Otogi: Myth of Demons

Raikoh, The Shitennō and Seimei.

Otogi: Myth of Demons is what happens when From Software take a legendary figure from Japanese history and the tales that surround him, and turn it all into an Action RPG video game.

At the beginning of the game, Raikoh wakes from his death, revived by a shadowy princess. She tells him that someone has broken the seal that protects the human world from demon kind, and tasks Raikoh to find this person, and execute them. He is also to find a way to restore the seal that was broken, but neither of these tasks will be easy. With the seal broken, the human world has been flooded with demons who will show no mercy to any that cross their path.

The game itself is wonderfully done. The environments are stunningly beautiful, not to mention downright eerie in some places. The music is based off traditional Japanese instruments, and offers one of the best examples of Soundtrack Dissonance in any videogames. The controls are simple and effective, and the combat both brutal and elegant. Indeed, it remains one of the only games to effectively combine Hack and Slash with Crouching Tiger style Wire Fu. The game also features destructible environments. If you can hit it (or hit an enemy into it), then you can probably break it. From buildings, to castle walls, to trees, and in some places even the floor, you can leave half a ton of rubble in your wake. Preferably with some enemy demons buried in their somewhere...

The demons that you fight are also deserving of mention as each is given descriptions that you can read before the levels, which not only tells you what to expect when fighting them, but describes them in a way that is evocative of their origin from Japanese mythology.

The Sequel Otogi 2: Immortal Warriors takes place years after Otogi and introduces five new playable characters, for a total of six.

The story opins with Seimei, a poweful Onmyoji, being persued by the Nine-tailed Fox. She manages to escape and makes her way to the tree Raikoh sealed himself into at the end of Otogi. There she is joined by the Shitennō, The Four Guardian Kings, Kintoki, Tsuna, Sadamitsu and Suetake.

In order to unseal and revive Raikoh, the Shitennō preform Ritual Suicide while Seimei chants in the background. Raikoh is revived, and so are the Shitennō. As in the previous game, they are all now trapped between life and death. With this, the 5 Immortal Warriors and Seimei set out to defeat the 9 Tailed Fox and bring peace back to the land.

Otogi 2 is an overall improvement: it looks better, has more content, and gives you five new unique characters to play as. In short, it's Otogi Turned Up to Eleven. Both games have often been lauded as two of the best if not the two best looking games on Microsoft's original console.

Needs More Love

Tropes used in Otogi: Myth of Demons include:
  • Amazing Technicolor Battlefield: You fight the last Bosses of the games in these: in Otogi, it's a different dimension; in Otogi 2, you seem to be in the upper atmosphere of the planet.
  • Awesome but Impractical: The Needle of Fury from Otogi (and Otogi 2), it turns you into The Berserker, raising your melee attack though the roof... But you can't use magic at all. More often then not, you're better off with magic.
  • Back from the Dead: Raikoh, and the Shitennō are revived by magic, in Raikohs' case, twice. They are in a state between life and death, as long as they have Ki in there bodies they are basicly Immortal (TYPE III). Conversely, if they run out of Ki, they will degrade rapidly until they die, or get more Ki.
  • Badass: Pick a character, they're all Badass in one way or another.
    • Badass Abnormal: All of them, but especially Raikoh.
    • Badass Adorable: Sadamitsu looks like a cute little girl, but she wields a Sinister Scythe that's as long as she is tall, and knows how to use it.
    • Badass Bookworm: Suetake is well versed in knowledge of the arcane, and will not hesitate to demonstrate this by blasting demons into dust.
      • Seimei is also a spell-caster, and she is easily the most powerful character in the game both story-wise and in gameplay.
    • Badass Long Hair: Raikoh has some really long hair, and is the most Badass of the lot.
    • Cultured Badass: Suetake talks in a very high-class manner.
    • Little Miss Badass: Sadamitsu.
  • Badass Boast: Michizane from the first game really likes these.

"I burned this body in the flames of the stars for 10,000 days. I am a god! And you shall be my offering to the heavens."
"I bask in the light of the eight million stars of the heavens. My flesh, burned by the flames of 10,000 nights, is shed!"
"I am Life. I am Death. I am the Stars. I am the Heavens. The fires of hell echo in the skys, and I am reborn! Grant me power though your light! I am Michizane."

