Tokyo Jungle
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Tokyo Jungle
OR:
Tokyo Jungle on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

is a
survival Survival, or the act of surviving, is the propensity of something to continue existing, particularly when this is done despite conditions that might kill or destroy it. The concept can be applied to humans and other living things (or, hypotheti ...
action game developed by Crispy's! and published by
Sony Computer Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), is a multinational video game and digital entertainment company wholly owned by multinational conglomerate Sony. The SIE Group is made up of two legal co ...
for the
PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on November 11, 2006, in Japan, November ...
. The game takes place in a deserted, futuristic
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
, in which the city has transformed into a vicious wildlife wasteland. ''Tokyo Jungle'' was released in Japan on June 7, 2012, available on both disc and downloadable versions. The international release of the game became available for download via PSN in North America and the PAL region on September 25 and September 26, 2012, respectively. It was included on the "Best of PlayStation Network Vol. 1" compilation disc, released in NTSC regions on June 18, 2013. On July 10, 2013, a grid-based version of the game titled ''Tokyo Jungle Mobile'' was released on
PlayStation Mobile PlayStation Mobile (formerly PlayStation SuiteHinkle, David. (2012-06-04 HTC is first partner for 'PlayStation Mobile,' the new name for PlayStation Suite pdate:_Press_release_added_Joystiq._Retrieved_on_2013-08-23.)_was_a_software_framework_us_...
_for_the_PlayStation_Vita.


__Gameplay_

''Tokyo_Jungle''_has_two_modes:_Story_and_Survival. *_In_Story_mode,_the_player_plays_through_missions_centered_around_various_animals._Eventually,_the_player_will_discover_the_truth_behind_humankind's_disappearance._Pomeranian_(dog).html" ;"title="PlayStation_Vita.html" ;"title="pdate: Press release added Joystiq. Retrieved on 2013-08-23.) was a software framework us ...
for the PlayStation Vita">pdate: Press release added Joystiq. Retrieved on 2013-08-23.) was a software framework us ...
for the PlayStation Vita.


Gameplay

''Tokyo Jungle'' has two modes: Story and Survival. * In Story mode, the player plays through missions centered around various animals. Eventually, the player will discover the truth behind humankind's disappearance. Pomeranian (dog)">Pomeranian dogs are key characters in the story, as well as a Sika deer, Beagle, Tosa Inu, spotted hyena, lions, and a pair of robotic dogs which resemble AIBOs. * In Survival mode, the player, or players (there is a local multiplayer), takes control of an animal and fights for survival against other animals for as long as possible. ''Tokyo Jungle'' has online leaderboards so the players can compare their survival skills against one another. Smaller animals will fight in groups, and the player's group can win fights against larger animals as long as one member of the group survives the fight. The player will have to build up a pack of animals. This is easier for some
herbivores A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthpart ...
, which means the player may not necessarily be at a disadvantage even if they choose a weaker type. There are 50 breeds and 80 types of animals in the game, including Pomeranians, lions, crocodiles, tigers, giraffes, hippos, cheetahs, chimpanzees, gazelles, chickens, Beagles, ''
Dilophosaurus ''Dilophosaurus'' ( ) is a genus of theropod dinosaurs that lived in what is now North America during the Early Jurassic, about 193 million years ago. Three skeletons were discovered in northern Arizona in 1940, and the two best preserve ...
'', hyenas, ''
Deinonychus ''Deinonychus'' ( ; ) is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur with one described species, ''Deinonychus antirrhopus''. This species, which could grow up to long, lived during the early Cretaceous Period, about 115–108 million y ...
'', and Sika deer. As the player plays through the game, additional playable animals are unlocked. There are other animals which are available for the player to download as downloadable content from the
PlayStation Store The PlayStation Store (PS Store) is a digital media store available to users of Sony's PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 game consoles via the PlayStation Network. The store offers a range of downloadable conten ...
, which include an
Australian Silky Terrier The Australian Silky Terrier or simply Silky Terrier (depending on the breed registry) is a small breed of dog of the terrier dog type. The breed was developed in Australia, although the ancestral types and breeds were from Great Britain. It is ...
, a
Smilodon ''Smilodon'' is a genus of the extinct machairodont subfamily of the felids. It is one of the most famous prehistoric mammals and the best known saber-toothed cat. Although commonly known as the saber-toothed tiger, it was not closely rela ...
, a robot dog, a
Peking Man Peking Man (''Homo erectus pekinensis'') is a subspecies of '' H. erectus'' which inhabited the Zhoukoudian Cave of northern China during the Middle Pleistocene. The first fossil, a tooth, was discovered in 1921, and the Zhoukoudian Cave has s ...
, a (human) office worker, white and black Pomeranians, a cat, a panda, a crocodile, a kangaroo, and a giraffe.


