Tokyo 42 update aims to fix troublesome camera without actually changing the camera at all

Andy's biggest problem with gorgeous open-world shooter Tokyo 42 was its camera: as he wrote in his review, the isometric perspective combined with the 45-degree rotation increments (you hit Q and E to move it this way and that) means you occasionally lose your character in the city sprawl. A new update for the game aims to address that, but the camera itself isn't changing. Instead, you can now see both your own silhouette and silhouettes of enemies through buildings and objects.

From the video above, which explains the change, it looks like a step in the right direction that will make it easier to keep track of where your character is and move the camera accordingly. Whether it fixes the problem entirely, I'm not sure, because Andy reckoned the camera just moved too slowly as well.

The blog post outlining the update is worth a read because it simultaneously admits that a change was needed while also arguing that the criticisms of the camera weren't valid at all (which it presents as a hypothetical 'if we were being really defensive this is what we would say' kind of thing). The latter is slightly tongue-in-cheek, but the whole blog is a good insight into how developers and publishers perceive, and respond to, criticism of their games, including a chunk about the nature of internet criticism and why developers will often ignore it.

It also explains why the camera is the way it is, and why changing the camera isn't really an option because it's built into the very fabric of the game. Here's Sean Wright from developer Smac Games: "I still think that the 8-angle rotation scheme is part of the reason that the game is as beautiful as it is, and I reckon we roughly achieved the goal we set out to do with it. 

"The way it was received ultimately helped me personally realise that maybe a more forgiving camera schema could have potentially made the gameplay better, but I think a change to this would result in a very different game from what it is now. It is intrinsic to the game’s core."

Samuel Horti

Samuel Horti is a long-time freelance writer for PC Gamer based in the UK, who loves RPGs and making long lists of games he'll never have time to play.