Operation Babel: New Tokyo Legacy

Operation Babel: New Tokyo Legacy is a classic, numbers-heavy dungeon crawler that leans hard into methodical exploration and party management. If you like mapping corridors, testing formations, and building a team around synergies rather than reflexes, it delivers exactly that flavor. It’s not trying to be flashy; it’s trying to be deep and deliberate. For the right audience, that focus is a strength. The main loop is straightforward: push into a dungeon, gather resources, learn enemy patterns, and retreat to prepare for the next run. Party building is where the game really lives, with plenty of room to experiment with roles, skills, and equipment. Progress feels earned because small upgrades meaningfully change how safe (or risky) your routes become. When the systems click, it’s satisfying in a very old-school way. Difficulty is the defining trait, and it can be unforgiving if you rush or ignore status effects and resistances. Some fights punish sloppy setups, and certain encounters can feel like a wall until you adjust tactics or grind a bit. The game rewards caution—scouting, stocking items, and knowing when to retreat—more than stubborn brute force. That tension is engaging,…

OK so I was in the mood to play a dungeon crawler and I saw this sitting in my library. I have played lots of games from this genre and several as close as you're going to get to this one - Mary Skelter being my favourite I think. I can normally navigate my way around the usually pretty inscruitable systems of these games fine but this time - i just don't want to. If there was a mod that just changed all the menus so the what they did was a bit easier to parse, i'd probably recommend it but I am tired, my brain is tired and i cba to consult a guide on how to craft a basic sword.

neither do i know the IP nor am i the target audience while wizadry-likes/dungeoncrawlers are "my" genre i am not realy a manga/anime-fan and i am old little girls with big swords are still kinda cringy to me; my only connection to the topic are (classical) Ghost in the Shell and Appleseed, asmuch as the original DQ and FF titles. thus i will not comment on the visual style, plot or the little girls with big swords. although i will say that the game does something unique if you chose the classical mode (both modes only influence the visuals of your party): every piece of gear is represented on your characters-puppets which is quite cool. gameplay wise the game is typical for asian wizardry-clones. there are always some modifictions to core mechanics but the skeleton is very similiar. combating some "traps" is kinda easier cause you can buy items (like a consumable which lets you use the mini- and automap during a run, despite the specific dungeon blocking maps) and multiclassing is very consumer-friendly; which i think works better than the often very obscure way wizadry-likes handel multiclassing. minus you characters leveling slower cause the exp gets divided between the class…

game is good! wonderful dungeon crawl

Terrible UI, including the need to click a button to advance after every single attack in combat. Terrible UI/explanations for character creation, and the game crashed as I finally started making characters, losing the time spent. Very poor port.

It's a nice follow-up to the first game. The changes to mechanics opens a lot of playing options. The story is confusing, not just because of "lost in translation" issues but more because they brush by big concepts and then repeat the simple expositions over and over. So you're constantly juggling between, "Okay already!" and "Wait, what?" So... improved gameplay, wiped out on the story. But still a fine sequel, just be aware that you're getting yourself involved in a Wizardry-like slog for crafting drops. Which you should already be familiar with if you played the first game.