By Tj Denzer
Copyright shacknews
Many have dreamt of a technological future in which machines take over every single labor of our lives and make the world a safe and cushy place to be. That said, in the event of that future, what tends to the machines and systems that tend to us? And what if not all of us are okay with being constantly “tended to?” D-Topia asks these questions and more, and at Tokyo Game Show 2025 we got a taste of some of the answers it provides.
Perfection needs maintenance
D-Topia, as stated above, takes players to a supposed utopian future where mankind lives under the care of an AI system built to supply for them and keep them happy. In this place, you take the role of a Facilitator. Your job is to help the AI keep people happy. It sure can do a lot, but some things just needs a human’s touch. More than that, the AI’s mechanical components sometimes need tuning up, and that also falls to you. The question, though, is what happens when technology can’t solve everything?
During my demo, I was introduced to my character: a glum chum that doesn’t seem all that thrilled about their place in D-Topia. Nonetheless, our hero jumps out of bed, puts on the uniform, and goes about D-Topia listening to the problems of citizens and helping where they can. Sometimes, all it takes is to be a listening ear, and my demo with D-Topia pointed very much to the idea that our presence and comfort will build relationships with the people of D-Topia, leading us to all sorts of stories about their lives, where they ended up in paradise, and whether it actually makes them happy. More philosophically, I very much got the vibe that D-Topia will delve deep into what words like “paradise” and “happiness” even mean.
There’s a technical side to all of this too. D-Topia may create the facsimile of perfection, but under the veneer, it’s still a machine that needs oil and care from time to time. In the demo, machines and droids sometimes broke down or malfunctioned. That brought me to a hacking minigame in which I would set them right. There were a few different types of puzzles, and each brought a bit more complexity to the equation, but helping sort out the machinery helped with the lives of the citizens I was looking after. The world of D-Topia also features a “Block Side” in which you can interact more directly with the AI and its various smaller helpers. You can also find secrets there, so exploring both sides seems like it’s going to be a fun part of this overall package.
Your future eternal… Some assembly required
My time with D-Topia was brief, but I got the vibe of a relaxed story that will be heady with topics such as manufactured paradise and happiness entrusted to automation. It offers all of that in a bright and clean cell-shaded style with a light-hearted, yet occasionally melancholy aesthetic. I got shivers at some of the implications of the narrative (perhaps due to certain current parallels in our real world), and I can’t wait to see how this journey plays out.
These impressions are based on a PC demo presented at Tokyo Game Show 2025. D-Topia is expected to come to PC sometime in 2026.