History YMMV / TokyoXanadu

** The Side Stories in ''ex+''. They flesh out some of the characters, including ones not playable in the original version.

* FanPreferredCouple: While the game lets the player build borderline-romantic relationships between Kou and just every major female character, quite a few fans seem to ship [[SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl YuukiXSora]] and [=ShioXMitsuki=] (it helps that many of the game's default options set up team formations pair characters in a certain way), leaving Kou with a BettyAndVeronica-esque situation involving [[GirlNextDoor Shiori]], [[DefrostingIceQueen Asuka]], and [[ThirdOptionLoveInterest Rion]].

** The relationship between Nemesis and Zodiac. Nemesis is set up to be in opposition (though not fully) to Zodiac, which is why there's some tension between Asuka and Mitsuki in the beginning. But once Asuka and Mitsuki start working together, the whole complicated relationship essentially becomes forgotten, and Nemesis sits in the background for the rest of the plot.
** The ease with which the memories of the Eclipse of characters such as Chiaki and Aoi are erased or rewritten. It could have been interesting to see other characters help Kou and company with dealing with the Eclipse and see how this revelation affects the characters' relationships, but all of it is readily tossed aside with [[LaserGuidedAmnesia memory wiping]]. [[spoiler: It also might have been interesting to see how the Morimiya citizens react to the fact that the Eclipse has been a thing for a long while now, and how everyone knows that Kou and company are heroes for stopping the one behind the incident. But nope, their memories get rewritten, and so they instead think that the Eclipse incident was nothing more than a disastrous earthquake. Only Ryouta is certain to have gotten his memories back after the After Story.]]

* AuthorsSavingThrow: The After Story. [[spoiler: Fans unhappy with the True Ending find the After Story to be much better, as it wraps up a few plot points and shows off more of the game's world, as well as a SequelHook at the very end. The After Story allays many of the True Ending's issues, even if not fully.]]

* FanPreferredCouple: While the game lets the player build borderline-romantic relationships between Kou and just every major female character, quite a few fans seem to ship [[SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl YuukiXSora]] and [=ShioXMitsuki=], leaving Kou with a BettyAndVeronica-esque situation involving [[GirlNextDoor Shiori]], [[DefrostingIceQueen Asuka]], and [[ThirdOptionLoveInterest Rion]].

* TheUntwist: Falcom made no attempt to hide the fact that black soldier figure that worked with White Shroud is really [[spoiler: Gorou]]. When the soldier first appears at the end of Chapter 5, [[spoiler: he was wearing the same kinds of shoes and pants that Gorou is usually seen wearing.]] When he met up with white shroud in side story 5.5, you can also see [[spoiler: he was sporting same kind of sport watch that Gorou usually wears.]] Furthermore, White Shroud addresses him as [[spoiler: "Sensei"]], which is also a hint to the former's own identity. Therefore, while TheReveal in Chapter 7 is a big surprise to the in-game characters, it's not really a surprise to the player.

* EndingFatigue: ''Tokyo Xanadu'' suffers from this in regards with how it wants to conclude its story. Beating the FinalBoss in the Final Chapter only nets you the normal ending, but should you raise Kou's three attributes past a certain threshold, the Final Chapter is then followed up with an Epilogue, which extends the story even further towards the true ending. The ''[[UpdatedRerelease eX+]]'' version then takes it UpToEleven by having an additional After Story after the Epilogue, making the conclusion of the story drag on much longer than it should.

* HolyShitQuotient: The end of Chapter 7. [[spoiler: Kou and company have beaten the root of the Hollow Quakes and the assumed root of all the recent Eclipse appearances, only for a much bigger Hollow Quake to follow. It's then shown that it's done by none other than Shiroi, who reveals herself to be a Greed at Acros Tower, and the Eclipse swallows all Morimiya.]]

** The ease with which the memories of the Eclipse of characters such as Chiaki and Aoi are erased or rewritten. It could have been interesting to see other characters help Kou and company with dealing with the Eclipse and see how this revelation affects the characters' relationships, but all of it is readily tossed aside with memory wiping. [[spoiler: It also might have been interesting to see how the Morimiya citizens react to the fact that the Eclipse has been a thing for a long while now, and how everyone knows that Kou and company are heroes for stopping the one behind the incident. But nope, their memories get rewritten, and so they instead think that the Eclipse incident was nothing more than a disastrous earthquake. Only Ryouta is certain to have gotten his memories back after the After Story.]]

