The Makuhari Messe complicated, the venue of the annual Tokyo Recreation Present in Chiba, Japan, consists of half a dozen ginormous buildings, every one with a ground space equal to a few exhibition halls. One in every of these halls occurred to have the Smartphone Recreation Space, which was full of a plethora of cellular video games obtainable for demo.
Whereas a number of video games have been free-to-play choices, corresponding to these from XD Video games and Spark Nexa, my spouse and I have been additionally ready to take a look at varied cubicles with distinctive quirks or merchandise, like Google Play and XReal Japan. Listed below are some memorable moments from our go to.
XD Video games: Etheria: Restart and Go, Go Muffin
Tokyo Recreation Present 2024 ran from September 26 to 29. Though we have been capable of attend all 4 days, it was solely on the third day of the occasion that we received the prospect to go to the Smartphone Recreation Space. We dropped by XD Video games’ sales space as early as 9:30 a.m., effectively earlier than the gates opened for members of the press.
At XD Video games’ sales space, I performed Etheria: Restart, an upcoming free-to-play role-playing recreation that has turn-based tactical fight. Admittedly, I felt misplaced at first, as I used to be taken straight to a few battles with barely any time to know the quirks of every character, identified in-game as Animus. What I finally realized was that characters had an elemental attribute of types, which gave them benefits over particular enemy varieties. You possibly can be taught extra concerning the recreation in our Etheria: Restart preview.
Whereas at XD Video games’ sales space, I used to be additionally capable of strive Go, Go Muffin on a pill gadget. Enjoying as a warrior-type class, I used to be assisted by a cute cat companion. The cartoony visuals have been fairly interesting and the gameplay was comparatively straightforward sufficient to get into. My character made his method by means of lush fields, earlier than encountering quite a few hostile creatures, together with slimes and different wild critters.
Google Play Video games
We subsequent visited Google Play’s large sales space which dominated the complete Smartphone Recreation Space at Tokyo Recreation Present. To be frank, we initially had a difficulty as a result of the employees wouldn’t permit us to enter as we didn’t have Google Play Factors. We finally hashed it out with a number of the organizers who allowed us to take a couple of pictures of the sales space.
So far as we will inform, the Google Play sales space on that day solely allowed VIPs to enter. Principally, you needed to have a sure variety of Google Play Factors, which you’d present to the employees. As soon as inside, you may select to play quite a lot of video games. On this specific occasion, although, I used to be advised that attendees have been enjoying a title known as Diamond Fortress. The target is to discover a 2D inside of a citadel, the place you’d accumulate treasure and keep away from traps. Whether or not you survive for a protracted interval or perish unceremoniously, your rating will get tallied on the finish and also you’re given a prize primarily based on how effectively you probably did.
In the back of the sales space is one other space that additionally required Google Play Factors. This, too, had an assortment of video games obtainable for demo, corresponding to Conflict of Clans, Genshin Impression, Persona 5: The Phantom X, That Time I Bought Reincarnated as a Slime: Isekai Recollections, and Darkish and Darker Cell, to call a couple of.
Spark Nexa: Mission Three Kingdoms and Mission Woolgatherer
We then returned to the primary cluster of cubicles the place I noticed a poster of a well-recognized model: a Chinese language normal in Han Dynasty-era armor. That’s after I received the chance to strive Mission Three Kingdoms from Spark Nexa. This specific providing has a definite Chinese language Shanshui artwork model, nearly akin to a portray on a scroll, which additionally occurred to remind me of the Autumn Dynasty video games that I used to take pleasure in on my iPad.
In Mission Three Kingdoms, I began out by shifting my officer in real-time to satisfy with Yuan Shao, the commander of the allied forces. Sydney Hu, a member of Spark Nexa’s international advertising and marketing group additionally walked me by means of the mechanics, till I used to be capable of set off a turn-based battle. There, my military, which was composed of solely 5 models, needed to combat a dozen enemies. Fortunately, my officers have been greater than as much as the duty. Some had multi-hit assaults, whereas others had therapeutic capabilities. It was even potential to spawn fireplace crates on a number of tiles, which I then ignited to trigger a number of hostiles to get burned to a crisp.
I subsequent checked Mission Woolgatherer, which is a dreamscape-themed, hack-and-slash roguelike providing. The core gameplay entails controlling a personality referred to as a Dream Catcher, accumulating boons and talents known as Echoes. From there, I needed to sort out a number of opponents in dungeon areas, whereas looking for the most effective mixtures to outlive the entire ordeal.
XREAL Japan: Air 2 Extremely and Air 2 Professional
From cellular video games, we now transfer on to devices that mean you can proceed gaming whereas on the go: the Air 2 Extremely and Air 2 Professional. Each augmented actuality (AR) glasses from XREAL Japan supply unmatched ease of use because of excessive decision, as much as 120hz refresh fee, cinematic audio output alongside the temple and temple suggestions parts, and even electrochromic dimming ranges.
PR supervisor Ozaki Daisuke helped us get comfy with the demo. We then wore the AR glasses to play Black Fable: Wukong, an motion title primarily based on Journey to the West that was developed by Recreation Science. I assumed to myself that nothing may shock me, on condition that I’ve already reviewed and guided Black Fable: Wukong on PC. Then, I used to be immediately floored upon seeing the Destined One, a number of enemies, and vivid environments rendered fantastically and seamlessly on the lenses.
Certainly, XREAL Japan’s AR glasses are appropriate with a plethora of platforms, corresponding to a Home windows PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Sequence X/S. Nonetheless, if you have already got handheld gadgets, just like the Nintendo Swap, Steam Deck, ROG Ally, or cellphones, then that is the place the equipment start to redefine gaming whereas on the go, since you may simply plug-and-play by way of any gadget with a USB-C slot.
Regrettably, time constraints and the sheer variety of folks within the queue meant that we have been unable to check the Beam Professional, which is a tool that turns any 2D app from the Google Play Retailer into 3D-aware spatial environments which you can work together with whereas carrying the AR glasses.
Different choices within the Smartphone Recreation Space
Thoughts you, each the third and fourth days of the Tokyo Recreation Present have been thought of public days, which meant a bigger variety of attendees in comparison with the enterprise days. As such, we had little or no time to drop by the opposite cubicles. Nonetheless, we have been ready to take a look at a couple of choices.
First, there’s Whiteout Survival from Century Video games, the place the target is to construct a settlement and collect assets that will help you survive the endless chilly. There’s additionally Apeiron’s Godiverse-themed sales space, which had a big space, together with a gacha reward machine for many who have been capable of check the demos.
Lastly, we headed to Happinet’s sales space which was close by. There, I lastly received the chance to strive a demo of Ender Magnolia: Bloom within the Mist, the sequel to 2021’s Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights, top-of-the-line Metroidvania video games that I’ve performed in recent times. Ender Magnolia is at the moment obtainable as an early entry title on Steam. Nonetheless, it’s additionally anticipated to be launched for the Nintendo Swap down the road.
That does it for our Tokyo Recreation Present 2024 Smartphone Recreation Space roundup. There are definitely a number of titles that ought to pique everybody’s curiosity within the coming months. In any case, we’re completely thrilled to see what subsequent yr’s occasion will carry. For different Tokyo Recreation Present-related protection, you may learn our hands-on impressions of Neverness to Everness, Destiny Set off: The Novita, and Etheria: Restart.
