Falcom make some absolutely fantastic games, but speak to a self-professed “Falcom fan” and they’ll almost certainly only want to talk about the Trails series — or, more likely, “Kiseki”, because as we all know, referring to something with its original Japanese title rather than a widely accepted localised version makes you a Better Fan Of The Thing.

That’s a real pity, because while Trails is an amazing series — and one I’m fully intending to binge at some point, right from Trails in the Sky through to Trails Through Daybreak and beyond — Falcom is far from a one-trick pony. There’s the Ys series, for starters, which we’ve already talked about at length on this here site, and then there’s “everything else”.

Tokyo Xanadu eX+, of course, falls into this latter category. It’s technically part of the Xanadu series, but Falcom’s intentions for this game mean that it might as well be considered as its own self-contained thing, and as such can be enjoyed completely on its own merits. So let’s take a closer look!

A bit of history for those curious, first of all. The original Xanadu is a 1985 Falcom title that is technically part of the company’s Dragon Slayer series — the second entry, to be specific — as is the first entry in the Legend of Heroes series (the sixth Dragon Slayer game)… which in turn subsequently begat the Trails series.

Xanadu is considered one of the foundational entries in the action RPG genre, including real-time action plus the level of depth in character statistics and progression that you would expect from a more “conventional” RPG. It incorporated elements that were, at the time, innovative, such as a karma meter and the inclusion of platforming elements into its exploration gameplay, plus it was one of the earliest games in which equipping new items caused the appearance of the player character to change.

Xanadu was succeeded by a number of sequels and follow-ups, including the Hudson-developed side story Faxanadu for NES/Famicom, the two The Legend of Xanadu games for PC Engine CD, and Xanadu Next, a game with the curious distinction of being a Japanese N-Gage title that was subsequently (and thankfully) ported to Windows PC. Tokyo Xanadu, meanwhile, first appeared in 2015, ten years after Xanadu Next, and was initially a PlayStation Vita exclusive before being enhanced and ported to PlayStation 4 and Windows PC as Tokyo Xanadu eX+ in 2016, and, nearly ten years later in 2024, Nintendo Switch.

As previously noted, though, Tokyo Xanadu eX+ breaks with so much of the Xanadu series’ tradition that no knowledge of the prior series is needed; instead, it was developed as a specific effort by Falcom to do something a bit different from the fantasy-themed RPGs they were typically known for. Specifically, it is described by Falcom themselves as an “urban myth action RPG”, and is set in a fictional district of Tokyo known as Morimiya, loosely based on the real-world location Tachikawa.

Tokyo Xanadu eX+ unfolds in a parallel existence where Tokyo suffered a huge earthquake in 2005, during which a surprisingly large number of people went missing. Ten years later, we pick up the story in a mostly rebuilt society where the nations of the world coming together to offer aid to Tokyo has resulted in what appears to be world peace… but as these things tend to go, matters are not quite that simple.

Protagonist Kou Tokisaka is working late at a part-time job one night when he sees one of his classmates, Asuka Hiiragi, being followed by a pair of miscreants. Fearing for her safety, he tags along behind her, but is surprised to discover shortly after she is waylaid by the troublemakers, a weird red glowing portal opens up and sucks everyone nearby into it. Kou sees Asuka battling against strange monsters and eventually closing the gate, then the next thing he remembers is waking up in his own bed the next morning, his memories of the previous night hazy — but not entirely gone.

The reality is that Kou was drawn into a phenomenon known as the “Eclipse”, and Asuka, as a member of the mysterious organisation “Nemesis”, was dealing with one of the increasingly frequent outbreaks of Eclipse gates around Morimiya.

Not long after, Kou discovers that he, like Asuka, has the ability to wield a Spirit Device, enter the Eclipse and battle the “Greeds” found therein. Asuka, being something of a lone wolf, makes it abundantly clear that she would prefer it if he didn’t try and interfere, but as subsequent Eclipse manifestations start to make the situation increasingly personal for Kou (and, over the course of the game, the other party members who gradually join the main ensemble cast), she has no choice but to accept the outside aid that becomes available. And, as you might expect, she learns something valuable about trusting others in the process.

