Toukiden: The Age of Demons

Toukiden: The Age of Demons

North American cover art
Developer(s) Omega Force[lower-alpha 1]
Publisher(s) Tecmo Koei Games
Artist(s) Hidari
Composer(s) Hideki Sakamoto
Platform(s) Toukiden
PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita
Toukiden: Kiwami
PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows
Release date(s)
Genre(s) Action role-playing
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Toukiden: The Age of Demons (討鬼伝 Tōkiden) is an action role-playing game developed by Omega Force for the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation Vita.[1] It was released on June 27, 2013 in Japan.[5] Tecmo Koei Games showcased the PlayStation Vita version of the game at E3 2013, and released the game within North America on February 11, 2014 exclusively on PlayStation Vita.[6][7] A sequel titled Toukiden 2 has been announced for a 2016 release on the PS3, PS4 and PS Vita.[8]

Gameplay

In-game screenshot showing the combat interface

Toukiden is a third-person monster hunting game which employs groups of players or NPCs fighting together against various monsters during quests. Each player can customize their choice of weapons, armor and skills. Special abilities can be obtained through the usage of souls, or mitama, which can be collected during the progress of the game. These mitama can level up by gaining experience from battles, or by paying a certain sum of haku. Different mitama have abilities with various characteristics, and can be categorised into various groups such as offensive, defensive, or recovery mitama. Upon slaying a monster, the players or NPCs can "purify" the monster, which collects items useful in upgrading weapons and armor. Monsters fall into the categories of small and large oni, with large oni being the boss-type enemies within the game.

Players can engage in missions co-operatively via an ad-hoc WiFi connection, or over the internet. Additional missions are available in the form of downloadable content.[9]

Premise

The game is set in a fantasy world with medieval Japanese themes. Warriors known as mononofu (モノノフ, localised as "slayer" in the western release) specialise in fighting oni form teams and hunt them. Eight years prior to the commencement of the story, a great demon emerged from the underworld and brought an era of calamity to the land of Nakatsu Kuni, which was traditionally protected by the mononofu since ancient times. The protagonist and main characters reside at Utakata Village, one of the final lines of defense against the demons.

Development

Toukiden was revealed during Sony's TGS 2012 keynote.[10] The game is developed as a collaboration between Koei and Sony Computer Entertainment Japan; Team Ninja is also involved in the development of the project. Character designs and illustrations were created by Hidari, and the music is composed by Hideki Sakamoto.

Tecmo Koei states that the decision to create Toukiden for the PS Vita and PSP was due to Capcom releasing their titles on the Nintendo 3DS, and believed that plenty of people using Sony consoles were keen for a hunting game on their systems.[11]

A Chinese-language version was released throughout Asia on September 19, 2013, localised with the assistance of Sony Computer Entertainment Asia.[12]

Toukiden: Kiwami

An enhanced game titled Toukiden: Kiwami[13] (討鬼伝 極) was released on August 28, 2014 in Japan, for the PS Vita and PSP.[14] The game features twice the number of demons, two new characters, extended story and new equipment.[15] Additional weapons introduced in the new version include firearms, naginata and kanabō. In addition, there are new character abilities.[16]

Toukiden: Kiwami was released in North America and Europe on March 31, 2015.[17] On January 15, 2015, it was announced that a PlayStation 4 version would be released exclusively in the west, with support for cross-save and multiplayer cross-play between the PS4 and Vita platforms.[3] Toukiden: Kiwami was one of the launch titles for the PlayStation 4's official release in mainland China in January 2015.[18] In June 2015 a PC version of Toukiden: Kiwami was announced for a worldwide Steam release.[4]

Media

Manga

Toukiden Woniuchi, a manga prequel of Toukiden, began serialization as an e-book on Sony's Reader Store starting on June 26, 2013. Urasuke Ayano is writing and drawing the story that takes place several years before Tarō Diffendorfer's scenario. Five chapters are currently planned, and they will be released monthly. The seventh volume of Kadokawa Shoten's Samurai Ace magazine, which shipped on Wednesday, will contain a preview of the first chapter and a chapter 0. The issue also contained a code for a mask that can be used in the game.[19]

Within the 26 September 2013 issue of Famitsu, Producer Kenichi Ogasawara has hinted towards expanding the franchise towards anime and manga.[20]

Other

A four minute animated promotional trailer was made for the game by Studio 4°C.[21]

Reception

The retail PlayStation Vita version of Toukiden sold 122,794 units within the first week of release, taking second place for all physical retail videogame sales in Japan, behind Gundam Breaker on the PlayStation 3 which debuted within the same week and sold 200,564 units. The same week also saw a spike in PlayStation Vita system sales, with 31,271 consoles sold, a significant increase over the 13,422 consoles sold during the previous week. The PlayStation Portable version of Toukiden sold 66,016 units within the same week.[22][23] Total game sales were 300,000 units for the month of June 2013.[24] Toukiden placed sixth place amongst all digital copy games sold on the Japanese PlayStation Network overall in 2013, and the fourth most-sold digital Vita game behind Dragon's Crown, God Eater 2 and Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus.[25]

In November 2013, it was announced prior to the PlayStation Awards 2013 that Toukiden was the top selling PlayStation Vita game in Japan for 2013.[26] Toukiden was the second-most purchased digital Vita game on the US PlayStation store during February 2014, which was the month of first release in the West.[27] Koei Tecmo's financial report for the fiscal year ending March 2014 reveals that 550,000 copies have been shipped worldwide.[28]

