Tokyo Xanadu

Tokyo Xanadu
Developer(s)Nihon Falcom
Publisher(s)Aksys Games
  • JP: Nihon Falcom
Director(s)Takayuki Kusano
Producer(s)Toshihiro Kondo
Programmer(s)Toru Endo
Nobuhiro Hioki
Writer(s)Hisayoshi Takeiri
Yoshihiro Konda
Syunsei Shikata
Composer(s)Hayato Sonoda
Takahiro Unisuga
Platform(s)
Release
September 30, 2015
  • PlayStation Vita
    • JP: September 30, 2015
    • WW: June 30, 2017
  • PlayStation 4
    • JP: September 8, 2016
    • WW: December 8, 2017
  • Windows
    • WW: December 8, 2017
  • Switch
    • JP: June 29, 2023
    • WW: July 25, 2024
Genre(s)Action role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Tokyo Xanadu[a] is a 2015 action role-playing game developed by Nihon Falcom.[1] The game was developed out of Nihon Falcom's desire to create a game of a different type and setting than their other role-playing game franchises, The Legend of Heroes and Ys. The game was first released in Japan for the PlayStation Vita in September 2015, and worldwide in June 2017.

An enhanced version of the game, Tokyo Xanadu eX+, was released in Japan for the PlayStation 4 in September 2016, and worldwide in December 2017, in addition to a Windows version. A port for the Nintendo Switch was released in Japan in June 2023 and was released worldwide in July 2024.

Gameplay

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Tokyo Xanadu is an action role-playing game with party-based real-time combat that features dungeon exploration, similar to the Persona series by Atlus, as well as Falcom's own Ys and Trails franchises.[2][3][4]

Plot

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In an alternate reality, Tokyo suffered a devastating earthquake in 2005, which took the city a decade to recover from. The story revolves around Kou Tokisaka, a high school student living in Morimiya in 2015. One night, while returning from work, Kou notices his classmate Asuka Hiiragi involved with some dangerous individuals. Concerned for her safety, Kou follows them into a back alley, only to be sucked into a vortex that transports him to a nightmarish realm known as Eclipse.

Asuka, who is a member of Nemesis, a group dedicated to closing the Eclipse vortexes, explains the situation to Kou. They discover other wielders at their academy who possess the ability to fight the inhabitants of Eclipse called Greeds. Sora Ikushima, a martial artist; Yuuki Shinomiya, a genius; Shio Takahata, a former street gang leader; and Mitsuki Hokuto, a student council member and heir to the Hokuto group, join their cause. During a weekend vacation, they learn that Eclipse started spreading after the Great War II and caused the devastating earthquake known as the Tokyo Twilight Disaster.

The group also encounters Rem, a girl from Eclipse known as the Child of Eclipse. To mask their mission, they form a school club called Xanadu Research Club (X.R.C). They recruit Rion Kugayama, a member of a famous idol group, and their English teacher, Gorou Saeki, who is part of the Japan-Self Defense Force. Together, they face various Eclipse incidents and prevent another Twilight Disaster, but they are eventually separated when the city is engulfed by Eclipse.

During this event, they discover that Jun Kohinata, Kou's classmate and friend, is a Seal Knight belonging to the church and tasked with fighting Eclipse. After regrouping, the X.R.C members and their allies plan to assault the source of Eclipse. To their surprise, they find Shiori Kurashiki, Kou's childhood friend, as the source. Shiori explains that she died during the disaster but was brought back to life by the mythical Greed called the Twilight Apostle. Influenced by the Apostle, Shiori aimed to engulf the world in Eclipse to change the fact of her death, but the X.R.C members defeat her, and she passes away after bidding a tearful farewell to her friends.

Afterwards, the town returns to normal, and everyone's memories of Eclipse and Shiori are erased, except for the wielders. Asuka asks Kou to accompany her to her home in Brick Alley. In the normal ending, they encounter a girl resembling Shiori, and the two of them go to the cafe where Asuka stays. In the true ending, they hear Shiori's voice and are guided by Rem to Shiori's home. There, they find an Eclipse gate and, after retrieving the necessary keys, they confront the Nine-tailed Fox. They defeat the Fox and retrieve the real Shiori's spirit, leading to an emotional reunion. The X.R.C members and their allies then enjoy the Summer Festival.

The enhanced version of the game includes side stories taking place between the main story chapters and an After Story following the true ending. The side stories involve all X.R.C members (minus Kou), Jun Kohinata, and Gorou Saeki investigating a peculiar form of Eclipse. In the After Story, the X.R.C members, along with Kou's old friend Ryouta Ibuki, are trapped in an Eclipse identical to Morimiya by a child wearing a fox mask, who is revealed to be a younger version of Kou—the Twilight Apostle. The group fights and defeats him, and they return to the real world.

After the final encounter, Kou asks Rem about the cause of the Twilight Disaster and the origin of the Twilight Apostle, but she only confirms that it was meant to happen. She mentions that there will be more choices to be made in the future, and she will be there to observe. The X.R.C members and their allies vow to prepare themselves for future battles, and the story concludes with the start of the autumn festival and everyone enjoying themselves.

Development

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The developers took inspiration from real-world locations within Tokyo, such as the game's station plaza being modeled after the north exit of Tachikawa Station.

