2kitten

Thoughts on Toukiden 2

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Just some shit I'm writing down since some MH fans have been a little curious about the game. Most of this was written pre-World and then looked over again post-Iceborne.

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TL;DR
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This sequel is still a relatively simple MH clone, but less boring and bland than Toukiden Kiwami somewhat.
Too bad there isn't a G-Rank equivalent release or third game. If you want to try it then wait for a sale because holy fuck the base game and DLC are overpriced as fuck.

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Weapons
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So this series has had about three different releases to build upon its roster of weaponry, so the variety is pretty decent. That said, most weapons do tend to follow a somewhat template design; weak attacks on X, stronger or aerial attacks on Y, a Focus-consuming attack on B, and almost everything has a charge-up attack. They're all still unique enough when operating them, but you can see where I'm coming from. Most weapons can do some kind of sidehop or backhop after attacking.

Weapons have either slash, thrust, or crush attacks, though it's only really relevant if you're trying to break off certain oni limbs.

Perhaps the one thing that the game does better than Monster Hunter in regards to weapons is how it makes its stamina system more relevant for everyone; you don't exactly have a Dash Juice equivalent and most weapons will require Focus to utilize some of their key attacks, so it's actually something of a resource. You can make builds that can restore Focus more easily, on paper it's not really different from building around stamina management skills in MH but some weapons will benefit a shitload by being able to keep up any costs they might get. Staying in the air also uses up Focus, whether from one of your attacks or using the Demon Hand.

Sword
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Effectively the Long Sword expy. Two dedicated buttons for standard attacks can be mixed up for combos, with enough experience you can generally tell which certain attacks you can do next by looking at the animations. Gouge is its unique mechanic, constantly draining Focus as your standard attacks create and build up wounds which damage the oni when you release it manually or run out of stamina, but if you are unable to then they disappear and it's all for nothing. When low on Focus, the alternative is to use a charge attack on Y which does have some fair range. There is also a chargeable counterattack on B.

There is no real Fade Slash equivalent, but for a little Focus a twirling slash with a little bit of i-frames can be cancelled into and can reset into another combo. Toukiden 2 however adds in a 'Cleansing Blade' move that can be done after the last attack in a combo hits an oni, so using the twirl is more useful to keep being aggressive. Cleansing Blade itself powers any next attack you can do from neutral in some capacity, while it can give the twirl extra i-frames it more imporantly enables Shadow Gouge, a stronger version which drains Focus like a motherfucker but is overall more efficient.

So generally, the moveset is a bit more involved than the rest somewhat and there isn't really any wasted attacks, but Cleansing Blade is mostly used just to power up your Gouge if you have the set for it, which still isn't as staggerlock-happy as it was in Kiwami.


Knives
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Not-Dual Blades with its version of spin2win turning you into a fucking Beyblade and can also climb up a monster to do aerial attacks if you wish. Very simple weapon but they work well.


Spear
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FOUR charge attacks is not what I expected for a weapon centered on reach. Probably the weapon with the poorest kit of moves in the game. There's long-range thrust attacks, some stronger but shorter-range crush attacks that are good for killing smaller shits, the 'Hawk Swoop' which is basically an aerial divebomb, and a 'brace'. All of these are chargeable, but the most consistent attack is a charged thrust you can aim, mashing X for a flurry after the initial poke. The swoop was nerfed from Kiwami by not being to interrupt as easily and only really sees use on tall oni, and the Brace attack lost its main point when the Demon Hand can stop full-body attacks, but at least it can combo into the flurry.

If you're looking for a Lance equivalent, you'll be disappointed. Though the destroyer attack with you throwing the spear is kinda neat.


Gauntlets
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A fist weapon with both considerable power and speed but with short range. Timing your button presses right during the standard string performs a Critical Link that adds extra power, and the chargeable Fire Hooks can help weaken down parts. Focus is used for blocking and the Flurry attack, which also has Critical Links too so you'll be flashing like a strobe. A chargeable uppercut can be done to hit things directly above you. If you're the fag who wants fist weapons in MH, this is probably the closest you'll get outside of Frontier's Tonfa (which is very different and would fit well in the main series by now honestly)

Pretty straightforward. A great Mitama for Gauntlets, Raiden Tame'emon, can be gotten in the first act of the game too so this will be a strong option from the start.


Chain & Sickle (Kusarigama)
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A weapon with a ranged counterweight and a sickle for closer-up attacks, this is basically the best aerial weapon in the game. After throwing the counterweight to launch yourself in the air, some sickle attacks and maybe the odd Hurricane are thrown in while you use the counterweight to juggle yourself in the air, which isn't too easy since the aerial mobility granted by the attack can cover quite a distance. Has a ranged Destroyer attack that can be used in mid-air.

