I’ll admit, I was a bit skeptical of Otogi: Myth of Demons when I first heard about it. After a slew of mediocre action games, such as Devil May Cry II and Chaos Legion, I was almost expecting Otogi to be the same. Although, once I started Sega’s new action/RPG, I realized how wrong I was.

If I did my research right, Otogi means something along the lines of ‘fairy tale’, which describes the game pretty well. It all takes place in an amazing fantasy world based fully on Japanese folklore. Everything from the game’s design to the music does a great job of capturing the ancient Japanese feel, and gamers will likely find themselves immersed in this magical world.

For over a thousand years the Great Seal kept the world safe from the demons that would destroy it, but the era of peace was about to end. Suddenly the Great Seal broke, and the world was once again covered in darkness. You’ll play as Raikoh, an assassin who works for the court dealing out death to the guilty. When the seal broke and the demons rushed through, Raikoh was killed. He’s awakened by voice of a mysterious being known only as the Princess, and told that he will be given a chance to atone for his ‘unclean’ life by saving the world from the demons that plague it. The Princess grants him great powers, and although Raikoh cannot see her, she leads him on his mission to defeat the demons and restore the Great Seal.

You’ll never actually get to see the Princess, and you aren’t going to learn a lot about her, but that only adds more to the mystery that is supposed to surround her. The main character, Raikoh, is a pretty straightforward character. He’ll never actually say a word through the whole game, but it fits his character type (the stern warrior with nothing but the mission on his mind) well. There are a few villains that will make important appearances in the game, and they each have some part to play in the story. The main villain, whose name will I not speak in order to avoid spoilers, is among the most interesting. Still, his scheme is fairly cliche, and although interesting, the main plot is nothing that will wow you.

The story isn’t overly complicated, but it will have you on the edge of your seat, eager to see what happens next. As you progress further into the game the plot will evolve greatly, and you’ll learn more about the characters and their fantasy world.

As an Action/RPG, Otogi’s gameplay is pretty easy to describe… you grab a weapon, and beat the crap out of monsters in fast paced, real-time combat. Of course, Otogi has a lot more depth than that. Raikoh is equipped with a variety of attacks, including a weak slash, strong slash, multiple different magic spells, and two special moves: a dash attack and a boost attack. He can also do all the basics, like jump, double jump and dash.

Using these attacks, Raikoh can perform a variety of combos to decimate his foes before they even have a chance to fight back. Up to 4 hits can be performed in a single combo, but if you’re quick enough you can get off multiple combos in no time. Raikoh can almost fly while performing these moves, and he’ll hover in the air for a good deal of time while slashing away at enemies in midair. You’ll even have the ability to reflect many enemy attacks by using your own weapons to hit them back.

There are 12 different magic spells that Raikoh can cast, and each can be powered up depending on how long you charge it. There are also several different weapon types, such as swords, great swords, staves, and double bladed swords, and over 30 different weapons total. Raikoh’s last piece of equipment are accessories. You can equip one accessory at a time and they have varied effects, from raising your defense to making you tolerant to status effects.

All of this equipment has a weight, and the more Raikoh weighs the slower he’ll run and the lower he jumps. On the other hand, more weight will increase the strength of some of Raikoh’s attacks. There are also several stats in Otogi, including Magic, Health, Attack and Defense. Each piece of equipment will raise and lower various stats, and many have their own set of abilities. With a huge arsenal of equipment at his fingertips, there’s a good deal of strategy involved in deciding what equipment Raikoh should wield.

Magic is what keeps Raikoh alive, and without it his HP will quickly deteriorate. Your Magic Power will slowly decrease over time, and decrease further whenever you cast a spell or use a special move. Killing enemies is necessary to replenish your MP, which helps to keep the action fast paced. There’s no time to sit around unless you want to lose! Slaughtered enemies also reward you with experience, money, and they occasionally drop items that temporarily increase your stats and cure statuses, or items such as weapons and accessories. Some special enemies will also drop Mercy Orbs, which increase Raikoh’s max HP.

At the end of the level, if you’ve accumulated enough experience, Raikoh will level up and his stats will increase. You’ll also have the chance to do a little shopping at the store. Here you can buy more equipment, and weapons, which lose vitality with use.

You’ll travel through 29 stages, facing armies of enemies. There’s a good deal of difference between each stage, both in the environment and the objectives you’ll be asked to complete. Often you’ll have to defeat all the foes in the area or slay a certain boss, while other times you need only reach a specific destination.

The game has some of the most impressive graphics in recent memory. The animations are fluid in combat, even when performing impressive stunts. The character and environments are extremely well designed with very unique looks. The game’s impressive graphics help bring Otogi’s mystical world to life! The environments allow for a lot of interactivity, and almost everything you’ll encounter, from bridges and barrels, to entire buildings, can be destroyed. The level of detail is simply breath taking.

Like most action games, the camera can be a little troublesome. Even with the lock-on feature, the game is so fast paced that it’s extremely easy to lose track of an enemy in the heat of battle. Also, while locked onto an enemy, its tough to see what else is going on around you, so walking straight off a cliff or into a pool of lava can happen often. Another problem I sometimes ran into was Raikoh occasionally would get stuck while climbing a hill or other heights. He’d start to fall, but would then be stuck on the hillside and fall prey to the vicious demons who wanted nothing more than to kill me.

The game’s sounds are pretty impressive. The music is very fitting for the game, and establishes the ancient Japanese tone of the game immediately. There are a lot of string instruments used in the music, and the result is a soundtrack that is perfect for the game. Even the score on the start screen is so great that it’s scary.

There’s a good deal of voice acting from the Princess and several major villains. These voices are very high quality, and will leave you impressed. Sound effects, on the other hand, aren’t quite as impressive since much of them seem overshadowed by other sounds. Not to mention that Raikoh’s slashes upon hitting an enemy just didn’t sound right to me. Still, much of the sounds, such as the clashes of sword upon sword, and the screeches of enemies, all sounded great.

Perhaps the game’s biggest downfall would be its short length. With around 10 hours of gameplay, it might be enough to quench the thirst of the action fan, but RPG fans, who often expect 30 hours or more from a game, might be a little disappointed. Each level can literally be defeated in just a few minutes, but the high level of challenge will likely have you going back for second and third tries, which will boost your gameplay time considerably. Fortunately, Otogi offers plenty to do aside from simply defeating each stage. At the end of each stage you’re awarded a rank based on how much of the environment you were able to destroy. You can go back to any level at any time and try to earn the best grade possible. Each level also has numerous spirits trapped within, and by destroying objects you can release the spirits. By releasing all the spirits you can unlock a super-weapon. There are also a variety of goals to be completed that will help you unlock the level three magic spells. The game may not be very long, but there re several side quests to do, and the whole thing is fun enough to warrant second and third playthroughs.

Between the variety in weapons, magic spells, and moves, and Raikoh’s own RPG stats, Otogi: Myth of Demons is a deeper action game than most. Combine that with the game’s great design and Japanese folklore-based world, and you’ve got a very unique experience. Otogi is a game I can easily recommend to all XBox owners, especially fans of action/RPGs.

Final Grade: 88%