Famitsu gave Toukiden a review score of 35/40.[29] The enhanced version released in August 2014, Toukiden Kiwami, was given a score of 37/40.[30] Kiwami has a Metacritic rating of 82 for PlayStation Vita,[31] and 74 for PS4.[32]

The Vita version of Toukiden: Kiwami sold 100,073 physical copies within its debut week according to Business Famitsu, representing a 60-80% sell-through within its initial shipment batch and taking first place within that week's sales rankings; at the same time, the PSP version sold 13,518 copies.[33] Within a November 2014 earnings report, Koei Tecmo announced that Toukiden: Kiwami shipped 200,000 copies within the Japanese and Asian regions across both PSP and Vita platforms.[34][35]

Notes

  1. ↑ Additional work by Team Ninja

References

  1. 1 2 "Toukiden Arriving in June, Special PS Vita Edition Announced". The Geek Trench. March 30, 2013. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Toukiden: The Age of Demons Release Date, Pre-Order Bonuses Revealed". Gaming Union. 2014-01-16. Retrieved 2014-01-16.
  3. 1 2 3 2015-01-15, Toukiden: Kiwami coming to PS4 and PS Vita in March, Gematsu
  4. 1 2 Nunneley, Stephany (June 12, 2015). "Toukiden: Kiwami hits Steam later this month". VG247. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
  5. ↑ North, Dale (September 19, 2012). "TGS: Tecmo Koei announces Toukiden for Vita, PSP". Destructoid. Retrieved September 19, 2012.
  6. ↑ Luster, Joseph (May 28, 2013). ""Atelier Meruru Plus" and "Toukiden" Are Coming to North America". Crunchyroll. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Atelier Meruru Plus, Toukiden Head West This Year". Anime News Network. May 29, 2013. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  8. ↑ http://gematsu.com/2015/09/toukiden-2-announced-ps4-ps3-ps-vita
  9. ↑ 2013-07-03, Tecmo Koei Supporting Toukiden With Free DLC, Siliconera
  10. ↑ Liebl, Matt (September 19, 2012). "'Toukiden' is a new IP from the Dynasty Warriors dev". GameZone. Retrieved September 19, 2012.
  11. ↑ 2014-03-04, Tecmo Koei Made Toukiden Because Monster Hunter Moved To 3DS, Siliconera
  12. ↑ 討鬼傳 製品版 (中文版), Sony Computer Entertainment Asia
  13. ↑ 2014-04-03, 【週刊ファミ通】対象店舗で週刊ファミ通を買うと特製クリアファイルがもらえるキャンペーン実施中！, Famitsu
  14. ↑ 2014-04-01, Toukiden Kyoku announced for PS Vita, PSP, Gematsu
  15. ↑ 2014-04-01, Toukiden Extreme Announced For PSP And PlayStation Vita, Siliconera
  16. ↑ 2014-05-07, Toukiden Kiwami adds three new weapons, two new characters, Gematsu
  17. ↑ 2014-09-23, Toukiden Kiwami coming west in 2015, Gematsu
  18. ↑ 2014-12-11, 国行 PS4、PS Vita 终登场！索尼：对不起我们来晚了, Engadget China
  19. ↑ 2013-06-24, Toukiden PSP Game Gets Prequel Manga, Anime News Network
  20. ↑ Famitsu, 26 September 2013 issue. Magazine scan
  21. ↑ 2013-06-26, Toukiden Gets A Stylish Promotional Anime Clip, Siliconera
  22. ↑ 2013-07-03, Media Create Sales: 6/24/13 – 6/30/13, Gematsu
  23. ↑ 2013-07-05, PS Vita is now crushing Nintendo’s Wii U, Yahoo! News
  24. ↑ 2013-07-29, Toukiden Sells Strong, Tecmo Koei’s Profits Are Up, Siliconera
  25. ↑ 2013年にPS Storeで販売されたゲームの人気ランキングを各部門ごとに発表します！, PlayStation Japan
  26. ↑ 2013-11-01, PlayStation Awards 2013"ユーザーズチョイス賞"の投票締め切り迫る！　今年ゲームァンの心を掴んだプレイステーションタイトルはどの作品になるのか？, Famitsu
  27. ↑ 2014-03-10, February 2014 PlayStation Store Top Sellers, PlayStation US
  28. ↑ Fiscal Year Ending March 2014 Financial Results, Tecmo Koei Holdings Co., Ltd.
  29. ↑ 2013-06-19, Japan Review Check: Toukiden, Atelier, Etrian Odyssey, Polygon
  30. ↑ 2014-08-20, Famitsu Review Scores: Issue 1342, Gematsu
  31. ↑ http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-vita/toukiden-kiwami
  32. ↑ http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/toukiden-kiwami
  33. ↑ 2014-09-03, Business Famitsu Weekly Sales Rankings TOP30 for the week 2014年8月25日～2014年8月31日, Famitsu. (WebCite archive; Wayback archive)
  34. ↑ 2014-11-13, Atelier Shallie Reaches 80,000 Shipped Between Japan And Asia, Siliconera
  35. ↑ "Fiscal Year Ending March 2015 1st Half Financial Results" (PDF). Koei Tecmo Holdings Co., Ltd. November 7, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
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