** The relationship between Nemesis and Zodiac. Nemesis is set up to be in opposition (though not fully) to Zodiac, which is why there's some tension between Asuka and Mitsuka in the beginning. But once Asuka and Mitsuka start working together, the whole complicated relationship essentially becomes forgotten, and Nemesis sits in the background for the rest of the plot.

* TheUntwist: Falcom made no attempt to hide the fact that black soldier figure that worked with white shroud is really [[spoiler: Gorou]]. When the soldier first appears at the end of Chapter 5, [[spoiler: he was wearing the same kinds of shoes and pants that Gorou is usually seen wearing.]] When he met up with white shroud in side story 5.5, you can also see [[spoiler: he was sporting same kind of sport watch that Gorou usually wears.]] Furthermore, white shroud addresses him as [[spoiler: "Sensei"]], which is also a hint to white shroud's own identity. Therefore, while TheReveal in Chapter 7 is a big surprise to the in-game characters, it's not really a surprise to the player.

** The relationship between Nemesis and Zodiac. The whole group is set up to be in opposition (though not fully) to Zodiac, which is why there's some tension between Asuka and Mitsuka in the beginning. But once they start working together, the whole complicated relationship essentially becomes forgotten, and Nemesis sits in the background for the rest of the plot.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: The After Story. [[spoiler: Fans unhappy with the True Ending find the After Story to be much better in wrapping up a few plot points and showing off more of the game's world, as well as a SequelHook at the very end. The After Story allays many of the True Ending's issues, even if not fully.]]

* BrokenBase: The localization being handled by Aksys and how the PlaystationVita version turned out to be a case of BadExportForYou. Some are glad that the game was localized at all, while others are displeased by the quality and hope that ''eX+'' will turn out better (which it did, substantially).
** The true ending. [[spoiler: Fans are split on whether the true ending's better than the normal ending. On one hand, Kou gets a chance to bring back Shiori, and he succeeds, which ends off everything on a happy note. On the other hand, though, the retconning of her death is thought to undermine the game's message of having to move on from the great lie that Kou had lived in to the truth. Moreover, the retcon is made possible because of the Nine-Tailed Fox, of whom there were few to no signs in the foregoing chapters, and so he came off as a DeusExMachina that the writers put in to give the story a happy ending that it didn't truly need. Thus, the normal ending is seen as bolder in its tone and more consistent with the game's message since Kou is forced to learn to live with the truth.]]

* ThatOneBoss: The final boss of chapter 5. Every single boss up to this point has been beatable entirely by getting up close and using melee attacks. This boss, however, spends pretty much the entire fight keeping its distance while throwing one ranged attack after the other at you. During the few moments where you can get close, it'll be surrounded by a spinning wheel which makes standing next to it impossible without taking damage, which pretty much forces you to use ranged attacks only. At some point during the fight it'll start creating up to 2 copies of itself, which all use [[BulletHell exactly the same attacks]]. Playing on Calamity difficulty? It'll create the copies pretty much at the start of the fight. Have fun.

* TheUntwist: Falcom made no attempt to hide the fact that black soldier figure that worked with white shroud is really [[spoiler: Gorou]]. When the soldier first appears at the end of Chapter 5, [[spoiler: he was wearing the same kinds of shoes and pants that Gorou is usually seen wearing.]] When he met up with white shroud in side story 5.5, you can also see [[spoiler: he was sporting same kind of sport watch that Gorou usually wears.]] Furthermore, white shroud addresses him as [[spoiler: "Sensei"]], which is also a hint to white shroud's own identity. Therefore, while TheReveal in Chapter 7 is a big surprise to the in-game characters, it's not really a surprise to the player.

* EndingFatigue: ''Tokyo Xanadu'' suffers from this in regards with how it wants to conclude its story. Beating the FinalBoss in the Final Chapter only nets you the normal ending, but should you raise Kou's three attributes past a certain threshold, the Final Chapter is then followed up with an Epilogue, which extends the story even further towards the true ending. The ''[[UpdatedRerelease eX+]]'' version then takes it UpToEleven by having an additional After Story after the Epilogue, which can make the conclusion of the story drag on much longer than it should.