  • BFS: The Indigo Fang, it even does extra damage when you use a heavy attack. The Golden Dragon also counts, though it's more of a Big Frikkin' Club then a BFS. Both of these make cameos as weapons in Ninja Blade.
  • Big Bad: Michizane in the first game, the Nine-tailed Fox in the second.
  • Blade Below the Shoulder: Tsuna has one of these on his left arm.
  • Bonus Boss: The Crimson King shows up in Otogi 2 to put the hurt on you in a one-on-one dual. He might be the strongest boss in the game, even stronger then fully powered Nine-tailed Fox.
  • Chase Scene: At one point, Raikoh must run up a massive tower that connects the netherworld to the livingworld while being chased by a huge hydra that may, or may not, be Orochi. In Otogi 2, something similar happens involving a canyon and a Giant Spider.
  • Colony Drop: When you beat the fully powerd Nine-tailed Fox, he turns his body into a massive meteor, and starts falling toward the planet. You have to destroy it before it hits home.
  • Cool Sword: Lots of them, the most normal sword in these games is a large katana made for spliting helmets.
  • Critical Encumbrance Failure: The game keeps track of the weight of the weapon and accessory your using, the heavier they are, the slower you get and lower you jump.
  • Dead to Begin With: Raikoh in Otogi: he died when the seal was broken and the world was overrun by demons. After his revival, he sets out to correct that whole "world overrun by demons" problem.
  • Double Jump: Raikoh, Tsuna and Seimei can do this. Kintoki can only jump once. Sadamitsu can jump three times. And Suetake... he can jump as much as he wants to.
  • Dual Boss: The two giant flying centipedes from Otogi 2, it's a hard fight no matter who you use(except for Kintoki). In fact, you don't even have to kill them to beat the stage, just survive long enough for Seimei to finish chanting her spell in the background.
  • Elemental Powers: The five houses are this.
    • Blow You Away: The house of Soryu, the Dragon, shoots dragons that home in on enemies. Suetake is this element, he fits it very well, as he is the only warrior that can jump as many times as you want, so you'll spend most, if not all of your time in the air.
    • Making a Splash: The house of Genbu, the Butterfly (should be Snake and Turtle), makes a cloud of butterflies made of water that knocks away enemies. Sadamitsu is this element. She fits it well; in fact, one of her alt costumes turns her entire body into see though water.
    • Playing with Fire: The House of Suzaku, The Phoenix, launches Phoenixes made of fire. Kintoki is this element, though he doesn't act too much like a fire type and isn't very good with magic anyway.
    • Shock and Awe: The house of Byakko, the Chimera (should be Tiger), brings down lightning. Tsuna is this element; he can apparently generate electricity from his body, so much so that he gets used as a living generator at one point in the game.
    • Power of the Void: The house of the Void... Duh. Has no spells as you can't use it, and the few enemies that have this element are just resistant to all magic spells.
    • Color-Coded Elements: Suzaku/Fire is red, Genbu/Water Is Blue, Soryu/Wind Is Green, Byakko/Lightning is blue or yellow depending on the charge of the spell, Void is black.
  • Escort Mission: The first game has one where you must escort a fox to a shrine. It can be bypassed simply by ignoring your charge and flying straight to the shrine. Then the enemies won't spawn.
  • Everything Breaks: Finding all of the spirits hidden in destructible objects is required for One Hundred Percent Completion and unlocks the Infinity+1 Sword.
  • Evil Weapon: The Orchid Malevolence, a crimson bladed sword covered in purple flames that can kill anything in one hit. The catch? It saps all of your health while it is held, turning you into a One-Hit-Point Wonder.
  • Eyes Always Shut: Raikoh, and he never opens them, ever.
  • Five-Man Band:
    • The Hero: Raikoh.
    • The Lancer: Tsuna, he has a rough disposition, plays very much like Raikoh, and he's lightning/earth element.
    • The Smart Guy: Suetake, he's also a talking floating tree... yaaa, don't know what to say other then that, just, TALKING FLOATING TREE!
    • The Big Guy: Kintoki, don't believe me? Look up a picture of him then come back and tell me he's not the big guy.
    • The Chick: Sadamitsu.
    • Sixth Ranger: Seimei.
  • Flaming Sword: Forget flaming sword, Kintoki can use a Flaming Axe made of lava rock.
  • Flash Step: The dash button is basically this, Raikoh (and the others) turn into a gust of wind that moves quickly in the direction you’re moving before turning back.
  • The Four Gods: The Japanese version is used for the magic system, with each house representing a god and its element. Note: they seem to be using the Chinese version of Byakko, which is Metal (in game shown as Lightning), instead of the Japanese version, which would be Earth... No clue why they did that though. Kohryu is also in the game as Ohryu, but can't be used by the player the same way you can't use Void.
