10 video games to visit modern Japan and Tokyo from home

Game news 10 video games to visit modern Japan and Tokyo from home

Travel beyond our borders seems to be a distant memory in 2021. Fans of cultural escapes and other lovers of exotic inactivity cannot freely indulge their respective passions, due to a Covid-19 pandemic that began in French territory in March 2020. However, the video game is a palliative that can be discovered by staying at home in a country, particularly Japan. There are many titles to explore the Japanese archipelago and its capital in particular. The editors of igamesnews.com offer you a selection of 10 video games that will allow you to safely visit contemporary Japan, and Tokyo in particular, without leaving your home.

Akiba’s Journey: Undead & Moved Out

Akiba’s Trip: Undead & Undressed is an action-adventure game developed by Acquire Studios, to whom we owe the sagas of Tenchu, Way of the Samurai and Shinobido. This continuation of Akiba’s journey takes you on a sassy and invigorating visit to Akihabara, a district of Tokyo known for its many brands that focus on electronics, manga, and pop culture in general. If you want a “WTF Japan” experience between shopping at a local store before enjoying a quiet moment in a maid café, Akiba’s Trip: Undead & Undressed is the ideal video game UFO. And for the more addicts, there’s a sequel … action-RPG Akiba’s Beat.

Jet set radio

Running on rollerblades through the streets and alleys of the upscale neighborhoods of a fictional Tokyo that is heavily inspired by the 90s is the promise of Jet Set Radio. Developed by Smilebit and published by Sega and originally intended for the Dreamcast, which then used the artistic cel-shading style for the first time in 2000, this extraordinary title propels fans of slide and rebellion through the graphic arts, to explore some of the most famous districts of the Japanese capital. Jet Set Radio consciously emancipates itself from a perfect representation of Shibuya and Shinjuku and prefers the gameplay, rollerblades undertake, but is so strongly inspired by these iconic locations that they become a retro-futuristic projection of a colorful Tokyo.

Person 5 Royal

Persona 5 Royal is a J-RPG developed by P-Studio and published by Atlus and, by the way, a remake of the first Persona 5 of the name, which adds an extra semester to the scenario. Beyond its plot, dungeons, and struggles, P5 and therefore P5R are life simulations of young Tokyo people hanging out with friends, working part-time jobs, and walking the famous Akihabara, Shinjuku, Shibuya, and Kichijoji districts (Royal Edition only), but rather also in the underground station of the “Ginza” line. Better still, the Spinoff Persona 5 Strikers, which also acts as a sequel, is a road trip through modern Japan. Joker and his comrades make a stopover in the cities of Sendai, Osaka and Kyoto on their journey. The Action-RPG by Omega Force even goes so far as to respect the different dialects on the archipelago, guaranteeing a change of scene depending on the prefecture.

Railfan: Brown Line of the Chicago Transit Authority

Who has never dreamed of traveling through Japan at the control of a train? Nobody ? In the Land of the Rising Sun, the train goes beyond the simple concept of passion, and Railfan: The Chicago Transit Authority’s Brown Line is edifying proof. Developed by Taito and published by Ongakukan, two Japanese companies, this train simulator allows gamers to walk the Chūō Main Line on the section between Tokyo and Mitaka Stations and the Keihan Main Line between Kyoto (Demachiyanagi Station) and Osaka (Yodoyabashi Station). . Enough to discover Japan differently and calmly in one go.

Shenmue

Shenmue is an action-adventure game published by Sega and directed by Yu Suzuki. Originally released on Dreamcast in late December 1999, this title tells the story of the adventures of Ryo Hazuki, who seeks revenge after his father’s murder. At the beginning of his journey, this search prompts him to explore the modest city of Yokosuka in Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, to exchange ideas with its residents in order to advance the conspiracy, but above all to discover places that make Japan firmly anchored in Japan Characteristic are the mid-1980s, Ryo Hazuki continued his Asia trip in 2001 in Shenmue II and in 2019 in Shenmue III.

Stein’s gate

Steins; Gate is a visual novel, you understand here video game, science fiction novel developed by 5pb and Nitroplus. This continuation of chaos; Head focuses on a group of students who accidentally turned their microwave into a machine capable of communicating with the past. Set against a backdrop of changes in time, this trip allows you to explore the Akihabara district in Tokyo. And even if there are some notable differences between the real and the virtual, this playful reproduction has several iconic locations including a maid café, coin lockers, a beef bowl restaurant, but most importantly the Akihabara Radio Kaikan, a highly regarded commercial building among the Otakus . For those interested, Steins offers; Gate 0 gives you the opportunity to rewrite this story parallel to the original game.

The world ends with you

Tokyo enthusiasts need to know the story of Hachiko, a dog who looked for him for a decade after losing his master at Shibuya Station. A bronze statue of this purebred Akita perpetuates this loyalty to the same station. The World Ends With You is an urban fantasy action RPG set in a fictional version of the Shibuya shopping and party district. This part of Tokyo, reinterpreted by Square Enix and Jupiter for the occasion, adopts the famous triangular intersection, incorporates Starbucks coffee (here renamed Outback Cafe) and many other elements … including the famous depiction of Hachiko . TWEWY pour les intim drives players to another Tokyo, where human survival is at stake in a race against time on different levels of existence.

Tokyo jungle

What if you could visit Tokyo in the skin of a dog and discover the Japanese capital from a whole new perspective? Tokyo Jungle is a survival game developed by Cripys Studios! and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. The adventure takes place in a futuristic and deserted Tokyo, where wild life is reclaiming its rights. In this particularly hostile environment, players embody multiple animals in a district of Shibuya that are recognizable among all. Even if the developers take some liberties with the “real” Shibuya, the Tokyo Jungle remains a unique visit to a district that claims to be the Japanese fashion capital and its current “street”.

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE is a J-RPG developed by Atlus and published by Nintendo that skillfully combines aesthetic, narrative and playful elements from the legends of Shin Megami Tensei and Fire Emblem in a Tokyo threatened by hostile beings called Mirage. J-Pop dictates its rules here in this colorful and cute depiction of the Japanese capital, and Shibuya and Harajuku districts in particular. These iconic places in Tokyo are more or less faithfully and sometimes completely reproduced, offering a change of scene at every moment. To play in the best possible conditions, a revised version called Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore features French subtitles.

Yakuza: Like a dragon

Those who want to visit the city of Tokyo and Japan in general from their sofa cannot properly miss the Yakuza series. The Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku studios franchise specializes in reproducing entire districts of the cities of Tokyo, Osaka or Yokohama in detail and on a 1: 1 scale. And who better to visit a bizarre Japan than Yakuza: like a dragon, but faithful to the last degree? Kamurocho, Sotenbori and Isezaki Ijincho (Kabukicho, Dotonbori and Isezakicho with their real names) are so faithful that it is easy to find your way back to real life knowing these neighborhoods in the game. The different atmospheres, the dialects and the dishes etc … everything has been thought out to the smallest detail to turn an entertaining experience into a cultural journey. To continue the “yakuza style” visit to Japan, Yakuza Zero: The Place of the Oath, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life and Judgment, to name a few, are excellent video game guides.