Fancy a vacation? How about to the feudal eras of Japan? Well, you can get close enough in Toukiden: Kiwami, the sequel to Toukiden: Age Of Demons. Developed by Omega Force and published by KOEI TECMO, Toukiden: Kiwami places players in the role of a Slayer who goes to assist a village with their demon problem and let’s be real, who doesn’t enjoy a little demon slaying, right?

Honestly, the graphics in Toukiden: Kiwami surprised me, in a good way. The game looked very clean and rather beautiful. Character models are animated in a realistic anime or manga style and blend within the landscapes very well, mostly due to the clothing style of the characters and the setting where the game takes place. The landscapes were quite breathtaking as well and I found the Japanese setting to be quite refreshing. There wasn’t much besides the Oni that you could interact with in the background, but the ambiance was lovely and set a nice tone for the game.

Toukiden: Kiwami features voice acting, but it’s all in Japanese. Fortunately, there are English subtitles so players may follow the storyline. You can choose your character’s voice, so that shouldn’t be too much of a bother, although you’ll rarely hear it. From my anime experiences, the voice acting is pretty good and I quite enjoyed it despite my inability to understand Japanese. You could practically feel the life from the characters and emotions were conveyed appropriately. Many of the Oni come equipped with terrifying roars to try to instill fear within players, but they’re not THAT fearsome. Sound effects were also done well, especially for weapons. While it wasn’t the lovely sound of flesh being torn from the body, the sound of daggers or swords cutting made you feel like you were cutting the enemy to pieces. Hey, it’s a nice feeling.

In Toukiden: Kiwami, the player is a Slayer who is tasked with fending off the Oni, or demon, hordes from overrunning the village of Utakata and I swear I didn’t mean to make a terrible rhyme there. Players are to create their own custom character to play as and are then thrown into the world of the Slayers. As a Slayer, players must complete missions which are assigned from the Slayer hub in Utakata village and missions vary from killing a certain Oni to securing a certain zone on the map. For each mission, players may choose teammates to go with them who are controlled by A.I. You may have a maximum of three companions for each mission, but let me warn you that the A.I. does not mess around. They will rush through and kill everything if you’re not paying attention, so if you prefer to have more action for yourself, then perhaps you should limit how many partners you bring with you. The main exploration takes place in one of several mission sites, but you’ll mostly be killing Oni during your time on one of the maps. Players are also able to explore Utakata village because it is the main hub, but you’ll quickly learn the layout after a short while of running around the town. The same goes for the mission maps as well. They don’t change from mission to mission, so you should learn routes fairly quickly on those too. Some may think it’s a bad thing, but I find it more interesting to be able to easily locate what I need to kill rather than run around aimlessly, but that’s just me.

Every Slayer needs to be well informed in order to stay alive on the battlefield. While you’re on a mission, your HUD will change to provide the information you need. In the top left of the screen, players will see their Health bar, Focus bar, character name, Weapon style and also the Weapon gauge. The Health bar is pretty self-explanatory. If it empties, you’ll be knocked out and an ally must revive you, but if this happens three times, you will be forced to withdraw. The Focus bar is used to perform certain actions like sprinting and using the special attack of your weapon. Once it empties, you cannot use these actions but it refills over time, so don’t worry. To the right of the screen, players are provided with a map of the area so they don’t get lost. To the lower right of the screen, players will see their list of special actions which consists of four different abilities. These have a limited use, but can be refilled by praying at an altar somewhere on the battlefield. They’re very useful, so use them wisely. Lastly, to the middle of the screen on the right is the timer for the mission. Once that depletes, you’re out of time and fail the mission. Try not to let that happen.

Like most games of its genre, Toukiden: Kiwami's main appeal is the combat. Players are able to select one of several different classes of weapons to fight with and each has its own attributes to make it unique from another weapon class. Regardless of what you pick, you’ll usually be pressing the (Square) button and (Triangle) button to perform your main combos, with (Square) being the quick attacks and (Triangle) being more specialized attacks. The (Circle) button is your special attack and the attack changes based on what weapon you have. Usually, players will be able to dispatch lesser enemies with ease using their attacks, but attacking won’t always keep you alive. Against larger enemies, you’ll need to be careful with your attacks and engages. Thankfully, players can dodge attacks by pressing the (X) button and using the Left Stick to direct their character. Dodging does drain some of your Focus bar, so try to use it carefully.

