‘Toukiden: The Age of Demons’: Epic Monster Killing Fun on PlayStation Vita

If you are into hunting giant monsters, Playstation Vita has something special for you. Following from the Ragnarok Odyssey and God Eater 2, here is Toukiden: The Age of Demons, a reason to invest in the Vita if you’re crazy about demons and dragons. The developer Omega Force of the Dynasty Warrior series fame contributes to our expectations on what Toukiden has in store for us. Here is a brief rundown of the game:

The Plot (4/5)
Toukiden is an adventure in a medieval Japanese fantasy world. In the preamble, we are told that a great demon emerged from the underworld and laid siege to the land of Nakatsu Kuni 8 years ago. Nakatsu Kuni is traditionally protected by warriors known as mononofu. It is up to the protagonist and other characters from Utakata Village to lead the final battle against the oni demons.


The Gameplay (4/5)
Toukiden is a third-person game. Each player is able to customize their choice of weapons, armor, and skills. Collect ‘mitama’, or souls, during the game to acquire special skills. The oni monsters are also divided into several categories, and slaying each one rewards you with collectibles and upgrades.

As soon as you enter the game, you have to fight off a gigantic monster without any prior training. But this balanced by the fact that being killed by the monster is highly unlikely. Toukiden excels in this respect by other games in the genre by taking you straight to the action, instead of giving you hour-long walkthroughs.

Other Tips
It is worth noting here that if you have been following the Monster Hunt games, you will find Toukiden’s combat mechanics familiar:

• The left and right sticks control movement and the camera
• Holding down the Left Trigger enables lock-on
• Square launches light and fast attacks
• Triangle launches slow and strong attacks
• Circle launches “special attack” depending on the weapon equipped (these drain the character’s stamina)
• X is the all-purpose button

In addition, most weapons allow you to chain these attacks according to your preferences. What else? The life and stamina bars are at the upper left corner of the screen. Note that the stamina only depletes when characters perform actions like running and dodging, and especially while launching special attacks. The bar itself doesn’t need no maintenance.

Final Thoughts
Considering the demos released in the US, Toukiden is nothing short of a massive, fantasy, dragon slaying experience. You will immediately find yourself indulged in weapon crafting and upgrading, adding sockets to weapons to equip ‘mitama’. Not to mention, the online and multiplayer and modes offers tons of team action.

All in all, Toukiden is the best choice for Vita players who are new to the Japanese dragon hunt genre. Since the game takes you right to the ‘battle zone’, new players will find it highly convenient to see what the genre is all about. Of course, this also means that Toukiden may not please diehard fans of giant monster hunts, but it is worth your time and money. Go through the demo today and do download Toukiden on your Vita.

Bravely Default for Nintendo 3DS: A Review by Default

Bravely Default is the new title in the Nintendo 3DS library that attempts to resurface Japanese RPGs. The following is an overview of what the game is all about:

Plot (3/5)
The basic framework of Bravely Default is not novel, for you find quests, job points, an overworld map, battle music, and of course, the battles themselves. The plot itself is nothing new - a village is laid to waste by a mysterious force. It is up to a beautiful girl, Agnes Oblige, to embark on the mission of bringing the village back to life.

It must be noted, however, that Nintendo 3DS cameras and an AR market has been used to play the opening sequence in augmented reality impressively.


Goals (4/5)
Agnes is joined on her quest by Tiz, who is another character from the devastated village. Your goal is to rebuild the village. To do so, your character is given a map along with supernatural powers, allowing you to supervise the reconstruction of the village. Tasks will be assigned to the villagers, and as always, you will have to earn more workers to get jobs done faster. The ‘StreetPass’ option helps you in this regard, and you can also use Sleep Points (explained below). Ultimately, you are left to decide whether to speed up the building process, or see the village come to life as you complete other quests.

Playing Techniques
You can attack up to 4 times in a row. This is the ‘Brave’ feature that you can avail from the start, but it will prevent you from making the same number of attacks after the blows land. The ‘Default’ feature on the other hand works like this:

Your character will not attack for a certain amount of points while absorbing attacks from the enemy. This helps you accumulate ‘Brave Points’ which enable you to launch multiple attacks.

Let’s talk about the Sleep Points. These can be earned by going into Sleep Mode while the game is running. Alternately, you can purchase Sleep Points with real money via the eShop. You may actually be forced to avail this option since the former process takes 8 hours to generate one Sleep Point! Once earned, these points allow you to freeze time in the game. So, you can attack even when it’s not your turn. Helpful during intense battles.

Presentation (4/5)
Bravely Default - Nintendo 3DS features rich presentation, highly impressive for a handheld RPG. You will enjoy the silky smooth 3D effects at the flick of the 3D Slider. The background is worthy of special mention, and it plays an instrumental role in not only launching the story of Agnes, but denoting high and low points of your battles. Without a doubt, the developers have taken a lot of care to design the overall feel of the game.

To Play or Not to Play?
Will you enjoy Bravely Default? It kind of depends on much you like sitting through sagas, managing workforces, and running around in magical worlds that remind you of your Super Nintendo playing days. But all in all, Bravely Default manages to deliver a high level of quality, and you will find it hard to put down once you begin playing.