Supposedly controls better than it did in Kiwami. The new Hurricane attack is better suited for smaller oni.


Bow
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The only ranged weapon type in the game whose shot types available aren't dependent on the weapon used. It can use; a power shot, an exploding shot, a spread shot, a cluster shot, an evasive backstep shot, cursed shots, and even homing arrows, some of these are chargeable. On top of this is a Focus-consuming state where arrows fire and charge faster, and when outside of that spacing out your shots without any inputs actually buffs the bow for a few seconds.

You might be thinking on whether some of these arrow types are more useful than others. Well, that is kind of the case, but the bow does have a large variety of Mitama that can help bolster specific kinds of shots, so it'll depend on your >build.


Club
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You only need to look at this weapon once to know that it's Not-Great Sword. The weapon's main gimmick involves Hyperpowered states, increasing charge speeds if you hit with the tip. The attacks (combo or multi-hit charge) on X tend to max out hyperpower more easily, with Y being the standard overhead charge attack. B is used for a three-hit combo that can charge up to three times per hit for a nine-level charge attack. Rounding it off is a charging stop-thrust that can actually interrupt some physical attacks if the hitbox goes through yours. The Devastator is unique in that it's the only one that can be charged up for more damage.

With how erratic most oni can move around and how super armor doesn't exactly work like how it does in MH, playing Club without any particular Mitama can be frustrating to play. But then you get Unkei and his knockback protection; like holy shit, he's an absolute game changer that makes the weapon so much more tolerable to play by just being equivalent of MHW's Rocksteady Mantle. But by this point, you're probably mid-way through the game's high rank. Still, even as a very flashy GS it's probably one of the more satisfying weapons to use in the game for big dick hits.


Naginata
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A funny weapon in that it practically has a moveset that screams 'mash to win', yet isn't all that easy to go about using effectively. Hitting the oni without getting hit builds up hyperskilled states that act as attack buffs, and getting hit loses you one of them, even if it's a shitty shockwave (the game's equivalent to roars). To go about preserving this (other than using a DEF Mitama's buffer) the weapon has a Focus-consuming (even if you flog it) parry that's generally reliable. It has a standard ground infinite combo quickens in speed each loop, a rather basic aerial moveset, and a Focus-consuming Frenzy that works in both the air and ground. These hyperskilled states can be consumed to do a stronger attack for some reason when they also increase your attack speed for your special. Fuck if I know.

It's not exactly big-brain gameplay but it works.


Rifle
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The only weapon type in the game where crafting options aren't just varying amounts of raw, element/staus, and dexterity. Each rifle has three of six shot types that come in unlimited supply, and also varying magazine sizes. Separating it further from the Bow are the various miasmal nodes that appear all over an oni's body that serve as weak spots, and the reloading mechanic where you reload a mix of any of your three shot types round-by-round. Focus can be used to either reload the rest of the magazine faster (on a per bullet basis), or go into a state where you can charge shots for extra damage or other effects. Also available are throwable sticky grenades that have a different effect if you shoot them with different shot types. The empty magazine feature is operator as fuck.

The weapon is fairly engaging and also a matter of trying to figure out which style actually works best with all those shot types.


Sword & Shield
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If a GameFAQs poll is any indication, this is probably the most widely-tried weapon type in the west for obvious reasons. Rather than being like MH's conventional SnS, it's more akin to something like the Switch Axe but if Dual Blades were the alternate form. The core idea is to use the weapon's default defensive stance to build up the assault gauge to max and then expend it in the offensive stance for the attack boost it grants. The defense form includes a chargeable Lance-like high thrust attack that can be chained twice or turned into a lunge, timed counterattacks from blocking that can fill a good chunk of meter, and also complimenting it is Spring Moon, a Focus-draining state where you can do four different attacks in succession before landing a fifth that help fills the meter up. Landing the four different attacks without repeats results in a stronger attack that helps fill up the meter more.

The offense stance uses the hidden blade in the shield, you can enter this before the meter fills up but it's less efficient. The button-mashy Rainfall attack expends Focus to initiate and is generally the attack that will get spammed, and just before the meter runs out players will generally try to use the needle attack to end the offense mode with a bang. Some other attacks do exist but only if you don't really have Focus. Without any Mitama skills boosting it, the amount of time at which the meter lasts isn't an awful lot.

It's a pretty okay weapon to use, but unfortunately most of the worthwhile Mitama (based on European yore too) for SnS are confined to near the end of the main game's story. At least it's not deep into the postgame like Club.


Chain Whip
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A melee weapon with good range that also mixes in kunai. These can be hooked on to help close distances, detonate, or even help target destroyer attacks. The Focus-consuming combo attack also detonates them in the end. Despite the ground and middair movesets being similar between each other, this is probably the harder aerial weapon to get a hang of as the movement is more stiff, but it does feel like it benefits from using the Demon Hand to go into the air with.

