Tokyo Xanadu eX+ - PlayStation 4

This game, made by Falcom, the developer of the Legend of Heroes and the Ys series, essentially combines the two together, along with some elements of Persona. It's most similar to Trails of Cold Steel, but with a real-time action combat system resembling Ys VIII Lacrimosa of Dana. It's a fun game to play with a great story, although the story isn't as good as Trails of Cold Steel. This game is more about action and dungeon crawling, with a Persona-like modern school setting.Pros- You can play many different characters, all very fun, likable, and with a unique combat style. You can freely switch between 3 of them on the fly. Only one character is active at any given time, unlike in more recent Ys games. Character upgrading works similar to the Trails series, with an "Orbment", here called a "Xiphone", where you slot different bonuses.- Combat is fun and there are multiple difficulties. I chose Nightmare, which gives Dark Souls level difficulty, at least until you get used to the combat system. At this level, expect to practice a given boss fight, or even dungeon, multiple times before you finally win. As a big plus, unlike Dark Souls, there's an instant retry option for bosses so that you don't waste your time having to run back from the closest save point. There's an even higher level of difficulty called Calamity, and of course multiple easier difficulties if you don't care for the challenge. The boss fights were, for the most part, done well and did not drag on.- A pro for me, Japanese audio is included (in fact, there is no English dub option) and the voice acting is excellent. The text is in English only.- Like in Trails of Cold Steel, most NPCs are named, and have their own mini-stories that progress along with the main plot.- The graphics are vibrant and detailed on the PS4 compared to the Japanese PS Vita version, which I had played originally. The combat is flashy.- Like Trails of Cold Steel, several optional side quests per chapter, along with collectible items that net a larger reward later on.- The PS4 version adds side stories after each chapter (these are not optional) that help develop various characters, including side characters you'll meet later.Cons- The dungeons mostly consist of linear corridors and are not very creative. There were a few more impressive dungeons with interesting elements later in the game, including dungeons with platforming elements, ice or fire floors, etc. but most of those in the early game were lackluster. You can replay all dungeons in order to obtain a higher rating with factors such as time to complete, damage, and treasure chests discovered, taken into account. On the plus side, none of the dungeons are very long and their simplicity works well with the rating system. Adding a little more complexity are bonuses you get for a 100 or 200 consecutive hit combos, but to get those combos you will often have to rely on knowing when to break and not break boxes that will help carry your combo between monsters. Of course, if you don't care about the rating at the end, this won't be appealing.- The translation varies in quality, ranging from top notch to missing the point / failing to communicate the meaning of what was said. Fortunately, this is rare and I've read that it has been improved since the English PS Vita version.- A minor gripe, but if you die in a side story dungeon, you'll have to retry it from the start rather than from a checkpoint. These dungeons also come with a difficulty spike mostly because you only have 1 or 2 characters to work with rather than 3. This isn't a big deal since the dungeons are fairly short but worth mentioning.- At first, the school setting (yet again, like in so many other games) was a turn off but I think this can be overlooked once the characters grow on you.Overall, the game should probably be rated as a 4.5 rather than a 5, especially compared to other Falcom games, like Trails in the Sky, Trails of Cold Steel, and Ys Memories of Celceta. Even so, this game is fun and stands on its own. I also liked the main character here more than Rean from Trails of Cold Steel.In terms of length, this is a 50-80 hour game, depending on how much optional content you do.

This is another half full review for a game that might otherwise receive little exposure, so lets look for them positives!Tokyo Xanadu eX+ is an expanded PS4 version of a PSV game that came out earlier this year, I waited to get this version just to get that bang for that buck! The game is similar to Persona and many Shin Megami games with some high school life sim gameplay, but an even closer comparison would be the Legend of heroes; trails of cold steel series.Story: I'm not really one to give away plot points, but the characters are like-able, more friendly and less rebellious than Persona 5's main cast, although this isn't a bad thing just different, every once in a while I did out loud say how I wished the main protagonist would respond to some other characters snide remarks, but other than wanting to curse out some snotty brat the story is interesting and told in a good enough way to keep the player engaged with the goings on in this world.Gameplay; The game plays out in 2 parts, the earlier mentioned high school life sim, and the combat focused dungeon crawling action segments. I already went over the life sim part, its fun and helps the player build a relationship and interest in some of the games many characters, the dungeon crawl is basic but carries many enjoyable moments to those willing to put in the time, some of the dungeon layouts can be a bit repetitive but it never feels detrimental to the fun of pounding some beasties. There are many systems in place for customizing your characters strengths and covering their weaknesses, which makes grinding fun for those who enjoy grinding (me I love a good grind). Combat is simple at first but over a couple of hours of game play becomes deeper and more satisfying, the flow of combat and the various ways that one can approach mushing up some baddies keeps things more fresh than I expected. You can take out enemies with your basic combo attacks, switch to aerial attacks for rush downs, use ranged magic or 3 different special attacks that allow for some great options when facing challenging foes, you also have the ability to switch between 3 different characters in your squad (only one can be on screen at any given time except in special cases) all with unique skills of their own, this makes finding enemy weaknesses and exploiting them a breeze. All in all the combat and rpg elements in this game are on point, and incredibly close to YS: Lacrimosa of Dana.Graphics: The graphics are standard anime fare, nothing out of the ordinary or jaw dropping, remember the game was originally released for PSV. Though everything meant to be conveyed through this style are done well and look great.Sound: The sountrack in this game is fantastic, done well for the various moods through out the games many moments, I found myself humming along often, the voice acting is Japanese and I don't speak Japanese, so they sound fine to me, you can always turn them off and play old school style, the sound effects for combat are great and very satisfying when your weapon makes contact with a enemy or object as expected from Falcom.Overall: This game is great, I'll always enjoy Falcom games, we seem to be getting more of them lately and I gobble up any that we get here in the states I hope this keeps up because I still get an amazing feeling in the pit of my belly when I play these games like I did when I was a wee babe. Thank you Falcom keep it up and keep it half full.

no booklet thou

This game on pal uk release is deleted title, costs like £150 on cex and same on ebay if you can find a copy as its that rare. I know this game is import American but ps5 plays imports so i bought it. Very good jrpg and very cheap to buy on amazon. Get a copy why you can my advice

Every thing

If you are a Falcom fan and you played the Ys and Trails series then you know what to expect. Great story, good characters and worldbuilding.

Totó