Toki no Tabibito: Time Stranger

Toki no Tabibito: Time Stranger is an adventure game with a heavy emphasis on text commands and dialogue, similar to other NES adventure games like Portopia Serial Murder Case or Hokkaido Serial Murders: Fade to Okhotsk.

Unlike Portopia and its sequels, there is very little detective work to be done. The player simply visits important people throughout Japanese history as a time-travelling cop, answering their questions and incrementally moving forwards through time towards the present. Most of the game is depicted in a first-person mode where the other person sits across from the main character, who then asks and answers questions. There are a few third-person sequences where the player must get back inside their spaceship-like time machine before it leaves.

While there are a few branching paths depending on dialogue choices taken, the game’s narrative is fairly linear.