Fantastic art, characters and voice acting let down slightly by repetition.
Toukiden Kiwami is one of the attempts to cash in on the Monster Hunter genre. For those unaware back on the PlayStation 2 Capcom created a game series called Monster Hunter which essentially created a new type of RPG. These games have mainly been popular on handheld devices which is where Koei Tecmo's Toukiden originally launched on Sony's Vita. With the release of the expanded version Kiwami, Toukiden also got a PlayStation 4 port for us console gamers to give it a go.
With that short history lesson over onto the actual game. Toukiden is set in an alternate fantasy world using a lot of Japanese historical figures. Eight years previously a swarm of Oni (Japanese for demon/devil) appeared swallowing the north of the land killing thousands of people and absorbing their souls. Utakata village, part of the midlands is now on the frontline against the Oni and is manned by an elite group of warriors called Slayers who specialize in fighting the Oni. You play the role of a new Slayer joining the village to fend off the horde.
The game essentially has two parts to it, the village and combat missions.
In the village:
- You can socialize with your fellow slayers finding out a little bit about them both as part of the main plot and extra parts. This is one of my favorite aspects as the story and cast are actually really well developed which is pretty rare for a Monster Hunter type game. The Slayers are all pretty varied in gender, age, size, skills not to mention how they came to be in Utakata village in the first place. It was a real pleasant surprise.
- Other aspects are more practical such as buying weapons and items to use, upgrading your equipment using materials from dead Oni or that are found during combat, praying at shrines for one off mission boosts, sending your pet Tenko (a two tailed fox) off to look for items or completing villagers quests etc. There is a lot of micromanagement stuff to check between each mission to make sure you are the strongest you can be before you set out.
In Combat:
- From the village you select from a list of missions to engage on. These missions send you to one of half a dozen locations that are slowly unlocked which seem to be desert level, snow level, lava level, jungle level etc. Like a check list. Once there missions start of small like collect these items or kill this many small Oni but slowly build until every mission involves fighting a big Oni type boss or two.
- Combat is played in an action RPG style with a normal attack, heavy attack, special attack, dodge etc. There are a large weapon variety to choose from including your standard sword, spear, bow, club to more exotic like giant gauntlets, naganata and sickle each of which come with their own fighting style and move sets. To accompany that you can take the spirit of a dead hero with you known as a Mitama which gives you a class type and several magical abilities depending on class. Some heal, some boost attack, others help to destroy Oni body parts etc. There is a decent selection you can swap between before missions.
- The combat is pretty fun but it is let down by being so repetitive. This game is big, took me maybe 135 hours to finally beat and I still have a lot of missions to do but sadly you either see the same enemies time and time again or reskin/ palette swaps of enemies you've already fought only with a different name. These get old, fast. Especially when to create new armour sets you will need to fight them again and again looking for parts. I had to take a six month break from the game as while I loved the story, the battles were weighing me down as some of the enemies just have so much health.
- In combat you can take three other Slayers with you. In single player you can choose from the expanding group of characters who come and to Koei Tecmo's credit the AI for them is actually fantastic. They attack hard, yet also dodge attacks, heal, revive you and use abilities. They do still die against tougher foes but not that often and it really feels like they make an impact on the Oni you're fighting.
There is also a multiplayer mode where you can meet up with three friends and work through a large separate list of missions (though the same enemies) together. You keep all the parts, items and upgrades you gain but strangely can't run to the village to make new armour or anything without leaving the lobby which was a little frustrating. (the online was dead though even back in 2016 when I was playing this)
On the technical side as it's only a Vita port you can't expect too much but this game really looks good. Character models are very detailed and the enemy and environments look fantastic. What really stands out though is the stunning artwork both for all the Slayers and the 300+ Mitama that all have their individual portraits, really impressive. The voice acting to the game is in Japanese, not only is the voice acting superb for pretty much every character but it really adds to the feudal Japanese setting imo.
So overall I did enjoy this game a lot. The story, characters, art, voice acting, music and combat are great. It lets itself down with a lack of enemies and mission variety but played in bursts here and there, especially if you have friends playing it can help through that.
+ Story and cast are well fleshed out.
+ Surprisingly good AI.
+ Stellar art and voice acting.
- Enemy reskins, health pools and lack of variety get old fast.
