Toukiden: The Age of Demons

Toukiden (討鬼伝) is Koei's collaboration title with Sony Computer Entertainment Japan (SCEJ). It is the newest Omega Force IP to be conceptualized in years. Hisashi Koinuma and SCEJ's president, Hiroshi Kawano, are the general producers of this product, and the game's setting was conceptualized between them. Toukiden's main themes are "Japanese", "history" and "demon slaying" in an original fantasy world.

The producer is Kenichi Ogasawara and the director is Takashi Morinaka. The character designer and main illustrator for the game is Hidari. Music is composed by Hideki Sakamoto.

Kawano was the one who pushed for the game to be on the PS Vita. He specifically wanted a new IP from Koei on the console. Both developers are excited about the cross platform connections for the game, as it requires the SCEJ staff's input for its development. According to Koinuma, the look and feel of the game currently shares no parallels with the Warriors franchises. He thinks Warriors fans will be pleasantly surprised with this title.

Ogasawara wishes to use his experience working with Nobunaga no Yabou Online and Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce to visualize a world and system which best fits the game's motifs. Core developers who worked in the Strikeforce titles returned for this title. He has stated that Toukiden will be "an outstanding IP which demonstrates the company's true potential". Team NINJA's involvement, Hidari's character designs (for the Gust side), and the gameplay changes made based on fan feedback are meant to reflect this concept. Hidari's illustrations were used and kept within the game to avoid drawing too many comparisons to the Warriors series.

Players who pre-order the PS Vita Onigara set can obtain a special decorative case and a downloadable serial for the soul, Issun Boushi. The double pre-order Mitama set includes downloadable codes for Momotaro and Yae Niijima's souls. Gamecity shoppers can obtain an additional cell phone strap with their purchase. Other pre-order bonuses are planned for various Japanese stores. Players of the trial versions can transfer their data into the final product and obtain the Momotaro soul and a pink Tenko mask as a bonus.

Plot
The setting is Nakatsu Kuni which has been protected since ancient times by "mononofu" (a pun of "mononobu" or "warriors"). These warriors have banded together to purge demons and other forces of darkness for one thousand years, thus earning their title as "demon slayers".

Eight years before the main story, time and the heavens distorted and the underworld emerged into the land of man. A great demon rose from its gap and plunged the land into an age of calamity. The mononofu fought tooth and nail against the demon and its army for seven grueling days; they barely succeeded in their mission to save humanity. The great conflict was later called the "Oomagadoki", and the mononofu whom fought in it were appointed to help restore the land's political realm.

The protagonist is a part of the new wave of mononofu who rise to deal with the land's never-ending demonic forces. They reside at Utakata Village, one of the last lines of defense in the war between demons and humanity.

Gameplay
Players can play and swap information between the two hand-held consoles at any time.

Main Story
Similar to Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War, the main story is a single player experience which has the protagonist act as the player's mandatory customizable avatar. Protagonists may "speak" through select text options during story conversations, but they are mainly present to observe the drama of the NPCs around them.

The main story progresses by speaking with people labeled with exclamation points around Utakata Village, listening to their dialogue, and engaging in the quests they offer. Missions often demand that the protagonist search the map for items or exterminate demons. Side objectives can be unlocked and reward currency for completion; these tend to be miniature fetch quests or hunts the player can finish on the side during missions. Main story missions (highlighted in red) may lead to larger prey, which is covered in the combat section.

If they should so desire, the player can revisit previously unlocked missions to farm for loot or change their current equipment before each hunt. The player can pay a small fee and prayer at the shrine near the village exit. If they are lucky, they might receive a special skill to help them on their hunt.

Utakata village acts as the home base for the protagonist, meaning it offers various facilities for the player to use. Aside from a shop and blacksmith, the village temple run by Shikimi is an imperative for leveling up their earned souls (mitama) from hunts. The village hot springs offers skills and special character conversations with the NPCs, which can boost their affinity levels with the protagonist. Boosting a NPC's affinity with the protagonist offers new missions, dialogue, souls, and rewards for their extra effort. These stats can be checked with Shuusui at the village exit. He also offers the in-game dictionary and profiles for characters and demons.

The protagonist's personal home offers the save point, an overview of their inventory, an in-game movie gallery, and a pet fox named Tenko. As time passes, the player can send Tenko away to search for treasure within unlocked hunting grounds. Letters from NPCs can be read at their desk, which can be read to check intimacy levels with NPCs. Players can choose to edit their protagonist's face, hair, voice, colors, and equipment here. Over 100 different customizations are in the vanilla game.

Next to the protagonist's house is a pathway to a small divine tree. The player can raise it by feeding it haku (the game's currency) and be rewarded parts for their efforts. Like Tenko's treasure searches, the protagonist can revisit and feed it once after every completed mission to obtain their prize. Rarer items can be gained from as it matures.

