This review contains spoilers
Tokyo Xanadu eX+ is yet another fun game from Nihon Falcom that is kind of an amalgamation of Falcom's works both figuratively and literally. Succeeding Xanadu Next as technically the next Xanadu game, TX ex+ definitely is a product of how small Falcom is as a company. Looking at any gameplay, anyone can tell that TX ex+ uses the same engine as Trails of Cold Steel 1 and 2. Despite that, TX ex+ can hold its own as a game.
Gameplay between TX ex+ is divided into two parts. The first is the exploration of the fictional Japanese city of Morimiya (which some locations based off Tachikawa - the locations of Falcom's headquarters) where the main character Kou Tokisaka goes through city, talking to NPCs, doing sidequests, and spending bonding events with specific characters (akin to Cold Steel's bonding events). The second is the exploration of labyrinths where combat is in real-time (similar to Ys or Nayuta). The player fights through the enemies while being ranked based on damage taken, treasures collected, how fast you completed the stage, and how many were slain. All these labyrinths usually end in a boss fight that progresses the story.
Other miscellaneous features in regards to gameplay is first the equipment slots that affect the damage output or elemental buffs to your characters. Second is Kou's character stats between Courage, Wisdom, and Virtue. Wisdom is raised through reading any books or making the correct responses during the story. Virtue is raised through just simply completing the sidequests. Finally, courage is raised through the amount of good rankings you make in the stages. This is important as you need a minimum of 8/15 stars in order to be allowed to do the game's Epilogue, though I do think raising them are easy to do by simply playing the game and doing some of the content along the way. Finally, you got the friend logs where you can get character pages from progressing the story or finding them through talking the NPCs or completing quests.
OST for the game is solid. While I think Cold Steel 1 and 2 had the stronger soundtracks, TX eX+ has pretty good bangers that fit well with the moments that are played between cutscenes and gameplay.
The story and characters are all pretty entertaining if cliche by the standards of how Falcom write their story. Hell, if you played some Trails and Ys games, you'll notice how some plot points and moments are copied from them or how those games copied those plot points from TX eX+.
The game is split into 8 chapters, an intermission, several side chapters, the epilogue chapter, and the After Story (which it and the side chapters are exclusive to the eX+ version). The stories all follow a specific formula where you're be introduced to a character or element that'll later become relevant to the chapter, Kou gets a free day that has him do his bonding events, and then the story eventually progresses to where Kou and the team investigate Eclipse related incidents that end with that introduced characters and element playing out with a major boss fight in the end. Once the main chapter ends, the side chapters begins where the focus is away from Kou in order to give the other playable characters their moments for development. They all end with them completing a stage (which all leads to what happens in the After Story). While the pacing becomes repetitive, the game's story is pretty entertaining and intriguing enough that made me want to continue.
As for the characters, they were all enjoyable and well-written in their personal development. Just like the Liberl Team from Trails in the Sky and the SSS from the Crossbell arc, the Xanadu Research Club (X.R.C.) had great chemistry with each other and the story doesn't solely revolve around Kou (a point it has over Cold Steel). Speaking of Kou, I did like him a lot more as than I initially thought. His art makes him look like some edgelord / emo kid, but he really is just a chill dude that has the same resolve as Trails protags to help people while also have the funny savage remarks and isn't actually a dense dude. The same could be said for all the other playable characters and supporting cast though my favorites had to be between Yuuki, Shio, and Rion. Overall, the characters was a massive positive for a game that could've been a one-time thing. Also, a Towa exists and that means there is a multiverse within Falcom.
In terms of negatives, the pacing with the main and side chapters is repetitive to some extent and some of the bosses are pretty annoying. The default controls were way too awkward to play the game efficiently that I remapped the controls similar to how I play the Ys games (L1 as my Skill button, circle to jump, square to switch characters, and triangle to lock-on enemies). Some of the translation (especially the second half) has some grammatical errors and for some reason refers Cthulhu Mythos a lot. Finally, while I did ultimately like the After Story, it does become exhausting that the endgame of TX ex+ becomes dragged out since I did like the default epilogue ending more than the actual After Story ending.
