Annapurna Interactive's Upcoming Lineup Is Shaping Up To Continue Their Unique Legacy - Tokyo Game Show 2025

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Not too long ago, I had the pleasure of reviewing and covering some of my favorite publishers’ releases, and I mentioned how Critical Reflex is wildly underrated. They are one of my favorite publishers for a reason, releasing amazing games like No, I’m Not a Human and Mouthwashing. However, there are other publishers I feel the same way about, including Annapurna Interactive. They consistently release some of the weirdest, creative, and very enjoyable titles that ooze quality. Today at the Tokyo Game Show, I got to check out three of their upcoming titles, and they all felt like they continue the trend in a wonderful way, offering a variety of experiences that all feel special.

D-topia

First up, I checked out D-topia. You play as a new resident who has become a facilitator and works in the factory. There, we will go and work each day to earn our place to live in this utopia, meet a weird cast of characters, and complete puzzles to keep our jobs and make the residents of this place happy.

The aesthetic immediately stands out to me, and I love the simplistic style. The style is cute, but detailed to the point where I can tell exactly what everything is. It reminds me of loose cel-shading, and it’s just a gorgeous style that works well for this type of game. I especially like how expressions of the people we find can be. In the demo, I met two people: an eccentric man who doesn’t trust facilitators and someone at a shop who freaked out over a broken bot. Despite the simple art, it was clear to see how they were both feeling, and it made them more memorable.

The gameplay primarily revolves around puzzles, and it seems like there will be a lot of them. I had to complete 6-7 puzzles in my job as a facilitator, and complete another to fix the bot at the store. These logic-based puzzles weren’t too difficult, but as I completed more, they definitely got harder and more complicated. The loop seems to come from completing puzzles and helping residents, getting to know them and their personal stories.

However, there seems to be a deeper side to it. The store page for D-topia mentions a “thought-provoking journey” and shaping the futures of residents, so I have a feeling there’s more than meets the eye. On top of that, the demo ended with some text mentioning that we somehow broke protocol and will now be investigated. I don’t know much more than that, but it looks like there’s going to be some underlying issues that could make this a more nuanced experience than something more straightforward. This is what will motivate me to play more, and though the demo was short, I loved it.

Demi and the Fractured Dream

The next game I checked out was Demi and the Fractured Dream. You play as Demi and go through the world of Somnus to defeat beasts, solve puzzles, and save the world. We will utilize the powers of shadows and the void to take down enemies, which can offer some interesting possibilities down the road.

This was another shorter demo, so I don’t have a ton of time with it, but I enjoyed it so far. It has a Legend of Zelda vibe to it, with some of the combat and puzzle-solving reminding me of our green-hatted sword fighter. Combat is on the simple side, with light and heavy attacks, along with dodging, but it feels mechanically tight. It’s easy to pick up, but it will definitely take some time to master. It seems like there will be some platforming aspects as well, but I don’t get to play around with it too much.

There’s definitely an emphasis on timing dodges well to empower yourself as much as you can. Whenever you dodge, you get empowered with that void energy to deal extra damage. It felt great to go from dodging to attacking, and I can see the core mechanics are very well implemented.

According to the store page, there will be an assortment of tools and spells to use, as well as ability-enhancing charms that can augment your other abilities to help fight. They also mention dynamic platforming. I wish I had gotten to try all of these aspects, as it sounds like there is a lot of potential with the game. I did get to play with a giant feather to blow on some levers to open doors, though!

Hopefully, we will get to see more soon, because as it is right now, the core mechanics feel great, and I just want to see how else we can utilize them.

People of Note

And finally, I got to try People of Note. This is a turn-based RPG that revolves around music. Different genres of music will have different cities in a relatively large world. We play as Cadence, a singer who is putting together a band filled with people from these different cities to wow the judges in the Noteworthy Song Contest. However, trouble is brewing, and Cadence and her band will end up having to work together to ensure music lives on.

When I first heard of the game, I was pretty excited to see more. However, after playing it, I was quite surprised by how much I enjoyed it. In general, combat feels like a rhythm game, with each attack and ability giving you a prompt to press the button at the correct time to deal extra damage. Abilities can compound on that, giving you two or three prompts to deal that damage. It’s an interesting idea that works better than I had expected when I first heard about it.

Each character that you can have added to your party also encompasses its own specific genre. For example, Cadence encompasses pop music, while Fret reeks of rock. Their attacks in music are associated with their rhythm prompts, following along with their own genre. There will be four teammates you can have on the field at any given time, each of whom brings their own brand of music to the field. This gives way to musical mashup attacks, which can combine the genres of two of your teammates into one for an all-out attack.

This leads away for more representation of genres that aren’t as mainstream. Being able to see how these genres mash up is interesting, but what makes it even more interesting is how they are represented outside of combat. The world of people of note is filled with cities that are based on these genres. The main cities will be primarily focused on the more well-known genres. However, there may be a little district in these cities that might represent some more niche genres. The developer also mentioned that this is not going to be a small-scale RPG, so we may be seeing a lot of representation across the board as we explore the world.

I spoke a bit with the developer after playing the game, and it was clear to see how passionate he was about it. He mentioned the high production value of the music itself, and from what I heard so far, he isn’t off base. He talked about his influences, coming from games like OSU and Elite Beat Agents, and as a fan of both of those games, I just got even more excited.

But the part that really stuck out to me was the hint he gave towards Steam Deck performance. He mentioned how much of a fan he was a Valve‘s handheld PC, and mentioned that he was working hard to optimize the game. He wasn’t able to give any clear guarantees, but from how he sounded, I would say he’s very confident that the game is going to be quite playable on the go. If this is actually a solid-sized RPG, it would be perfect to be able to play it wherever we are.

There’s a reason why Annapurna Interactive is one of my favorite publishers, and these three games further solidified that feeling. Each of them offers a unique experience unlike the other, yet still feels unique and unlike other games that I have played recently. I look forward to checking out more of all three of these games, and I can’t wait to see what else Annapurna is cooking up.

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