Tokyo Dark

Tokyo Dark blends visual novel with point and click to create a terrifically dark story, filled with mystery. With eleven endings and so many choices to make, it goes well beyond the four hours of that first playthrough.

If you’re after a horror-tinged point and click adventure game you really can’t go wrong with Tokyo Dark. The few control niggles you’ll encounter will quickly be cast aside as you put your nose firmly to the floor searching for the next clue, which is surely the hallmark of a great mystery.

Even though I had to eventually look up the other endings after playing the game 1.5 times, it’s fair to say that Tokyo Dark is not just a good game but one unlike you’ve ever played. Whilst the art may make it look like a flash game (besides the occasional anime-style cutscene), it does delve into some pretty testing and philosophical topics, merging them with the paranormal. The characters are interesting and deep; even those with little screen time seem to have complex personalities that can often inform the player of their reactions to certain decisions. The audio design is simply disturbing in the most perfect way – pulling off what I believed only Silent Hill could by actually getting to me through sound alone. And every time you do something the smart way, such as when I managed to get into the Police evidence locker without anyone in the building knowing, you’re rewarded with positive SPIN changes. All of these little pieces come together to form something completely new and intense; I hope to see a lot more like it in the future.

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.

A flawed but brave take on a traditional genre, and one which oozes enough atmosphere to keep you playing until the credits.