Hands On Preview: Yet another badass hero tosses his hat into the ring. Dante…are you paying attention?
Every once in awhile an unbelievably cool game somehow slips beneath my radar. Being a good gaming journalist means keeping up with the industry at all times, and yet somehow, Otogi escaped my notice. Despite my associate Adam Wolcott’s excellent preview, I somehow dismissed it as a niche title that only appealed to the Japanese audience. Then I played it……
As the demo begins, Raikoh -- the undead demon-hunting warrior -- is faced with “purifying” a local township. A wide-open area is before you, littered with houses and other buildings. Further out is a huge stone wall, and beyond that a deep valley. Numerous cliffs and outcroppings ring the entire level. The world looks stunning, with beautiful, smooth colors that trail through the misty atmosphere, and solid, realistic surfacing to buildings and other structures. Raikoh himself looks extremely cool, and his detailed character model sports clean lines and exceptional texturing.
Raikoh’s movement is controlled with the left analog stick, while the right handles the camera. The left trigger is used to lock-on individual enemies (quite useful since Raikoh frequently finds himself surrounded by foul beasts), while the right activates the Dash feature. Dashing is sweet, as Raikoh morphs into a ball of pure energy and instantaneously hops short distances. The A button is used to jump, while X will conjure the selected magic spell (in the demo, a huge lightning attack that featured a blazing pyrotechnic show full of gorgeous lighting and stunning particle effects). B and Y handle Small Attack and Great Attack respectively, the former being a flurry of sword blows, and the latter able to bring down a building in one fell swoop. Trust me, they’re aptly named.
At this point Raikoh makes his way out into the village and takes on the first of many winged, demonic harpies (known as Talon Raven Yasha). The character controls beautifully, and leaping into the air and launching a series of small attacks will keep you floating and dancing around your enemies as you strike at them with your sword. Raikoh spins, somersaults forward and backward, pinwheels, and tears enemies to pieces with graceful, powerful movements. Great Attacks blast foes into walls and buildings, instantly reducing 4-foot thick stone to rubble. The feeling of being locked in epic battle with colossal, superhuman adversaries is fully realized here, and more than once I was surrounded by creatures, only to literally smash them into the earth as I tore off huge hunks of cliffsides and humongous patches of ground in the process. Knocking assailants into buildings and other structures and blasting them into splinters as you absorb the life-force of your enemies is insanely satisfying, and the game does a great job of making Raikoh feel supremely powerful.
Once the initial area is purified the demo switches focus to the Valley of Prayers. Raikoh needs to find three magic goblets in order to open the blocked portal and allow the strange demon that’s been haunting the area out into the open. Moving down into the valley sees you beset by flying, skeletal demons (called Death Mages) that sport a mean magical blast-attack. Locking onto the nearest one, Raikoh leaps 20 feet into the air and cascades about the pack, shredding the creatures with blazing sword work and finishing with crushing blows that send them careening into the valley walls and floor.
Once all three cups have been obtained, a huge boar-headed demon with tremendous tusks, and a winged, vaguely humanoid body is released into the valley. This is an epic battle as Raikoh and the monster lock in mortal combat. I personally found that repeated Great Attacks successfully drove the creature back and subdued him long enough to avoid his counters. Smashing buildings, flying high above the ground, spinning and flipping from rooftop to cliff ledge-- this contest is pure adrenaline. With one last Great blow, I finally blast the ancient enemy through a large, wooden structure and watch him explode into a shower of purple sparks that intermingle with the dust and debris, as the whole works comes crashing down in an incredible display of destruction. Believe me, this is so unbelievably cool; you’ll be hooked as soon as you pick up the controller.
