Mysteries of Old Tokyo

Never knew I needed a Where in Tokyo is Carmen Sandiego, but I did and this game is it. Fantastic game, educational and super engaging. Really enjoy it!

“Welcome to the Old Tokyo” is a love letter addressed to the city itself - to its turbulent history, its complex development, and its habit of being reborn and rebuilt every few decades. It’s clear that the developer loves this city and its spirit, and wanted to share that feeling with us. It’s also obvious that he loves trains. The gameplay resembles that of the game “Golden Idol”. You travel around the city in search of POI postcards; then you read and analyze a lot to find keywords that fit the missing sentences in the data entries. That’s the research part; the detective part becomes available if, during your travels, you encounter one of the spirits inhabiting the city. From that point on, you must use the knowledge you’ve gained to catch that ghost in a lie. If you succeed, the ghost will reveal a part of its life story as a reward. [b]Would I recommend it? Definitely yes. [/b] This game is a must-play for anyone who enjoys titles that offer virtual city tours and/or historical excursions as a supplement to the main gameplay. Besides, the gameplay itself is very similar to games like “The Roottrees” or “Golden Idol.” ✅[list] [*] Game doesn't actually feature its own graphics, but rather postcards (provided by the Tokyo City Library along with the corresponding links), current photos (possibly provided by the game's developer) , works of art, some old topographic, and urban planning maps. Almost everything includes links to real websites. [*] UI is great - clear, concise, and easy to use. It also evokes the style of devices from the 1990s. By default, the game runs in CRT mode, allowing you to enjoy the same graphics as if you were playing it back then. [*] Well-optimized, bug free and will run on a potato PC. [*] Tutorial is well-designed. Two missions cover everything you need to know about the game mechanics. There’s also a downloadable manual that you can print out yourself to get something similar to the game manuals from the ’90s. [*] Soundtrack consists mainly jazz-inspired tracks and fits the game well. Soundscape features ambient city noises, and also fits the overall setting perfectly. [*] Main gameplay loop is very similar to The Roottrees. Just like in that game, you analyze the documents you've collected and fill in the entries with specific facts. It's a fun and enjoyable experience, and the gameplay loop itself is quite addictive. [*] Main story is actually well done and doesn't feel overly intrusive. It sort of accompanies us and provides context that we won't fully understand until the end of the game. [*] Spirits do not represent specific, real people, but rather general concepts, factual information, and typical life paths associated with widely recognized archetypes, such as a geisha, a typical Japanese salaryman or a Buddhist monk. Each of them also symbolizes a specific historical period, and their stories offer a glimpse, in a sense, into the daily life of those times. [*] Game does not shy from hard topics. It examines them through the impersonal lens of history – so no excuses, no evasions, no justifications, etc. [*] Game has an additional gameplay mode where you can simply ride the Tokyo subway between different stations. [*] It’s a great educational and promotional tool for the city. The game provides a wealth of information about lesser-known places, figures, customs, culture, religion, daily life, and the region’s history. In my opinion, it does a better job than JNTO. [*] An additional menu dedicated to objects that have played a significant role in the region's development. [*] Main menu includes various interesting trivia as an added bonus. From information about Yoko Ono's grandfather to obscure facts about bridge construction. [*] Achievements are easy to get and tied to the story. [*] Price/length ratio is well balanced. [/list] 😐 When wrapping up certain storylines in the post-game content, the ghosts reuse the same stories that appeared earlier in the game. That’s a bit of a shame, considering we didn’t explore all the locations available in the game. ❌ I think the game should offer hints not only for spirit reports but also for data entries. Or it might be worth adding an option to highlight which fields were filled out incorrectly, because the current method - “2 or fewer errors” - isn’t generally very helpful. Why am I writing about this? Because with some entries, especially those involving determining directions, it often came down to trial and error.

A super fun game to learn about the history of Tokyo. The UI is nostalgic and fun. The main gameplay loop involves investigation, exploration, and then a bit of a knowledge check. There are many real old pictures, postcards, maps, etc of Tokyo that add to the authenticity. One of my favorite features is an opacity slider to compare an old picture from a postcard to the same angle shot today. Super fun! I technically got my copy for free for beta testing, but I immediately bought a copy on release for a friend I think will enjoy it. If you are into casual puzzle/exploration point and click type games (and/or Japan) definitely check this out. PS: Plays great on Steam Deck and on PC with the new Steam Controller.

A nice little game about traversing Tokyo and learning a bit of its history. Puzzles (mostly pointing things on photographs and fitting in proper words to form correct descriptions) are well balanced - not overly difficuly, but also not easy enough to make you fall asleep. The music and overall "old vibe" atmosphere fits perfectly. Would recommend, you'll get around 10 hours of cozy and education out of this one.

A classic edutainment program. Really could have lived on some classroom PC in the past. The tried and tested fill-in-the-blanks data entry and database browsing portions of each day are the heart of [i]Mysteries of Old Tokyo[/i] and the most developed. You have to dig through files, discern information, sometimes convert units, all on your own. These sections were great, and so were the optional "Spirit Reports", which force you to dive even deeper into the material. In other sections a certain "debut-ness" became apparent, where a game developer hasn't learned yet to OPTIMIZE every bit for FUN. For instance, I was surprised the postcards weren't used in more interesting ways. Finding the "parallels" between present and past mostly seemed trivial, small details in the main postcards rarely mattered. The data gathering (where you are out and about), too, could do with some tweaks: Currently you're picking a destination and the PDA marquee text will guide you step by step: Walk to this station, now use this train line, then change tracks... Sure, I could simply not look at the help text, but it wasn't framed as a hint mechanic, so I simply followed the directions, which was not super engaging. Maybe one could incentivize the successful memorization of each journey? In the 90s, if you were planning to head to an unknown destination, prep work was essential: Once you were out and OFFLINE, your A4 printouts were all you had. No GPS. No way to easily look things up on your phone while on the go. And you often noticed that the ideal route you had planned at home didn't quite match up with the reality of being outside.

Cross-reference simulator in Tokyo Cool postcard games An ok game

That's the kind of history lesson in needed in my life! This game is sooo cool and the 90s aesthetic and the fact that it's based on real postcards makes it even better. I also very much appreciate the inclusion of the original Japanese texts and the links to Tokyo Metropolitan Library's website. There's some kind of eerie undertone with all the supernatural activity going on, but the game always manages to stay chill. It's gave me all the time I needed for exploring in my own pace, while keeping that mysterious atmosphere. Above me, the Sky God mocking me for my bad sense of direction. It would be interesting to have an additional "harder" game mode, where taking the shortest route or avoiding mistakes actually mattered. I've never been into history all that much, but Mysteries of Old Tokyo really managed to captivate me. Would love to see similar games set in different parts of Japan or even other parts of the world!

Great idea for a game and great execution. It was all very informative, educational and fun, I took many notes and screenshots that will be very useful when I'll visit Tokyo!

Loved it - 'Edutainment' in the best way. The puzzles aren't particularly challenging, but the vibes are fantastic, and it's informative, and clearly heartfelt in its construction. Wonderful. [spoiler] Plus the eyes appearing when mouse-ing over the armour in the office is very much how I remember easter eggs in 90s software.[/spoiler]

I've played games such as Ms Detective for FM-Towns ages ago, and this game reminds me of this. It's like travelliing both in space and time. If you're into chill point and clicks, culture and history then you'll be at home. The retro aesthetic and the score are also on point for this type of game.