Review – Tokyo Scramble – Gamerview

It appeared in the middle of Nintendo’s Direct Partner out of absolutely nothing and has already caused a lot of buzz. The new Switch 2 exclusive piqued the curiosity of some and caused discomfort in others. is full of reasons for such reactions: a train falls into a hole and, in it, Anne comes across Jurassic creatures that are clearly dinosaurs, but wait… with ears? Long hair? The soundtrack makes everything even stranger. Damn, what’s going on here?

Developed by Adglobe and distributed by Binare Haze Interactive, this is a game that mixes survival, puzzles and action, in which you need to find a safe exit after being involved in a serious train accident that puts you in the depths of Tokyo. At first glance, the game may confuse its players, after all, it is not equipped with eye-catching visuals and features. At the same time, we are hooked by the strangeness and it is with this that Tokyo Scramble manages to stand out.

Surviving in the rubble of Tokyo Scramble

Anne is a young student who would never have imagined being part of the news, especially as a missing person. On an ordinary day, going to meet her friends, she is surprised by the train collapsing into a huge crack. The curiosity begins when she appears to be the only survivor, although there are no other bodies at the scene of the accident.

As Anne regains consciousness, concern emerges in her dialogues, even though they don’t contain as much emotion as they could. Visually, the character also does not present animations that reinforce these feelings. Later on, we discover that it’s not just the train: there’s a vast abandoned city underground. Has all this collapsed now or has it been here a long time? That’s what we need to discover as we deal with the hostility of the place.

Instead of other survivors, what we find in these ruins are the Zinos, the charismatic nickname that Anne gives to the creatures scattered there. As she gets to know them, she records notes and names the animals. Dinosaurs with ears, for example, are called Goblins; the huge big-eared bat is the Lurker; Giant praying mantises are called Esguiomantis. In addition to them, there are others to discover, the underground is full of creatures, each with different abilities.

Nada de sweet dreams or beautiful nightmares

The Goblin is attentive to the slightest movements and noises; the Lurker has powerful hearing; Esguiomantis, on the other hand, has very keen vision, in addition to emitting a frightening sound. There are also monsters that resemble sharks, a huge hunting bird, an immense rock turtle that blocks passages, creatures that resemble scorpions and even the majestic (and bizarre) Shogun, a hairy dinosaur.

In practice, the animals are curious about the wreckage and constantly patrol the area. Obviously, you’re not welcome, so you can’t go around messing around.

Knowing this, Anne needs to tread very carefully, almost like that feeling of exploring the Sevastopol station in Alien: Isolation. The climate is completely desolate and insecure. There is no exact path to follow and each step or quickened breath can give away your location. All of this creates a genuine feeling of claustrophobia and tension, which works very well within the proposal. The game requires constant attention to detail.

Tokyo Scramble, however, does something different despite the imminent danger. Anne is equipped with Diana, a smartwatch that becomes her main survival tool. With it, it is possible to activate numerous applications that interact with objects in the scene. Despite being damaged, many still have the energy to execute commands.

The possibilities are varied and, in a way, unpredictable. It was a surprise to discover that activating an escalator could attract a dinosaur and make it get stuck there, running as if it were on a treadmill. The result is hilarious: the animal ran more than I did in my entire life on the gym treadmills.

Fatality or Friendship: which will you choose?

And it doesn’t stop there. There are elevators that can be used against enemies, forklifts to move objects, soda machines that serve as distractions, deafening alarms, powerful fans that unbalance creatures and light sources that can temporarily blind them. The watch also has a flash with this function, but using it consumes battery.

Resource management is simple but essential. We need to save energy to use the flash. Even though there are three battery levels, we only started with one. Exploring carefully, we find charging stations that reward extra energy points. It is also possible to find access points that allow you to improve applications, expand the use of flash and download messages from the world above.

Another important resource is breathing. Running not only alerts enemies, it also speeds up Anne’s heartbeat, making her tired. Out of breath, she becomes sluggish and even more vulnerable. Every action needs to be thought out.

In the end, the puzzles and creative solutions to deal with enemies make for a good laugh. At first this bothered me, but I soon found myself laughing, waiting for the next challenge and the bizarre way it would be resolved. Tokyo Scramble balances horror with a hint of humor, almost like a use of “Riddikulus”, remember?

Dino Crisis meets Home Alone

Perhaps what really bothers us are the chats with Anne’s friends. From time to time, we follow the messages exchanged between them. They clearly disbelieve what she is facing, but the most absurd thing is the calmness with which they deal with the situation, with phrases like: “You can handle it, punch them.” The worst thing is that Anne herself doesn’t show much concern, which weakens the dramatic weight of the story.

The visuals and animations could also be more elaborate. They’re not bad, there are interesting effects, but the movements of the creatures, especially the dinosaurs, sound robotic. The same goes for Anne’s reactions, which don’t always match her lines. Still, the atmosphere is consistent and performance on both laptop and TV is pretty solid.

There is the possibility of playing the game with friends thanks to Gameshare. It is possible to share control of the character and the camera with up to four people, on a local network or online. The best part: guests don’t need to own the game, as the session is broadcast. It is possible to designate functions such as movement, actions, use of applications, camera or total control, while the others use cursors to point out places of interest.

Using Gameshare can create more mess than solution and I don’t say that in a negative way. Imagine just controlling the movements and depending on someone else to turn the camera or crouch at the right time. It’s the perfect recipe for chaos and once again humor takes over the experience.

At the end of each phase there is a ranking that evaluates your performance. The grade depends on eliminations, completing secondary objectives and specific interactions with enemies. It’s a great incentive to revisit phases, improve performance and satisfy the completionist side to guarantee 100% of the game.

The stranger as identity

Tokyo Scramble doesn’t seem to want to be the next big thing. He goes against the tide and delivers a strange, specific and personality-filled experience (although Anne’s reactions don’t always match this intensity). The result borders on something experimental, which explains the public’s initial strangeness.

The tone, which borders on the weird, is reminiscent of Japanese games from the 2000s, when part of the industry seemed less concerned with over-explaining its ideas and more interested in provoking sensations. Titles like Forbidden Siren relied on high difficulty and fragmented narrative. Rule of Rose mixed psychological discomfort with harsh mechanics. The cultivated person, on the other hand, embraced the stranger without apologizing, balancing tension and misplaced humor.

Tokyo Scramble drinks from this source. He won’t give you everything chewed up, he doesn’t soften his choices and he seems comfortable with causing initial confusion. This is not a classic survival horror nor a pure psychological horror, there is a space of its own, where discomfort and absurdity go hand in hand.

This lack of clarity is a risk, as it depends on curious players willing to go beyond the trailer which, let’s face it, was not the most inviting. Anyone expecting something traditional may be disappointed. But whoever accepts the proposal will probably find something more interesting than it seemed at first glance.

The game has everything to divide opinions. Some may ignore it, others, upon accepting the challenge, will find a very engaging survival and puzzle experience that is far from predictable. Its affordable price also works as an incentive.

In the end, I can’t deny that I was pessimistic, but I was surprised by a game that mixes silent footsteps, comical solutions and a curious story that, despite stumbling on some details, pleases more than it displeases. It’s worth following Anne to understand how she intends to get out of this situation and rescue herself from this terrible incident.