Otogi: Myth of Demons

"This is one myth of Demons not to miss!"

Otogi: Myth of Demons

Every year there are some great games that fall under the radar. One of the Xbox's greatest sleeper hits of 2003 was definitely From Software's Otogi: Myth of Demons. Some people think of Otogi as the Xbox's answer to the PS2 hit game, Devil May Cry. Just like Devil May Cry, Otogi is full of high-flying, demon slaying action.

Story
In Otogi: Myth of Demons, you play the role of Raikoh, a undead demon hunter. What does he do in the game? If you guessed slay demons, then give yourself a cookie. Well anyway, Raikoh is resurrected by a mysterious female voice, known as princess. Why did she revive the dead warrior? To lay waste to the hordes of demons infesting the land, of course. Apart from the general premise on the reason Raikoh was reborn, the storyline is kind of absent in Otogi. A deep story it is not, that's for sure. There are several cut-scenes, but most don't add much, if anything, to the storyline.

Gameplay
Over the 29 missions in the game, you may be slightly reminded of Devil May Cry. Your objective in the levels vary from mission to mission. In some levels it's a mear task of going from point A to point B. In others, you must defeat the boss that resides there. Often the bosses have their own levels, so dying doesn't mean you need to redo the entire level. There is also the levels that require you to destroy a certain amount of objects in the level. As you can see, there is a hefty amount of variety. Now as I said earlier, Otogi is similar to Devil May Cry. In fact, Otogi even has a bad camera, just like Devil May Cry. There are many times when the camera cost me to mess up. Thankfully they made the camera a little better on the US and PAL versions (I'd hate to see what the Japanese camera is like.) Anyway, it's just a minor gripe that could have been easily fixed. The developers even added a few RPG elements into the mix. As you kill demons, you gain experience. When you get enough experience, you guessed it, you level up. When you level up, your attack, magic, and defense attributes increase.

Now on to combat. You can use either a quick attack to hurt your enemy, or a stronger attack that isn't as quick as the light attack, but deals more damage. You can also use magic to defeat your enemies from a distance (there is also magic designed to take on enemies when they group around you.) One of the problems I have is some enemies have cheap moves. Some enemies can hit you from a distance with perfect aim, so when taking on a group of them, it makes it so you can barely move. Another example of cheap moves is old Mr. ''None shall pass!'' from level 3. You'll know what I'm talking about if you've played the game. It's little things like this that can lower a game's fun factor. Otogi also has an amazing variety of weapons. They range from swords, spears, double katanas, axes, double-bladed staffs (think Darth Maul's lightsaber), double axes, and more. The lock-on system works well for small groups of enemies, but often when battling bosses who have other enemies on the field to distract you, the lock-on tends to lock on to them instead of the boss.

During the levels, your magic bar is constantly going down. When it is depleted, your health begins to decrease until you die. It is much like the Legacy of Kain games (Soul Reaver, Blood Omen, Defiance) in this sense.

Graphics
Otogi: Myth of Demons is a beautiful game to look at. The character models in Otogi are very detailed, and the environments look lush and realistic. Since the game is based on Japanese Mythology, the scenery is very fantasy oriented. The game also sports excellent draw distance. Also, almost everything in the game is destructable. You can make craters in the walls and ground when you smash enemies against it. You can destroy houses, bridges, boulders, trees, and nearly everything else on the field. So pretty much if you can see it, you can smash it. When you replay levels, you get the option to replay the level as it was when you first played it, or you can replay it in the current state it is in. In other words, you can replay the level with all the destruction you caused the first time still there. That probably explains why the file size is big.

Music and Sound
The music in Otogi is based on old world Japanese music, so it sounds very mystical (and horror...ful)and helps set the mood of this ancient Japanese mythology based game. It really enhances the experience of being in Otogi's world. The sound effects are equally good. One gripe about the sound is the voice acting. Most of the time it sounds like the voice actors are reading from a piece of paper. It sounds so... unnatural. Do yourself a favor and play it in Japanese with English subtitles.

Replay Value/ Final Thoughts
Otogi: Myth of Demons should take you a couple of days to beat. Sadly, after beating the game, there isn't much left to do. You can go back through each levels to try to gain a 'A' rank on each level. However, with the extremely cheap price tag, you can't go wrong with a purchase. Like many other sleeper hits this generation (Ico, Panzer Dragoon Orta), it is an amazing experience from beginning to end.

Final Score: 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/02/04