At a recent Tecmo Koei event in London, I was able to get some hands-on time with Toukiden Kiwami, a remake of the original combat-centric PS Vita game from 2014—though the title also originally appeared prior to that on PlayStation Portable.
First thing I decided to do was try out the character creation tools that were available, which offers plenty of choice for making your character unique. After spending some time with this, there are multiple new classes for you to pick, along with the original classes from the PS Vita version. You can pick a Naginata, Kanabo or firearms. They have also added double the amount of Mitama found in the original version, Mitama can be gained from slaying Oni, they unlock special abilities and traits for your character. The game also has over 100 new armour sets to unlock; some of these new additions can be obtained from the newly-introduced special missions.
For my character, I decided to select the new firearms option, and just like the original Vita version, you are thrown into a boss battle right at the start. Initially, it took me a while to get used to the controls, with me accidently aiming away from the Oni when I ran, as you need to stop and turn round before you actually aim at him. You can lock onto the Oni, but I found this wasn’t that great as it made it slightly harder to evade his attacks. In addition, like the PS Vita version you can target individual parts of the Oni; this allows you to stagger him and deal more damage in the process. This also allows you to purify the parts of the Oni, so you can get bonus items from the fight; the PS4 release introduces more Oni in comparison to the original release, too. Meanwhile, the gun class allows you to use different ammo types, from single target ammo shots to the wide ranged shots. This means you have to think a bit before you enter into battle. You also have to manually load the gun, so if you’re in a big skirmish, you have to make sure you have enough room to reload while you are being attacked. You can reload the bullets from your gun if need be, which helps a lot in battles.
Just like the PS Vita version, the PS4 will have four-player online co-op, allowing you to go out on missions with your friends, with Tecmo Koei confirming that the Vita and PS4 version of Toukiden Kiwami will also feature Cross-Play. Finally, the game will also feature Cross-Save allowing you to transfer your original save file over to the new game; this will unlock costumes and items, depending on how far you are in the game as a bonus also.
The graphics have been improved a lot since the handheld release, with the visuals featuring a lot more detail in the geometry and also the lighting system seems to have had an overhaul. The water also looks amazing and the characters have increased detail. The game also ran really smooth, offering a pleasurable gameplay experience that helped make the boss fights feel amazing. Though they don’t really push the PS4 hardware all that much, the developers have made some nice improvements to an already impressive-looking game.
After spending some time with this remake, I felt like the game has had enough added to it to make it worth the money for people who purchased the original version. Furthermore, it acts as a handy stepping point for those who want to jump into the series for the first time. I really hope the game is successful so we can see a proper Toukiden 2 at some point down the line for PS4 and PS Vita.
Toukiden Kiwami is due out on PS4 in the U.S. on March 31 and in Europe on March 27.