I love Nihon-Falcom games. I'll more readily get excited for a new Trails, Ys, or Xanadu title than pretty much any other franchises in gaming with only a few exceptions. So, I was more than a little pumped to hear Aksys Games announce the localization for Tokyo Xanadu at last year's AnimeExpo. Although I had imported and played Ys VIII before I got the chance to demo the title at this year's E3, the same wasn't true for Tokyo Xanadu. Everything was new for me! All I knew was that, despite the name, the game was very different compared to last year's Xanadu Next and was closer in design to one of the more modern Ys titles. Besides that and the knowledge that it had a kicking soundtrack, I was going in blind when Aksys handed me the controller during our E3 appointment earlier today.
Well, while our demo wasn't too long, what I expected was very similar to what I got to play! Tokyo Xanadu's combat feels very similar to Ys VIII's. There aren't any special skills that characters can use, but otherwise the mechanics are shockingly similar. Each playable character has an elemental attribute, in the Vita release one of 5, while the PS4 release introduces an extra element alongside a new character. Each character has a unique super powerful attack that can be activated by pressing both the L and R buttons at the same time. The title has a mix of dodges, blocks, and jumps complete with its own form of "flash" evades from the more recent Ys releases.
I wasn't able to confirm how well the title's translation was holding up, since the version of Tokyo Xanadu eX+ I played for the majority of my time was more or less completely left in Japanese, if not entirely untranslated. I did get to test the Vita version briefly, but not nearly long enough to get a better idea of how the translation will hold up when that version releases later this month. Thankfully on that end, though, I should be getting my hands on with the full game very soon and my review should be forthcoming by the end of the month. I wish I could've demo'd some of the game's more story-heavy scenes regardless.
Keep an eye out for our review of Tokyo Xanadu (Vita) within the coming weeks!
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Former Staff Writer for TechRaptor, technology and games in particular have been my passion my whole life, and to contribute to the industry has been my… More about James
