This underrated Switch RPG will hold you over until Persona 6

I remember back in 2014 when I was keeping my eye out for any rumor I could find about Persona 5. Having seen the teaser trailers of the game, I was so excited to see it finally release in 2015. That year passed without it launching. When Persona 5 was released in Japan in September 2016, the wait for its April 2017 international release was excruciating. During that time, there was another game that caught my attention: Tokyo Xanadu. Its core gameplay revolved around a slice-of-life school setting and dungeon crawling. Sound familiar?

I was already a big fan of developer Falcom’s games like the Trails and Ys series, so I figured I would play this to hold me over until Persona 5. This was during a time when Japanese and international release dates were staggered due to old localization processes. Nowadays, the entire world can experience games like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on the same release day. Tokyo Xanadu was released in Japan in 2015 for PS Vita, but didn’t release internationally until 2017, a few months after Persona 5. Its enhanced port, Tokyo Xanadu eX+, released later that same year for PC and PS4.

Still, I made time for Tokyo Xanadu eX+ back in 2017 and found it to be a fun action RPG and social sim that has a few unique quirks that set it apart from the series that it’s inspired by. With a Nintendo Switch port out now, it’s the perfect time to check out the RPG while you wait for Persona 6 details.

A flattering imitation

Tokyo Xanadu’s story feels awfully familiar. It takes place in a fictional district of Tokyo called Morimiya City. Our main protagonist, Kou, chases after his classmate, Asuka, as she walks into a strange portal. On the other side, Kou realizes he’s in a nightmarish dimension filled with dangerous monsters, and discovers that Asuka is a special agent tasked with closing down portals. Awakening to his Persona — I mean — Soul Device, he can now fight alongside her.

While Tokyo Xanadu’s opening hours are filled with common anime tropes