Tokyo Dark offers a powerful player experience, having them solve the crime on their own terms, whatever those may be, and deal with the consequences in immediate, unsettling ways.
Overall, Tokyo Dark stands as yet another impressive and surprisingly gripping entry into Square Enix Collective’s portfolio of diverse titles, given its scale but more prominently its tone. One that executes the seemingly-impossible task of fusing the elegance of traditional point-and-click gameplay with the engaging story-telling of a visual novel. Doing so in a way that reaps the beneficial joy of both genres, yet still making sure to ask many a question to its player on what the next logical step should be. While it doesn’t re-imagine or reinvent the conventions, Cherrymochi’s take on the choice-driven style of play — fed notably through the lens of its uneasy Tokyo setting — makes this a must for either community. Be it those of the point-and-click sway, the visual novel variant or perhaps neither of the two. Because even if your decision in-game turns out to be the wrong one, there are plenty of twists and turns to discover in Tokyo Dark‘s hybrid of narrative and investigative gameplay to make the experience all that more focused, all that more perplexing, but ultimately, fittingly satisfying to resolve.
- Amazing soundtrack
- Loved the writing, all characters had a distinct voice. Ito's monologues were powerful.
- Story was really intriguing, I rarely replay games for multiple endings but I absolutely did for this one.
- Beautiful background art and cool character designs.
- Horror elements were fantastic, genuinely creepy.
- Super fun to have so much choice in this game. Different dialogues appear for different choices you make throughout the entire game, not just one section.
- Overall, a highly enjoyable experience that makes me want to get all the achievements, which to me is the sign of a fantastic game. Would definitely recommend if you are into horror/thriller stories in general!
An enjoyable thriller visual novel with a bit of point and click puzzle elements to it. Both the story and characters are interesting. There are multiple endings and getting to a normal ending should take about four hours.
The one major negative I would point out to this game is the problematic New Game+ and skipping of dialog you have already read. There are multiple endings (and one you only get with New Game+) and only maybe 10% of the dialogue is skippable making getting the other endings a serious drag. "The Cat God's Blessing" ending is the most difficult to obtain but I found it enjoyable despite the painful amount of clicking required to skip through dialog I already have read.
The game can be a bit buggy at times as well with one of the issues being able to click on dialog hidden dialog choices you shouldn't be able to use.
Tokyo Dark serves as a very good primer for those who are either curious about the visual novel genre or just want more to do than click through text boxes. The multiple endings are certainly a tempting thing for completionists, while the short runtime makes it so that the journey to the endings doesn't feel so tiring. Though most of the journey is rather linear and there's a significant lack of puzzles, the various choices at your disposal and needing to actually move to the spots gives you more to do than idle mouse-clicking. More importantly, the story is engaging from beginning to end, so you'll want to see the various paths along the way. While Tokyo Dark may not drive players toward the visual novel genre, it provides a better appreciation for the genre's capabilities.
Although falling short of its full potential, Tokyo Dark tells an intriguing mystery story and nicely integrates elements of both western and eastern cultures, combining point-and-click adventure-style exploration and simple puzzles with visual novel-length conversations and multiple endings, some more satisfying than others.
With its lovely visuals, grim atmosphere, compelling story and well-crafted system of choices that makes us go for more after the first run, Tokyo Dark is game that's worth the try.
Dreamy yet disturbing, Cherrymochi’s Tokyo Dark keeps its crosshair leveled at a sweet spot between Japanese visual novel and point-and-click adventure. Backed by beautifully illustrated environments and an eclectic soundtrack, Tokyo Dark gives the impression of having been carefully crafted; the creators were thoughtful in how they integrated different elements to evoke a striking ambiance. Featuring supernatural cults, dark family secrets, kawaii cat maids that wax existential and a protagonist who speaks primarily in ellipses, the game nails narrative but misses the mark on a pointless stat system.
- Soundtrack is neither good nor bad
- Writing is surely lacking yet it might have ben worse, I kinda liked SOME of characters but they lack voice-acting
- Story was decent. Nothing too good nor too bad
- Backgrounds weren't bad
- Game is trying to be creepy but is only a little bit
- I'm not sure if my choices mattered, I don't feel like replaying it
- Overall decent game, some my find it intriguing
An unenjoyable thriller visual novel with a bit of point and click puzzle elements to it. Both the story and characters are boring. There are multiple endings and getting to a normal ending should take about four hours.
The one major positive I would point out to this game is the New Game+ and skipping of dialog you have already read. There are multiple endings (and one you only get with New Game+) and only maybe 10% of the dialogue is skippable making getting the other endings a breeze. "The Cat God's Blessing" ending is the most difficult to obtain but I found it enjoyable despite the painful amount of clicking required to skip through dialog I already have read.
The game can be a bit buggy at times as well with one of the issues being able to click on dialog hidden dialog choices you shouldn't be able to use.
- Terrible soundtack
- Absolutely pointless writing, and there's no character voices. Only couple phrases in the beginning
- Story hasn't a single clue, all endings stupid and horrible.
- Backgrounds was like they're painted by an amateur, character designed in typical anime and there wasn't any specific lines.
- Horror elements can scare only a child. Choices doesn't matter at all, and they're were on level of fallout 4 choices.
- Overall, this game is may be quite interesting for people who tired of dating simulators, but still playing them. Not for people, who looking for something special.
SummaryLegend tells of a door deep below Tokyo's sewers. All who enter are lost forever. Detective Ito's partner is missing. Explore Tokyo & uncover the darkness that lays beneath the streets in this Point & Click - meets Visual Novel - narrative adventure that questions the very core of Ito's sanity.