The Secret World finally reaches Japan

Tokyo in Secret World was never just a city in Japan. In terms of the lore, it is ground zero for the supernatural horrors that make The Secret World what it is. Tokyo is the source of mobs, quests, character skills, filth, villains, ghosts, and everything else that makes The Secret World more than a game about people living quiet lives on a New England coast. That would have been interesting, but a terrible MMO. Then, somewhere into the game’s mid-life, Tokyo became the name of promised new content that wasn’t just more instanced adventures or a new branch on the skill tree or more costumes. Tokyo would be a whole new area for folks who had exhausted Egypt and Transylvania. Tokyo would be the fourth act. It would be the next giant step. Tokyo. Would it ever arrive? Why was it taking so long? When would Tokyo get here? Tokyo was an eldritch El Dorado.

Tokyo is finally here as part of Issue #9: The Black Signal, available now for $9. For a little more than twice that amount, you can get a collector’s edition with special in-game doo-dads and a Japanese schoolgirl uniform. Lest you think the schoolgirl uniform is just gratuitous cheesecake, there’s a tradition in Japanese horror of schoolgirls in their uniforms dispatching monsters. Which is gratuitous, to be sure, but you can’t blame Funcom for knowing their source material.

More information about Issue #9 is available here. I should probably temper my expectations for Tokyo, since it’s “only” a new issue. But given how distinct Funcom made the other three regions in Secret World, I can’t help but have high hopes.