Riding a train can be a bit of an experience sometimes. The delightful seat neighbour who sadly left their headphones at home, the delicious stench of hot food, the petulant child that’s using the carriage as sports day training. Every journey is an adventure. For Anne, the protagonist in Tokyo Scramble, her train ride is certainly an experience.
Instead of pulling up at a station and meeting friends, Anne’s train falls into a sinkhole deep underground. Can’t park here, mate. Miraculously the Tokyo Scramble protagonist survives, awakening in a cavern that feels almost post-apocalyptic. Display board LEDs and ticket machines buzz in the distance, random city sculptures have also fallen through the cracks. It’s not quite the cocktail bar catch-up the teenager was expecting.
Stepping through the rubble, Anne muses, “where are the other passengers?” speaking out loud into the void. It’s quiet. Yes, almost too quiet. Within seconds, a dinosaur appears and it’s not a green, apple-gobbling Nintendo one either. It senses a delicious lunch. Dashing into a contained carriage and crouching out of sight puts the beast off the human scent. Hopefully that’s a one-off, right? Sorry, Anne, not quite.
That’s exactly what the Tokyo Scramble concept is: staying alive and sneaking past unrelenting creatures in the dark. Dinosaur-like guards called “Zinos” patrol this subterranean land, intrigued by the lights and sounds of the human world that’s suddenly invaded their space. Anne doesn’t have a Resident Evil style pistol to fend off these new predators and instead must patiently try to find a path forward and up.
Patience really is the key word here as this Nintendo Switch 2 game is a stealth game. A sole button crouches to reduce noise and reduce Anne’s heart rate. Running, if there is a moment, is possible – but limited to short bursts before the protagonist slows down to a stop. Once spotted it’s practically, but not always, game over. These scaly, and oddly hairy, foes are rather fast. Probably a little hangry, too. A quick dash sometimes works, especially if it’s the 100th re-attempt at a particular section. Ignore the game’s key selling point and just hope for the best.
That’s where a potentially clever sneaking concept falls short in Tokyo Scramble. The dino-folk do plod about in what appear to be some sort of pattern, like the soldiers in Zelda: Ocarina of Time. With careful planning and quick reactions, it should be possible to learn patterns as best as possible and sneak on by. The reality is that these beasts can be unpredictable, making reattempts quickly become more of a chore. Unless you’re Sam Neill or Jeff Goldblum, there will probably be quite a few re-attempts. Okay, a lot.
Unpredictability, of course, can be a good thing if the game accounts for it well, giving flexibility to players to adapt. Once spotted, though, it really is a case of trying to run for safety or just accepting that Anne is, well, dinner. There are mechanics that are introduced via a smartwatch to manipulate the environment, which does help mix up the monotony. A quick flash is used to stun dinosaurs, and a remote trigger can switch on distracting objects. These moments are more interesting, where it becomes better structured and with more purpose. Sections with a sole beast and switches that need triggering are far more enjoyable, offering relief from the monster mazes. Unfortunately, these really are moments, quick glimmers, in Tokyo Scramble.
The game’s campaign takes place over several different chapters, each with several checkpoints – essential for retrying each portion over and over to pull through. Fortunately, it isn’t just hordes of velociraptors, sorry, zelociraptors – there are other beasts craving their share of human grub. A bat has incredible hearing but not the best eyesight, whereas goosebump-inducing giant mantis rely primarily on vision. Scorpions and fish also rock up. Eventually it’s a medley of monsters that lurk about and its time to put those lessons learnt to the test! Unlike games like Alien: Isolation and Amnesia, the mood and pacing just isn’t there, unfortunately.
Scaly lizard chums aside, some of the other monsters are Anne’s delightful friends. They remain safe above ground and occasionally send text messages when there’s a phone signal – often at checkpoints or at the end of a segment. Despite the protagonist being in mortal peril, these delightful pals continue talking as normal, ignoring the severity of monsters lurking below the surface. Yes, Anne is late for the party, for very good reason! Even she is a little nonchalant about the whole situation. A stealth game really does rely heavily on reward, a pay-off for patience. Is it worth the slog of retrying sections repeatedly? Short answer? No, not really.
Tokyo Scramble is pitched as a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive, a game that really should have taken full advantage of the latest hardware. To be blunt, it doesn’t quite hit the mark. Textures and lighting are flat, leading to clear exit paths being tricky to find at times. The squad of dino are modelled well but suffer from bizarre framerate drops when in the distance – breaking the immersion as they look rather amusing. Like an animated GIF being delivered on a 56k dial-up modem, these dinosaurs and their environment feel ancient – in a bad way.