Plot

Some time in the twenty-first century, humankind is extinct, leaving animals to fend for themselves. The once busy streets of
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
are now home to lions, tigers, chickens, and various other animals. All of them are now fighting for survival. * After running out of pet food, the Pomeranian now has to fend for itself in a now-wild-and-vicious Tokyo. The bosses he faces are fat cats although one is fought by his children. He ends his story establishing a small pack of Pomeranians. * Two Sika deer fawns search the hostile streets of Tokyo, looking for their mother. The fawns are separated briefly, and their reunion is short-lived, with one of the two being killed by a Cheetah, leaving the other to continue the search. His/her story ends with a series of cold trails leading to a dead end. * A hungry Beagle tries to overthrow a tyrannical Tosa Inu. The Beagle builds an army out of his pups to fight the Tosa. The boss he faces is the Tosa himself. The Beagle is killed by The Hyena. * The Tosa Inu is injured by the Beagle, and must escape. He then works to regain his lost honor. The Tosa is trained by a bear to fight better, and confronts the entire army of the Nomad Pack, and manages to kill them all. He duels the leader of the pack, The Hyena, and kills him. His story ends with him retaking his position, and is implied to have become a leader rather than a tyrant. The boss he faces is in one stage a chimpanzee, a crocodile, a tiger and in his final stage two giant hyenas, a Smilodon and the same hyena that overthrew his master. * The lioness and her hunting party have to hunt the targeted animals all over the Subway area. The boss she faces is a kangaroo with four rabbit sidekicks. She ends her story going back to her family after hunting. * The male Lion has to defend his pride from the roving male lions. The boss he faces are four hyenas and another lion. His story ends with him defeating the pack, allowing his family to live in peace. * The hyenas are planning to deal with the beagle. The Hyena kills The Beagle, and takes over his territory. The boss he faces is the Beagle himself. His story ends with him fighting the Nomad Lion for control of the pack, with the Tosa's story picking up almost immediately after, where it is discovered he killed the Lion, and runs away from the Tosa, who is trying to kill him. The Tosa catches up to him and fights him, and prevails, with The Hyena dying after one last attempt to kill his rival. * ERC-003 is a robotic dog resembling a
Sony AIBO AIBO (''stylized aibo, Artificial Intelligence Robot'', homonymous with , "pal" or "partner" in Japanese) is a series of robotic dogs designed and manufactured by Sony. Sony announced a prototype Aibo in mid-1998, and the first consumer model wa ...
Codenamed "Lily". After being found by ERC-X with its family of two wolves, ERC-003 now has to scan all of Tokyo for the disaster signals being put out by the humans' underground facility. It then faces a moral choice of whether to bring humanity back to Tokyo, or let the animals rule. Choosing yes will end the game, whereas 'no' will trigger a series of final boss fights and what is considered to be the "true ending". The first boss it faces is the Tosa just as the Beagle's was. Unless it decided to bring the humans back, the bosses it faces are its former ERC-X pal, two ''
Deinonychus ''Deinonychus'' ( ; ) is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur with one described species, ''Deinonychus antirrhopus''. This species, which could grow up to long, lived during the early Cretaceous Period, about 115–108 million y ...
'', two Smilodons and the final boss, the upgraded ERC X named ERC X 2. It either lives with the future humans, or dies from its wounds during a fight saving the animals from being exterminated by the humans.


Development

Director Yohei Kataoka wanted to make a game that felt original, noting that animals and a world without humans were both individually "universal" concepts that could be combined to create something "very catchy, very new and very exciting." After coming up with the setting, Kataoka's team prototyped the concept, with Kataoka drawing animals over photos of an abandoned Tokyo. The team also created a 2D "pitch" video which helped them unify the concept. The team began with only two people, but had expanded to 24 by the end of development. Rather than move into a dedicated office, the team instead worked from a 1,000 square foot home. Electrical issues forced the studio to upgrade the residence, ultimately costing them roughly the same as if they had moved into an office in the first place. Kataoka feels that the team's inexperience in designing games helped the final product, specifically noting that they wouldn't have opted to put so many characters into the game had they realized the work that such a feat entailed.
Japan Studio Japan Studio was a Japanese video game developer based in Tokyo. A first-party studio for Sony Interactive Entertainment (formerly Sony Computer Entertainment), it was best known for the '' Ape Escape'', '' LocoRoco'', '' Patapon'', ''Gravity ...
and Sony Worldwide Studios both criticized the project upon first hearing about it with Kataoka believing that the former balked at the concept. Sony Worldwide Studios was open to the idea, but felt that the gameplay at that stage was lacking. The game made its debut at the 2010
Tokyo Game Show , commonly known as TGS, is a video game expo / convention held annually in September in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA) and Nikkei Business Publications, Inc. ...
, with
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
writing that the game's quirky concept "make it unlikely to ever see a stateside release". Sony noted on their own Playstation Blog that most of the early coverage focused on the eccentric concept as opposed to the gameplay. Kataoka noted that he himself was unsure by this point if the game would ever see a release outside of Japan, although interest from European gamers eventually led to a worldwide release.


Reception

''Tokyo Jungle'' received "average" reviews, while ''Tokyo Jungle Mobile'' received "generally favorable reviews", according to the
review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
. Ellie Gibson, writing for ''
Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson. Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EG ...
'', described the game as "basically ''
Grand Theft Auto ''Grand Theft Auto'' (''GTA'') is a series of action-adventure games created by David Jones and Mike Dailly. Later titles were developed under the oversight of brothers Dan and Sam Houser, Leslie Benzies and Aaron Garbut. It is primarily d ...
'' with lions" and called it "a celebration of classic games, with their ridiculous plots, repetitive tasks, excessive violence and all. It pulls off the impressive and nigh-on impossible trick of being an original homage."
Giant Bomb ''Giant Bomb'' is an American video game website and wiki that includes personality-driven gaming videos, commentary, news, and reviews, created by former ''GameSpot'' editors Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis. The website was voted by '' Time' ...
's Patrick Klepek also praised the game, calling it a "well-designed, supremely funny game". Klepek went on to praise the game's animal variety and the system for unlocking new animals, as well as the loot system and the story mode. However, he criticized the game's inclusion of certain animals as paid downloadable content. In Japan, ''
Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the f ...
'' gave it a score of all four eights for a total of 32 out of 40. ''The Digital Fix'' said that "The mechanics are simple, graphics average, plotting ludicrous but it is never dull and if you don't have a story to tell your gamer friends after every time you play it then you are doing it wrong." '' The Escapist'' similarly said it was "utterly ridiculous but wholly unique, blending challenging gameplay with goofy trappings. ... The mixture of absurd and serious is addictive and surprising." ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' said that, "Despite its tongue-in-cheek nature, Tokyo Jungle is a superb game. It feels quite unlike anything else (the best description of it would be a stealth-action-survival-RPG), it's laugh-out-loud funny and incredibly moreish." Anime News Network called it "a low-key experience where you can do approximately three things (eat, sleep, and mate). There isn't much in the way of cutscenes and there isn't much in the way of story ... and
t is T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is der ...
about as good an experience of harrowed persistence as any game is likely to give." However, '' Digital Spy'' gave it three stars out of five and called it "a unique title which, while not without its flaws, is wildly entertaining..." The same website also gave the Vita version four stars out of five, saying, "Fans of the original will still probably be willing to look past ''Tokyo Jungle Mobile''s awkward controls and less involved combat, and if they do they will find much of the same addicting survival gameplay intact hiding underneath." In an interview with
Siliconera The GAMURS Group, simply known as Gamurs, is an esports media and entertainment publisher. Established in December 2014, the group operates multiple brands focusing on the esports and entertainment news markets, including the websites: ''Dot Esp ...
, director Yohei Kataoka was asked about ''Tokyo Jungle''s reception outside Japan: "Europe loved it, and we got a lot of great feedback from that audience, but nAmerica... that simply wasn't the case. We received a lot of negative feedback for the game."


References


Further reading

*


External links

* *{{moby game, id=/ps3/tokyo-jungle 2012 video games Action games Japan Studio games Multiplayer and single-player video games PlayStation 3 games PlayStation 3-only games PlayStation Vita games Post-apocalyptic video games Prehistoric life in popular culture Sony Interactive Entertainment games Stealth video games Survival video games Video games about animals Video games about dinosaurs Video games about dogs Video games developed in Japan Video games featuring female protagonists Video games set in the 21st century Video games set in Tokyo