Digital Life

So I just downloaded Tokyo Jungle from the PSN the other day. It's a post-apocalyptic animal survival game. With dinosaurs. And I'm pretty sure there's a mammoth in there somewhere. Scratching your head yet? The premise is that humankind randomly vanished, leaving pets to go wild, zoo animals to break out of their cages and...I dunno wtf explains the dinosaurs, but they're stomping around too. So seeing as I have a weakness for games with animal protagonists (and dinosaurs), I just had to try it out.

There is a story mode that attempts to explain where the humans have gone via archives you collect in survival mode, and then playing the story episodes unlocks the next set of archives, etc. I've only played the first two story episodes so I have no idea what said story is. Obviously logic has nothing to do with it, so meh, who cares.

The main bulk of the game, is survival mode (which has a co-op option, by the way). You pick a species, get dropped into the starting area, and go. There are challenges you complete as time passes, though they aren't actually necessary. Good thing too, because it can be freakin' hard. Especially playing as some of the early herbivores, like a deer or (seriously) a chicken. I've yet to make it to 50 years with any animal. If it sounds long, it is and it isn't. Time flows at a good pace, with a completely unrelated day/night cycle. Playing at night is a pain unless you happen to be an animal with good night vision. And even then, things tend to jump out at you. You can cycle back to day by sleeping at your nest once you've secured an area territory, as long as you haven't picked up a mate along the way.

The selection of animal species to play as is surprisingly large, over 40 different ones. My main complaint here is that you have to unlock animals in a set order. You start out with a mere two choices, a Pomeranian (lol) and a Sika Deer. Obviously, playing as a carnivore unlocks carnivores and same for herbivores. It's the equivalent of level progression I suppose, though playing as a bigger, stronger animal doesn't necessarily make the game that much easier. Though it was highly entertaining kicking the shit out of the little yappy dogs as a horse.

As for gameplay, on the surface it's pretty simple. Forage or hunt, claim territory, find a mate and reproduce while avoiding getting eaten by bigger things. You'll find as you play it's a lot more than that, though. Each area has shifting amounts of food, pollution and illness. There are also optional special animals that can be chased or killed to grant items. Because Tokyo animals, even wild, are total fashionistas. I'm not making that up lol. You can wear outfits for stat bonuses. In survival mode, completing the challenges also boosts your stats. The ones passed on from breeding even stay permanently, which is nice, though I imagine it would take forever to max out.

Combat is pretty basic. You can sneak up from behind and perform a stealth bite, which will kill anything except large animals unless you're a large enough animal to take it down. You can also strike other animals to make an opening for a killing bite, but you also have to evade the same attacks from the other animals. It can be tough if there's a pack after you. Fortunately, when you breed and take control of the next generation, you often have anywhere from one to four siblings which fight with you, will act as decoys for you if you ask them to, and in the event you get killed, become a sort of extra life. Sometimes I pick up a mate when going into battle just for the extra numbers, as your mate will fight too. Doesn't count for the extra life thing though. Unfortunately.

My one major complaint so far is the music. It is atrocious and worse, you can't simply turn it off. I could mute the TV I guess, but the background sound is actually helpful so you know if something dangerous is nearby, as other animals don't always show up on radar.

Aside from that, it's a surprisingly addictive game. It can be a little frustrating at times but it's obvious the developers had fun with it, and I think that makes up for it most of the time. The environments are interesting and varied, the survival mode challenges are randomized each time and there's just enough variety in the gameplay elements. While I do think it needs another layer of polish, an improvement to the AI and the animals could behave slightly more realistically, overall it's a fun game for killing a few hours (or days...) at a time. Especially with the co-op, which I haven't tried yet but it looks fun since each player can choose a different animal to play as. Definitely give it a shot if you're looking for something off the beaten path.

I'll probably post a few tips I've picked up while playing later.