Toukiden

For the past several days I’ve been exclusively playing Bravely Default right up until Toukiden came out on Vita. I’m still playing BD but now I’m just switching back and forth between the two. There’s actually a lot of really cool stuff out on the Vita now and it’s only going to get better as the year progresses. More people should definitely consider picking the system up and especially so if they own or plan to own a PS4.

toukiden-logoToukiden is apart of the new “hunting” genre that seems to have been created since Monster Hunter first came out. The game actually borrows several elements from MH and other similar games like Soul Sacrifice. Basically, you undertake a mission from the hub town and get sent to a location that consists of several smaller zones linked together. Your goal is to slay demons rather than monsters, though. You also get a special vision mode that highlights hidden items and breakable parts of enemies, which seems lifted directly from Soul Sacrifice. Unless Soul Sacrifice borrowed it from something else–I have no idea, really.

windshredder
One of the demons you’ll fight in Toukiden.

When you fight the large monsters and break their parts (Arms, Legs, Tails, etc.) you have to do some kind of cleansing ritual to get rid of it and get the loot for that body part. The demon’s parts may be gone but there remains some kind of translucent spirit form behind. So if you cut off a giant demon’s leg he can still walk around with his spirit leg. If you don’t banish the cut off piece then it can get recalled back. I’m not entirely sure if they limbs do less damage or what but I imagine they must. It’s not like Monster Hunter though where you can cut off the tail or whatever and basically render that attack useless or less viable. EDIT: Supposedly in the manual it says that the spirit limbs actually do MORE damage but also take MORE damage. I’ve also noticed that when you destroy their limbs they trip and fall over more when doing specific attacks or charges.

With all of the demon parts and items you gather you can create weapons and armor. I’m actually really glad that this seems pretty much just like Monster Hunter. I was not a real fan of Soul Sacrifice having no gear and basically just being about collecting limited-use spells. Just like monster hunter you usually unlock new armor sets and weapons once you’ve tackled the latest thing and harvested its parts. Unfortunately the game doesn’t have any kind of regular crafting system so you can’t make tons of neat knick-knacks, traps, potions, or whatever. That’s one of my favorite parts about Monster Hunter.

toukiden-weapons

Some of the game’s weapons appear similar but for the most part play out a lot differently. There’s a long sword, dual blades, spear, gauntlets, flail & sickle combo, and bow. I feel like I’m forgetting something but I think that’s it. I’m honestly not a very big fan of many of the weapons. The flail and sickle combo looks awesome but it seems hard to use. I’ve mainly been sticking with the gauntlets which are slow but powerful and allow for some defensive options. One of my biggest gripes with the weapons is that it feels like their move pools are lacking. There’s not a whole lot for you to do with them or at least not a lot of options for tackling situations.

toukiden-gauntletAnother important part of the game are these spirit thingys called Mitama. They are souls of vanquished warriors that you infuse into your weapon. They gain exp or sorts and level up and unlock new passive bonuses. Each Mitama also comes with 4 special commands. The first is a recovery ability that heals you and seems to be on every mitama. Aside from that what you get depends entirely on the type you use. Defense mitama get abilities that increase your defense or let you block all damage and not get knocked around, attack mitama increase your damage/crit/etc, Soul mitama seems to be good for breaking parts, then there’s healing and speed types and so on. It adds another level to the combat which makes up for some of the shortcomings in some of the weapons.

Overall I’d say I’m very satisfied with Toukiden. It’s a lot better than Soul Sacrifice, which is still a good game in its own right, and is probably one of the better hunting games the Vita is likely to see over here. It can be a little unfair when comparing it to the latest Monster Hunter games, which are themselves sequels and expansions upon expansions, so you really have to judge it as the first game in it’s own series. Oh, and there’s also online play which is pretty awesome. If you see somebody running around named “Old Bastard” that would be me.

  • Thanks for the review, I’ve had my eye on that one along with a few other Vita titles. I’ve been on the fence about getting a Vita for some time now. Part of me wants to wait and see if the Vita TV comes over, the other want’s to spend my gift cards already!!

  • The Vita TV does seem pretty interesting but it’s also nice having a portable option. Plus, there are some games that aren’t compatible with the Vita TV.

    The new model Vita coming out (Or already out if you are in Europe, I think) is also going to be bundled with Borderlands 2, which is pretty cool. I think they might be discontinuing the previous model as well so if you want to get one one with the OLED screen then now seems like it would be a good time.

    Having an actual Vita is also nice if you want to remote play a PS4, should you ever decide to get one.

  • I saw that new article yesterday about the new slim Vita getting a lower quality screen, that’s one reason I’m leaning more for a Vita now & a Ps4 a little later in the year. (I can only get one right now)
    The only game I currently really want for the PS4 is FFXIV, but I can play that on the PC for now.

  • @Table Yeah that’s pretty nice too, although it would be nicer if they added more games or at least made a few of the missing ones vita compatible.

    There’s also PS Now to look forward to. Streaming PS3 games, etc. I’m not entirely sure if they are going to do PS1 and PS2 streaming as well or if they decided to instead do some kind of software emulation with those via the PS4. Or maybe both. I’m not entirely kept up on the issue.

  • I tried those out at gamestop, and they just were not long enough for my hands. The ones I got are essentially just like a ps3 controller.

  • This game does look interesting, and is making me more and more tempted to snap up a Vita one of these days. I just don’t want my backlog of games to get any more ridiculous that it already is. Seriously, someone needs to build a device that allows us to exist outside of time without aging so we can get through video game backlogs. It’s the only answer. >_<