Toukiden: The Age of Demons

Lore & Background

The game is set in the land of Nakatsu Kuni, which was traditionally protected by warriors known as mononofu (localized as 'slayer' in the western release). Eight years before the story begins, a great demon emerged from the underworld, bringing an era of calamity. The protagonist and other main characters reside in Utakata Village, one of the final lines of defense against the demons. The setting draws heavily on medieval Japanese themes, particularly Shinto.

Reader's Guide

Toukiden: The Age of Demons was developed as a collaboration between Koei and Sony Computer Entertainment Japan, with Team Ninja also involved. Tecmo Koei stated that the decision to create the game for PlayStation Vita and PSP was due to Capcom releasing Monster Hunter titles on the Nintendo 3DS, believing that many Sony console users were keen for a hunting game on their systems. The game was revealed during Sony's TGS 2012 keynote. Character designs were created by Hidari, and music was composed by Hideki Sakamoto. A Chinese-language version was released in Asia on September 19, 2013. The game sold 122,794 Vita units and 66,016 PSP units in its first week in Japan, and was the top-selling PlayStation Vita game in Japan for 2013. By March 2014, 550,000 copies had been shipped worldwide. Famitsu gave the game a score of 35/40. An enhanced version, Toukiden: Kiwami, was released in 2014 with double the content, new weapons, and a later PlayStation 4 version.

Did You Know?

• The game was developed by Omega Force, known for the Dynasty Warriors series.
• A four-minute animated promotional trailer was produced by Studio 4°C.
• The enhanced version, Toukiden: Kiwami, introduced firearms, naginata, and kanabō as new weapons.