This is the one I'm the least acquainted with but I do think certain people will appreciate having this niche fulfilled.


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Demon Hand
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For some reason, possibly inspiration from Freedom Wars, Toukiden adopted its own grapple mechanic. Players can do latch onto oni and perform an aerial attack from it, which is more or less limited in practicality but it can also stop full-body attacks. Unity Destroyers from Kiwami changed from a per-weapon basis multi-limb destruction attack to another special where the Demon Hand permanently removes one oni limb for good (normally, broken body parts have to be purified). This actually gimps them for good in most cases and makes the rest of the fight a snoozefest once they can't move around properly. The exception to the rule is one monster where it'll actually get annoying. NPCs can use this attack as well if they've got a Demon Hand as well.

Outside of battle the player can aim it to climb surfaces or grapple to various points directly on the map like a crude version of that gadget from Ratchet & Clank, only that there's going to be invisible walls to prevent bad things from happening. Nothing exciting.


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Set Building
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Toukiden's set building comes from Mitama, equipping spirits of people from Japanese history and folklore who grant you a style that determines what three activated skills you are given. Compared to the previous game, they are no longer equipped onto the weapons and you don't have to max them out either to freely change around any of their three passives. You only have to unlock all of their skills via certain criteria and they all share a unique one each, all of which are visible so you're not in the dark on if they're any good to you or not unlike the original game. And with your three Mitama slots being unlocked early in, you don't have to wait until the later end of the game's low rank equivalent to really start making sets.

The second and third Mitama equipped aren't just for buffs, depending on their style they also provided chargeable buffs and auto-skills that trigger on special criteria respectively. My only real issue is the distribution of weapon-specific Mitama not being overly kind to everybody.


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'Open World'
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It's more like seamless biomes with many linear paths but with the odd open area for combat, and main story progression still gates a lot of exploration. As the Mitama system for limited skill uses continues to be used, shrines restock the player's uses to compensate. There's a quick travel system with some mini-boss 'medium' oni typically guarding these points the first time around. Honestly it's not good but it's definitely an improvement over Kiwami reusing MH's style of maps but never actually putting them to any good use. The game allows you to save nearly anywhere, and you'll need them because if you are not revived by an NPC, you'll get a Game Over screen.

Actual missions from the quest counter NPCs on the other hand simply spawn the party inside the region, in fact most will be right at the boss and limited to a small region of the map to fight it with. But if required the mission will allow exploration of the area as to make you find your targets. These missions allow you to 'cart' unlike the open world and form both the multiplayer core and single player farming, becoming especially relevant in the game's equivalent of high rank.


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PC Port
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Apart from a few flaws it's actually pretty decent for a Jap port, especially coming from fucking Koei when this was from before Nioh. If you have a PC from say 2012 that's about an i5-2500k/GTX670 or so, you can get away with max settings on the 60 FPS setting for the most part; and even with some odd dips you've still got a higher framerate than the PS4 version. Though regardless, what you need to know is:

-Had high CPU usage at the time, but today's computers should have no issues.
-16:9 resolutions are the only ones properly supported
-There's no mouse support
-Nobody is really playing this online at all despite being (partially) free on PS4

The PS4 and Vita versions have a demo version that goes through the first act of the story, which you can import into the full game. It supposedly evolved into a F2P version with the complete multiplayer questline, but it has a stamina system holding back on how much you can play on top of shitty microtransactions - that might as well insist that you should just buy the game.


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DLC
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There's some oni from Age of Demons and Kiwami that didn't make it into Toukiden 2, and so they're sold off as DLC. Considering it's expensive as shit, the gear isn't all that worthwhile, there's no new Mitama, and that every player must personally own the same DLCs to play them with others? Doesn't seem worth going for at all unless it's on sale or if someone bugs KT about it.


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Resources
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There was a guy called JK3 (or JKiii) on GameFAQs who seemed to be pretty into the series. His information has been very helpful.

>Mitama List + Set Recommendations
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10w1nLw3XMr4Z9Ad8m6eBvFksqa_UtKzQ0PyOUJ8VBA8/edit?usp=sharing

Basically everything to do with the game's equivalent of set building, and provides some good examples of what you can do.

>Weapon Trees
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Wa8QHi1m4ONtDeKOSq83erTcOrCYvqvfo4CYy1xiJUk/edit?usp=sharing

Yep.

>Best / Worst Dexterity Weapon Options
https://imgur.com/a/9BU0BGf

DEX is crit and these make up some of the best raw options in the game.

PROTIP: Masks of Truth can be grinded for more easier by using the Eye of Truth to find the shiny drop near a broken shrine in the first multiplayer mission and then abandoning if you don't get one. Notable for Mitama weapons.