![Tokyo rising](https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1664976517/articles/FwDDPy3af1665468540607/TOKYO-RISING.jpg)
After a two-year, pandemic-induced hiatus, the 2022 Tokyo Game Show’s tagline – ‘Nothing stops gaming’ – is as debatable as it is defiant. It reflects, however, a broader eagerness in Japan to return, finally, to the way things were. The country has been slower than most to ease its lockdown policies. Everyone is still expected to wear a mask, even outdoors, and the country remains closed to tourism, while demanding business visitors complete a quest of Miyazaki-esque opaqueness to unlock a travel visa. This conservatism is proving increasingly costly: the yen is currently at a 24-year low against the US dollar, and hundreds of businesses that rely on foreign visitors, including many of Tokyo’s last bastion of arcades, have been forced to close during the past 24 months. Against this backdrop, with over 138,000 visitors making the pilgrimage to Makuhari Messe’s halls, this year’s TGS finds itself in the improbable position of seeming, for the first time in a while, something approaching notable.
It’s certainly a more international affair than in previous years. Of the 600-odd companies represented at the event, only a little more than half are Japanese. Facebook – sorry, Meta – is ubiquitous, thanks to panoramic billboards around the exhibition centre that promote the next iteration of its virtual reality headset, Meta Quest 2; in Japan at least, the VR dream remains strong. Among Us characters painted on the sides of buses run loops around the Makuhari Messe’s hangar-like halls. Once inside, it is impossible to miss Valve’s stand, complete with a gigantic Steam Deck dangling from the rafters, and THQ
Denne historien er fra December 2022-utgaven av Edge UK.
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Denne historien er fra December 2022-utgaven av Edge UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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![Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5196/1670775/VuX3XUQfe1713446215226/BULWARK-FALCONEER-CHRONICLES.jpg)
Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles
Anyone familiar with the concept of kitbashing is already halfway to understanding what Tomas Sala’s open-world builder is all about.
![Children Of The Sun](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5196/1670775/GS2fLPwVu1713446045236/CHILDREN-OF-THE-SUN.jpg)
Children Of The Sun
René Rother’s acrid revenge thriller – an action game with its limbs broken and forcibly rearranged into the shape of a spatial puzzler – is at once a bonafide original and an unlikely throwback. Cast your eyes right and you wouldn’t blink if we told you this was a forgotten Grasshopper Manufacture game from the early PS3 era (we won’t be at all surprised if this finds a spot on Suda51’s end-of-year list).
![Post Script](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5196/1670775/MDeamhHdK1713445946765/POST-SCRIPT.jpg)
Post Script
What does Rise Of The Ronin say for PS5 exclusivity?
![Rise Of The Ronin](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5196/1670775/be63w6HQ51713445727639/RISE-OF-THE-RONIN.jpg)
Rise Of The Ronin
Falling in battle simply switches control to the next person up, and then quick revive fixes everything
![Post Script](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5196/1670775/OV8lnk1x71713445574640/POST-SCRIPT.jpg)
Post Script
The pawn and the pandemic
![Dragon's Dogma 2](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5196/1670775/Y4s95oQRF1713445342256/DRAGONS-DOGMA-2.jpg)
Dragon's Dogma 2
The road from Vernworth to Bakbattahl is scenic but arduous. Ignore the dawdling mobs of goblins, and duck beneath the chanting harpies that circle on the currents overhead, and even moving at a hurried clip it is impossible for a party of four to complete the journey by nightfall.
![BLUE MANCHU](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5196/1670775/DOrrFgQNd1713444997422/BLUE-MANCHU.jpg)
BLUE MANCHU
How enforced early retirement eventually led Jonathan Chey back to System Shock
![THE MAKING 0F.... AMERICAN ARCADIA](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5196/1670775/XRlm8dGVd1713444562670/THE-MAKING-0F-AMERICAN-ARCADIA.jpg)
THE MAKING 0F.... AMERICAN ARCADIA
How a contrast of perspectives added extra layers to a side-scrolling platform game
![COMING IN TO LAND](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5196/1670775/TShEvYUX61713442702160/COMING-IN-TO-LAND.jpg)
COMING IN TO LAND
The creator of Spelunky, plus a super-group of indie developers, have spent the best part of a decade making 50 games. Has the journey been worth it?
![VOID SOLS](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5196/1670775/4cGxxzdH21713442452404/VOID-SOLS.jpg)
VOID SOLS
This abstract indie Soulslike has some bright ideas