* SpoiledByTheMerchandise: [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CPvCe2GU8AE0wa3.jpg Some pre-release marketing materials]] highlighted [[spoiler: Gorou]] alongside the other seven main characters.
** Even worse, a [[https://mobaca.jp/upload/save_image/BC_CA_TX_SD_SM_F.jpg tie-in phone case merchandise]] shows [[spoiler: Gorou holding his Soul Device in his full X-Strike pose glory]] alongside Rion.

* TheUntwist: Falcom made no attempt to hide the fact that black soldier figure that worked with white shroud is really [[spoiler: Gorou]]. When the soldier first appears at the end of Chapter 5, [[spoiler: he was wearing the same kinds of shoes and pants that Gorou is usually seen wearing.]] When he met up with white shroud in side story 5.5, you can also see [[spoiler: he was sporting same kind of sport watch that Gorou usually wears.]] Furthermore, white shroud addresses him as [[spoiler: "Sensei"]], which is also a hint to white shroud's own identity. Therefore, while TheReveal in Chapter 7 is a big surprise to the in-game characters, it's not really a surprise to the player.
** There's also a minor InterfaceSpoiler that careful players might notice. Despite being initially introduced as a supporting character, [[spoiler: Gorou]]'s picture on NIAR looks suspiciously more detailed and larger than other NonPlayerCharacter (that includes major supporting characters like Shiori, Towa, Jun, and Ryouta), just like the other seven playable characters. Turns out he eventually joins the the X.R.C. as [[spoiler: the eight and final party member]].

* TheUntwist: Falcom made no attempt to hide the fact that black soldier figure that worked with white shroud is really [[spoiler: Gorou]]. When the soldier first appears at the end of Chapter 5, [[spoiler: he was wearing the same kinds of shoes and pants that Gorou is usually seen wearing.]] When he met up with white shroud in side story 5.5, you can also see [[spoiler: he was sporting same kind of sport watch that Gorou usually wears.]] Furthermore, white shroud addresses him as [[spoiler: "Sensei"]], which is also a hint to white shroud's own identity. Therefore, while TheReveal in Chapter 7 is a big surprise to the in-game characters, it's not really a surprise to the player.

* BestLevelEver: Witch's Briar Castle; the final Eclipse labyrinth in Chapter 5. It is by far the most complex dungeon in the entire game, being divided into three segments and featuring a wide variety of obstacles and hazards, which makes it a step-up from other dungeons both before and after it. The dungeon starts off with [[BlackoutBasement rooms being covered in thick fog]], reducing your visibility and making you adapt to the new changes while you search out for torches that can remove the fog. And as you progress deeper into the dungeon, you outrun [[AdvancingWallOfDoom spiked walls]], platform over lava pits, and dodge swinging axes ''[[BreadEggsBreadedEggs while]]'' platforming over lava pits. And all of this is accompanied by an intense atmosphere and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zOxbf1T5X0 incredible music]], making it the most memorable dungeon in the game despite housing ThatOneBoss at the end.

* ThatOneLevel: The Pillar of Darkness in the Final Chapter. For starters, almost all of the dungeon is [[SlippySlideyIceWorld covered in ice]], making combat more difficult now that ice physics are involved. This is accompanied by the fact that you start the dungeon with only Kou and Asuka in your party, so you're unable to use the third support slot to heal your party members should they take a lot of damage. And half-way through the dungeon, you face a DualBoss battle against both the Glare Phantom (the final boss of Chapter 2) and the Astral Widow (the final boss of Chapter 3) at the same time. If you haven't been saving up your {{Limit Break}}s up to this point, be prepared for a large DifficultySpike as both bosses attack you all at once with no coordinated pattern. Things get a little better in the second half once Sora and Yuuki rejoin your party, but the ice physics are still an issue.

* ThatOneLevel: The Pillar of Darkness in the Final Chapter. For starters, almost all of the dungeon is [[SlippySlideyIceWorld covered in ice]], making combat more difficult now that ice physics are involved. This is accompanied by the fact that you start the dungeon with only Kou and Asuka, so you're unable to use the third support slot to heal you party members should you take a lot of damage. And half-way through the dungeon, you face a DualBoss battle against both the Glare Phantom (the final boss of Chapter 2) and the Astral Widow (the final boss of Chapter 3) at the same time. If you haven't been saving up your {{Limit Break}}s up to this point, be prepared for a large DifficultySpike. Things get a little better in the second half once Sora and Yuuki rejoin your party, but the ice physics are still an issue.

