Tron: Identity review

We’ve already seen what Bithell Games can do with a movie franchise when John Wick Hex released. Not only was it faithfully done, but it took a different approach to the movies by turning it into a fast-paced strategy that should never have worked on paper, however, it was pretty damn fantastic. The Tron franchise is a much different genre to John Wick, and so is the visual novel style and mechanics Tron: Identity is built upon, yet once again, the developers have managed to do something refreshing with the source material and make a game worth investing your time into.

Tron: Identity utilises the fascinating science fiction seen in the movies and offers a brand new story set within the world. It focuses on a detective named Query who’s been sent to investigate an explosion at a tower block within a new grid. It’s a simple starting point, but as you meet new characters and start to understand them, you’ll gather your own opinions about who may and may not be innocent, as well as what really happened. As expected, there’s much more at stake, and it’s your job to get to the bottom of what’s been stolen and by whom.

The visual novel style of Tron: Identity is so pretty, taking a lot of inspiration from the films and capturing the very essence of them while still making it feel new and exciting. If you’re not familiar with the Tron series, there may be certain characters mentioned, along with other references to the lore. With the original releasing in 1982, there’s even the possibility you’ve forgotten a lot of it, but Bithell Games has managed to give plenty of background and detail in clear and concise ways, thanks to a journal of sorts that explains certain people and places you encounter.

Deciding how to play your role comes from the conversations you have and the actions you take. There’re a multitude of dialogue options for everyone you meet, and they help to make Query a robust character with a unique personality depending on how you play. One of the chief security officers in the game is a bit of a jerk and doesn’t like you very much. You can choose to be submissive to his casual bullying or stand up to it, something I started to find the most intriguing about Tron: Identity because my choices, even from the very beginning, affected how later conversations went with him.

Query, for me at least, was a detective who stood up for himself when he needed to. He was confident and resourceful, understanding and direct, which to the chagrin of some of my suspects, got under their skin more often than not. I was polite when I needed to be, especially to Cass, who was probably the one person that suffered the most following the robbery. They had lost their memory, and when it came to helping them remember certain things, the one puzzle mechanic came into play. Much of Tron: Identity comes from talking to people, snooping around areas of the complex and finding clues, but the other big gamey section comes in the form of defragging Identity Discs.

These sections play out with a circular grid featuring cards with numbers and icons on them. To clear the grid, you must pair numbered cards or patterned cards together, however, you can only move to the first card in either direction, or the third. Not only that, but new challenges will pop up as you play, such as certain cards switching with others across the grid, or new cards spawning if you don’t clear the ones responsible in time. Each puzzle offers a different objective to complete, such as clearing a certain number of patterns in a row. You can also get help three times in one puzzle if you’re struggling, and moves can be reversed if you’ve hit a dead end.

These puzzles progress the story, but also add another layer to the game. They took some time to get used to, but once it clicked, I looked forward to encountering the next one.  Tron: Identity is meant to be played multiple times as there’re various outcomes to the story along with the fate of the characters. It handles the visual novel genre with style as well as substance, featuring an engaging story and a clever puzzle mechanic. A playthrough may not be long, but in the time I spent from almost getting hit by a light cycle at the start to seeing the credits rolled, I had already found out a lot about the world and lore, as well as discovering some interesting characters that all have a part to play in the story.