BitSummit, Japan’s leading indie games event, was held over the weekend in Kyoto, and among the games showcased was one called Tokyo Stories that has really got my attention.
Developed by Drecom, who are normally in the business of making phone games, it’s a moody adventure game set in Tokyo where, cryptically, “The city continues to tell her story, even after her disappearance.”
The game’s trailer looks fantastic, with an art style that builds its world in 3D, then gives everything a gritty pixel art effect, before smothering it all in some incredibly moody lighting:
Looks amazing, right? By now though, you might also be wondering how the game actually plays, since that trailer was almost entirely made up of cinematic sequences. IGN Japan were at BitSummit, and after a hands-on demo with Tokyo Stories say that it’s built very much like a traditional PS1 game, with a fixed camera perspective that your 3D character walks around in, with most of your time spent simply wandering the city’s streets (you’re locked to a walking speed), exploring and learning about the world around you.
This might be a long shot for older heads here, but if anyone remembers the 2013 PS3 exclusive Rain, you might see some similarities here, and with good reason. Leading development on Tokyo Stories is Yuki Ikeda, who was also director on Rain, and having been working on various projects at Drecom, this is his first all-new game in a decade.
Tokyo Stories is currently slated for PC and “consoles,” with a release date planned for sometime in 2023. If you want to see more on the game, its official Instagram account has some smaller clips, including one that shows how the game’s unique look is achieved:
