The Makuhari Messe complex, the venue of the annual Tokyo Game Show in Chiba, Japan, consists of half a dozen ginormous buildings, each one with a floor area equivalent to three exhibition halls. One of these halls happened to have the Smartphone Game Area, which was filled with a plethora of mobile games available for demo.
While several games were free-to-play offerings, such as those from XD Games and Spark Nexa, my wife and I were also able to check out various booths with unique quirks or products, like Google Play and XReal Japan. Here are some memorable moments from our visit.
XD Games: Etheria: Restart and Go, Go Muffin
Tokyo Game Show 2024 ran from September 26 to 29. Although we were able to attend all four days, it was only on the third day of the event that we got the chance to visit the Smartphone Game Area. We dropped by XD Games’ booth as early as 9:30 a.m., well before the gates opened for members of the press.
At XD Games’ booth, I played Etheria: Restart, an upcoming free-to-play role-playing game that has turn-based tactical combat. Admittedly, I felt lost at first, as I was taken straight to a couple of battles with barely any time to understand the quirks of each character, known in-game as Animus. What I eventually realized was that characters had an elemental attribute of sorts, which gave them advantages over specific enemy types. You can learn more about the game in our Etheria: Restart preview.
While at XD Games’ booth, I was also able to try Go, Go Muffin on a tablet device. Playing as a warrior-type class, I was assisted by a cute cat companion. The cartoony visuals were quite appealing and the gameplay was relatively easy enough to get into. My character made his way through lush fields, before encountering numerous hostile creatures, including slimes and other wild critters.
Google Play Games
We next visited Google Play’s massive booth which dominated the entire Smartphone Game Area at Tokyo Game Show. To be frank, we initially had an issue because the staff wouldn’t allow us to enter as we didn’t have Google Play Points. We eventually hashed it out with some of the organizers who allowed us to take a few photos of the booth.
As far as we can tell, the Google Play booth on that day only allowed VIPs to enter. Basically, you had to have a certain number of Google Play Points, which you’d show to the staff. Once inside, you can choose to play a variety of games. In this particular instance, though, I was told that attendees were playing a title called Diamond Castle. The objective is to explore a 2D interior of a castle, where you’d collect treasure and avoid traps. Whether you survive for a prolonged period or perish unceremoniously, your score gets tallied at the end and you’re given a prize based on how well you did.
At the back of the booth is another area that also required Google Play Points. This, too, had an assortment of games available for demo, such as Clash of Clans, Genshin Impact, Persona 5: The Phantom X, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Isekai Memories, and Dark and Darker Mobile, to name a few.
Spark Nexa: Project Three Kingdoms and Project Woolgatherer
We then returned to the main cluster of booths where I spotted a poster of a familiar style: a Chinese general in Han Dynasty-era armor. That’s when I got the opportunity to try Project Three Kingdoms from Spark Nexa. This particular offering has a distinct Chinese Shanshui art style, almost akin to a painting on a scroll, which also happened to remind me of the Autumn Dynasty games that I used to enjoy on my iPad.
In Project Three Kingdoms, I started out by moving my officer in real-time to meet with Yuan Shao, the commander of the allied forces. Sydney Hu, a member of Spark Nexa’s global marketing team also walked me through the mechanics, until I was able to trigger a turn-based battle. There, my army, which was composed of only five units, had to fight a dozen enemies. Thankfully, my officers were more than up to the task. Some had multi-hit attacks, while others had healing capabilities. It was even possible to spawn fire crates on several tiles, which I then ignited to cause several hostiles to get burned to a crisp.
I next checked Project Woolgatherer, which is a dreamscape-themed, hack-and-slash roguelike offering. The core gameplay involves controlling a character known as a Dream Catcher, collecting boons and abilities called Echoes. From there, I had to tackle multiple opponents in dungeon areas, while trying to find the best combinations to survive the whole ordeal.
XREAL Japan: Air 2 Ultra and Air 2 Pro
From mobile games, we now move on to gadgets that allow you to continue gaming while on the go: the Air 2 Ultra and Air 2 Pro. Both augmented reality (AR) glasses from XREAL Japan offer unrivaled ease of use thanks to high resolution, up to 120hz refresh rate, cinematic audio output along the temple and temple tips portions, and even electrochromic dimming levels.
PR manager Ozaki Daisuke helped us get comfortable with the demo. We then wore the AR glasses to play Black Myth: Wukong, an action title based on Journey to the West that was developed by Game Science. I thought to myself that nothing could surprise me, given that I’ve already reviewed and guided Black Myth: Wukong on PC. Then, I was instantly floored upon seeing the Destined One, multiple enemies, and vivid environments rendered beautifully and seamlessly on the lenses.
Indeed, XREAL Japan’s AR glasses are compatible with a plethora of platforms, such as a Windows PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. However, if you already have handheld devices, like the Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, ROG Ally, or mobile phones, then this is where the accessories begin to redefine gaming while on the go, since you can just plug-and-play via any device with a USB-C slot.
Regrettably, time constraints and the sheer number of people in the queue meant that we were unable to test the Beam Pro, which is a device that turns any 2D app from the Google Play Store into 3D-aware spatial environments that you can interact with while wearing the AR glasses.
Other offerings in the Smartphone Game Area
Mind you, both the third and fourth days of the Tokyo Game Show were considered public days, which meant a larger number of attendees compared to the business days. As such, we had very little time to drop by the other booths. Still, we were able to check out a few offerings.
First, there’s Whiteout Survival from Century Games, where the objective is to build a settlement and gather resources to help you survive the unending cold. There’s also Apeiron’s Godiverse-themed booth, which had a large area, including a gacha gift machine for those who were able to test the demos.
Lastly, we headed to Happinet’s booth which was nearby. There, I finally got the opportunity to try a demo of Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist, the sequel to 2021’s Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights, one of the best Metroidvania games that I’ve played in recent years. Ender Magnolia is currently available as an early access title on Steam. However, it’s also expected to be released for the Nintendo Switch down the line.
That does it for our Tokyo Game Show 2024 Smartphone Game Area roundup. There are certainly several titles that should pique everyone’s interest in the coming months. In any case, we’re totally thrilled to see what next year’s event will bring. For other Tokyo Game Show-related coverage, you can read our hands-on impressions of Neverness to Everness, Fate Trigger: The Novita, and Etheria: Restart.