In conclusion, Tokyo Xanadu eX+ is a banger game that shouldn't be viewed as a lesser Persona game nor a lesser Cold Steel. It stands well on its own and the game honors Falcom through the many references it shows in ingame stores and through specific plot elements. Also, the opening is a snuffing banger and easily beats out Cold Steel III and IV's openings in animation and music. A solid 4/5.
Gameplay between TX ex+ is divided into two parts. The first is the exploration of the fictional Japanese city of Morimiya (which some locations based off Tachikawa - the locations of Falcom's headquarters) where the main character Kou Tokisaka goes through city, talking to NPCs, doing sidequests, and spending bonding events with specific characters (akin to Cold Steel's bonding events). The second is the exploration of labyrinths where combat is in real-time (similar to Ys or Nayuta). The player fights through the enemies while being ranked based on damage taken, treasures collected, how fast you completed the stage, and how many were slain. All these labyrinths usually end in a boss fight that progresses the story.
Other miscellaneous features in regards to gameplay is first the equipment slots that affect the damage output or elemental buffs to your characters. Second is Kou's character stats between Courage, Wisdom, and Virtue. Wisdom is raised through reading any books or making the correct responses during the story. Virtue is raised through just simply completing the sidequests. Finally, courage is raised through the amount of good rankings you make in the stages. This is important as you need a minimum of 8/15 stars in order to be allowed to do the game's Epilogue, though I do think raising them are easy to do by simply playing the game and doing some of the content along the way. Finally, you got the friend logs where you can get character pages from progressing the story or finding them through talking the NPCs or completing quests.
OST for the game is solid. While I think Cold Steel 1 and 2 had the stronger soundtracks, TX eX+ has pretty good bangers that fit well with the moments that are played between cutscenes and gameplay.
The story and characters are all pretty entertaining if cliche by the standards of how Falcom write their story. Hell, if you played some Trails and Ys games, you'll notice how some plot points and moments are copied from them or how those games copied those plot points from TX eX+.
The game is split into 8 chapters, an intermission, several side chapters, the epilogue chapter, and the After Story (which it and the side chapters are exclusive to the eX+ version). The stories all follow a specific formula where you're be introduced to a character or element that'll later become relevant to the chapter, Kou gets a free day that has him do his bonding events, and then the story eventually progresses to where Kou and the team investigate Eclipse related incidents that end with that introduced characters and element playing out with a major boss fight in the end. Once the main chapter ends, the side chapters begins where the focus is away from Kou in order to give the other playable characters their moments for development. They all end with them completing a stage (which all leads to what happens in the After Story). While the pacing becomes repetitive, the game's story is pretty entertaining and intriguing enough that made me want to continue.
As for the characters, they were all enjoyable and well-written in their personal development. Just like the Liberl Team from Trails in the Sky and the SSS from the Crossbell arc, the Xanadu Research Club (X.R.C.) had great chemistry with each other and the story doesn't solely revolve around Kou (a point it has over Cold Steel). Speaking of Kou, I did like him a lot more as than I initially thought. His art makes him look like some edgelord / emo kid, but he really is just a chill dude that has the same resolve as Trails protags to help people while also have the funny savage remarks and isn't actually a dense dude. The same could be said for all the other playable characters and supporting cast though my favorites had to be between Yuuki, Shio, and Rion. Overall, the characters was a massive positive for a game that could've been a one-time thing. Also, a Towa exists and that means there is a multiverse within Falcom.
In terms of negatives, the pacing with the main and side chapters is repetitive to some extent and some of the bosses are pretty annoying. The default controls were way too awkward to play the game efficiently that I remapped the controls similar to how I play the Ys games (L1 as my Skill button, circle to jump, square to switch characters, and triangle to lock-on enemies). Some of the translation (especially the second half) has some grammatical errors and for some reason refers Cthulhu Mythos a lot. Finally, while I did ultimately like the After Story, it does become exhausting that the endgame of TX ex+ becomes dragged out since I did like the default epilogue ending more than the actual After Story ending.
In conclusion, Tokyo Xanadu eX+ is a banger game that shouldn't be viewed as a lesser Persona game nor a lesser Cold Steel. It stands well on its own and the game honors Falcom through the many references it shows in ingame stores and through specific plot elements. Also, the opening is a snuffing banger and easily beats out Cold Steel III and IV's openings in animation and music. A solid 4/5.