the left sidebar, the four buttons are News (game news), present box, missions (daily, permanent and event missions), and side quests. While the rest are pretty much self-explanatory from their names, the side quests is slightly different.

You send up to five characters on a side quest to obtain materials. Do note that you cannot practice characters who are out on side quests, nor can you use them in your main quests. In addition, the time needed per quest varies in certain denominations, and each one requires a particular attribute, so you are pretty much restricted by the cards/characters you possess. Thus, you might want to level at least two teams worth of characters so you can still continue to clear your stamina with quests while members of your main team are out on missions!

The six buttons on the bottom bar are character, memoir, party, quests, shop, gacha and others. Right off the bat, you might find the home page to be a little cluttered but I assure you that everything is actually located in a systematic location and order, making it very easy to navigate.

3. Shop

From Mirajane, you can purchase the in-game gemstones currency and other items such as special dice (with gemstones). It's basically a page that you likely won't be at unless you're spending money on the game... which I really don't recommend doing ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

4. Others 

In case you're curious, this is what you can view from the "others" button on the bottom row.

Top Row: Game News, Items, Gallery

Second Row: Profile, Sound Settings, Story

Third Row: Help, Q&A, Support

Last Row: Data Transfer, Legal Notice, Return to Title

5. Gacha

The page that we all love to hate ಥ_ಥ

Rates are pretty much ordinary by today's standards, at 3% SSR 10% SR 87% R. The game actually started without guaranteeing a SR or above card for a 10 scout, unlike nearly every other gacha game, but it implemented it recently ( ´ ▽ ` )b Nevertheless, the harm has been done...

Note that here are also pages for memoirs, one which is gemstone scouting (200 per memoir), as well as a different in game currently (the one at top right) for 1000 per memoir. You get one free daily gacha here, and it is part of the daily mission to get your free daily memoir.

6. Event

This event is a collection event where you clear stages to obtain the respective items. Visit the shop below to exchange. This is the second known event type so far, the first being one that you just clear stages to rack up points.

In both cases, only event stages are counted. The stages can be accessed from the bottom right of this event page.

Behold the Event Shop! Some items can be exchanged by all of the event drops, and some are exclusive to a certain drops only. The last stages of each difficulty give all three types of drops, but you may want to focus on a particular type if you are lacking in that item.

As usual, the cards from the event gacha give extra items, namely 30% boost for SSRs and 20% boosts for SRs.

Here's Erza and Yukino for the Valentines' Day event:

May the gacha luck be with you.

Event Missions give extra rewards on top of the ones from the event shop. They range from clearing certain stages/difficulty, to defeating "x" number of a certain character. Yes, this game is very RNG-based and grindy...

Accessing event can be done via main page, or the quests page, via the event banner.

As this is only the second event, and the first of this type, I have doubts that the amount of materials required to purchase items in the shop will be properly balanced, but we'll see how it goes ＼(*T▽T*)／ﾜｰｲ♪

7. Characters

Character page, where you can practice, awaken, view or remove characters.

Practicing - Each type of stat has their own level, and also require different items (namely different colored shards and occasionally, non shard items such as the first 2). The amount of gold required for leveling increases exponentially, up to around 300k per level from level 9 to 10, so I would definitely recommend not wasting money or materials, especially the non-shards items. These items usually overlap within the same guild, making it tough to level multiple characters at once.

Awakening - When you limit break a card with a dupe, you increase the level cap of the skills above. With each round, the level cap increases by 2 per stat. Also, the leader skill slightly improves.

8. Memoirs 

These are the equipment that you attach to your character. On this page, you can select to practice, limit break, view, remove, or set for characters.

Each memoir provides different effects, and there are several which have overlapping effects. One memoir can only be attached on one character at one time.

9. Quests (Battle)

The main "fighting" system, where you can select either: Main Story, Normal Quests or Power-up Item Farming. The last tab is the one which you would want to focus on. The stages are split up based on stat, and you would want to farm whichever stat you are lacking the items in. You can also farm gold on one of the stages in there.

Each stage has three different difficulty: normal (N), hard (H) and very hard (VH). You unlock the next difficulty upon completing the stage.

Of course higher difficulty stages tend to drop rarer shards. That being said, you may find yourself lacking in the lower tier shards at times, so don't forget about the older stages!

If you complete the goals, you will obtain the reward on the right... Gacha! o(≧∇≦o)(o≧∇≦)o

You do not need to complete the second and third requirement on the same quest run so do take your time to ensure that you get 3-stars for all the quests! 

Some star-missions involve landing on a particular spot "x" number of times, so that's just a matter of RNG which can be overcome by grinding. Thankfully, this game also comes with an auto function which should make this type of grinding a little easier~

This game's battle mode runs on a "Dice Number for Attack" strategy. Basically, it means that the player will roll three dice each turn. Based on the number that appears, the character will attack if it coincides with the chart above. This chart can be accessible in manual mode, via the button next to "manual".

Thee's also a special dice function where you can fix a number, which ensures that a particular character will attack in that turn.

Special Attack is when characters use their skills. This only works in manual mode, in between dice rolls after the enemy has attacked. When the circle next to the character is full, you can drag the character's square icon upwards to activate the special attack. You can also select which enemy to attack by tapping on them. Be sure to check the combat circle on the top left first, and target enemies which are weak against your attack type!

10. Overall Review (2/5)

I felt that this game is a huge disappointment, especially after they delayed the game's release several times. There are quite a few parts that felt like minimal effort was put in, such as the lack of voicing, and reusing art for the character cards and memoir designs. The battle animation is severely lacking, even for SSRs and the battle graphics is quite terrible, especially when I compare to similar turn-based battle mobage that I've played before, like Revue Starlight and FGO.

The game is also overly dependent on RNG and P2P. First, you need the RNG to gacha for a strong character card and a suitable memoir for him/her. Nevertheless, even in battles, RNG is a crucial component as you need to get the correct dice roll to maximise your team battle. Of course, the first two points can be easily overpowered by the power of money, which takes a bit of the fun away.

Next, there is no inter-player connection, at least for now. Events have no ranking system and there is no feature for friends or PVP. This might be nice for some people who'd love to have a game all to themselves, but I'll prefer to have at least some interaction since this is a mobage.

I do wish that the game could improve, but based on the existing game play and the way that the game has already set itself up to be, it does not seem possible.

~ Reina-rin