Tokyo Psychodemic

Genre: Graphic Adventure / Visual Novel

Players: 1

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Review:

Tokyo Psychodemic, released in 2024 on PC, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch, is a Graphic Adventure with Visual Novel elements taking place in an alternate-history version of Japan where a viral outbreak in 2020 caused countless deaths and led to social upheaval and… are we sure this is fictional? Joking aside, these events led to political changes, and there was a subsequent incident where a fanatical cult infiltrated government organizations seeking to seize control of… okay, seriously, this is a fictional story, right? Someone didn’t just change the setting of events to Japan and… no? Okay, well anyway…

This game takes place years later, with players taking the role of an unnamed investigator in a secretive investigation looking into suspicious unsolved cases to try and find evidence linking these cases to the aforementioned cult, which your organization believes is still operating behind the scenes in Tokyo. However, to uncover the truth, you’ll need to look into the evidence of the cases you’re presented with, consult with experts in various fields of study, and then cross-reference evidence to find the answers you seek.

In other words, this is one of those games that seeks to give players the feeling of playing a real detective, and to this end, players will look at various forms of evidence, and to portray these the game uses a cross-media presentation. Your claustrophobic room where you do most of your detective work (save for rare occasions where you venture outside to meet someone in person) is presented in 3D which mostly looks okay, save for your cat who constantly gets stuck on the scenery and starts clipping. Story sequences and conversations feature anime-style 2D characters animated in the “paper doll” style, with some nice character designs.

However, the star of the show here has to be the live-action video clips that you’re tasked with reviewing and comparing to other forms of evidence, which helps to lend this game a sense of realism, even if other parts of the game undermine that realism. And these visuals are backed mostly by an understated soundtrack that does a good job building up the mystery and creepy nature of the crimes you’re investigating, and Japanese-language voicework for characters that seems good as far as I can tell.

Okay, but I just talked about this game going on to compromise that realism, so let’s address that. The story here leaves a lot to be desired. The characters here are not very well-established, and interactions are devoid of any sort of personal feel to them. In particular, the main character that you play is never named, shown, or heard, and one almost wonders if it wouldn’t be better if the main character that you play was Tomona, a character who’s consistently with you while you’re working and often directing you what to do next. Why does she even need the player character when she seems to know everything that needs to be done, herself?

However, more to the point, this game is constantly breaking its own logic. Not long into the game, you’ll meet experts in various fields from a hacker to a medical expert to an expert on the occult. You find them via the game’s “dark web”, and are warned that all of them, yourself included, use code names so your identities can’t be traced… yet you all communicate via uncensored video feed. And furthermore, through much of the game, Tokyo Psychodemic can’t seem to decide if the world of the game is one in which occult powers truly exist, and it can’t decide whether its characters believe in those powers.

There are some gameplay issues too, though they’re generally less bothersome. The control scheme is awkward, and takes some real getting used to. The game is also inconsistent in when you can and can’t do certain things with your computer analytical software, and the game can be a bit hand-holdy at times.

Still, despite its plot issues, control issues, and gameplay issues, I still found Tokyo Psychodemic to be a pretty decent Graphic Adventure game, which mostly does a good job putting the player in the role of a crime-solving detective. If that appeals to you and you think you can forgive the flaws I’ve mentioned, I suggest you give this game a chance.

tl;dr – Tokyo Psychodemic is a Graphic Adventure with Visual Novel elements that puts players into the role of a detective trying to crack unsolved cases and possibly tie them to a secretive cult. The game does a good job giving players tools to give them the experience of being a detective, though it falls short with its characters and story, as well as awkward controls and a few gameplay issues. Still, despite these flaws, this is still well worth a look for any aspiring detective.

Grade: B

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