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Published
by SEGA
Developed by From Software
Release Date: Out Now
Price: £39.99
Otogi
Myth of Demons was quite unlike any other combat heavy action/RPG
when it was first released on the Xbox. The artwork, the
combat system and the destructible nature of your surroundings
were all unique and it made the game feel totally different
from other games in the genre. Here we have the sequel,
Otogi 2: Immortal Warriors which manages to add a few extras,
such as more playable characters, to the mix and it makes
the whole experience that little bit more enjoyable.
If
you played the first Otogi game you'll remember how Raikoh
destroyed the demons that threatened his nation. Well now
the evil has returned and a female sorceress named Seimei
has decided to raise Raikoh from the dead to once again
defeat the demons. She revives Raikoh using the blood and
souls of four generals, Kintoki, Tsuna, Sadamitsu and Suetake.
It is now up to these characters to visit a number of locations
and purify them by removing the demons from them. It won't
be an easy task though. In fact Otogi 2 is far from easy
but fortunately it's very compelling with a great combat
system that will keep you coming back for more, no matter
how many times you're defeated.
One
of the key features of Otogi 2 is being able to play as
different characters (Raikoh, Kintoki, Tsuna, Sadamitsu,
Suetake and Seimei) and this really adds to the variety
of combat moves. Each character has their own combo moves
and each character will be more effective in different situations.
It is because of this that you're allowed to pick which
character you want to use before entering a stage. When
you select a stage to purify, you'll be shown an affinity
rating for each of the playable characters. The higher the
affinity rating the more suited the character is to that
stage. You can even check on what enemies await you in the
stage and this allows you to equip the relevant spells and
items. This also serves to make the game more satisfying
as it not only adds replay value to the game but a sense
of strategy too. It's also worth mentioning that once you've
completed a game you can take the levelled up characters
through the game a second time which again is a nice addition
and adds replay value.
The
combat system in Otogi 2 is impressive. The fact that you
can perform so many attacks whilst in mid-air really adds
to the game. The controls have been kept simple and this
helps no end with making the combat accessible. The A button
performs a jump whilst the B button performs a light attack
with the Y and X buttons performing a heavy attack and magic
attack respectively. The L trigger locks on to enemies (you
can choose to auto-lock too) whilst the R trigger performs
a dash manoeuvre. There are different control schemes to
choose from too if you're not happy with the default controls,
although I have to say I found them pretty much perfect.
Otogi
2, like the first Otogi game, is choc full of style and
the game definitely has an oriental, mythological look about
it and it's very impressive (the screenshots don't do the
game justice to be honest). What is also impressive is the
way you can destroy virtually anything in the game. Buildings
and other seemingly important parts of a landscape can be
smashed if you want to do so and it all looks great. There
is a great deal of variety in both the stages and the enemies
you'll fight (some of the bosses in this game are huge)
and for the most part they look excellent. There are times
when the action can become very hectic and even in the middle
of such a mêlée, the frame rate remains rock
solid which is great to see. Unfortunately though you do
have to baby-sit the camera using the right analogue stick
and at times it does get slightly annoying, especially during
combat. Should your character be behind a solid object though
you'll still see a silhouette of them so you'll still know
where they are.
When
beginning a new game you'll have to choose a few options
and one of these is captions. By default the captions are
enabled so as long as you don't change the setting for this
option the game will be fine for deaf games. All the details
are shown in text. Cutscenes and other dialogue are shown
in text too. In fact hearing gamers can even choose to switch
to Japanese voices if they wish, so as you can imagine it's
imperative that the game is fully subtitled in English.
The game manual contains around 18 pages of English text
which might not seem like much but what's there is very
useful and will help answer any questions you have about
the game.
Otogi
2: Immortal Warriors is a great sequel to Otogi: Myth of
Demons and offers a lot of fun to not only fans of the original
game but fans of action/RPG's in general. Being able to
choose which character to play for each stage really gives
you more options and allows you to use a certain amount
of strategy. Replay value isn't a problem either and it's
great being able to play through again with characters that
you've improved on the first play through. The only area
of the game where improvements could have been made is the
camera which needs a little too much manual control. On
the whole Otogi 2: Immortal Warriors is a great game that
most will appreciate.
Overall
Game Rating: 8.7/10
Otogi 2: Immortal Warriors manages to be an even more exhilarating
experience than the first game. Having more characters to
play as adds replay value to the game and you can even play
through the game again with your levelled-up characters.
The camera in the game could have been a lot better though.
Deaf
Gamers Classification:
(Click
the letter or here
for details)
You get the option to enable subtitles
when you start a new game and doing so will make the game
absolutely fine for deaf gamers.
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