Toukiden Kiwami is one of those games that goes all in on the whole monster smashing genre. You need to be prepared to fight hundreds of creatures before you make it to the end of the game as the campaign is quite sizable. It took me around 50 hours to finally complete this one and then there is a fairly lengthy post game afterwards. The devs certainly made sure that you got your money’s worth on this one.
The general premise is that monsters have taken over most of the world. Only a handful of safe zones remain for humans. They are guarded by the Slayers, warriors who can fight with enough power to repel these creatures. The main character is a prodigy who shows up out of nowhere with amnesia but quickly becomes one of the most dependable guys on the squad. He is determined to absolutely crush all of the monsters that get in his way but it won’t be easy. Additionally there appears to be some kind of super monster that is quickly approaching Earth.
The story itself is a bit like a mobile game. You get bits and pieces of the narrative after every few missions. You sometimes have to beat a few optional missions before you get to the next story one as well so that’s another thing to consider. You can upgrade your weapons and armor as you go through the game and the more chapters you complete, the more options you will have for customizing. The idea is that you are getting stronger as the monsters get stronger.
You need a lot of material for these weapons though so that’s where your pet comes in. You send him on missions to get resources while you complete the normal missions. Depending on how quickly you defeat the monster and how many parts you break, you will also be getting a whole lot of resources that way too. Money is not usually going to be a concern because you get a whole lot of it. The toughest part is really the RNG for getting materials as you can run into some bad luck at times. Just keep on completing the missions and eventually you’ll get what you need.
There are also your spirit allies. You will randomly recruit them as you complete missions and based on your weapon you can equip up to 3 of them. They can help a whole lot with their different stats. Naturally you know that I’m going to go with an attack build so I exclusively used those the whole time. Defense is good and all but nothing beats a good amount of raw attack power. Especially when you consider how long the missions can already be. You are given an hour to complete each mission but I wasn’t trying to come anywhere close to the maximum length for these stages.
For the story, it’s not super interesting unless you really end up liking the characters. There just isn’t enough momentum with how many breaks the game takes. The general premise is still solid enough as it’s essentially a human survival story but they could have done a little more with it. You’ll certainly know all of the characters pretty well by the end though. I’d say they were also able to accomplish a lot with what feels like a fairly limited budget.
You’re ultimately here for the gameplay after all and it is pretty fun. This is a 3D hack and slash title after all where you will be using your weapons to fight against the monsters. I chose a great sword for my playthrough but there are plenty of other weapons to use. You can switch weapons at any time and you certainly have enough money to buy them all. I ended up buying every weapon in the game that was available from the shop even though I didn’t use them. You are also able to build upgrade meter just from using the swords which is a really nice perk as opposed to having to use materials all the time.
There is a decent amount of stuff to do in the hub world. You can feed a tree for more materials and also go to the pool to build up your bonds with each character. Each of these are meant to help reduce the amount of repetition there is from the main combat. You want to make them be a part of your routine as well because they all give your character further boosts in strength and other stats. The boosts are fairly random but each do help out in the end.
Even with all of these things, you can expect some fights to take a long while. The bosses have a tendency to move around a whole lot and don’t let you recover your breath. You have 3 lives in each level although you will rarely need more than 1. The game isn’t really difficult, so much as it tests your tenacity. Will you keep fighting as hard when you see the boss’ health slowly moving? It’s all about continuing to persevere no matter what.
I’d also note that the computer’s AI is actually pretty good in this game. There are some titles where the side characters just watch or get knocked out but these guys contribute a whole lot. They were always ready to come in and heal me when needed and also did actual damage to the boss. These were some of the most helpful ally AI that I can think of. That made a real difference as well. There are 1-2 levels where you have to fight on your own and it really makes you miss them a whole lot.
The graphics may not have my favorite art style but it looks good enough. It reminds me of Dynasty Warriors to an extent but a bit more stiff. The combat within the game looks good. I would have liked more variety among the enemies but their designs are fierce and I enjoyed the attack animations. The soundtrack is also more on the forgettable side but there was one danger theme that I enjoyed. So in short, the technical elements are passable even if they aren’t super impressive.
Overall, I would definitely recommend this game. You may want to take some breaks if the repetition gets to you but the game’s sheer length is just really impressive. Even many RPGs don’t get all the way up to 50 hours. You will be playing this one for a long time and grinding is essentially mandatory if you want your gear to be ready for each new challenge. There is a lot of customizing so everyone’s journey will be a little different. You’ll get to really see what kind of weapon suits your playstyle. We’ll see if the sequel can keep up with this one.
Overall 7/10
