The PlayStation Vita is finally hitting its stride in the games department and has had a handful of solid titles for the system in the last few months. Toukiden The Age of Demons would fit into that “solid titles” list. It’s a game that mixes action combat a la Dynasty Warriors with a Monster Hunter style of gameplay. It’s action, but contains a solid amount of grinding. It is, however, a solid Vita game. If you’re in the mood for something that has a bit of action, a bit of mysticism, and a solid amount of grinding, then Toukiden may be just the thing for your Vita.
The game’s story surrounds a mysterious Slayers who are tasked with defending their village from the Oni, a group of monsters who seem to attack all the time, without warning. Overall the story has enough twists and turns to keep you at least somewhat interested, but it does fall into that “kill bad guys to save everything” trope that many games take on. You’ll meet some interesting NPCs and learn some cool background along the way but ultimately the story just serves as a slight nudge to keep you playing. The best parts of the game are by far the bosses. As mentioned these bosses would fit well in a Monster Hunter game and work in a similar fashion. The bulk of the game surrounds doing quests to take out enemies and grinding to get to said bosses. Grinding will either bore the heck out of you or entice you into getting the most materials you possibly can, and this is the crux of the game and what will determine if it’s for you or not.
The game itself looks surprisingly good on the Vita and kept me in awe when certain scenes played out due to the great art style and welcoming color palette. Overall Toukiden is a solid game on a system that has needed some solid games for quite some time. It’s for sure worth a go if you’re in the mood for an action game with solid boss encounters and are in the mood to create your own character and build them up with a bit of grinding. Don’t bypass Toukiden just because of its generic first look, there is fun to be had with this amusing little Vita title.
Toukiden: The Age of Demons Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SwRn6ErqM8