Otogi: Myth of Demons

"A game that brings hack n' slash to a whole new level"

What makes this game near perfect, is its flawless balance. It's hard but not too hard, long but not too long, amazing action with stunning visuals and sound to back it up. That's about as closest to perfection that a game can get in my book. Now on to the review.

Gameplay 10/10

While graphics and sound are important, gameplay truly makes or breaks a game, and that's where Otogi shines. You take control of an undead warrior named Raikoh to restore order to the world (more on that in the story section) The main goal in each level is basically to destroy and kill everything. But a unique feature in this game is how amazingly destructable the levels are. In a way it resembles Dragon Ball Z. You hit the giant demon and he'll go straight through any walls, trees, and boulders nearby only to have him come back for more. In fact the game gives you a rating based on how much stuff you destroyed. But it's as easy to destroy everything as it sounds, they always manage hide a couple little things in the far corners of the level to prevent you from getting the A rating. But don't worry, after you beat a level you can go back and destroy whatever you happened to miss. But what really adds to the challenge of the game is the ''time limit'' each level has. But it's not really a time limit. Since Raikoh's undead, he can only stay in the world of the living for so long. He has a magic meter which decreases over time. Once it's gone you begin to lose health at an alarming rate. Along with the fact that you have to use magic to cast spells, and that most enemies' attacks drain magic, magic becomes a very precious thing. But not to worry each time you kill a demon, it gives you a little magic. There are also items to find that give you magic. It sounds difficult but with a little practice you'll get the hang of it all. Along with mass destruction, there are also other things to do in each stage. An objective unique to each stage, and to find all the captured spirits. Freeing the captured spirits kind of goes along with destroying everything, since to free one, you have to simply destroy things and hope that the spirit as inside it. Level objectives usually involve destroying things like demons and buildings. In some levels you can meet certain requirements to get weapons and accessories, like beat the level in a certain time or kill so many enemies or get a certain amount of hits in a combo. Your character (Raikoh) becomes stronger in an RPG sort of style. Each demon gives you experience that lets you grow levels which makes you stats increase and therefore makes you stronger. Your stats include life, magic, strength, and defense. Those go up by growing levels and by buying weapons and accessories which you buy by obtaining gold which you get by killing demons. All in all it's a pretty basic system which works well. There is also a basic spell system. You get spells which have three different levels of power. You use magic to cast your spells. Specific demons are weak to some spells and strong against others so know your enemy. You can get all the info you'd need to know about the demons in each level by selecting the ''creatures'' option before starting a level. It will give you a picture, tips and tricks for beating it, and the spell type it's strongest in. There are only three spells, Dragon, Chimera, and Phoenix. Dragon chases the enemy down and almost always hits but is fairly weak. Chimera hits all enemies around you with decent power but has fairly low range. Phoenix has amazing power but is somewhat hard to aim with. The actual melee combat system is fairly basic but with the extreme destruction of hitting an enemy into whatever's around you makes it amazingly fun. You can hit with either a weak attack which you can hit multiple times with and turn into special combos. Or you can hit with a strong attack which sends them flying with great power into other enemies or objects which adds even more damage to the hit. You can hit the enemy up to 4 times in one combo which could be something like weak, weak, weak, strong, or weak, weak, weak, weak, or weak, weak, weak, spell. It's hard to describe how much fun it is to do this in simple text, but trust me, it is. There are 29 stages with dozens of different enemies and countless things to destroy, so let the mass slaughter begin! A little multiplayer would have been nice but the single player is so amazing that it makes up for it.

Story 8/10

For nearly 1000 years the Imperial court had ruled the land prosperously. It was all because of the construction of the seal which kept the true evil out. But one day the seal was destroyed, the Imperial Court fell, the capital was in ruins, and the land was in chaos. The mysterious princess has saved you from death and is keeping your soul in a place between the living and the dead. She says it's your job to expel the demons and restore the seal and order to the land to atone for your evil doings in your life. That's why most levels are you killing demons the whole time. The story is quite good and definitely gives you a sense of purpose but is lacking that extra something that makes it perfect.

Graphics 10/10

What amazes me about the visuals is the amazing amount of detail with no slowdown. You may see a slight slowdown if you're fighting 100+ enemies while casing spells but it's so small it's not worth thinking twice about. Like I said the detail is amazing, the demons look shockingly lifelike and the surroundings are beautiful. If you really take the time to look at the surroundings you'll truly be amazed. The amount of detail the developers put in the smallest things is simply mind boggling. The leaves in the trees, the clouds in the sky, and the plants on the ground have all been painstakingly detailed. The surroundings also play a special part in the combat. If you hit a demon into a wall or the ground hard enough it'll leave craters in them. Or if you hit them along the ground it leaves what could be considered a small canyon there. What's even better is that if you go to play a level again, all the damage you did to the surroundings will still be there. Along with some great lighting effects this game has some of the best graphics of any game to date.

Sound 9/10

Now most of the sound is done by japanese percussion, it truly is great if you take the time to listen. It can make any situation seem calm, intense, and it adds a new level of excitement to battles. At first you may think to yourself ''What is all this banging? Where's the music?'' But just give it a little time, you'll love it if you give it a chance. Along with great music, the sounds of the immense destruction are also like music to my ears. It's got great voice acting (although Raikoh doesn't talk) and the sound is crystal clear. The only drawback is that the monsters themselves unless they're special bosses aren't really all that audibly exciting.

Replay 8/10

This game will take quite a while to beat as it is. It can be very challenging. And to unlock all the weapons, find all the spirits, and destroy everything, will take most people quite a while. Once you beat it you can do the ''Second play'' mode which lets you begin the game again with all your items. So with all that Otogi packs quite a while of play. But it's always fun to come back and play a level again.

Rent or Buy: BUY

This is a fantastic game that most will love. If you like all that you've heard here, you'll love the game. So in closing, this is one of the best hack n' slash and Action games in existence to date

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/22/04