TGS 2002: Hands-on: Otogi

From Software is displaying an Xbox game called Otogi at this year's Tokyo Game Show. The game is an action RPG that puts you in control of a warrior who's out to kill the many unattractive and evil things popping up around him. Featuring solid graphics, tight control, and unique graphics, Otogi is looking quite promising.

The first thing that caught our attention was the main character himself. Sporting a sharp design and a detailed model, Otogi, armed with a sword and an array of magic and fighting moves, seems tailor-made to fight evil. However, while he looks mostly like a samurai, Otogi's moves scream "ninja." The game's hero has a wide selection of slick moves and double-jumping action and is one spry fellow.

The demo of the game shown at TGS gets Otogi into an assortment of trouble. It's set in a valley and throughout a small encampment of houses. Although the valley appears deserted at first, a bit of exploration draws out a collection of foes. The enemies use the enemy-spawning tradition of teleportation to make nuisances out of themselves, appearing at random over the course of your exploration. The evildoers run the gamut from humanlike undead things to more insectlike creatures.

From what we played, Otogi's gameplay is fairly straightforward. You'll be exploring areas, looking for evildoers to defeat and collecting a variety of objects to help you progress through mystical barriers that block your way. Otogi's handling reminds us a bit of Shinobi--you'll be able to lock onto enemies and perform high-speed dashes during combat.

Graphically the game looks good. As mentioned, Otogi is nicely detailed, as are his enemies and the vast environments you'll explore. You'll find destructible objects ranging from basic pots you can break to bridges and houses you can demolish with your attacks. The action is smoothly animated and zips along at a high frame rate. Look for more on Otogi soon.