Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale

I knew very little about Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale before I bought it. I knew it was by Level-5, that its one of the games in the Guild02 compilation, and I knew I was going to buy it as soon as it was released. It was literally the first thing I did when I woke up on the day it came out, I thought “oh man its the 18th!" and went to buy it even before I checked my New Leaf town which is something of an achievement for me.

Anyone who knows me knows I love the quirky games. The games that are entirely unique, that do something different. Attack of the Friday Monsters is absolutely a game like this. Its a slice of life tale that takes place in the 1970s, in a part of Tokyo where every Friday, giant monsters attack and fight superheroes. You play as a new kid in town, Sohta, whose parents run a dry cleaners. The story is told through little episodes, though its not really broken up, the episodes just sort of happen as you play. The giant monster attacks aren’t the important part of the game, really, they’re just a backdrop element that everyone accepts as reality for the most part. The focus is more your interactions with the townspeople, especially your schoolmates.

Besides talking to people, you collect little colored glowing thingies called Glims, which then add up to make Monster Cards. You get five Monster Cards, you can battle to be the boss of your opponent. Monster Cards is basically a Rock Paper Scissors card game. You can combine same types of Monster Cards to make them more powerful. Its simple, its pretty fun, it isn’t the important part either. The card game exists so that you can be the boss of all your classmates. See, if you’re a servant, your boss can do a Ninjutsu spell on you to make you fall down. If you’re a boss, you can create a Ninjutsu spell to make your servant fall down. It’s also important to be the boss because then you can make your servant answer questions, which can help you with your current errand. This is entirely play pretend with your schoolmates, the sort of thing kids take very seriously and go along with wholeheartedly. The “spells" consist of hand gestures and nonsense words. The whole game has a female narrator and one of her jobs is to say these nonsense words, every time a spell is cast. Its all very charming, in the same way a Studio Ghibli movie is charming.

Without spoiling anything, the plot goes a bit off the rails after a little while, and I found myself constantly going “haha what IS this game!" in an awed, loving way. I adore this game, its endearing and silly and strange. If I were to have to find something to complain about, I suppose the Glims don’t really fit, they’re sort of an unrealistic, nonsensical element in a game that doesn’t need it. I wish I could’ve just found cards themselves, or traded for the cards, or something that cuts out collecting little glowing gems that come spewing out of people when I complete an episode. At the same time, boy oh boy I like collecting things in games, ESPECIALLY if they’re sparkly and glowing.

So have I convinced you yet? You should buy this game. Its such a great game, you guys. AND it’s only $7.99 in the 3DS eshop. I’ve played about 4 and a half hours of it so far and I’m not quite done with it. I’ve completed the main story and am on the “bonus stage", mainly trying to finish the episodes I didn’t finish and collect all the cards, because I’m kind of a completionist with games I love. And I really genuinely think you guys will love it too. It’s exactly the kind of game I’m glad exists, and I’d love to see more games like it, or even just inspired by it.