Otogi: Myth of Demons review

Whizzy graphical effects abound in Otogi.

Ancient Japan, well fairly ancient. The Great Seal has been broken and demons have infested the realm of humans and seem to have laid waste to just about everything. Enter Raikoh, an undead strong silent type who has been elected and resurrected by his boss and fairly all-powerful Princess, who seeks to turn the tide on the demon hegemony and send them packing from whence they came. Welcome to Otogi.

Those expecting adventure, stealth and cunning in their games ala Ninja Gaiden or Tenchu should really look elsewhere for their fun. Otogi is very much a level based, action focussed experience and it doesn’t really require much in the way of tactics or strategy. As a quick ballpark check, gamers should really think Shinobi on the PS2 or Gunvalkyrie on the Xbox when trying to place this title in terms of gameplay experience.

Shinobi who?

2 hits! That's more than Chumbawumba has ever managed.

The demonic theme is carried out well in all details and you do get a feel of old Japanese prints and masks as you play through the levels. The graphical intensity of this game is one of its finest features - it is quite simply stunning to look at and has obviously focussed intently on getting the best it can from the Xbox. The progress and combat is very much of the Japanese arcade aesthetic and most fans of the genre will find a great deal to feel warm about here.

The levels of the game are rigid and you take each one in turn in a very linear progressive structure, there are no real surprises or innovations as far as game structure goes. However the game itself is well designed – the balance of constraints gives an interesting dynamic where you are constantly choosing between destroying objects to find souls and weapons or pressing on with the main mission to avoid running out of your precious magical energy which keeps your immortal body from dissipating.

Hulk smash!

One of the larger demons takes an interest in your health.

Demons and demon bosses are also fairly impressive, although one does notice a slight chugging of framerate when you get a lot of bad guys attacking you at any one time. But since these are the occasions when you really should be utilising the ultra handy teleport run move it becomes less of a critical issue to the gameplay.

By far the most impressive feature of the Otogi game environment is the fact that nearly all of the buildings and other bits and pieces such as fences, poles and bamboo can be smashed into little bits by the sheer power of Raikoh’s attack. This aspect is not just a great deal of fun but can also be used as part of your in-game tactics, especially when you are in a tight spot or facing a particularly malevolent boss.

You cannot kill what does not live

The writing on those columns reads: No Ball Games.

Raikoh was a bad boy in his previous life and was a member of a doomed clan that spilt a great deal of blood of the innocent variety. The enigmatic Princess has saved him from becoming a total hell bound no hoper and souped him up with physical and magical power to rid our world of the demon infestation. Raikoh has a pointy hat, weird armour and a skinny frame and that’s about all we get to know about him – oddly enough he is the biggest hole in the narrative and it seems a shame that the central character wasn’t drawn in a bit more and explored fully.

However, what Raikoh lacks in personality he more than makes up for in the physical department. Raikoh has an excellent array of special moves and attacks with his sword, which even include the ability to more or less fly which makes for some breathtaking attack sequences and a rather cool way to avoid too much combat if your feeling a bit poorly. It has to be said though that the flying ability is used a few times to simply get through to the end of a level, if you know that all you have to do is kill the boss on that occasion.

A tale of souls and swords

That's quite an explosion.

Magic spells are also an important element to the game and in fact your energy level, and consequently how long you have left for each level, is measured by magic. Raikoh can kill demons and absorb their magical energy and can also grab health power ups along the way. Between levels Raikoh can fix, buy and sell weapons and magic and this makes quite an interesting diversion from the general melee of the game, although it doesn’t have a huge impact on the character’s progression through the levels itself.

There are a huge variety of demons to kill in Otogi but most of them are firmly in the category of sword fodder. Most of the time the evil troops just get in your way, although after a few levels you realise that some special moves can kill them fairly quickly and their deaths (re-deaths?) release valuable magic energy into your body and so extends your time for the level. To be honest though this can be considered quite a distraction as you waste precious moments only to get them back again. Many players will quickly avail themselves of the nifty teleport run move and also the as good as flight tricks that can keep you in the air and avoid at least some of the pesky demons who seek to impede your ambitions.

A Link to the past

You don't get demon barbers in Japan.

This game is not meant to have a great deal of depth but there is quite a vivid back story to it all, which is heightened by the rather well done dubbed voices and the minor attempts at characterisation for the boss demons (an early demon is totally off his rocker and keeps bemoaning the fact that his master takes no notice of him – then you kill him!) are actually quite chilling as well as the fact that you get fairly neat narrative segues into each level with the Princess’ voiceover.

However, all this can’t really hide an essential lack of depth that many will notice as they play through the game. After you reach the midpoint of the twenty-nine levels you are forced to replay the first half in a dark dimension, which essentially means that everything has a bit of demonic twist but little else. The highpoint of the game really comes about midway through the game where you are faced with a proper punch up with the most interesting boss called The Crimson Lord, who really keeps you on your toes and forces you to be particularly inventive with the teleport move.

This is the end

Raikoh is like the new Paul Daniels with all his magic tricks.

Despite all this fun one can’t help thinking that the RPG elements could have been developed to become a more interesting part of the game. Granted you can get plenty of extra weapons and spells and buy, sell, repair and all that sort of thing but in truth these options don’t have a huge effect on a game which is nearly completely focussed on hacks, slays, moves and jumps.

In all Otogi is a lot of fun and when you have got to grips with the tricky, elegant way of attacking demons and scenery you’ll find your hours slipping into this classy Xbox title. But as with many beautiful things don’t expect to have a discussion about Plato with this sumptuous title.