The main story can be beaten within 32 hours. After the main story is cleared, players can continue playing from their save to collect additional souls, slay demons under a faster time, or unlock new missions.

Multiplayer stages are wireless collaborative four-man missions which anyone of any expertise can join via wireless co-op. Rewards exclusive to the co-op missions have been hinted. Teams can only fight in missions that members have completed within the main story. Players can switch to multiplayer mode by selecting the shining stone seen near the village exit. PlayStation Portable-1000 users are the only ones exempt from this mode. In-game chat is not available, but players do have access to emotes and spoken text bubbles within their start menu.

Combat
Life (blue) and stamina (green) gauges are located at the upper left hand corner during hunts. Stamina is expended for every action the protagonist can perform; it limits constant attacking or running (hold R while moving) in the map. It can be restored by either standing still or by running towards restorative points. This system is devised so that players must carefully judge their actions in combat.

Players can attack by using the, undefined, or buttons;  is evade. Their protagonist's currently equipped weapon determines the protagonist's fighting style, and each demon has their respective strengths and weakness to each weapon attack property. L can be used to reset the camera (tap) or lock onto a specific target (held).

Regardless of a demon's size, it's recommended to purify their defeated corpse (hold R while standing still). If their body is within the purification's range, they can be used back in Utakata Village to strengthen a character's weaponry and equipment. It's encouraged to collect as many parts as possible as they are the primary means of increasing character attributes within the game. Once a part has been obtained or found as treasure, it is cataloged by location within the village start menu. If demons are severely damaged by players on the final blow, they might obtain rare souls from the demon's body (tamahami).

Larger demons normally have high defenses against characters' attacks. Mononofu must gradually chip away at their defenses by first dismantling their weak points —such as an arm or a leg— and purifying them. Players can use the Demon Eyes skill, a skill which locates a demon's weak spots at the cost of their protagonist's stamina, by tapping the lower right screen (Vita) or by using the Select button (PSP). Colors highlight each body part's durability, white being the most resilient and red being the weakest. Demon Eyes can also be used to locate hidden treasure, restorative points, or rare demons which may release rare souls or treasure when found and defeated.

Once a demon is weakened (magatsuhi), their life points can be attacked directly for a limited time for massive damage. If players destroy a demon's body parts but neglects to purify them, it's possible for the demon to regenerate them during the course of the battle. Large demons change their attack behavior as they lose body parts and as their health drops, often morphing into a secondary form when their health is halved or critical. These secondary forms may include new parts for the party to break. Players can earn a special bonus if they completely purify every part of a demon before its defeat.

Restorative points are scattered across an area's map and can be used by wounded players by pressing. Fallen party members can be resurrected by standing adjacent to them and holding R. They will rise again once the timer over their body is filled. Players can chose to accept defeat by holding in their fallen state.

Souls
Souls (mitama) are named after various Japanese figures or deities from Ancient Japan to the Bakumatsu; in the game's canon, they are the souls of heroes who were captured by demons. Due to the development teams' preferences, many of the figures are from the Warring States period. Over 200 souls will be available in the vanilla game. Four example souls include Nōhime, Sei Shōnagon, Minamoto no Yorimitsu, and Toshizō Hijikata.

Each soul offers a unique abilities (tamafuri) which can be used once the protagonist has equipped them. They can be used by holding the R trigger and tapping, , undefined, or. Abilities have an allotted number of uses per mission and respective cooldown counters. These abilities can be restored by hurrying to the restorative spot on the map. Each soul/ability can fall into one of the following properties below.


 * Offensive - Power-focused fighting style. Health regenerates with each attack when used.
 * Defensive - Guardian style. Temporarily block all hits and lower damage directed towards allies.
 * Hidden - Tricky one for specialists. Rewards more damage if user attacks foes from the rear.
 * Recovery - Healing abilities. Instant restoration for users and allies.
 * Haste - Speedy and conservative. Reduces energy used for normal attacks.
 * Spirit - Ranged attack type. Has a special gauge that can be filled to increase attack power.
 * Air - Support for special abilities. Shortens the recovery rate for abilities used.
 * Luck - Randomized fighting style. Offers special powers from every other type, but the player has to gamble in order to use them.

Shikimi can initially level up any starting soul up to Level 3. Players will need to equip a soul onto their protagonist's current weapon for a hunt if they wish to keep leveling it. She will still be needed to boost or lower a soul's level. With each level, a soul can learn a skill which boosts the protagonist's attributes (i.e: health, speed, etc.), negate status ailments, and so on when equipped. Each soul can learn an optimum of three skills, and every soul has a unique combination of skills they can learn to distinguish themselves.

Upgrading a character's weapon at the blacksmith increases the number of souls that can be equipped. A maximum of four souls can be equipped onto a weapon. The player has access to one dominant soul during battle, but the skills of a weapon's secondary souls are in effect. Related souls may provide beneficial effects when equipped together.

