Exo was just a simple courier program until one day she was caught in an incident. Despite not understanding what happened, she’s arrested and becomes a plaything for the Arena, a place where prisoners are forced into life-threatening matches. Things would be too dire in normal circumstances, but that’s not really the case for Exo. Ever since the day of the incident, she has acquired a special skill: looping. She can now redo some of her experiences to change the future outcomes and to figure out a way out.

During the course of the game, this power will be an important asset to Exo, but she’ll also have the chance to get to know curious individuals. While she may be the only one remembering their bonds after every loop, their help is still invaluable and a constant aspect of the story.

To put things in simple terms, Tron: Catalyst is a story about the very human nature of the programs within Tron’s universe. It’s about how different factions can come together and how one person’s actions may actually become a catalyst for active change and a revolution that they alone may not be strong enough to carry out.

Even for people that don’t know the original universe, the concepts are clearly conveyed and the narrative is compelling throughout. Having knowledge of what happened in Tron Identity will nonetheless add an extra layer to meeting a few characters. It’s also interesting to keep in mind that the game ends on a hook for new stories, but Exo’s story is satisfactory on its own.

Even for people that don’t know the original universe, the concepts are clearly conveyed and the narrative is compelling throughout.

Interaction in a Visually Cluttered World

As Exo, the player has to move around interacting with various NPCs and at times fight against hostile individuals from various factions, which are represented by different colors. While exploring the various areas in the game, there’s a chance to get more familiar with the setting by talking with some characters, but it’s hard to tell which ones may have something to say and which ones are just there to populate the area.

There’s poor contrast between the characters and the background due to coloring, and though rare, how cluttered a few areas may be. It’s only possible to actually see if these individuals are interactable by getting closer and getting the button to show up. As a result, it’s much easier to just move to the next objective marker, missing the small interactions that are meant to flesh out the world and give it the feeling that it’s a place where those programs live.

The core experience leads us to a few story events that are told as cutscenes with voice acting. Most of the dialogues, however, are unvoiced and relayed as a sort of log on the top-right side of the screen. While the former cutscenes are played automatically (with players able to speed through them), the dialogues’ autoplay option can be turned off.

As a heavily narrative game, it’s a shame that it doesn’t include a proper dialogue history system. Even the current dialogue “log”-like structure doesn’t allow the player to read back any boxes that have gone beyond the top of the screen, so players can only use their own memories and summaries on key elements of the game and its lore.

Combat, Parrying and Crowd Control

Tron: Catalyst has combat as an important aspect of the experience. While moving around, Exo has to fight various individuals using her Identity Disc as a weapon. It’s possible to attack the other programs using the disc as a melee option or by throwing it around, having it bounce around to hit one or multiple enemies.

Players can initially choose between three difficulty levels depending on if they want to just enjoy the story or to face a more significant challenge. Oftentimes, there are multiple enemies to deal with at the same time, so dealing with those hordes depends on not getting cornered and learning how to control their rhythm.

Consecutive melee attacks may stun enemies and there's a strong parry to counterattack with heavy damage. There are attack sequences that make programs immune to stun or parry, making the dodge button a better choice. Generally speaking, understanding how to use those and the ranged attack are the basics of Tron: Catalyst’s battles.

Over time, players can upgrade skills by using the currency obtained during exploration and by completing special missions (like beating an enemy group in a certain way). This makes each of those base actions better without increasing the scope of the options to the point that it would become too convoluted to keep in mind.

Another upgrade is a skill that allows players to absorb enemy code that temporarily impacts abilities in battle. A good example of this is that there’s a strong guard whose code allows players to instantly stun enemies with a single melee hit, but each enemy type has specific modifications that may also be helpful.

Light Cycle, Shortcuts and Progress

After a specific point of the story, a Light Cycle is unlocked, which is one kind of stylish motorcycle that fans will recognize from other Tron media. Using it is a great addition for traversal, making it easier to move around the streets, but it’s also a combat option. On the areas that allow a Light Cycle, it’s possible to use it to leave behind trails that work as walls to damage enemies. This is a strong skill, but the player needs to be careful as it can also hurt Exo and enemies can also create those when they have a ride.

Another interesting point of exploration is how some progress is permanent for future loops. Generally speaking, whenever Exo goes back to the beginning, be it due to being completely defeated by the enemies or by the player choosing to restart, progress would be lost. For a few material aspects of the world, however, that isn’t the case.

Dropping a ladder or gaining access to some doors are permanent ways to have access to some areas. This is especially useful during the latter half of the experience, which demands the player to go back and forth more often than in the initial areas.

Unfortunately, progress is tied strictly to an autosave format, which significantly restricts player control over this aspect of the experience. On the review build, for some reason, completing the game ends in complete loss of progress instead of keeping a save from before the final moments of the experience, and this is the kind of situation that would typically be avoided by also having manual saves.

Closing Comments:

Tron: Catalyst is an enjoyable action adventure experience that allows a deep dive into a compelling futuristic world that’s an alternate look at the Disney-owned universe. While some issues keep it from being a masterpiece, the writing and fun combat experience are worth giving a try, possibly acting as an entry point into the sci-fi franchise.