City of Despair: Shadows Over Tokyo

[quote][url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI_slop][b]Warning: AI Slop[/b][/url] This game is partially or completely made with talentless, soulless AI generated content.[/quote] RPG Maker strikes again! ""City of Despair: Shadows Over Tokyo"" is one of hundreds of low effort RPG Maker flips spamming the store. RPG Maker is such a lame and limited construction kit that, in their own words, "These easy to use tools are simple enough for a child". Most RPG Maker asset flips are just a bunch of canned assets mixed with cringey high school anime club fan fiction. Here, the developer amazingly managed to make something even worse than most flips. Instead of the usual Final Fantasy top down adventure levels, it's just visual novel text between various badly done JRPG fights. The pixelcrap assets are replaced with disgusting AI slop... almost all of this comes across as vibe coded for RPG Maker. It's truly awful. But the cringey high school fan-fiction writing is all there. The argument must be made that construction kit toys like RPG Maker are intended for making small games, toys and demos to pass around with friends, and should never be used as a substitute for professional game development. This AI slop was prompted out by "Succubella Games", known Russian asset flippers with business ties to GamesforGames and Atomic Fabrik (now banned from Steam for the same kind of illegal review manipulation DIG sometimes uses). DIG Games have a known history of trying to scam people into paying them money for someone else's work, through this account or through closely linked/alt accounts. An example of DIG Games doing this is [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1022040]Candy Mandy[/url], which is really "[url=https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/systems/match-3-jelly-garden-kit-43260]Match 3 Jelly Garden Kit[/url]", written by the actual developers, Candy Smith. Also, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1512320]Yabgits: Haunted Cemetery[/url], which is really "[url=https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/packs/block-breaker-template-63173]Block Breaker Template[/url]", developed by Daniel Buckley. Taking this shovelware seriously as if it was a genuine attempt to make a game, it doesn't meet basic minimum requirements that most PC gamers expect as standard. There's no option to change the resolution and no useful graphics tweaks. There's no way to ensure this is running at the native resolution of your display. There's no guarantee this game will look right on any PC as a result of this hamfisted design decision. As mentioned, this features really godawful, "wrong" looking AI slop instead of genuinely and sincerely created game assets. It's hard to say if this was because the developer didn't have the skill to do the job of creating real game assets or couldn't afford to hire someone who does, but it also doesn't matter. What matters is that this looks bad because of that decision. AI slop sticks out like a sore thumb... and it comes across as insulting. There's also the old adage that those who lack the budget and talent to make their own game assets usually lack the budget and talent to do the rest of the job of game development properly, too, and that's glaringly obvious here. The controls can't be customised because the game has such a dumbed down, simplified interface that it's just point and click stuff like a browser/Flash game. The fact that the interface is this dumbed down might be seen as a problem in itself, however... this is a fairly shallow experience if you're the kind of gamer that likes to play games with deep, rich control schemes and interaction. You'll get none of that here. The poor quality of this game is reflected by how many people spent time with it. At the time of this review, SteamDB shows the all-time peak player number was [b]only 2 players[/b]. This is a remarkably low number, and now, the only player activity occurs once or twice a month, presumably someone loading it up to see what it is then quickly uninstalling it. Considering there's over 130 million gamers on Steam and well over 140,000 games for gamers to choose from, the overwhelming lack of interest in this low quality game is to be expected. It's hard to describe this as a game, the focus is more like that of an e-book/visual novel, there's only minor, shallow and uninteresting gameplay elements. The crux of this is to push some very low quality, badly done fan-fiction tier writing, where we see once more a developer fail to understand the importance of "Show, don't tell", and for whatever reason, weren't able to convey their narrative through gameplay, giving us endless lines of badly written e-book text instead. My gaming rig is not a kindle. Now on to pricing and value for gamers. So, should you buy this game? Is this one of the best of the 140,000+ games on Steam? "City of Despair: Shadows Over Tokyo" has the pathetically optimistic price of around $4 USD, it's not worth it given the defects and shortcomings with the product, especially considering the unethical nature of the developer. Gamers who want a good retro JRPG experience would be better off playing the originals, like Final Fantasy, Star Ocean or Chrono Trigger. Ethics aside, given the defects and quality issues with the game, coupled with the unrealistic price, and the questionable ethical nature of the developer and/or their associates (as outlined above), this is impossible to recommend.The use of AI slop is a direct insult to gamers and real, ethical content creators and artists everywhere. [quote][b][url=https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/marketing/profile]Profile Features Limited![/url][/b] Valve have marked this game as "Profile Features Limited" at the time of this review. This is usually caused by poor sales figures and low community acceptance for the game (to date). Until this status changes, this game will not give you +1 to your Game Collector badge count, appear in profile achievements or any other Steam meta-accomplishments, nor can it be displayed in some profile showcases. If these factors are important to you, it may be worth holding off before buying this game.[/quote]

