[Review] VR Adventure Reimagined for Switch with Anime-Like World in "Tokyo Chronos & Alt Deus: Beyond Chronos Twin Pack"

Tokyo Chronos & Alt Deus: Beyond Chronos Twin Pack is an adventure game released on August 1, 2024 that combines the 2019 VR mystery adventure game Tokyo Chronos and the 2020 VR interactive story action game Alt Deus: The Beyond Chronos" to the Nintendo Switch, and the two titles together as a pack.

The two titles are highly regarded by VR game players as "visual novels that can be enjoyed with the realistic sensation of VR" and "anime that can be experienced," which is good news for those who have heard of them but have been unable to play them due to lack of VR equipment. In addition to being controllable with either a controller or touch screen, the presentation and UI (user interface) have been optimized for the Nintendo Switch.

Since the story of both titles is important, it is not possible to talk about what happens next in this paper. In short, there are no spoilers in this paper, so please feel free to continue reading.

Experience the Drama of "Tokyo Chronos" Set in Uninhabited Shibuya

The setting of "Tokyo Chronos" is an uninhabited Shibuya in 2018. The main character, Kyoke Sakurai (CV: Yusho Kamimura), is reunited with his childhood friends here. It is an unusual situation, but no one remembers why Shibuya has become uninhabited or why they are the only ones in this place. Kyoisuke and his friends are at a loss, but suddenly, the words "I am dead, who is the culprit?" are projected on the wall of the building. is suddenly projected on the wall of a building. Shibuya has become a "Chronos World" closed off by a mysterious force, and they cannot escape unless they find the culprit.

The story is filled with a strong Nikaido Hanarei (CV: Yui Ishikawa), a genius physicist Yuria Higashikuni (CV: Naoko Yuzuki), a photography hobbyist Yu Momono (CV: Kido Kiwuki), Sai Kamiya (CV: Park Norumi), who has excellent abilities and even uses her parents' power to deal with problems, and Ai Ryokaku (CV: Sakurai Oori), who has absolute trust in him, as well as a group of people with strong human qualities, including the youngest daughter, Yuria, who has a strong sense of humor and is a genius. Shiori Sakurai), Tetsu Kageyama (CV: Yuki Kaji), who can empathize with others' feelings, and the cheerful mood-maker Sota Machikoji (CV: Keisuke Ueda). Even though they have been estranged for some time now, Kyoisuke cannot believe they are capable of killing people. While everyone is searching for a way out, Lowe (CV: Ryohei Kimura), a boy who claims to be the eighth childhood friend that no one remembers, appears and confuses everyone with his taunting attitude. ......

While most VR games at the time offered action and unusual experiences, this title is unique in that it focuses on the story. In the delicate relationship of estranged childhood friends, you have to wonder if the other person is a murderer. The reunion amidst a certain mixture of nostalgia and awkwardness is something everyone remembers, and it evokes empathy in the player.

The setting is also interesting, as Shibuya becomes a supernaturally closed space, empty except for Kyo-suke and his childhood friends. Kyo-suke and his friends scavenge for supplies in an unoccupied store, set up a table (brought from the nearby Tokyu Store) at an empty scramble crossing, and cook curry as if they were in a camping camp. They would handle as they pleased the products displayed in the city to stimulate their desires, and monopolize the scramble intersection, which is always full of people. It's like a child's idea, but that's why this moment is so precious and emotional for the player. As children, we all thought that the bonds of camaraderie and the joy of camping would last forever. However, later life experience reminds us that these moments will end someday. Hence the nostalgia for unexpected reunions and good times.

As a VR game by nature, it is also important to focus on the real-life presence of childhood friends. Everyone is portrayed as realistic in scale, and the way they surround Kyoisuke has the comfort of a large elementary school group. There are scenes in which childhood friends approach Kyoisuke, adding to the sense of realism (this is not a VR game, however. (However, it should be noted that this is not a VR game, and a normal display will not be able to fully reproduce the production intent of the original VR game).

The voice acting is superb, and should appeal to those who enjoy anime.

Will the childhood friends be able to find the culprit and escape "Kronos World"? If you are curious, please play the game yourself.

Altodeus: Beyond Kronos" is an intense science fiction game that takes place in Shibuya, an underground city recreated in the future.

Alt Deus: Beyond Chronos" takes place 300 years after "Tokyo Chronos. The world has been attacked by Meteora, a super-giant creature, and the human race has fled to an underground city. The main character, Chloe (CV: Akari Kito), fights against "Meteora" by driving "Alto Macchia," a huge humanoid city defense weapon. What drives her is not love for humanity or a sense of mission, but only a desire for revenge. She continues to fight today to kill Meteora, who ate her best friend Koko (CV: Kaya Okuno), with her own hands. ......

If "Tokyo Chronos" is a "visual novel that can be enjoyed with the realism of VR," "Alt Deus: Beyond Chronos" is an "anime to experience.

One of the main attractions is the VR game-like experience of piloting the 400 meter tall giant robot "Machia". The player can experience the control of "Machia" from Chloe's first-person point of view, which makes it an anime-like experience.

The player authenticates by placing his or her hand on the floating console in the air and enters the activation code. The outside is projected on the all-sky screen, and Chloe's hand becomes the hand of her beloved "Alto Macchia". The player takes control of the "Mirror Generator" to launch a counterattack against the enemy's attack; the [L][R] stick on the Joy-Con is depressed to grab and combine the two separate railgun parts, and [ZL][ZR] is used to fire. Due to the fact that the game has been ported to a video game console, the experience is not exactly the same as the original VR game, but those who enjoy robot animation will be delighted with the experience.

As in "Tokyo Chronos," the human drama in this film is also heavy. Chloe is a genetically engineered "designed human," and although she is highly capable of fighting, she has little emotion. It is Koko who teaches her joy, anger, sorrow, and the human heart. She is more important to Chloe than anyone else, but she was eaten by Meteora.

Noa (CV: Yumiri Hanamori), an "artificial augmented recognition crystal" who assists in piloting "Alto Macchia," is by her side now, but her presence, a copy of Koko but not quite a likeness, is of no comfort to Chloe. Chloe's hatred for "Meteora" continues to burn, as she continues to dredge up regrets from the past. As the game progresses, the past with Koko and the depth of Chloe's feelings become clearer. Noah is also worried about Chloe and tries to attract her attention in various ways, but his feelings do not reach the half-desperate Chloe. The story is centered on a dead person who does not exist in this world, and the one-way transmission of unrequited feelings between the person who cannot accept death and a copy of the dead person is truly deep. It will be a hit with relationship moe.

Another interesting aspect of this work is that AR-like ideas are incorporated into the worldview. Chloe and the other characters in the film wear the AR device "Glyai" at all times, and what they see is a world in which the real world and AR displays become one. The "Glyai Eye" is equipped with "Libra," an AI that analyzes surrounding conversations to support choices, and when faced with a decision, the choices literally appear before your eyes. In other words, the game incorporates the choices of an adventure game in a natural way.

A.T. (Augmented Tokyo), the underground city where humans live, is a glamorous place, with glittering "textures" (AR advertisements) floating in the city blocks, reminiscent of Shibuya, Tokyo. However, once the user removes the "texture" by manipulating the "glai", the reality of a gray underground city is revealed. People are indulging in "textures" to distract themselves from the painful reality of being chased off the face of the earth by Meteora. This is not a mere fantasy, but a satirical and funny story based on real-life problems such as excessive intervention by AI and the flood of advertisements.

In addition, there are various keywords that are interesting to science fiction readers, making this a work that can be recommended to science fiction lovers as well.