Developer: Experience Inc
Publisher: NIS America Inc.
Platforms: Ps Vita, Ps TV
Tested on: Ps Vita
Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy – Review
Published by NIS America Inc, they have a large library of JRPGS among which entries in the Disgaea series. Code Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy is not only a jrpg, but also a dungeon crawler. You’ll be up against wave after wave of monsters trying to figure out what is going on, and where the dangers have originated from.
Story
Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy is about a city where mutated beings called Variants attack innocents and it’s up to the Xth, a special unit specialized with dealing with the threat to clear the city of the monsters. If only the Variants were the problem it might be easy to finish them all off, however with the Variants, portals have appeared into dimensional pockets, and it’s up to the Xth to determine where the portals have sprung from and put a stop to it. The team is made up of high school kids and it makes for some pretty funny moments as they have to leave class to do missions. The teachers and other kids can’t know what your team is up to exactly. The flow of the story is slow and steady and because the story isn’t predictable, you’ll be more engaged in it.
Graphics
Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy has an anime art style. The game has little animations and the only special effects are the hit splats. The only 3D is in the maps. If the developers used at least a modicum of the PS Vita’s power and animate the characters attacks, would make the combat a lot more interesting. The closest thing to a cutscene is the game panning out to show a character. This is a shame, because the game wants to paint a bigger picture and the story really lends to some animated scenes.
Sound
Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy has a decent soundtrack. As you traverse the dungeons you’ll be mostly listening to footsteps. Every door in every dungeon makes the exact same noise and after a while you’ll want to mute that specific sound. The voice acting in the game is really good. This you can switch on and off. At first why you would want to do this, is unclear at first, but as you progress, you’ll notice that the game isn’t fully voice acted. This is a shame as the writing comes to life when you listen to the voices.
Gameplay
Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy is a mix between a traditional JRPG and a dungeon crawler and has two modes when you start up a new game: Basic Mode and Classic Mode. The first is a mode recommended for everyone. You can still enlist new members once you have gotten to grips with the game. The latter is lets you customize you character further and is more for the experienced players to the genre, after a short intro, it dumps you into a member enlist menu. The game still lets you use the default characters, should you wish so. The game has a low learning curve and slowly but certainly ups the difficulty curve later into the game.
Your squad consists of 6 units. Every unit has its perks and fighting style. You’ll have three characters which are versed in the way of the blade, one which buffs your characters and heals them, one damage dealing mage, and lastly a debuffer.
Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy sometimes tells you things will get difficult and you’ll have to be prepared for the worst, and when you do the fight is a push over. Then two fights later the enemies steam roll over you. The star system with which the game indicates difficulty levels of the quests given isn’t always a surefire way to assess the difficulty of the mission.
The PS Vita has a lot of functions to it, yet the game uses the bare minimum. The touch screen on the back goes unused and the front touch screen is only used for navigating the dungeons. You can only use this function on the parts of the maps you’ve explored before, so you can’t use this option for parts of the map you haven’t explored yet. This is a shame, because the screen could have been used to rearrange the members of your team or pick out attacks, but this isn’t possible. As you clear dungeons and kill of Variants you gain experience but it will only be assigned if you charge or heal up your characters in the medical center. As you level up your characters, you’ll gain access to new skills and spells. Every character is equipped with a Blood Code, these give the characters their skills and spells.
As you complete quests you’ll unlock other Blood Codes and change the characters behavior in combat. Apart from having personal skills there are also the Unity skills. Using Unity points, which recharge during fights, you’ll unleash powerful attacks or strengthen your characters during a battle. Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy uses a note system, similar to Dark Souls, which lets you jot down messages and read messages left by other players. Not all Variants are the same.
The XPD, the police department that monitors the activity of Variants, pays attention to the rise of the monsters, and have notified the Xth about the appearance of Wanted Variants. These are more powerful versions and will yield you rewards. If you want to encounter them, then you have to build up a meter. Killing variants will fill up the meter and as it builds, stronger variants will appear and the loot will be better.
Conclusion
One thing is certain JRPGs are laden with content and Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy is no exception to that rule. For new players to the jrpg/dungeon crawler experience, it might be a daunting task to get into the game, but it’s certainly worth looking into, and certainly if you are into JRPGs. That being said, the PS Vita has a lot of power, but the producers and creators of the game haven’t quite used the devices capabilities to the fullest. On the other hand that makes it compatible with the PS TV.
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