Otogi 2: Immortal Warriors is a lot like its predecessor Otogi: Myth of Demons in that it presents an imaginative, beautiful, and surreal world … and then lets you destroy every last little piece of it. Well, the world’s been overrun by demons after all and they’re such a nasty lot that if you have to knock over a few lampposts, archways, and temples along the way, then so be it.

In Otogi 2 you again play as the ghostly samurai Raikoh, but this time around he has a few friends. OK, now pay attention here – Japan is being invaded by an alliance of demons led by master demon Kyuukon and the priestess Seimei must act quickly to save the country. She plays upon an ancient prophecy that requires four generals to sacrifice themselves to help raise the spirit of Raikoh. They happily comply and as a result are transformed into spiritual warriors themselves, giving you additional playable characters in the game.

Another demon dies in a shower of sparks.

Once the story has been established the action begins. Each level consists of two or three missions that you can complete in any order. The goal of each mission is generally to destroy every last demon haunting the area, but there are some variations to this theme and the occasional boss battle. There are also a few missions that have a different objective, such as destroying a certain number of objects within a given time limit, but these are more the exception than the rule, which is probably a good thing since these missions tend to be particularly difficult and frustrating.

Before beginning a level you are given your choice of playing as Raikoh or one of the four generals. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses along the slow but strong and fast but weak vein, and certain levels better suited to some characters than others. Despite these differences though, the gameplay is essentially the same with each: smashy, smashy. To force you to be a little strategic in your choice of character for each level, once you use a character to complete one of the missions in a level that character will not be available for play again until the next level.

Once the action really starts you’ll find the game’s controls to be simple and responsive. Each character has a strong and weak attack mapped to two of the face buttons and there is a jump button as well. Characters also have their own set of magic spells which can be cast with the last face button and you can charge the spell for more power by holding down the button for a short time before releasing it and unleashing the spell. Although the controls are simple, you can perform a large number of moves by combining jumps with your attacks and stringing attacks together into devastating combos. You can also launch yourself higher into the air with each successive attack making for some spectacular looking moves that will make you think of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. My only complaints with the controls are that the camera is not always cooperative and the auto-targeting system can be tricky to lock onto the right target at times. The battles certainly look fantastic and almost artistic, but when there are a number of demons nearby, you are flying through the air making one attack after another, and the demons are exploding into showers of sparks it can be hard to see exactly what is going on. Hmm, kind of like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, you just need to go along with the flow and enjoy the view.

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