Tokyo Dark Reviews
This merging of Japanese-style visual novels and Western-style adventure games is an intriguing one.
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.
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.
Tokyo Dark is an enjoyable supernatural mystery that holds your attention up until the end, which makes the disappointing execution of the SPIN system a real shame.
An awesome experience for the classic point'n click adventures. Tense, deep and with several ending which makes the player to try again in order to change the consecuences of his acts.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Although the S.P.I.N. system is not without its annoyances the choices that affect Itō's personality make the game engaging and force the player to take the puzzles at a more thoughtful pace instead of strong arming every situation. The downside is that a second playthrough is required in order to have an understanding of the approaching scenes that are out of the player's control and can damage a meter of Itō's S.P.I.N. With a gripping story and overall impressive approach to a unique choice system, Tokyo Dark is a great game that fans of the point-and-click adventures and visual novel genres should get their hands on.
Quite a good show for a new studio. Tasteful presentation and a great sense of atmosphere manage to elevate it above the issues I had with the scope of the game. If you're looking for something spooky to play during the Halloween season, you could definitely do worse. Like whatever new entry in an annual horror series is going to be announced and released in the span of two weeks when October arrives.
A significant step forward in the interactive adventure' genre
Review in Russian | Read full review
At first, Tokyo Dark seems to be little more than a pale replica of better Japanese adventure and horror games. The game's presentation is amateurish, its characters are stereotypical, and its depiction of Tokyo doesn't break any new ground. Thankfully, the game's innovative SPIN system and focus on player choice heightens what would otherwise be an uninspired homage. Tokyo Dark falls well short of greatness, but hardcore point ‘n' clickers looking for something a bit different may want to give the game a stab.
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.
Review in French | Read full review
Cherrymochi's S.P.I.N on the adventure genre makes for a flawed, but compelling psychological thriller.
Although I find myself usually not replaying single-player narrative focused titles, I felt compelled to play through Tokyo Dark multiple times (the first playthrough will take around five hours). Maybe it was the inclusion of the alternate endings or the beautiful stylized visuals combined with a dark and intense narrative. The S.P.I.N. system can severely alter how other characters react to you, making you question your every action.
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.
A flawed but brave take on a traditional genre, and one which oozes enough atmosphere to keep you playing until the credits.
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.
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.
Tokyo Dark is a solid if underwhelming detective noir story. It's good for a diversion but will ultimately leave you wishing it were something more substantial.
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, itprovides a better appreciation for the genre's capabilities.
I can count on one hand the number of times where Tokyo Dark fully takes advantage of its powerful storytelling abilities, and you're left looking for more of them.
Square Enix Collective has picked a strong title to support, and it's one that's wholly deserved it.