Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale
{{Short description|2013 video game}}
{{Infobox video game
| developer = Millennium Kitchen and Aquria
| publisher = Level-5
| series = Guild
| platforms = Nintendo 3DS
| genre = Adventure game
| designer = Kaz Ayabe
| modes = Single-player
| released = {{vgrelease|JP|March 13, 2013|WW|July 18, 2013}}
|image = AttackOfTheFridayMonstersATokyoTale cover.png
|caption =
|alt =
}}
{{nihongo|Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale|怪獣が出る金曜日|Kaijū ga Deru Kinyōbi|lit. The Friday When Monsters Appear}} is an adventure game designed by Kaz Ayabe, who is known in Japan for the popular Boku no Natsuyasumi series. The game was released for Nintendo 3DS in Japan on March 13, 2013, as part of the Guild02 compilation, and separately as a digital download in North America, Europe and Australasia on July 18, 2013. It follows a boy named Sohta, who lives in a town where monsters and superheroes from 1970s tokusatsu shows appear every Friday.
Gameplay
In the game, the player explores the town which the protagonist Sohta has just moved to, with gameplay consisting of speaking to NPCs to progress the plot and playing card battles against other residents. Sohta must collect "glims", energy shards that allow him to magically obtain new cards.{{Cite web |last=Holmes |first=Jonathan |date=August 14, 2013 |title=Review: Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale |url=https://www.destructoid.com/reviews/review-attack-of-the-friday-monsters-a-tokyo-tale/ |website=Destructoid |publisher=Enthusiast Gaming |access-date=April 12, 2022 |archive-date=April 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220412072943/https://www.destructoid.com/reviews/review-attack-of-the-friday-monsters-a-tokyo-tale/ |url-status=live }}
Plot
The game's plot is structured in 26 episodes and takes place in 1971 in Setagaya, Tokyo, in the suburb of Fuji no Hana.{{Cite web |last=McElroy |first=Griffin |date=August 1, 2013 |title=Attack of the Friday Monsters: A Tokyo Tale review |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/8/1/4560410/attack-of-the-friday-monsters-a-tokyo-tale-review |website=Polygon |publisher=Vox Media |access-date=April 12, 2022 |archive-date=April 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220412081715/https://www.polygon.com/2013/8/1/4560410/attack-of-the-friday-monsters-a-tokyo-tale-review |url-status=live }} It starts with the ten year old Sohta, who has recently moved into town and whose parents own a dry-cleaning shop, being sent on an errand but forgetting about it. As he ventures through town, he meets various classmates, against whom he plays a trading-card game called "Monster Cards", and other residents.{{Cite web |last=Meyer |first=Lee |date=July 21, 2013 |title=Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale Review [NA Import] |url=https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/3ds-eshop/attack_of_the_friday_monsters_a_tokyo_tale |website=Nintendo Life |publisher=Gamer Network |access-date=April 12, 2022 |archive-date=April 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220412072957/https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/3ds-eshop/attack_of_the_friday_monsters_a_tokyo_tale |url-status=live }} The episodes are non-linear and involve individual quests.
The overarching story of the game is presented in a magic realist manner, and involves the sudden and inexplicable appearance of massive fictional superheroes and kaiju that battle every Friday outside of town. As a tokusatsu show is also filmed in the same town, it is unclear whether it is a supernatural phenomenon or a giant hoax orchestrated by the townspeople.
Reception
{{Video game reviews
| MC = 77/100{{Cite web |title=Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale for 3DS Reviews |url=https://www.metacritic.com/game/attack-of-the-friday-monsters-a-tokyo-tale/critic-reviews/?platform=3ds |website=Metacritic |publisher=Red Ventures |access-date=April 12, 2022 |archive-date=March 30, 2024 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240330073841/https://www.metacritic.com/game/attack-of-the-friday-monsters-a-tokyo-tale/critic-reviews/?platform=3ds |url-status=live }}
| Edge = 7/10{{Cite magazine |author=Edge staff |date=July 23, 2013 |title=Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale review |url=http://www.edge-online.com/review/attack-of-the-friday-monsters-a-tokyo-tale-review/ |magazine=Edge |publisher=Future plc |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729002639/http://www.edge-online.com/review/attack-of-the-friday-monsters-a-tokyo-tale-review/ |archive-date=July 29, 2013 |url-status=dead |access-date=June 24, 2022}}
| EuroG = 8/10{{Cite web |last=Robinson |first=Martin |date=July 25, 2013 |title=Attack of the Friday Monsters review |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/attack-of-the-friday-monsters-review |website=Eurogamer |publisher=Gamer Network |access-date=June 24, 2022 |archive-date=May 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523100945/https://www.eurogamer.net/attack-of-the-friday-monsters-review |url-status=live }}
| IGN = 6.2/10{{Cite web |last=MacDonald |first=Keza |date=July 25, 2013 |title=Attack of the Friday Monsters: A Tokyo Tale Review |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2013/07/25/attack-of-the-friday-monsters-a-tokyo-tale-review |website=IGN |publisher=Ziff Davis |access-date=June 24, 2022 |archive-date=June 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220624225132/https://www.ign.com/articles/2013/07/25/attack-of-the-friday-monsters-a-tokyo-tale-review |url-status=live }}
| ONM = 86%{{Cite magazine |title=Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale review |magazine=Official Nintendo Magazine |publisher=Future plc |date=October 2013 |page=83}}
| PG = {{Rating|4|5}}{{Cite web |last=Willington |first=Peter |date=July 25, 2013 |title=Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale |url=https://www.pocketgamer.com/attack-of-the-friday-monsters-a-tokyo-tale/attack-of-the-friday-monsters-a-tokyo-tale/ |website=Pocket Gamer |publisher=Steel Media Ltd |access-date=June 24, 2022 |archive-date=May 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230523023635/https://www.pocketgamer.com/attack-of-the-friday-monsters-a-tokyo-tale/attack-of-the-friday-monsters-a-tokyo-tale/ |url-status=live }}
| rev1 = Metro
| rev1Score = 8/10{{Cite news |last=Jenkins |first=David |date=July 25, 2013 |title=Attack Of The Friday Monsters! review – Tokyo story |url=https://metro.co.uk/2013/07/25/attack-of-the-friday-monsters-review-tokyo-story-3898587/ |newspaper=Metro |publisher=DMG Media |access-date=June 24, 2022 |archive-date=June 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220624230359/https://metro.co.uk/2013/07/25/attack-of-the-friday-monsters-review-tokyo-story-3898587/ |url-status=live }}
}}
The game received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.
Jonathan Holmes of Destructoid praised the game for its relaxing gameplay and "beautiful artwork". Comparing it to work by Studio Ghibli, he also called the card minigame "surprisingly gripping", saying it was a good example of a short yet fun narrative game. Lee Meyer of Nintendo Life called it "a lovely, memorable experience" that resembled a classic coming-of-age film. Comparing the episodes to the Professor Layton series in how they are structured, he also called the game "visually and aurally pleasing". Griffin McElroy of Polygon called its writing, narration, art, and sound design "superb", but criticized the glim collecting as "needlessly repetitive".
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References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{moby game|id=/3ds/attack-of-the-friday-monsters}}
{{Level-5}}{{Boku no Natsuyasumi series}}
Category:Guild (video game series)
Category:Level-5 (company) games
Category:Millennium Kitchen games
Category:Nintendo 3DS-only games
Category:Single-player video games
Category:Tokusatsu video games
Category:Video games about children
Category:Video games developed in Japan
Category:Video games set in the 1970s