Introduction
Tokyo Xanadu is an action RPG developed by Falcom and published by Aksys Games for the Vita in June 2017, followed by a Playstation 4 and PC port in December of that year called Tokyo Xanadu eX+ (We're playing this version). Aside from the obvious graphical and framerate improvements from the Vita version, eX+ also adds side story missions in between each of the main chapters (which are good), and an entirely new postgame story which is...uh...well, we'll get to that. I'll leave it at "I'm not a fan".
Falcom's stated goal with the game was to create something with a "different feel" than their two flagship series (Ys and Trails), and if you're just looking at the setting they might have succeeded. In its heart, however, Tokyo Xanadu is a Trails game through and through. The vast majority of your time in the game is going to be spent getting intimately familiar with Morimiya City, whether that's through hanging out with your friends, following along with the NPC storylines, or reading through the mountains of in-game books, each of which comes with 5-10 pages of flavor text describing anything from the instruction manual for your phone to a newspaper recap of whatever plot events are going on in the background this week. And they're good words! While Tokyo Xanadu isn't quite the page turner that something like, say, Trails to Zero is, the characterization and connected lore is by far the game's strongest aspect, and the thing it wants you to be spending most of your time with. Somewhat less exciting are the game's dungeons, which are all standalone little areas with their own gimmicks and challenges; it's very "Breath of the Wild shrine-y", for lack of a better way of putting it, while the combat system itself is basically ripped straight out of modern Ys. It's not bad by any means, but it is definitely the least interesting part of the entire package and gets very samey very quickly.
With that explanation out of the way, this LP is going to be a bit different than some of the other ones I've done. We'll still be doing commentary over cutscenes and whatnot, but expect commentary to be a bit more sparse than it might otherwise be. The game isn't dubbed, and there's a lot of conversation so for the most part we'll be letting the game speak for itself. Also, fair warning going in - Falcom is not the kind of developer to hide behind "irony" or "deconstruction" for the most part. When they do something, they do it earnestly; usually by starting extremely cliché before they build to an eight-layer plot twist by the end of the game . I'm telling you this now, because the main setting is a high school anime. Take that as you will.
Joining me on this ride are my good friends ChaosArgate and nine-gear crow, along with a brief appearance by Admiral H. Curtiss along the way. Crow and Argate are both blind, although with how straightforward the game tends to be, that's not really saying much.
Part 1: A Crack in Reality
Part 2: The Anime Singularity
Part 3: Doth Thou Desire the -Power-?
Part 4: A Dungeon Crawling Experience
Part 5: White Shroud
Part 6: Grandpa Kokonoe
Part 7: Saboru and the 3D Pig She-Orcs
Part 8: Hot Fuzz, the Anime
Part 9: Kou Tokisaka, Interior Decorator Extraordinaire
Part 10: The Piss Dungeon
Part 11: The Cell Phone Blacksmiths
Part 12: The Person Sitting Over There
Part 13: Moonlit Garden
Part 14: Girls' Day Out
Part 15: My Cybercrimes
Part 16: Mystery of the Trumpet
Part 17: Read the Phone Manual
Part 18: Rean Bean's Mean Fishing Machine
Part 19: A Knockoff Death Note
Part 20: Geofront Wannabe
Part 21: Fashion Statements
Part 22: When You Give a Nerd a Hammer
Part 23: Living in a Digital World
Part 24: Bang Bang, Pull my Devil Trigger
Part 25: The Dipshit Twins vs. Jun's Amazon Guardians
Part 26: We Have Increased the Anime Quotient
Part 27: Sora's New Shoes
Part 28: Blaming the Victim
Part 29: The Great Detective Kou
Part 30: Behind Enemy Lines
Part 31: Mind Wipe Critical Failure
Part 32: Please Go To Sleep
Part 33: A Blaze of Glory
Part 34: Aki's Drug Den
Part 35: The Suffering of Yuuki Shinomiya
Part 36: Silent Morimiya
Part 37: Kou Tokisaka's Pro Skater
Part 38: Mighty Morimaru and a Rion Rendezvous
Part 39: Top 10 Anime Betrayals
Part 40: Mitsuki Explains it All
Part 41: Player Two Asuka
Part 42: The Crimson Witch
Part 43: The Final Fantasy XIII Experience
Part 44: ONLY an A Rank?
Part 45: Just Stare Into the Light...
Part 46: Eclipse and Chill
Part 47: The Fanservice Episode
Part 48: Second Dinner
Part 49: The Cool, Refreshing Taste of a Dr. Paper
Part 50: The Wall is a Metaphor
Part 51: A Girl and Her Puppy
Part 52: It's Time to Cast "Gun"
Part 53: Tactical Eclipse Drops
Part 54: Thanks For the Date ❤
Part 55: Star of the Show
Part 56: Kou Tokisaka's Combat Extravaganza
Part 57: Father of the Year
Part 58: The Secret, Exciting Life of Mr. Gorou
Part 59: Voice of an Angel
Part 60: Mitsuki Explains it All...Again
Part 61: Ryouta Saves the Day
Part 62: An Idol's Plea
Part 63: Go Dance With the Angels
Part 64: Towa and the TARDIS
Part 65: Relationship Goals
Part 66: Extradimensional Firefighters
Part 67: The Interview
Part 68: Tony Hawk's Midlife Crisis
Part 69: The Evolution of Kawaii-ness in Japanese Anime Character Designs
Part 70: We're Here to Kill Chaos
Part 71: Arctic Abyss
Part 72: Mitsuki Cannot Stop Explaining It All
Part 73: Mr. Gorou's Wild Ride (Part 1)
Part 74: Mr. Gorou's Wild Ride (Part 2)
Part 75: The Very Definitely Final Dungeon
Part 76: Elevate the Tango
Part 77: A Family Affair
Part 78: Gentrification or Genocide?
Part 79: Oops! All Ice Physics
Part 80: Even Ryouta Figured It Out
Part 81: Can We Put Him Back?
Part 82: Welcome to Hell
Part 83: Orange is the New Blue
Part 84: Too Many Bonds
Part 85: May I Offer You a Solar Egg in this Trying Time?
Part 86: SPiKa Hot Spots
Part 87: Storming the Tower
Part 88: Pandora's Islands
Part 89: The Dungeon Now Known as "Box"
Part 90: Shiori Kurashiki and the Existential Tantrum
Part 91: All is a Lie
Part 92: In Search of a "Better" Ending
Part 93: The Local Band Experience
Part 94: Rem's Darkest Secrets
Part 95: Father of the Year, the Sequel
Part 96: Hot Springs Special
Part 97: A Puppy and His Girl
Part 98: A Halloween Hideaway
Part 99: Professional Trick-or-Treaters
Part 100: Oktoberfest Boats
Part 101: Revenge of the Morimaru Dance
Part 102: The Ryouta Redemption Arc
Part 103: The Boundary of Exhaustion
Part 104: The Cutscene Delivery Tube
Part 105: Mr. Kitteh
Part 106: The Incredible Saeki Gorou
Part 107: Get in the Robot, Towa
Part 108: Proactively Stabbing Children
Part 109: The Extradimensional Goatse Hole
Part 110: One Last Loose End
Part 111: Twilight Apostle
Part 112: Sunshine Road