I'd never heard of it before the Recent Unpleasantness. I saw a few people here say they had played it or at least used material from it in their games.

Yesterday I came close to buying a copy just as an anti-censorship statement (Hey, I watched my fair share of Urotsukidōji back in my college days), but couldn't quite pull the trigger once I saw the incredibly amateur artwork and the fact that it used the Pathfinder engine (Not what would be my first choice for an anime game. Or my third. Or my tenth).  

So, now this obscure game is getting it's day in the sun, for good or ill. Tell me about  it? Was I unfair?

Quote from: Just Another Snake Cult;852748Was I unfair?

No you were not.

It's like FATAL, only it is d20 so the rules are even worse.

I will pm you a link to a review because I do not want to link it here due to the graphic images.

Before I reply to this, I need to make a disclaimer. I've reviewed some of this publisher's products on RPGNow/DriveThruRPG as a featured reviewer. I've also had several small products published by this publisher (albeit none for Black Tokyo or anything else under the Otherverse Games imprint). Further, Chris Field once used a bit of my Open Game Content in one of his books (which I'm still tickled about). Finally, I was the editor for one of his books (a villain book in the Otherverse America setting about super-powered pro-life terrorists).

So in other words, take what I say with whatever grain of salt you feel is appropriate.

Having said all of that, no, I don't think you were unfair. In terms of artwork, layout, and other aspects of presentation, Black Tokyo looks like exactly what it is: the result of an extremely small group, little more than one guy.

Otherverse Games/Skortched Urf' Studios is just Chris doing the writing and layout, Mark handling the business end of things, and a couple of artists that Chris likes to use when he has the funding to make commissions (the rest of it is stock art), which is usually paid for with the sales of previous works. (The use of commissioned artwork is comparatively recent; the older books rely more on stock art than the newer ones.)

Insofar as it uses the d20/Pathfinder system, well, that speaks to the design mandate of the company, namely that Chris is writing (incredibly prolifically, at least to me) what he's interested in, using the system that he knows/enjoys the most. The actual business concern is a distant second to him. Sure, another game would be far more conducive to giving the setting an anime feel, but Chris knows Pathfinder, enjoys Pathfinder, and so writes Pathfinder. That's all there is to it (at least, that's my take on the situation).

The draw of Black Tokyo is, as I understand it, far more about the setting than the mechanics. My guess is that those who use it (and it's original sourcebook is an electrum seller on DTRPG, making it one of the top 4% items sold, with the revised sourcebook being a silver seller, which is in the top 10%) use the setting with the system of their choice...as with so many other RPGs.

As for the setting itself, well, you seem to have a good handle on it already. It's a dark setting that mixes sex and violence, along with fetishism, liberally, and not only is unashamed of doing so, but revels in it. If you know Urotsukidoji, as you mentioned, then you'll know exactly what you're getting.

EDIT: It is not, however, like F.A.T.A.L. Say what you want about how much you do or do not like the subject matter, but Black Tokyo is far better than that.