Continue
Load from a previous save. There are a total of three save slots available.

New Game
Self-explanatory.

Settings
Allows the player to adjust the speed of the camera, gives the option to invert controls, and to turn off auto-save. Volume adjustments for sound effects and music are available. If these settings are changed before starting a new game, they will automatically be in effect.

Install
Installs a digital copy of the game.

Download
Place to input serial codes and gain downloadable content. Downloadable content includes souls, quests, armor sets, and weapons.

Mononofu

 * Ouka
 * Nagi
 * Fugaku
 * Hatsuho
 * Hayatori
 * Ibuki

Non-combat NPCs

 * Kikka
 * Shuusui
 * Yuu
 * Yamato
 * Tatara
 * Shikimi
 * Tenko

Areas
These are the hunting grounds available for players. In the game's canon, they are distortions of time frozen in a parallel world.


 * Ko - Desert plains visually based on Ancient Japan.
 * Miyabi - Nara and Heian period inspired area with gloomy sunset lighting.
 * Bu - Spiritual mountain landscape with design motifs from the Katakura and Muramachi periods.
 * Sen - Volcanic area to symbolize the Warring States period.
 * An - Edo period style castle area set at night.
 * Ran - Wintry landscape visually inspired by the end of the Tokugawa shogunate.

Related Media
A trial version of the game is tentatively scheduled to be available in April; it will include the four man co-op option. Interested beta testers can sign up for a closed trial which will take place on March 30th. Accepted participants receive a T-shirt and poster in return for their time and input. Players of the trial version can voice their concerns and compliments at PlayCommu and earn an original avatar for answering their questionnaire. Based on comments, a revised action trial is scheduled for May and before the game's release date in June. A press event to celebrate the game's completion will be held and can be viewed by Niconico users at Niconico Live. Yoshimoto Group comedians Slim Club and Punk Booboo were accompanied by Minami Akina for the conference's on stage co-op demonstration; the trio stayed and posed for after-ceremony photos.

Interested visitors with a PlayStation account can participate in a poll for their favorite Soul at PlayCommu. Thirty souls are selectable, but many of them have been publicly revealed in name only by the time of the poll's creation. Creators encourage voters to pick whoever interests them –whether it be due to the figure they're based on or by visual appeal. Visitors who state their favorite weapon in another poll have a chance of winning a mug signed by the director.

A Minna to Isshou collaboration will be available in the PlayStation Store on June 20th. The collaboration community, Torokiden, offers various bonuses available for members who join it, such as decorations for their avatar's homes, a parody of the game using the Sony mascots, and Toro and Kuro souls. Toukiden is one of the four PSVita titles included in Sony's Kyoutou-sensei Project, a media campaign to promote the console's co-op titles. It will be featured in the project's online and TV broadcasts throughout June.

Studio 4°C is creating an animated feature of the game; details will be up on Koei-Tecmo's Youtube channel. Voice actors used in the game reprise their roles for the animation.

A&G GAME MASTER GT-R, a radio show hosted by Masaya Onosaka, will be holding a special mini program for this title called, Toukiden ~Mononofu Radio~, every Friday 22:00 (JST). These segments are recorded and uploaded by Koei onto the official website's movie section.

This game's main theme will be performed by TEKARU at JAPAN Game Music Festival 2013.

A special prologue comic created by Ayano Urasuke will be appearing in Samurai Ace and Reader Store; Toukiden Yoniuchi is the artist's professional debut into comics. The story follows the adventures of an original male protagonist named Sako. The comic is one of the main features appearing in a series of mooks.

Utakata no Himitsu, another web comic available for viewing on Nico Nico Seiga, will feature six humorous side stories of the NPCs found within the game. This comic is written by Nanatsu Muronchi and illustrated by Toshiko Machida. It began on June 27, 2013 and will update every Friday.
 * 1) Ouka and Ibuki are given a job request to search for a young boy. He ran away from his home during the night to kill a demon by himself, hoping to look brave for his soon-to-be-born younger sibling. While Ibuki bellyaches over the request, a spider crawls onto Ouka's hand. She uncharacteristically screams with fright, Ibuki remaining quiet about the discovery when their comrades rush in to investigate. Nagi reports the boy's rough location and shows Ouka that he is surrounded by spider-like demons. Ouka, Ibuki, and two young recruits leave to retrieve the boy, although Ouka is still too scared to fight. After they rescue the boy, a Mifuchi (giant spider demon) attacks and reduces the nearby shrine to rubble. Ouka would've been crushed if the boy hadn't shoved her to safety. The boy is ashamed by his fear, as it prevented him from killing a single demon. Inspired by his honesty, Ouka regains her composure to protect him and defeats the giant spider demon with Ibuki's aid. The boy aspires to be a fisherman when he is returned to his mother. Ouka swears to never fear again, but her resolve soon falls apart when she is scared by the live crabs the boy had caught for her.