An Otaku’s visual novel.
What They Say:
Tokyo School Life is a heart-warming visual novel that allows you to experience a charming summer love story. As an exchange student freshly arrived in Tokyo, you’ll make the acquaintances of Karin, Aoi, and Sakura; three girls with whom you will be spending your vacations. Learn about their quirks, Japanese culture and find your soulmate before the end of the summer!
The Review:
For the most part, visual novels set out solely to deliver a story and/or characters that you are meant to enjoy. Whether or not you decide what happens, those are typically the focus of games like Tokyo School Life. However, Tokyo School Life differs in that it also acts as a nice introduction to the visual novel genre and the Japanese language.
At a glance, Tokyo School Life is your standard romantic comedy visual novel. It takes place in present-day Japan with three main girls that you can romance. The three girls – Sakura, Aoi, and Karin – each fill a different stereotype that fans of the genre and anime will immediately recognize. There’s the tomboy girl who is likable, the tsundere with a secret, and the lovable cute girl who is kindhearted.
But what sets Tokyo School Life apart from the rest is whom you play as. You play as a protagonist is an unspecified foreigner who is visiting Japan as a foreign exchange student. It’s a unique role and one that is easily filled by just about foreign otaku. The character acts wide-eyed and realistically as one who is visiting Japan for the first time might. This certainly allows for an easy transition to step into the shoes of the main character.
But the identity of the protagonist isn’t the end of what makes Tokyo School Life unique. By far, the most interesting and my favorite aspect of the game is the ability to enjoy the entire game in English, Japanese Hiragana, and even Japanese Kanji. The main text at the bottom of the screen is normally displayed in English but you can alternatively display text in the upper left corner in Japanese.
This is fantastic for players (like myself) who are currently learning Japanese or wish to brush up on it. You have the option to only display Hiragana or also include Kanji, depending on your current Japanese level. There are few, if any, games out there like Tokyo School Life that allow you to practice Japanese while still enjoying the game. It’s perfectly set up so that you can cross-reference and figure out the meaning of words you may not know yet at any time.
It’s a great resource for the game but the unfortunate negative is that the game itself does little to stand out beyond this. While the girls are fine, I’ve met them many times before in other characters. Their personalities and development are pretty standard so there aren’t any surprises there to be found. In addition, the font of the game isn’t the best either. It’s rather small and can be slightly challenging to read in handheld mode on Switch.
I wasn’t a fan of the backgrounds for Tokyo School Life either. They’re that Higurashi-like art that looks like real-world locations. On the other hand, though, the character designs for the three main girls is great. Much like with Song of Memories, Tokyo School Life does further the designs for characters.
The three girls are rendered in what looks to be 3D anime style. While they look good already, the animations and expressions they have are terrific. They move and react to everything around them constantly, keeping your eyes fixated on them and never wandering while enjoying the game. Like with Song of Memories, every other visual novel from here on out needs to look to Tokyo School Life when it comes to engaging character animations that keep the player entertained.
Tokyo School Life is available on the North American eShop again! Travel to Japan and experience a sweet love story in this heartwarming visual novel! #NintendoSwitch #Switch #visualnovel #TokyoSchoolLife https://t.co/hnCYPdm6ky pic.twitter.com/IwzYbpOXay
— PQube Games (@PQubeGames) March 8, 2019
In Summary:
Tokyo School Life on its own is mostly unremarkable. The three main girls you can romance and befriend are pretty cliche but interesting enough. Thankfully, though, what makes Tokyo School Life stand out and worth playing is how it furthers the genre as a whole. You can compare and play the entire game in Japanese and English at the same time. In addition, the awesome character designs and animations set the bar high for future visual novels.
Grade: C
Released By: PQube
Developer: M2
MSRP: $14.99
Release Date: February 14, 2019
Platform: Switch (reviewed), PC
This review was done with a review copy provided by the publisher. We are grateful for their continued support.
