Tokyo Xanadu eX+

Tokyo Xanadu eX+ is one of Falcom's modern attempts of reviving an old IP - namely that of the Xanadu series. Unlike the older titles, the emphasis on Anime and a bigger focus at JRPG is additionally emphasized by the location, too. If you played any of the Persona titles, you will find a plethora of similarities here, as the town begins to be the victim of supernatural occurences which only Kou and his group can solve. With the addition of the eX+ story, which is accessible after you beat the main story once, the plot thickens further and a lot of unanswered questions from the core game get answered as well. Falcom is known for its great world building - and you won't find any shortage of that in this game either. Each character, each NPC and each scenery changes as you progress through the story. Subplots emerge if you decide to talk with the locals and you actually feel like they are an organical part of the town and you get more and more immersed within it. The only detriment is the lack of freedom that the game gives you in terms of conversation. The gameplay, contrary to what has been said before, is overall solid and easy to understand. Some of the later characters get quite broken, but on higher difficulty levels, you will certainly feel like you are playing something among the lines of Ys Seven. The music is great and the overall length of the game can vary depending on the motivation of the player to immersive himself within the world and do sidequests. There are also a lot of fun minigames that the player can enjoy in the meantime, as well. Overall, the game shines thoroughly in terms of gameplay, audio and world building, but the lack of freedom as to the choice of dialogue and character interaction can hold off some fans of this genre. Additionally, the design and story itself caters a lot to fans of Anime and Japanese culture. If you can look past these, you will certainly be rewarded with entertaining hack and slash and a great setting!

I was solidly impressed with Tokyo Xanadu eX+ from start to... okay, almost to finish. In the last few hours of the game make extensive use of the "our princess is in another castle" trope, and after 75 hours of gameplay, ain't no one got time for that. If the game had been 3 hours shorter it would have ended right in the sweet spot. A near miss. The rest of the game is a blast. It is obviously an attempt by Falcom to cash in on some of that sweet sweet Persona market penetration, but it works. It's not a substitute for Persona if you love Persona, but as someone who played Persona 3 FES and loved it, then bought and played 15 minutes of Persona 4 before groaning, "Oh gods, I can't do this all over again," TXeX+ was perfect. The combat is dynamic and moderately tactical without being difficult for the sake of difficulty, although I imagine the higher difficulties can get challenging. It looks like they mostly consist of narrowing item usage limits, which suggests that the tactics are broadly the same at all tiers. Easy mode is perfect for those who just want to experience the story. As with all modern JRPGs, there are too many systems to keep track of, but I found the net result manageable after some practice, which was a pleasant surprise. What TXeX+ isn't is a simulation-like experience, in that it doesn't make you play every day out of a year. I see this as a plus. It has a robust narrative that progresses daily when daily progression makes sense and weeks at a time when that is appropriate. The trade off for this is that developing social bonds with your companions is not as robust as it is in a Persona game -- there are story and gameplay rewards for doing so but the narrative does not adapt to your choices and the question of romance is... well, no spoilers. It is handled differently than it is in a Persona game. Two thumbs up. It's rare to have such a universally positive experience with a game, these days. Wholly recommended.

This title feels like a bit of Ys with a bit of Legend of Heores laid over the top of Persona. The gameplay is good, though the camera can be a bit wonky at times, and definitely fun to play. The characters are engaging, with friendship events worth watching for mrore than just the stat bonuss you can get from them, and while the story is pretty generic it's still well done and worth exploring. Like all recent Falcom games there's a chunk of ridiculously overpriced IFI-style (read Neptunia) costume and cheat DLC, but none of it is in any way required to play, and you're not missing anything by skipping it. Don't count the DLC against it as you can safely skip it so the presence of excesive additional content remains entierly optional.

As in, they are both amazing and awful at the same time. I'm gonna keep it short here guys and girls: We have subpar graphics, a very fun combat system/rpg mechanics, a very interesting plot, and the aforementioned shroedinger's characters. They could've been SO much more. They have distinct personalities and I enjoy most of them in a unique way, but the way they interact with each other is just the worst. It's basically like this, all the time. "Oh no, something bad has happened!" "Let us talk about this bad thing that has happened." "I wanna help too!" "It's dangerous!" "Let's all do our best friends!" And it goes on for HOURS. On the bright side, the main character is not a Shroedinger one. He's just the worst, period. Generic, insipid, every teenage boy in an anime ever. I swear this would be a 5* game if you only skipped all the dialogue. Unfortunately I'm not that kind of gamer, although in this case I wish I was.