What then follows is an action RPG that unfolds in a distinctly “episodic” mould — right down to each chapter of the game replaying the game’s main opening titles, as if it were a new episode of an anime series. Each chapter focuses around a particular phenomenon caused by the Eclipse, and usually introduces some new characters; between each chapter are “Side Stories”, which often provide insight into the relationships different characters have with one another outside of the core group, and occasionally cut away to a seemingly unrelated character known as White Shroud.

Each episode unfolds in several distinct sections. They tend to open with a period of “Free Time”, during which Kou is able to explore his school and various locations around Morimiya, picking up a few sidequests along the way, buying new things from the shops and perhaps finding some collectibles such as books. During Free Time, Kou is able to spend “Affinity Shards” to spend a protracted period of time with certain cast members — including those outside of the playable party — and doing so rewards the player with both insight into the relationship between said characters, plus “Spirit Points” for Kou (and any party members involved in the episode) that unlock additional abilities.

The Affinity Shards system takes the place of a time management mechanic in games that adopt a similar format (such as Atlus’ Persona games from Persona 3 onwards), with a key difference being that later in the game, it is actually possible to earn additional Affinity Shards by seeing important but optional sub-events and clearing optional dungeons for the first time. Also in contrast to the Persona series, Kou’s Free Time doesn’t end until you’re good and ready to move on; the game makes a point of making it very clear when certain actions will move the story on and asking you if you’re sure you want to proceed.

The Free Time aspect is where Tokyo Xanadu eX+ really shines. It doesn’t take long for one to warm to the cast of central characters, some of whom have pre-existing relationships with one another from before we joined them, and the whole thing has a really pleasant atmosphere surrounding it. The people who we’re supposed to believe are friends with one another really feel like a genuinely close-knit group, and that group gradually expands as time goes on. Kou himself is also a good protagonist, with his own defining traits; he’s by no means a “perfect” character, but he also doesn’t fall into the classic protagonist trope of being a loner, socially awkward or in some way a bit of a pain.

In fact, Tokyo Xanadu eX+ has a very strong “light novel” feel to it, with the point of the game being as much about the core cast’s interactions with one another as it is about both the “main plot” that is gradually unfolding across chapters, and the “problem of the day” approach found within an individual chapter. The quasi-episodic approach works really well, and makes the game friendly to both long and short play sessions — perhaps this is the game showing its handheld roots, or perhaps it’s just a sensible structure for this type of thing.

Tokyo Xanadu eX+ isn’t trying hard to be super-deep, artsy and philosophical, in contrast to something like the Persona series. Most of the characters are pretty much a case of what you see is what you get, and the core thrust of the Eclipse-related narrative primarily revolves around negative emotions leading to undesirable outcomes. But it’s by no means a lesser work for having less obvious artistic pretensions. The writing and characterisation of the individual cast members is absolutely excellent; the relationships are believable and rarely fall back on anime clichés; and Kou is a good character to inhabit the role of, as he is an interesting fellow with plenty of strings to his bow.

The narrative of the game tackles a variety of themes, tending to focus on a particular incident as the main thrust of each chapter. In one early game chapter, for example, the core conflict is one of one-sided jealousy between two friends and comrades in the school’s karate club, while the next is about an AI-powered fortune-telling app that appears to be delivering eerily accurate (and increasingly frequent) predictions of disasters and injuries befalling various individuals.

There’s a message to each part of the game, in other words, and while these themes are, in an appropriately “light novel” style, relatively lightweight and not too deep, one still gets the sense that there’s plenty of heart and soul in the narrative — and some episodes, such as the aforementioned AI-powered app situation, seem oddly prescient when experienced today; it can be easy to forget that this game is nearly ten years old at the time of writing.

The atmosphere of the game is great, too. Presented in the same sort of simple, clean but finely detailed style seen in the later entries of the Trails series, Tokyo Xanadu eX+ provides a fun take on modern-day Tokyo to wander around and engage with. The areas you can visit include a traditional Meiji-era shopping street, a western-style district filled with fancy boutiques and cafés, a large mall, the area around the station and the entertainment district.

Each area has its own distinct vibe and is populated by NPCs whose dialogue gradually evolves as the game progresses, allowing you to get to know incidental characters and see their own personal arcs unfolding, even if they’re nothing to do with Kou and company’s core quest. Pleasingly, many of these are recorded in the “NiAR” social media app Kou has on his in-game smartphone, with character profiles automatically updated whenever you discover new information about them.