  • Gender Flip: Abe no Seimei is a she in Otogi 2.
  • Gentle Giant: Kintoki despite being big and strong enough to pick up and throw demons is very kind and soft spoken.
  • Giant Spider: Comes in human, extra-large, and building sizes in the second game. Tsuna has a vendetta against their entire clan.
  • Guide Dang It: Getting some of the weapons/accessories can be this; for instance, did you know you can kill the hydra during the Chase Scene? Most players are too busy running for their lives to think, "I wonder if I can kill that thing."
  • Healing Factor: All the Player Characters have this... As long as they have Ki in their bodies that is.
  • Heroic Mime: Raikoh is this also, he has yet to say a word, unless you count the kiai shouts when he attacks.
  • Impossibly Cool Weapon: The starting weapons are fairly normal, but most of the ones after that are this.
  • Infinity+1 Sword: The Moonlight Sword, not only does it have some of the best stats, but when you do a standing heavy attack, the sword unleashes a Moonlight Wave that does insane damage, one-shotting almost everything. Makes a cameo in Ninja Blade as the strongest heavy sword.
  • Joke Weapon: The Fanblade, it looks like a giant metal pinwheel... But it sends anything it hits flying away at high speed, then you remember that there's wall crush damage, making it a Lethal Joke Weapon and causing Hilarity Ensues.
  • Kamaitachi: A group of three apper as a boss in the first game. They can damage you on contact, and they will try to combo you to death between themselves. Later, you fight two stronger ones... that are invisible. Have fun with that.
  • Katanas Are Just Better: Almost completely Subverted: in Otogi, there’s only one sword that resembles a katana, and while it is a good early game weapon, it gets outclassed by the weapons you can get later. In Otogi 2, the only person who uses a katana is Tsuna, and it's a Double Weapon most of the time.
  • Ki Attacks: The magic spells are powered by your Ki.
  • Kitsune: Final boss of the second game.
  • Magic Meter: It's called Ki here, it drains over time because you're a walking corpse (or poisoned in Seimei's case) and can no longer generate Ki naturally.
  • Multi Melee Master: There are over 30 weapons in Otogi, including light/heavy swords, staffs, dual blades and varius Blade on a Stick, and Raikoh can use all of them like it's second nature. Sadly, he only uses swords in Otogi 2.
  • Not Quite Flight: Air dashes and aerial attacks must be chained to get proper air time, which is quite a task when the player has to hunt down agile flying enemies. This is particularly evident in the second game where one level has the player character hopping around a fleet of enemy airships (flying ships, to be specific) with the land so far below that it's out of sight.
  • One-Winged Angel: The end boss of Otogi has three forms: he starts in a corrupted human form, becomes dragon-like with scales and horns, and then sheds his former body to reveal a ghostly white one. Interestingly, he never changes into a giant monster; all his forms are humanoid, just with different skins and huge jumps in power.
  • One Hundred Percent Completion: 31 weapons, 10 accessories, 12 magic talismans, 6 mercy orbs and 100% spirits released on every stage... And that's just the first game. For the second, 19 weapons, 30 accessories, 16 talismans, ? mercy orbs, 18 costumes, 100% spirits released and 18 bonus stages beaten... This might take awhile.
  • Onmyodo: Seimei is a very powerful Onmyoji that is basically the video game version of Abe no Seimei.
  • Our Werewolves Are Different: Tsuna looks like a Japanese take on a Werewolf, he is never seen in normal human form, if he even has one.
  • Puzzle Boss: There's one that is immune to all damage except wall crush damage. The Joke Weapon makes this fight, well... a joke.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The two centipedes from Otogi 2: one is resistant to magic and is red, the other is resistant to melee and is blue, they're even opposite genders... And apparently, husband and wife, or whatever the demon equivalent is.
  • Ritual Suicide: The Shitennō do this to revive Raikoh in Otogi 2. Tsuna stabs himself though the skull with his arm-blade, Sadamitsu has her pet crow peck her face off, Suetake blasts himself with lightning (which he's weak to), and Kintoki... Kintoki punches himself in the face so hard that High-Pressure Blood comes out, which is more Narm then anything.
  • The Rival: The Crimson King to Raikoh. An Oni demon with lots of flowing red hair, who wields a huge stone kanabo. You meet him early in Otogi, and at this point, he can easily kick your ass. Later in the game, you get a duelling stage where it's just you against him. And it is awesome! In Otogi 2, he shows up as a Bonus Boss that's as strong if not stronger then the end boss. Still not dead, many people hope he's in Otogi 3... If there ever is an Otogi 3.
  • Samurai: Raikoh and the Shitennō.