* BestLevelEver: Witch's Briar Castle; the final Eclipse labyrinth in Chapter 5. It is by far the most complex dungeon in the entire game, being divided into three segments and featuring a wide variety of obstacles and hazards, which makes it a step-up from other dungeons both before and after it. The dungeon starts off with [[BlackoutBasement rooms being covered in thick fog]], reducing your visibility and making you adapt to the new changes while you search out for torches that can remove to fog. And as you progress deeper into the dungeon, you outrun [[AdvancingWallOfDoom spiked walls]], platform over lava pits, and dodge swinging axes ''[[BreadEggsBreadedEggs while]]'' platforming over lava pits. And all of this is accompanied by an intense atmosphere and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zOxbf1T5X0 incredible music]], making it the most memorable dungeon in the game despite housing ThatOneBoss at the end.

* ThatOneBoss: The final boss of chapter 5. [[spoiler:Every single boss up to this point has been beatable entirely by getting up close and using melee attacks. This boss, however, spends pretty much the entire fight keeping its distance while throwing one ranged attack after the other at you. During the few moments where you can get close, it'll be surrounded by a spinning wheel which makes standing next to it impossible without taking damage, which pretty much forces you to use ranged attacks only. At some point during the fight it'll start creating up to 2 copies of itself, which all use [[BulletHell exactly the same attacks]]. Playing on Calamity difficulty? It'll create the copies pretty much at the start of the fight. Have fun.]]

* BrokenBase: The localization being handled by Aksys and how the PlaystationVita version turned out to be a case of BadExportForYou. Some are glad that the game was localized at all, while others are displeased by the quality and hope that ''eX+'' will turn out better.

** eX+ has the final boss of the after story. [[spoiler:In a similar vein to VideoGame/{{Ys Seven}} you must use all the characters in your party, split up into four different groups, with each group fighting a different phase. If you haven't mastered dodging by the time you get to the third and fourth phases, you're in for a very rough ride. Oh, and if you die during any of the phases? [[NintendoHard All the way back to the first one]].]]

* ThatOneBoss: The final boss of chapter 5. [[spoiler:Every single boss up to this point has been beatable entirely by getting up close and using melee attacks. This boss, however, spends pretty much the entire fight keeping its distance while throwing one ranged attack after the other at you. At some point during the fight it'll even start creating up to 2 copies of itself, which all use [[BulletHell exactly the same attacks]]. Playing on Calamity difficulty? It'll create the copies pretty much at the start of the fight. Have fun.]]

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: The first few seconds of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIpdH6t2ivI Raging Rush]]" are very similar to part of the ''Film/{{Ghostbusters}}'' theme.

OvershadowedByControversy: While the core ''Falcom'' fanbase liked the game, it's gained more attention for its subpar localization and [[NoDubForYou lack of a dub]] than for its merits in gameplay and story.

* BrokenBase: The localization being handled by Aksys and how the PlaystationVita version turned out to be a case of BadExportForYou. Some glad that it's localized at all, some are displeased by the quality but hoped that ''eX+'' version would be better, and another declared that it would be the same either way.

* HilariousInHindsight:
** Gorou. Almost all of his spoilerrific qualities might remind you of [[VideoGame/Persona5 another Goro(u) from an RPG that was released one year after this game]]. For added hilarity, Gorou's [[spoiler:dead]] girlfriend is named Futaba, like another party member from the same game.

* LauncherOfAThousandShips: In true Creator/{{Falcom}} fashion, Kou has bonding events with every major character. It ends up building the impression that all the girls, at the very least, develop a thing for him. And that's not even going into some of the story events.

* BaseBreaker: The localization being handled by Aksys and how the PlaystationVita version turned out to be a case of BadExportForYou. Some glad that it's localized at all, some are displeased by the quality but hoped that ''eX+'' version would be better, and another declared that it would be the same either way.

* FanPreferredCouple: While the game lets the player build borderline-romantic relationships between Kou and just every major female character, quite a few fans seem to ship [[EnergeticGirlSaavyGuy SoraXYuuki]] and ShioXMitsuki, leaving Kou with a BettyAndVeronica-esque situation involving [[GirlNextDoor Shiori]], [[DefrostngIceQueen Asuka]], and [[ThirdOptionLoveInterest Rion]].