The first thoughts that I had when I started playing Toukiden was that I’m playing Monster Hunter in a whole new world. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing. Hunting demons and grinding for the items are one of the aspects I really love yet it’s kind of hard to look at Toukiden and not think that it’s not related to Monster Hunter in any way.
Story: 8
However, the story is where the game becomes different, since it’s all based on mythology, which is protecting the village from a demon invasion. Omega Force did add more elements in the village though. They actually added character development and different interactions in the game.
Graphics: 9
For more technical details, Toukiden has surpassed Monster Hunter games on the 3DS and Vita. Well, hell it looks even better than the Wii U version of Monster Hunter! The game took advantage of the Vita hardware power and it looks far prettier indeed. Also, let’s not forget about another important point that the Vita has dual thumbsticks, which would help a lot in fighting those Demons.
Gameplay: 8
Even with all that, it still looks like a Monster Hunter game. What you usually do is kill different monsters (Demons), keep upgrading the gear and we just keep repeating that. Here, they have added different things like “captured souls” and “Rituals of Purification.” If you haven’t tried playing Monster Hunter before, this game would be a total new experience for you. Fighting different types of demons, small or a really huge one. You would have to think of the different strategies of battling them. Also, you can break parts of the their bodies, like legs, or even cut the demons tail and you would get different items depending on what part you destroy in the demon. With those items collected, you would create different weapons and armor sets.
Yet, Most of the time in Toukiden you would be just going around hacking and slashing demons until they die. Then, just more different types of demons appear and you would just keep on upgrading your items to beat them. That’s basically the main idea of the game.
Well, with all that, Toukiden is a great start for a new franchise. For some people, it’s basically the Monster Hunter we never got for the Vita. Let’s not forget the game that came before with a similar idea “Soul Sacrifice”. Toukiden is not the most original game I played on the Vita, but it’s the one reason why I never let go of the Vita for the past couple of days. Getting back with the guys hunting demons is actually pretty fun, so don’t go saying it’s just another rip-off, it has it’s own whole new look and great factors that make it unique.
