Can you beat a game with no attack button?
by Phil Purkett
Imagine sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic while running late to work. You roll down the window longing for a cool breeze to wisp across your face with the hopes of making you more alert, but unfortunately, there is no breeze today. Pools of sweat start to gather under your armpits—both from the blistering heat outside and the heat you will inevitably face from your boss if you are late. You have been awake for twenty-four hours preparing for a massive presentation that will have an everlasting impact on your future with the company. Just as you are beginning to succumb to the pressure, you see it. All the cars on the street start to blur together and slowly fade away. In their place, a massive tower appears shrouded in fog. It is so tall it seems to stretch up and into the heavens. Is it real?
Welcome to Tokoyo: The Tower of Perpetuity, the most inconsiderate place in existence. It doesn't matter if you have a funeral to attend, a hair appointment, hell, it could even be your birthday --but none of it matters. Does the tower care about your life? NOPE. You cannot escape what’s unavoidable. You've been deemed a worth soul and if you ever want to resume your normal life then only one thing matters climbing to the top. However, the journey to the top is formidable and will be unlike any challenge you’ve ever faced.
Are you ready?
Despair…Hello, Old Friend
Tokoyo is inspired by anime. You can see it in the beautiful loading screens and in the designs of the five playable characters, each with their own backstory and special move set.
But most of all, you can feel it. The feeling of despair (a common theme within anime) is prevalent from the moment you attempt your first run at the tower. When you encounter your first enemy and attempt to punch its stupid face, nothing happens. Tokoyo sets itself apart from most of its competitors because there is no normal attack button— it doesn’t exist.
That’s when you feel it slowly engulf your strength, your will, and your courage. Despair…Hello, old friend. Before this game, I never would’ve considered a normal attack as a crutch. But Tokoyo takes this safety valve and football chucks it out the window. Instead of being bailed out by wildly swinging your sword at any and everything, Tokoyo forces you to be strategic with calculated super attacks and precise platforming.
Before I began Tokoyo, the answer to the subheading of this article would’ve been an emphatic ABSOLUTELY NOT. Honestly, this “no attack button” thing is slightly misleading. The more accurate subtitle would be Can you clear a game without swinging on folks. You only have one attack, which is a special magic attack, and it takes thirty seconds to charge. Thirty seconds is a long time when you are being targeted by multiple enemies. There is nothing quite like the new levels of anxiety you will reach when you climb onto a new floor with 30 HP while surrounded by a room full of formidable foes that you can’t defend yourself against. “Knees get weak, palms get sweaty, and butt cheeks start to clench,” Paraphrasing ESPN television personality Stephen A. Smith. It is important that you adjust and adapt to the fighting style, urgently. There is a sort of unofficial timer to each floor. [JB2] If you don’t clear them quickly while taking as minimum damage as possible, you will come face to face with…
The Looming Threat
Most of the enemies in this game can be placed in two categories: humans and creatures. Most of the creatures, except for one, can be avoided easily. Study their movements and attack patterns and simply go around them. The humans/humanoid beings, however, are extremely dangerous and most of their attacks come with devastating status effects. Imagine taking damage and then realizing your controls are inverted. Horrible right? [JB3] In fact, the humans are such a detriment to your progress that you must have a strategy the moment one infiltrates your screen. What was my strategy, you ask[JB4] ? It was imperative that every human I saw catch these tiny anime hands on sight. I press my magic button as hard as I can, pray I don’t miss, and hope for the best.
If I could sum up this game in one word, it would be strategic. There are so many factors to consider; and there are so many choices to make. Should you race through each floor as quickly as possible with the hopes of beating the timer and avoiding the most evil, powerful threat the tower has to offer? Or do you risk it all to eliminate the enemies and collect all the coins for a high score and a top spot on the leaderboards? Do you take the potion that recovers 50 health points (HP)? Or should you take the potion that offers 30HP and deducts a couple seconds off your magic timer. Which route should you take on your journey to climb the tower—the white path or black path[JB5] . It’s not clear the difference between the two. Initially these choices don’t seem impactful until your death counter starts to reach an embarrassing number like 50 plus. Depending on the decision you make this could be your last run and then it’s roll credits.
Wrap It Up!!!!!
I have a weird relationship with this genre. I find the roguelike/roguelite genre discouraging and intimidating. I hate having to restart my progress every time I die. I hate not knowing what to expect in terms of length. How many floors do I have to climb before I reach the top of this tower is a question that I constantly pondered. As much as I find these things annoying, they are part of the journey. Despite my gripes with this genre (not this game in particular), the feeling you get when finishing a rogue-style game is unparalleled. There is a satisfying sense of accomplishment in these games. The journey to the top of the tower is so perilous that when you finally make it, you really do feel like you are on top of the world (Pun intended). So, challenge yourself. Play Tokoyo; prove yourself worthy; and escape the tower. I can’t stop playing this game, and if it clicks for you, you won’t stop playing either.
Tokoyo: The Tower of Perpetuity is a hardcore roguelike. It was developed by //commentout and published by PLAYISM. It was released on June 2, 2022, on Nintendo Switch and is also available on Steam.
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