Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters: Daybreak Special Gigs Review (PS4/PSV)

Last year saw the release of the Arc System Works and Toybox developed visual novel, Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters. As the name implies, the game dealt with themes involving exorcism and hunting down spooky entities. This might sound exciting at first but the actual aspect of ghost hunting was rather shallow. Despite this, the game presented some interesting scenarios via its narrative, which were fun to explore.

So what exactly is new in “Daybreak Special Gigs”. For starters, it adds several new scenarios, characters and improves on the gameplay featured in the original. All of this is meaningless though, if you didn’t really like the original game. That said, if you indeed enjoyed your time with the original Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters, you might enjoy this new expansion.

The game opens with the introduction of the main character, which is the player himself. The start of the game deals with naming our character as well as other personal questions that later serve a purpose in the game.

Outside of the ghost hunting aspect, there isn’t much to Daybreak Special Gigs’ gameplay. Just as the original, this is very much a visual novel at heart. The game is designed to play out like an anime series, with portions split up into individual episodes that have their own opening segments.

Unfortunately, the storyline and writing aren’t really uniqe, and the game has to rely on its fantastic art to keep the player engaged. The setting, theme, and characters in Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters give strong vibes of Scooby-Doo, and it sometimes feels like you’re playing an anime reincarnation of the Hanna Barbera animated series.

Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters throws in a minor twist to the standard visual novel conversation. Instead of simply choosing a dialog option, you also get to pick an accompanying emotional state. It’s an interesting idea but, in practice, doesn’t result in dramatically different scenarios.

The combat in Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters is turn-based, and is handled much like it is in strategy games. At the start, your gang of Gate Keepers are given the option to purchase traps and gadgets. Once thrown into battle, these items can be placed on the map in order to track the movement of ghosts, who are otherwise invisible. This is where the element of strategy comes into play, as successfully landing attacks on ghosts will depend on how effective your placement of traps and gadgets is.

Both you and the ghosts take turns at the same time, so things get extremely tricky here, as you have to predict the ghosts’ movement patterns. Doing so is next to impossible, as it pretty much boils down to a game of chance and the element of strategy takes a backseat. Despite the minor combat enhancements brought forth by Daybreak Special Gigs, this issue lingers on.

Purchasing equipment for battle requires in-game currency, and its accumulation is directly associated with the ghost battles themselves. In order for Ghost battles to be a profitable venture for Ghost Keepers, they must make sure not to wreck havoc on the surrounding environment. Destroying objects such as a table will result in a penalty on your earnings.

In term of the difference between the PS Vita and the PS4 version, there isn’t really much to add here aside from the resolution boost. The art style of the game truly shines on the PS4 in native 1080p resolution but the PS Vita version of the game can be played anywhere based on the virtual of it being on a handled. Visual novels tend to work well on the PS Vita so if you want to pick this game, we recommended the PS Vita version.

Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters: Daybreak Special Gigs feel like an expansion that could have worked well as a DLC than a full featured game. The new scenarios are interesting but they don’t justify its price. Fans might get their money worth if they enjoyed the original version.

Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters: Daybreak Special Gigs is available now for the PS3, PS4 and PS Vita. It was developed by Arc System Works and published by Aksys Games. This review covers the PS4 and PS Vita version of the game.