  • Scenery Porn: The stages can range from bright and breathtaking to dark and haunting. The sheer epicness of the environments is matched only by their destructibility.
  • Soundtrack Dissonance: One of the most unique examples of any video game. There's nothing quite like kicking the crap out of a demonic horde while a collection of ethereal, melancholic Japanese instruments play in the background. Check out the title theme here...
  • Standard Status Effects: Enemy attacks can set you on fire, which drains your HP (comes in red, blue and black flames, with black being the strongest). Frost, which drains your Ki (very bad). Silence, which does exactly what you think it does. And Jyubaku (cursed), which cuts your attack, defense and jumping power in half. There are accessories which block some of these, and one that blocks all of them; unfortunately, that last one is really heavy.
  • The Stoic: All of the Player Characters to varius degrees. Seimei's narration in both games is dispassionate regardless of how dire the situation is said to be, especially in the English version.
  • To Hell and Back: Raikoh gets sent to the Netherworld... Twice. In Otogi, a trap by the Big Bad sends him there, and in Otogi 2, he ends up there after being killed... Again. But Like a Badass Out of Hell, he refuses to stay down there, and fights his way back to the world of the living.
  • Useless Useful Spell: Kintoki can grab and drain the Ki from enemies, but it's far faster to just kill them since enemies drop Ki when they die.
  • Video Game Characters:
    • Lightning Bruiser: Raikoh in the first game: he's fast, can smash a demon twice or more his size through a wall, and can launch powerful magic attacks. You can use weapons that focus on one of these aspects, but overall, Raikoh is best when he can use all three.
    • The Mario: Raikoh is reduced to this for Otogi 2, as he can no longer use the strongest magic, and the much smaller weapon selection weakens him a bit. However, he still has some Lightning Bruiser to him, as he can walk into almost any stage and beat it without trouble, even if the stage is meant for another warrior. Tsuna is also a Mario, he's almost exactly like Raikoh in the way he moves and handles, but with a twist: the way his weapon works makes him good at crowd-control. Against lots of small enemies, he's a beast, but larger enemies can give him trouble.
    • Fragile Speedster: Sadamitsu all the way: she has the best movement speed, has the shortest delay between dashes, can keep attacking as long as you keep hitting the light attack button, but does not take hits very well (she might have even less defense then Seimei, can't remember for sure).
    • Mighty Glacier: Kintoki: he has the worst speed, the worst jumping ability, can only use the weakest magic, but he has so much health that he can survive an attack that one-shots every other warrior, and his melee is so strong that he can kill a boss enemy that’s supposed to be immune to melee in two hits... damn, just damn.
    • Squishy Wizard: Suetake and Seimei: they both rely on magic to do most of their dirty work, the difference being that Suetake can melee if he has to because his weapon gives him a wide range, while Seimei can mostly only use magic. However, Seimei can double-tap her spells, firing two full powered shots one after the other AND can use spells even Suetake can't use, one of which is bar none the strongest spell in the game.
  • Walking on Water: You can walk on top of deep water as long as you have Ki, but it drains your Ki faster when you do this and if it runs out, say hello to a watery grave. However, there is an accessory that lets you walk on water without Ki, if your worried about the watery grave thing happening.
  • Weapon of Choice:
    • Heroes Prefer Swords: Averted in the first game where Raikoh can use many types of weapons; sadly played straight in Otogi 2 where he only uses swords. One of the only things that the second game didn't do better then the first.
    • Double Weapon: Tsuna uses a double katana made from his old katana and the katana of a slain friend. Also a Bifurcated Weapon.
    • An Axe to Grind: Kintoki, a very big axe... that's sometimes on fire.
    • Sinister Scythe: Sadamitsu's weapon, also a somewhat creepy little girl with ice/water elements.
    • Improbable Weapon User: Suetake uses what can only be described as a floating wagon-wheel as a weapon, it is surprisingly effective.
      • It's really a Dharma wheel, which means Suetake can beat demons to death with enlightenment... Not sure if Budda would approve, but hey, it works.
    • Paper Fan of Doom: Seimei Dual Wield's these: they're not very strong by game standards, but by real life standards, they would be the deadliest melee weapons ever.
    • Carry a Big Stick: The Crimson King carries around a stone Kanabo so big you could use it as a support beam for a house.
  • Why Won't You Die?: More like why won't you stay dead? Raikoh just will not stay in the grave.
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