I am trying to be a better person. Well, a better version of myself, anyway. The kind of person who values their time… y’know, the guy knows when to say “no”. And a meaningful component of this self-improvement project is learning when to “nope” a hopeless mess of an “indie”/Steam sub-basement game and move on to [b]anything else[/b] when there are hundreds of games worth playing (in my account alone). And time away from responsibilities, she is precious folks. So, uh, given that preamble... guess what? This right here is a big ol’ honkin’ [u]nope[/u]: no way, no how, not even worth 5 minutes of your time. The ambition is there, I suppose: “City of Despair” tries to mash JRPG, visual novel, and puzzle elements into its creaky-but-sorta-functional RPG Maker UI, all within a vaguely Persona/Jujutsu Kaizen fan-servicey nonsense end of the world at the drop of a dime plot. The main problem here, aside from RPG Maker’s innate deficiencies as a game engine, are that quite literally everything feels AI-generated, and all the moving JRPG parts—overworld, equipment management, turn-based battle, progression—feel hot-glued and duct-taped together. Every member of your party gains a level after every battle, I guess?, although stats and synergies are never explained. Nor is the bizarre inventory system or the almost-intriguing tangrams minigame that undergirds combat. Oh yeah, and the overworld map is stage-based in a “Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, but Neo-Tokyo is under attack” Chat GPT prompt kind of way. So did I pique your interest with these disparate references? I apologize. Allow me to repeat: this game is a damned mess. You want it to make sense, and you might keep playing… but! Read the dialogue. Nobody’s behind the wheel here folks. Install the next game! [b]Pros:[/b] [list] [*] There’s a sketch of an idea of a good Early Access game here. Well, not [b]here[/b], but [i]”here”[/i] [/list] [b]Cons:[/b] [list] [*] I’m overselling to rationalize my 2 hours of gameplay [*] Caveat emptor all sub-indie fanservice gameplay vids

Bon ce jeu est présenté comme un jeu où l'on combat avec des cartes, mais en fait non. On est plutôt en face de quelque chose qui a essayé de réaliser un jeu à la shin mégami tensei, mais en utilisant le moteur de rpg maker. Il en a d'ailleurs toute la thématique, le tokyo dévasté, la rencontre, la collection et la fusion des monstres rencontrés afin d'en créer de plus puissant, etc... Malheureusement ce jeu n'a pas (et de loin) la profondeur de gameplay des jeux dont il s'inspire, et le tag casual dont le jeu est affublé est ici parfaitement justifié, ce qui rend ce jeu très facile et pas très intéressant selon mes goûts. Dommage, l'histoire bien que commençant de façon classique se laissait suivre. A essayer pour voir si cela vous plait, mais pour ma part le réponse est négative.

City of Despair: Shadows Over Tokyo is an indie role-playing game developed by Succubella Games and released on Steam under the unusual publisher credit Looking for publishers, a detail that already hints at the project’s independent and experimental nature. The game places players in a version of Tokyo pushed to the brink of annihilation after a catastrophic meteor strike triggers a massive earthquake, tearing the city apart and opening the door for strange, hostile entities to emerge from the chaos. Rather than focusing on grand political stakes or large-scale military responses, the narrative grounds itself in personal desperation, following a college student named Tristan as he navigates the shattered metropolis in search of someone deeply important to him. The story unfolds as a survival-driven journey through ruined districts, collapsed infrastructure, and areas overrun by supernatural threats. Tristan’s motivation is simple but emotionally direct: to reunite with Takaoka, his beloved, whose fate is unknown after the disaster. Along the way, he is joined by members of an organization known as Force X, whose presence introduces a broader context of resistance and investigation without overshadowing the personal core of the narrative. This balance allows the game to frame the apocalypse not as a spectacle, but as an ongoing ordeal where each encounter and decision feels like another step taken under constant pressure. Gameplay leans heavily into traditional JRPG-inspired systems while layering in its own twists. Combat is turn-based and emphasizes planning and sequencing rather than raw speed. Players are encouraged to think carefully about attack patterns, skill combinations, and party coordination in order to maximize damage and survive increasingly dangerous encounters. The flow of battles rewards foresight, making preparation and understanding enemy behavior just as important as numerical strength. One of the game’s defining mechanical pillars is its monster system. Rather than treating enemies purely as obstacles, City of Despair allows players to capture and fuse monsters, transforming them into allies that can be customized and strengthened over time. This fusion-based progression encourages experimentation, as combining different creatures can result in new abilities, stat distributions, and tactical roles. For players who enjoy system-driven RPGs, this aspect adds depth and replay value, turning combat encounters into opportunities to expand and refine their arsenal rather than simple roadblocks. Equipment also plays a central role in progression. Weapons and gear are not static upgrades but items meant to be improved, enhanced, and optimized as the game progresses. This creates a loop where exploration and combat feed directly into character growth, rewarding players who engage deeply with the game’s systems. Instead of relying solely on leveling, advancement feels tied to how well players understand and utilize the mechanics available to them. Visually, City of Despair: Shadows Over Tokyo adopts an anime-influenced aesthetic that fits comfortably within the JRPG tradition. Character designs are expressive, and environments emphasize destruction and instability, reinforcing the sense of a city that is no longer safe or predictable. While the presentation does not aim for photorealism or blockbuster spectacle, it succeeds in conveying atmosphere through its art direction, enemy designs, and environmental variety. The overall pacing reflects its indie roots. The game steadily introduces new mechanics and challenges rather than overwhelming players early on, but it also expects a degree of patience and curiosity. Those who enjoy unraveling systems, testing combinations, and gradually building power will likely find satisfaction in its structure, while players seeking constant narrative twists or cinematic storytelling may find the experience more subdued. Ultimately, City of Despair: Shadows Over Tokyo is a niche but ambitious RPG that combines personal storytelling with system-heavy progression. Its strength lies in its willingness to let mechanics and atmosphere carry much of the experience, offering players a devastated Tokyo as both a setting and a puzzle to be solved through combat, fusion, and equipment mastery. While it may not have the polish or widespread recognition of larger JRPGs, it stands as a distinctive indie effort that will appeal most to players who value experimentation, customization, and slow-burn survival narratives set against the backdrop of an urban apocalypse. Rating: 6/10

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