The music that accompanies all this is also excellent. While there are a couple of tracks that veer uncomfortably close to “cut-price Persona” territory, for the most part the game has an excellently modern, urban Japanese feel to it with plenty of bassy beats, jazzy electric piano and catchy tunes. But then anyone familiar with Falcom would doubtless not expect anything less from the company’s excellent sound team.

As for the action RPG side of things, it takes a little while before you actually have your first proper taste of things, but by the time you do you should hopefully be fully engaged with the characters and care about what is going on. The Eclipse dungeons are all mazes filled with a variety of enemies and occasional environmental puzzles to solve; in the early game, these primarily consist of “hit a switch to open a door” but as you progress the game will also incorporate some light platforming in the tradition of earlier Xanadu titles, and sometimes require you to make use of your various skills to traverse the environment as well as attack enemies.

Combat is much more than simple hack and slash. Each character’s weapon is associated with a particular element, and locking on to an enemy immediately tells you what element they’re weak against, allowing you to pick the right character for the job. Three characters can be taken into a dungeon at once; one is considered a “partner” character and can tag in with a press of the triangle button, while the other is in a “support” role and gradually recovers their HP while not actively fighting.

Each character has access to four main methods of attack: a basic melee strike with their weapon (which varies quite considerably according to the weapon in question), a powerful melee attack, a ranged magical attack and a “flying” attack, which usually takes the form of a mid-air multiple-hit attack. Different enemies are weak to different types of attack as well as their elemental weakness, and in some cases you can do things like use the power attacks to break enemy shields and remove resistances.

The power, ranged and flying attacks all use points from a rapidly regenerating Skill Points bar, while hitting foes with the basic attack allows this to fill more quickly, so it’s often a good idea to mix up your attacks, particularly while fighting stronger foes or bosses.

What’s nice about the gradually expanding cast of characters is that despite them all having the same basic lineup of abilities, the actual execution of those abilities is quite different from character to character. Kou’s ranged attack is quite slow but powerful, for example, while Asuka is able to rapidly fire out twin bolts. Likewise, Kou’s power attack is a circular strike that hits enemies all around him, while other characters’ attacks may simply be more focused heavy strikes ahead of themselves.

There are a couple of additional mechanics in the mix, too. EX attacks can be triggered by hitting the R2 button, and tend to be powerful, multi-hit strikes that the character is invincible while they are performing. X-Strikes can lock on to multiple enemies, and are powerful, cinematic attacks. And X-Drive allows you to temporarily call the “Partner” character out to cooperate with you, grants you HP regeneration and access to unlimited skill usage for a short period. As you might expect, all of these need charging up in various ways, usually by collecting glowing orbs from breakable boxes around the dungeons, or simply attacking enemies.

Finally, there’s a dodge roll manoeuvre that includes a “perfect dodge” mechanic if you time it properly, allowing you to completely avoid damage.

Combat is smooth, slick and enjoyable, and switching between characters to take advantage of elemental weaknesses is super-easy. All enemies have distinct attack patterns plus a helpful “glowing red” telegraph to indicate when they’re about to strike, so eventually, in theory, you should be able to clear dungeons without taking any damage at all. And you might actually want to try and do that, since each dungeon has a score and ranking system, where you’re graded based on your time taken to get through the dungeon, how much damage you took, how much treasure you found, how many breakable things you broke, how many elemental weaknesses you took advantage of and how long your longest combo was.

With each dungeon being relatively short and snappy, replaying them for better scores is straightforward and quick, meaning that heading back to earn more experience or materials is a breeze. And with materials being required for both the game’s cooking system (which can result in considerably better healing items than those found in the shops) and the weapon upgrade system, you’ll need to gather a lot of stuff over the course of the game.

Tokyo Xanadu eX+ is an absolute pleasure to play. It’s much more than being a one-trick pony, and it does enough to distinguish itself from other games operating in a similar space (such as the aforementioned Persona series, which, unsurprisingly, the game is frequently compared to) rather than coming across as a simple clone. It’s got a thoroughly likable cast, a very pleasant atmosphere, a compelling story and a sensible, well-implemented structure. If you’re a Falcom fan who hasn’t put any time into this, for shame. And if you’re just someone who likes good games, I can heartily recommend it.

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