- Have to leave the multiplayer lobby to make new gear, stupid.
Toukiden Kiwami is one of the attempts to cash in on the Monster Hunter genre. For those unaware back on the PlayStation 2 Capcom created a game series called Monster Hunter which essentially created a new type of RPG. These games have mainly been popular on handheld devices which is where Koei Tecmo's Toukiden originally launched on Sony's Vita. With the release of the expanded version Kiwami, Toukiden also got a PlayStation 4 port for us console gamers to give it a go.
With that short history lesson over onto the actual game. Toukiden is set in an alternate fantasy world using a lot of Japanese historical figures. Eight years previously a swarm of Oni (Japanese for demon/devil) appeared swallowing the north of the land killing thousands of people and absorbing their souls. Utakata village, part of the midlands is now on the frontline against the Oni and is manned by an elite group of warriors called Slayers who specialize in fighting the Oni. You play the role of a new Slayer joining the village to fend off the horde.
The game essentially has two parts to it, the village and combat missions.
In the village:
- You can socialize with your fellow slayers finding out a little bit about them both as part of the main plot and extra parts. This is one of my favorite aspects as the story and cast are actually really well developed which is pretty rare for a Monster Hunter type game. The Slayers are all pretty varied in gender, age, size, skills not to mention how they came to be in Utakata village in the first place. It was a real pleasant surprise.
- Other aspects are more practical such as buying weapons and items to use, upgrading your equipment using materials from dead Oni or that are found during combat, praying at shrines for one off mission boosts, sending your pet Tenko (a two tailed fox) off to look for items or completing villagers quests etc. There is a lot of micromanagement stuff to check between each mission to make sure you are the strongest you can be before you set out.
In Combat:
- From the village you select from a list of missions to engage on. These missions send you to one of half a dozen locations that are slowly unlocked which seem to be desert level, snow level, lava level, jungle level etc. Like a check list. Once there missions start of small like collect these items or kill this many small Oni but slowly build until every mission involves fighting a big Oni type boss or two.
- Combat is played in an action RPG style with a normal attack, heavy attack, special attack, dodge etc. There are a large weapon variety to choose from including your standard sword, spear, bow, club to more exotic like giant gauntlets, naganata and sickle each of which come with their own fighting style and move sets. To accompany that you can take the spirit of a dead hero with you known as a Mitama which gives you a class type and several magical abilities depending on class. Some heal, some boost attack, others help to destroy Oni body parts etc. There is a decent selection you can swap between before missions.
- The combat is pretty fun but it is let down by being so repetitive. This game is big, took me maybe 135 hours to finally beat and I still have a lot of missions to do but sadly you either see the same enemies time and time again or reskin/ palette swaps of enemies you've already fought only with a different name. These get old, fast. Especially when to create new armour sets you will need to fight them again and again looking for parts. I had to take a six month break from the game as while I loved the story, the battles were weighing me down as some of the enemies just have so much health.
- In combat you can take three other Slayers with you. In single player you can choose from the expanding group of characters who come and to Koei Tecmo's credit the AI for them is actually fantastic. They attack hard, yet also dodge attacks, heal, revive you and use abilities. They do still die against tougher foes but not that often and it really feels like they make an impact on the Oni you're fighting.
There is also a multiplayer mode where you can meet up with three friends and work through a large separate list of missions (though the same enemies) together. You keep all the parts, items and upgrades you gain but strangely can't run to the village to make new armour or anything without leaving the lobby which was a little frustrating. (the online was dead though even back in 2016 when I was playing this)
On the technical side as it's only a Vita port you can't expect too much but this game really looks good. Character models are very detailed and the enemy and environments look fantastic. What really stands out though is the stunning artwork both for all the Slayers and the 300+ Mitama that all have their individual portraits, really impressive. The voice acting to the game is in Japanese, not only is the voice acting superb for pretty much every character but it really adds to the feudal Japanese setting imo.
So overall I did enjoy this game a lot. The story, characters, art, voice acting, music and combat are great. It lets itself down with a lack of enemies and mission variety but played in bursts here and there, especially if you have friends playing it can help through that.
+ Story and cast are well fleshed out.
+ Surprisingly good AI.
+ Stellar art and voice acting.
- Enemy reskins, health pools and lack of variety get old fast.
- Have to leave the multiplayer lobby to make new gear, stupid.