Otogi: Myth of Demons is one of those games that's a bit hard to describe, but has such a unique look and feel that it is certain to catch the interest of Xbox gamers looking for something a bit different to round out their gaming library. 

Surrounded by demons.

Let's try to start at the beginning here.  You are Raikoh, the last member of a clan of warriors that lived as close to the bridge to the world of the dead as you can get without becoming a cadaver.  Because of the special location in the universe that they decided to call home, members of the clan knew when each person's life was at an end and would go out in the world to deliver the final death blow.  (It seems to me that that is quite the convenient cover story for warriors looking to bash a few skulls.  "I'm terribly sorry, but since you've been fated to die I am going to have to bash you with my rather nasty sword here.  Nothing personal you understand, I'm just doing my job.")  As fate would have it (since fate loves these kind of things) it fell on Raikoh's shoulders to deal the death blow to his father.  He refused to fulfill his duty, causing a cosmic cascade of disaster that eventually led to the breaking of the Great Seal which protected the land of the living from the demons of the underworld and the decimation of his clan.  At that point a strange being known as The Princess stepped into the chaos and charged Raikoh with undoing the damage he had caused.  The Princess presented Raikoh with a series of tasks that all seem to involve the slaying of demons.  Should he complete the tasks, The Princess will be able to restore order and will grant Raikoh the power to remain in the world of the living.  Needless to say, you take on the role of Raikoh in the game and each of The Princess' tasks forms a game level. 

If all this story is too much for you to keep track of or care about, all you really need to know is that you need to kill anything that moves.  Otogi is a third person action game that's heavy on the action and that takes place in expansive 3D levels.  Your weapon of choice is a magical blade that not only slays demons, but can smash through just about anything that you can see.  Plants, trees, posts, and even entire buildings are all destructible, and even though you are charged with saving the world it's in your best interest to destroy everything that you can.  Some objects and buildings contain health boosters or gold, and certain special ones hide trapped human spirits.  Find all the trapped human spirits on a level and you'll be rewarded with a bonus item.

Now back to that sword.  You have two basic moves, dashing and jumping, and two attacks, light and heavy.  The controls are pretty basic but you can string the attacks and moves together to form combo attacks.  Between levels you can spend the gold you've accumulated to purchase additional weapons, and you can select which weapon to use before entering a level.  The combos that you can pull off will vary depending on your choice of weapon.  When surrounded by demons you can pull off some midair moves that have an almost ballet-like quality and are a lot of fun to watch.  If you're worried that pulling off graceful but deadly moves requires a great degree of skill, rest assured that the game makes it pretty easy to string together the attack moves.  On the downside, it sometimes feels like Raikoh has a mind of his own and will swing or double jump in unexpected directions.  This is not a problem most of the time as it usually results in more dead demons, but sometimes you'll find yourself launched over the edge of a cliff.

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