Analysis/Review of a new JPRG (part 5)

The last two elements that really make this JRPG work are story and gameplay balance. A good story is a given—any RPG that lacks story is not going to be very successful--players like to lose themselves and become immersed in an involved storyline that has consequence. I’ve seen some games tack on a story to the gameplay, but the gameplay, in my opinion, should proceed from the story. In Tokyo Xanadu, advancing the story through the different gameplay modes feels very natural. For instance, (without spoiling anything!) some of the characters have to go into a mode that involves exploring a dungeon-like maze while dealing with a variety of enemies. Even the combat stays fresh, with the game rewarding you for using the proper elemental attack strategies against each of the enemies, in addition to the variety of attacks you used and how fast you cleared the stage. Each character in your group has an elemental specialization, but you can only take 3 characters into a dungeon, so you need to strategize and choose characters that would be the most helpful, depending on the monster types in each dungeon. But there's more than just combat and walking around for the different types of gameplay: there is a skateboarding mini-game in the park, an option to advance your character’s wisdom by reading books you can find (which further develop the backstory of the game), there’s a strategy card game you can play, and even a fishing game. One review I read about the game criticized the number of different things you can do in the game, but I don’t see how that’s a detriment—you can do what you want during the unlimited “free time” during the game, and advance the story when you’re ready. There’s a lot more that I didn’t mention, but overall, Tokyo Xanadu does so many things right that I can see myself ranking this game among my favorites. This is the kind of game I’ll be playing for a long time, and enjoying every minute of it!