The direct sequel to 2015’s, then PlayStation Vita exclusive, Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy – Operation Babel: New Tokyo Legacy treads the same ground (quite literally) and offers little in the way of improvements to gameplay.
Operation Babel takes place after the events of Operation Abyss; a new threat have appeared and so too a new Xth Squad mobilised to defeat it. The ‘Embryo’, a mysterious object that appears in the sky seems to have some connection with the latest bout of monster attacks and your squad are tasked with challenging new labyrinths and unlocking the mysteries of this new threat.
I’m going to be completely honest here and say that the previous New Tokyo Legacy game, Operation Abyss, was far from my favourite Experience Inc title. You can read my review from 2015 here, but ultimately it felt needlessly complicated in areas and a rather dull experience overall. The premise sounded great, as does Operation Babel, but I struggle to motivate myself to keep playing. It’s odd that Experience Inc can make such good and compelling stories like that in Ray Gigant or a simple yet deep gameplay experience in Demon Gaze but miss the mark here.
Even the new features such as the ‘Sub-Blood’ system do little to shake up the already boringly monotonous gameplay. It probably only serves to make the game feel easier and less challenging; even bosses require minimal strategy. Unfortunately, I can’t even say they have improved upon the areas that I felt needed work from the previous game. It is essentially the same game, same skin and just more of the same with some new characters and a new story that will have you yawning multiple times as you hurriedly proceed through meaningless dialogue.
There’s a solid Dungeon Crawler RPG to be had here, though, just like its predecessor; it’s just not the best from the developer’s catalogue. The game features all the necessities that you would expect from the genre including auto-walk, a degree of challenge in each labyrinth and another new feature that I rather approve of in the fast-action option during battle. In most games of this type, you’ll have a repeat option in a battle that allows you to repeat the action you took last turn, perfect for mowing down fodder. You did have to hold down, say, the X button to fast forward through all the text that accompanied each action made by a character or enemy. Now, though, you can bypass that entirely making those annoying battles against small fry even quicker.
Verdict
Operation Babel: New Tokyo Legacy, it has to be said, is essentially just more of the same. When the only feature that I can talk about as a good improvement is the fast-action option during battles then you know not much effort has gone into this. It’s still a solid Dungeon Crawler RPG and if that’s all you’re looking for or you want to continue the New Tokyo Legacy story then look no further but don’t expect anything more than just average.
Review copy provided by NIS America