Toukiden Kiwami Review

A budget Monster Hunter, but with a funnier name.

In the war against the Oni, Japanese demons and devils, the human race is relegated to a region called the Midlands, struggling to keep themselves and their families safe. As a Slayer, the protector of humans and killer of the various forms of Oni, the player in Toukiden Kiwami must carry out quests to slay any attackers, whether they’re half your size or built like some kind of tank-sized hybrid of a demon wolf-scorpion (or just otherwise flat-out ugly). And with various weapons and styles of battle—twin blades, long spears, bows and arrows, and a handful of other options—you’ll be rushing out into the wasteland of abandoned territory, the remains of temples and civilization overrun by the hellspawn out to eliminate our species.

But man, that’s a weird name, Toukiden Kiwami. After all the playing I’ve done, gotta admit, I still have no idea just what it means. But who cares? It’s a hack-'n'-slash in the vein of Monster Hunter, and that isn’t too bad a setup. After picking weapons you’re sent out on missions to defeat either a certain number of Oni, certain specific and scary Oni (including cutting off limbs to help limit them over the battle), or defend against regions filled with stray Oni before they reach your village. And you can do that by locking on to some poor imp or mini-pterodactyl or lion-ish beast (that’s the most normal-looking aberration) and mash-beating the hell out of it.

The first thing to notice is, this game is beautiful. Visually I’d put it on par with the bulk of PS3 titles, both in detail and just how smooth everything moves, even when playing online multiplayer (which is limited to playing through the room leader's choice of mission). A lot of care went into designing this world, and it shows in the fine details. The handles on the compartments in your home base, the faces on the monsters themselves mid-battle, the creases on the curtains—it’s all so lovingly designed I’m both surprised and delighted. This might be the nicest Vita title I’ve seen yet. It’s not quite "jump through the screen/window and into the world," but damn, if it ain’t pretty enough to take a second to enjoy the view.

And don’t worry, you’ll have plenty of time to drink in the sights during many quests. Unless you’re heading out into battle by yourself (most allow you—or force you—to take AI allies) your associates will do all of the damage for you, and most of the time it’s before you can even make it to the fight. The auto setting of “Free” mode means they’ll immediately bolt to the nearest Oni, slaughter it before you can run over, and either pray to earn its reward (think carving up a monster in Monster Hunter) or move to the next target. I spent many a mission just scanning around for minor pick-ups instead of fighting… my AI attachment did every bit of damage for me. I’m supposed to be some kind of "chosen one," so I guess they’re just protecting me?

When you do decide to engage—seriously, I can’t make that point strongly enough: for many missions, you only have to direct to the next location—controls are hack-and-slash, but satisfying. Each Mitama has a different set of skills to engage: “Leech," which replenishes health when attacking; "Recover," a standard health spell; “Rampage," which seems to increase endurance and attack power temporarily; and others that can only be used a certain number of times, dependent on who’s equipped. It negates an inventory of potions and power-ups, but helps if you’re the type to forget to hit the shop before exploring.

The characters themselves are underwhelming, the kind of overbearing archetypes that fill this genre—the buff guy out for revenge, the healer with issues… healing… that sort of thing. There is one girl who’s “older” than everyone else, which is an interesting twist, but the rest is standard at best. Not necessarily good nor bad, just sort of blah. You’ll likely be skipping the dialogue just to get through to another mission anyway, as it gets pretty dry and lacking in personality, but it’s not outright awful.

But is it fun? Well yeah, for a portable system and short missions (the time limit might be 60 minutes, but I had most done in under 10 easy), it scratches the hack-'n'-slash itch, though I found it too easy overall for a good challenge. There’s little to it outside of missions and item collection to fulfill quests, earning more money for weapon and armor purchases (most of which comes from defeating enemies anyway), but for a kind of one-trick pony it’ll work out just fine. The Vita library is still lacking in major-major titles, but this one can take a few hours of your time. You might get sick of it from the straightforward and mash-y nature, but I didn’t. It’s the rare exception in my library that I’m not mad just lookin’ at it. It’s preeeeetty.