Nihon Falcom announced the game in December 2014.[5] The company referred to the game as an "urban myth action RPG".[5] They also emphasized that they wanted to create a game with a different feel than their other role-playing game franchises, such as the Ys and Trails series.[6] While being based on the Xanadu series, which includes Xanadu (1985) and Xanadu Next (2005),[7] Falcom set out to create a game with a different feel than their other fantasy-based role-playing game franchises, with the game taking place in a fictional district of modern-day Tokyo called Morimiya City, incorporating the use of elements not seen in their other series, such as smartphones.[8][3][9] Morimiya was based on actual locations near Nihon Falcom's head offices in Tachikawa. For example, the Morimiya Station Plaza, with its red arch monument, closely resembles the north exit of Tachikawa Station, which has a similar-looking blue arch monument.[10] Falcom held promotional activities at various real-world locations in Tachikawa, including a Tokyo Xanadu-themed menu at the cafe in Books Orion, an actual Japanese bookstore chain with a location in Tachikawa that appears in-game.[11]

The game was released for the PlayStation Vita in Japan on September 30, 2015.[12][13] An English version of the game was not announced for almost a year after its initial Japanese release, leaving the game's fate in the West uncertain at the time. Journalists had considered it as a likely candidate for game localization by Xseed Games, due to their close relationship with Falcom from localizing entries in their Ys and Trails games.[8][14] Other journalists mistook the Xanadu related trademark leaked in January 2015 as a sign of it being translated by XSeed, though this was actually in reference to Xanadu Next.[15]

An enhanced version of the game for the PlayStation 4, Tokyo Xanadu eX+, was released in Japan on September 8, 2016.[16] The PS4 version contains improved graphical fidelity and an improved frame rate, as well as additional story content in the form of extra side-stories and post-game content.[16] Aksys Games got publishing rights for localizing the Vita version of the game in English, which was released on June 30, 2017.[17] Additionally, they contracted British games publisher Ghostlight to help port eX+ to Windows, where it was released on December 8.[17][18] A Nintendo Switch port of eX+ was released on June 29, 2023 in Japan, featuring a high-speed mode and all previously released downloadable content.[19] An English release of the Switch version was released on July 25, 2024.[20]

Reception

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Famitsu gave the game a review score of 32/40. The game sold a total of 88,879 retail copies within its first week of release in Japan, topping the software sales charts for that particular week,[25] with over 112,000 being sold within three weeks.[26]

Notes

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  1. ^ Japanese: 東亰ザナドゥ, Hepburn: Tokyo Zanadu

References

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  1. ^ "RPGamer > Tokyo Xanadu". Archived from the original on April 19, 2018. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  2. ^ "Falcom vs the fans". Eurogamer.net. February 14, 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Tokyo Xanadu first screenshots, introduction of Xiphones". TechnoBuffalo. March 2, 2015. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  4. ^ Adam Vitale. "Tokyo Xanadu website opens - first screenshots". Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Falcom announces action RPG Tokyo Xanadu - Gematsu". Gematsu. December 18, 2014. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  6. ^ "Falcom president shares more details on Tokyo Xanadu - Gematsu". Gematsu. December 22, 2014. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  7. ^ "Falcom Announces New Game 'Tokyo Xanadu' for 2015". December 17, 2014. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  8. ^ a b "Tokyo Xanadu is a new Vita RPG from Nihon Falcom". February 27, 2015. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  9. ^ "Tokyo Xanadu Is A Falcom Action RPG Set In Modern Times". Siliconera. December 18, 2014. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  10. ^ "ストーリーや戦闘アクションだけではない『東亰ザナドゥ』の魅力！ 学生らしく放課後のお楽しみを満喫しよう！" [Not just story and combat action: the charm of Tokyo Xanadu! Let's have fun like students after getting out of class!]. PlayStation Blog. September 24, 2015. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  11. ^ "立川にあるゲームソフトメーカー、日本ファルコムの最新作『東亰ザナドゥ』が人気爆発中！" [Tokyo Xanadu, an explosively-popular new work by Tachikawa City game software maker Nihon Falcom]. Ii Ne! Tachikawa!. October 13, 2015. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  12. ^ "Media Create Sales: 9/28/15 – 10/4/15". Gematsu. October 7, 2015.
  13. ^ "Nihon Falcom Unveils PS Vita JRPG Tokyo Xanadu". PlayStation LifeStyle. February 28, 2015. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  14. ^ "Three Promising RPGs Prove that Post-Apocalyptic Tokyo Makes for Great Gaming". USgamer.net. September 19, 2015.
  15. ^ "XSEED Registers a Handful of Domains for Upcoming Japanese Games". TechnoBuffalo. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  16. ^ a b "Tokyo Xanadu eX+ announced for PS4". Gematsu. June 7, 2016. Retrieved June 8, 2016.
  17. ^ a b "Aksys localizing Falcom's Tokyo Xanadu for PS Vita, PC". July 3, 2016.
  18. ^ "Ross Brierley". Twitter. Retrieved July 25, 2017. We're working with Aksys on the PC Port of Tokyo Xanadu :) Falcom are one of my favourite developers, so I'm incredibly excited about this
  19. ^ Romano, Sal (March 17, 2023). "Tokyo Xanadu eX+ coming to Switch on June 29 in Japan". Gematsu. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
  20. ^ Galizio, James. "Tokyo Xanadu eX+ launches for Nintendo Switch on July 25". RPG Site. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
  21. ^ "Tokyo Xanadu for PlayStation Vita Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  22. ^ "Tokyo Xanadu eX+ for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  23. ^ "Famitsu Review Scores: Issue 1399". Gematsu. September 23, 2015. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  24. ^ "Famitsu Review Scores: Issue 1448". Gematsu. August 30, 2016. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  25. ^ "Media Create Sales: 9/28/15 – 10/4/15". Gematsu. October 7, 2015. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  26. ^ Whitehead, Thomas (October 21, 2015). "7th Dragon III Code: VFD Claims Japanese Number One Spot as Nintendo Maintains Momentum". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on October 21, 2015. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
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