Customization plays a vital role, just as in any Action RPG. Players are able to change their weapons and armor to buff up their characters for combat. The weapons are given one slot only and players may choose a weapon from one of the different weapon classes, such as knives or the gun. Of course, there are different weapons for each class and these may be bought or forged by the blacksmith. Weapons increase your Attack and Precision stats, but the play style for each weapon is different, so try to find one that suits you. Armor is given four slots, divided between the helmet, gloves, tunic and leggings. Players may mix and match armor or equip a full set to get an armor set bonus which varies based on the armor set. Armor increases your defense and certain armor pieces also give elemental bonuses to protect against certain elemental attacks, such as wind or fire. Like weapons, armor may be bought or forged at the blacksmith. A Slayer is only as good as his or her gear, so choose wisely!

Toukiden: Kiwami does not feature standard difficulty levels, but each mission does have a difficulty rating which is shown by the amount of stars it has. As you may have guessed, more stars means a higher difficulty rating. Higher difficulty missions unlock as you progress through the game, and certain eras have naturally more difficult missions than others. Often times, it is a good idea to take partners with you on missions with higher difficulty ratings so you’ll have an easier times, and if things go south, you have teammates who can heal you. Not only that, but you’ll have an easier time dealing with larger enemy waves or tougher monsters. It’s easy to quickly be surrounded if you’re taking on a difficult mission solo and are wiped out, but with allies present you can split the work load. So just remember, even though you are an Oni-killing machine, you aren’t invincible. Teamwork makes any task more manageable, so make sure you take teammates if you aren’t sure about a mission. It is important to note though that some missions require you to perform them solo, so using extra caution during these missions is advised. We wouldn’t want you wiping out, would we?

The most important of your Slayer duties is slaying Oni, but you may also purify them to release the souls of humans they have devoured. By holding the (R1) button and assuming the Stance of Communion, players are able to perform the Ritual of Purification after they have slain an Oni. This grants them Haku, which is used as currency in the game, and also an item. Fortunately, your A.I. teammates will also perform the Ritual so that you may do other things instead of hoping you’re not attacked while purifying an Oni. The Stance of Communion also allows you to perform your Skills by pressing either the (Square), (Triangle), (Circle) or (X) buttons while having the (R1) button held down. These Skills grant you a different effect depending on what Mitama you have equipped, but more on this later.

Weapons are nice and all, but you’re a Slayer so you get more out of your weapons. After being in combat and dishing out a certain amount of hits, your Weapon Gauge will fill up. This allows you to unleash a Destroyer attack to the enemy for a lot of damage. This action is performed by pressing the (Triangle) button and the (Circle) button together. It is possible to miss, so you’d best aim well or just lock on by pressing the (L1) button. In addition to this attack, players are able to synchronize their teammates and perform a United Destroyer attack. The Unity Gauge fills as the player purifies Oni and uses their special abilities. This attack deals massive damage but can also miss, so let me remind you to lock on to enemies and line up the attack before you unleash it.

An Oni’s favorite pastime is devouring human souls. As a Slayer, we are able to free these souls by purifying the Oni. These souls then take the form of a Mitama, which helps us. Mitama each come with different attributes based on their type and can range from Attack to Defense to Healing to even Speed. You equip Mitama in your weapons to gain their attributes and this changes your Skill set as well. Your Mitama’s type will also affect your play style due to each effect being unique in its own way. Attack type Mitama focus on attacking and grant Skills to assist in this regard, such as Might or Carnage. The list continues on in this way. In addition to this, Mitama also grant you special bonus effects and they gain additional effects by leveling them up. A Mitama may only have a certain amount of effects and you must discard one if you wish to learn another, but discarded bonuses may not be re-learned, so choose carefully.

Toukiden: Kiwami answered my prayers of demon killing. It’s an excellent follow-up to Toukiden: Age Of Demons and if you enjoyed the first, you’ll undoubtedly enjoy this wonderful sequel. Even those who haven’t played the first will find something to love in this game. From the graphics to the story to the gameplay, I honestly feel Toukiden: Kiwami is an experience to be had and recommend it for anyone, especially if you’re itching for some demon slaying.