It's well documented that the Xbox brand has had little success in Japan. If a game isn't being produced by one of the bigger companies in the country, chances are it will completely bypass Microsoft's consoles. The worldwide success of the Xbox 360 prompted some developers to generate enough games for the console to gain a reputation for being a haven for bullet hell shooting fans, but that's about it. It comes as a bit of a surprise, then, that Experience Inc., would give that system an exclusive dungeon crawler. With the Xbox 360 officially shutting down production, Stranger of Sword City makes the move to the Xbox One.

The story is certainly interesting. On a seemingly routine flight from Japan to Alaska, you regain consciousness in a barren dungeon instead of in your seat. An old man discovers you, and you quickly learn that you're the only survivor of a plane crash and you're in an alternate, more medieval world. The old man double-crosses you and plans to have you sacrificed to monsters, but a young woman comes to your rescue. She reveals that those from the alternate world are more powerful here, and you possess enough power to make you a Chosen One. Now part of a guild known as Strangers, it is your task to protect the people from the monsters that roam the land while also trying to find your way home.

While the story has a great setup, it falls on the expected RPG and anime tropes: the sassy youngster who knows more than she lets on, the unexpected leader who's still learning to be more confident in her abilities, the character with a tough exterior who means well, etc. The dialogue is fine, while the use of a visual novel style is good enough if you're willing to accept it in lieu of something more animated. It isn't a terrible tale, but it isn't truly memorable, either. Then again, games like this often emphasize gameplay over anything else, so genre fans have come to expect this.

You start by creating a character, and compared to recent Japanese RPGs, this process is much more involved. Some of the expected categories are available, like name, class and stats, but your appearance is taken care of via pre-made character portraits. Though the portraits don't affect anything but aesthetics, your age does. Younger characters recover faster while older characters get bigger bonuses when they level up. The system is detailed, and while you may want to carefully think about your character setup before heading out, you have the option to re-roll in the middle of your campaign if you don't mind paying a little to do so.

The core is that of a classic first-person, dungeon-crawling RPG, and the closest thing the Xbox One has to that is the Krypt section of Mortal Kombat X. You move across level labyrinths one square at a time, and while you have more modern first-person controls, your movements and turns are sharp, as they only stop once you hit a cardinal direction. You can try to interact with the environment, but that's limited to hitting the A button and waiting to see if anything comes from it. This is the type of game where you have to uncover the level layout via exploration, and with some floors taking up almost every square of the map, you'll spend a good deal of time simply walking around.

One of the more interesting things in Stranger of Sword City is the ability to fast-travel to any part of the level that you've already uncovered. It isn't so much a warp as it is an automatic fast-forward function that takes you to your desired location in the most straightforward way possible, but it is helpful if you want to quickly retreat or reach a location you've been meaning to explore without having to input the commands.

The combat system has a pretty traditional base. Using your party of six, you'll set up commands for each before they're utilized, and you'll see the moves mixed in with enemy actions. Though your classes determine which actions you can perform, your placement in the party also makes a difference, since you always have three people in the front row and three in the back. As such, a sensible configuration is to place melee fighters in the front and healers in the back, with the spell casters and projectile specialists. Just like movement, you can speed up the battle, so you aren't always hitting the A button to execute each command. If you wish, you also have the option to repeat your previous commands.

The option to repeat commands should be taken with caution, however, since the game proves to be quite difficult. Per JRPG tradition, your character starts off rather weakly, but the enemies you encounter start off rather strong, and no scaling is done to accommodate your level. The result is more deaths or taking on unnecessary damage if you're being too aggressive, and while you can resurrect your party members at your base, the cost is prohibitive enough that you'll choose the free option whenever possible. That means party members are going to be down and out for long periods of time, and since the only way to make time pass faster is to explore more dungeons, you'll either opt to go shorthanded or make up a ton of reserve members to act as substitutes. Unless you're extremely careful, expect to do lots of early grinding with various party members to ensure that you're prepared for the late-game battles.

The other part that makes the game difficult is the fact that enemies are rather stingy when it comes to dropping loot. Unlike other RPGs, getting money from fallen foes is a rare occurrence, and basic equipment is even rarer. To compensate for this, the game employs a hide mechanic in specific parts of the stage. Provided you have enough points, you can become invisible to enemies and lie in wait until you see one carrying interesting treasure to take. Defeating the enemy gets you said goods, but even that isn't guaranteed, since the leader holding the chest can run away if you don't kill it in a certain number of turns. To prevent players from abusing this mechanic, using the same hiding spot decreases its effectiveness to the point where enemies can ambush you as punishment. It's a very interesting risk/reward system that adds a twist to the genre.

The sound is pretty much what you expect from the genre's throwback days. You get a bit of a Final Fantasy vibe with the battle victory music, and the battle music is of the same epic flavor. Everywhere else, the soundtrack is a little less robust but still adventurous, and the tunes you hear in town are calm but not bouncy. The effects are good while the voices are completely done in Japanese with no English track in sight. Almost all of the dialogue is spoken, and the performances are very laudable.

As far as graphics go, you have to temper your expectations. Like the cut scenes, the battles are done in the same visual novel style, and the exquisitely detailed portraits of monsters and other enemies provide very little in the way of movement, with the exception of shaking whenever they're hurt or perform an action. The same goes for your party's portraits, but at any time, you have the option to swap between the very detailed ones that look like they belong on manga covers and the more anime-inspired ones. The environments are also detailed but static while in battle, but the ones you see when exploring are rather dull, with some instances of textures being blurry, stretched out — or both. Even if you were to look at it as a strictly Xbox 360 game, the title could have used some cleanup in those areas, considering how it wouldn't be taxing on either system.

Stranger of Sword City can be a little archaic as far as mechanics go, and it certainly isn't very welcoming for those not already accustomed to the slow first-person, dungeon-crawling style. It is, however, very deep in the gameplay department and showcases new mechanics to complement a rather long campaign. A very different experience for those who aren't into the portable systems, JRPG fans who want something more distinct should check out Stranger of Sword City.

Score: 8.0/10