Tales from Toyotoki: Arrival of the Witch

Genre: Visual Novel

Players: 1

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Review:

Tales From Toyotoki is a Visual Novel released in 2022 on PC and ported in 2024 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. This game follows a teenage boy, Hikaru, whose family tells him to ship off to the small Okinawan island of Toyotoki where he’ll live with his grandfather. Only, once he arrives there, he finds his grandfather has been gone for five years. As Hikaru faces the prospect of homelessness, he runs into Lilun, a fierce foreign girl living off the land and unfamiliar with the norms of Japanese society (or indeed, even modern technology like electricity and plumbing), but who calls herself a witch and is in possession of extraordinary magical abilities.

Tales From Toyotoki is at its best when exploring the fraught bond these two different teenagers make, as we discover that both come from places where they suffered different kinds of abuse that left Hikaru placating and conflict-averse, and led to Lilun seeing everyone as a potential threat. The story of these two damaged people growing to trust and care for each other is really touching, and I admit I’m a bit disappointed when the story diverges from this central plot element.

The game does feature a handful of other characters, some better than others, and there’s also a fair amount of what feels like padding as Hikaru stumbles his way through learning the ins and outs of living in Toyotoki. Sometimes these moments help to ground the story, sometimes they feel drawn out and unnecessary, and then sometimes the game seems to be attempting humor in a way that I don’t think ever landed for me.

While the localization of the game is mostly okay, it is these humorous moments that tend to be the worst, as it’s confusing exactly what’s going on or why, or whether the things like talking dogs or friendly resident girl Akari’s odd “quests” to help her win a singing contest are actually based in some sort of reality, or an odd story divergence for the sake of whimsy. Either way, they’re tiresome and not at all amusing.

The rest of the presentation is mostly pretty good, using 2D anime-style artwork for the characters that’s pretty nice in front of what appears to be photographic backgrounds that were fed through a Photoshop filter, with a mostly-forgettable soundtrack to back things up. This is joined by some nice-sounding Japanese-language voice acting for the game’s main cast, though this is counter-balanced by some of the more exaggerated moments highlighted with over-the-top sound effects that distract from the scenes more than enhance them.

I should note that if you’re looking for a Visual Novel with strong player choice, this is not that – there are relatively few player choices in this game’s narrative. This is mainly a game to play for its characters, art, and story.

Overall, I think there’s a lot to like in Tales From Toyotoki, but this alternates with stuff that’s frustrating, tiresome, or outright annoying. On balance, I think I’d say the stronger story elements and nice character designs generally outweigh this game’s flaws, but I also think players need to be patient to get through the bad stuff and get to the good stuff. If you’re looking for Visual Novel games you have a wealth of options on Nintendo Switch, and while I don’t think Tales From Toyotoki is a bad choice, I think there are far better options for you.

tl;dr – Tales From Toyotoki is a Visual Novel following the story of a pair of teenagers from very different backgrounds finding themselves alone on the small Okinawan island of Toyotoki. At its strongest, this game has some very nice characters, story moments, and character designs, but it also suffers from frustrating diversions from the interesting parts of the story that make you sit through what feels like fluff and filler. overall, this isn’t a bad Visual Novel, but you have numerous better options out there.

Grade: C+

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