Tron: Identity review: Neon Noir

Bithell Games has spent the better part of the last decade cutting its teeth on narrative-driven, text-based stories, and its newest project sees it collaborating with Disney to work on one of the entertainment empire’s most coveted IP. Tron: Identity is set in the universe of the cult-classic films and expands on the lore, offering an interesting detective story that fans of the series will undoubtedly comb through for all of the fine details, but some of the nuances may be lost on newcomers.

Life is a light cycle

Trong: Identity drops you right into the middle of a mystery on the Arq server. Something important and valuable has been stolen from its vault, and you’re tasked with figuring out who took it. Not only that, but you also have to figure out what was stolen, as even that is unclear at the start of the game. You’ll talk to a lot of characters, solve puzzles, and use clues in your effort to get to the bottom of the mystery.

In true mystery fashion, Tron: Identity sports branching pathways that lead to one of multiple potential endings. Your choices drive the story, and I appreciated how broad most of the available options were. In a lot of choice-based games, decisions are pretty binary, and it’s easy to predict what their outcomes will be. I felt like I was able to greatly shape Query, the protagonist, as well as their various relationships with my choices. There were also plenty of unexpected consequences to my choices, which made it fun when determining which paths to take.

Tron: Identity is deeply engrossed in franchise lore, directly referencing characters and events from the live-action films. Fans that have been hungry for more stories in this world will be excited to pick up on some of the loose ends left by Tron: Legacy, but newcomers may feel a bit outside the know. As someone who isn’t incredibly well-versed in Tron lore, I found myself frequently googling specific terms and referenced events as the game assumes you have a deep understanding of the franchise.

A new identity

Tron: Identity is a visual novel, with the game exclusively using on-screen text and primarily still images to convey its story. Bithell Games manages to give life to the extended dialogue sequences by putting an emphasis on the small details. Light character movements and changes in facial expressions, light dancing around in the background, and other slight animations make an environment feel alive.

There’s a level of interaction with Tron: Identity’s vibrant environments, too. Small blue dots indicate parts of an environment that can be inspected to glean more details. For example, looking out of a window to get a better view of the world outside, or taking a closer look at what’s placed on a desk. It encouraged me to stop and take a look around before pushing the dialogue forward and potentially leaving the scene.

The information pulled from investigating the environment goes to a personal journal that chronicles all of the characters you’ve learned about. I liked to frequently check this menu to see how much information I had gathered on any one individual. There’s a branching graph that shows the progression of your relationship with a person, marking every pivotal moment in your interactions and indicating areas where certain information may have been revealed if you chose a different pathway. Tron: Identity does a great job of visualizing this, particularly during conversations with NPCs. There is a visual aid to inform you when a character’s words or actions are the direct results of a previous decision you made.

While navigating conversations with the various Programs in Tron: Identity, I could always feel the tone of a conversation changing when the 80s-inspired electronic music would shift to something much heavier and foreboding. The transition between songs was seamless, and a lot of information was conveyed through notes.

Save it to a disc

Identity Discs are heavily featured in Tron: Identity, and are actually woven directly into the gameplay. As you look to uncover lost memories from various programs, you’ll have to defrag their Identity Disc. This puzzle mini-game tasks you with moving and removing numbered cards in order to reach a specified value. There are rules that complicate the task, as only certain cards can interact with others, and the space between them determines what can move where.

The Identity Disc puzzles were a fun break from Tron: Identity’s visual novel elements. There is even an Endless mode that exclusively features Identity Disc defrag mini-games, allowing you to tweak the rules and difficulty. These defrag puzzles are also timed, adding an extra layer of challenge for those seeking it.

What I really admired was that despite all the effort that went into creating and fleshing out the Identity Disc defrag puzzles, you’re entirely free to skip them altogether by bringing up the pause menu. Players that are only in it for the story and don’t care to tediously manipulate numbered cards can just bypass them with no penalty.

Server solution

Tron: Identity weaves an interesting detective story that expands the franchise mythos. While those invested in the lore will enjoy diving deeper into this universe, newcomers would have benefitted from a bit more exposition. Despite that, Tron: Identity’s branching story, puzzles, and visuals make it quite an enjoyable visual novel.

This review is based on a digital Steam code provided by the publisher. Tron: Identity is available now on Steam and Nintendo Switch.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_