Toshinden [闘真伝] Game Sample - Wii
27Having covered almost every BAT (Battle Arena Toshinden) game over the years at this point including its off-shoots / parallel games (BAT URA, D-Xhird, Nitoushinden, etc.), one should know that "this" game would get covered some day: The mysterious Japan-only "Toshinden Wiiboot" for Nintendo's Wii. I hesitate to include it with the rest of the series as it has nearly nothing to do with the main franchise, has a completely different development team (shifting from Tamsoft / Nextech to DreamFactory with the loose connection of Takara-Tomy), a totally different concept (but borrows a smidge from Kakuto Chojin, though not for the better) and only a few subtle thematic nods to the original, but here we are. Released in late 2009, it was the last main game that DreamFactory ever developed, and as the company had experienced several lows during the 2000s, this game is more than a little bittersweet.
In this new Toshinden world exists a phenomenon known as the "True Martial Arts Season" which occurs every few decades, where combatants train tirelessly in order to earn the right to be recognized by the gods as the greatest warrior or "Toshinki". As such, nearly everyone has some form of martial arts prowess and while the stakes are high, those recognized as winners of the seasons are recognized the world over, or so it is said. In truth, those who ascend to the rank of True Toshinki are able to open the gates of heaven itself and are said to never be seen again... but is this actually true? Our story begins with one such martial artist, Toji Shindo (a play on BAT's Eiji Shinjo), a young man aiming to be a master swordsman who is trained regularly by his adopted father, the head priest and master swordsman, Shoki (serving a similar role as BAT's Sho). It's just another ordinary day as Lilith, Toji's adopted (not blood-related) sister, watches them spar... until she is kidnapped by a mysterious woman. After proving he can chase after her by defeating Shoki in a serious battle, Toji goes on a quest to become a True Toshinki, find Lilith and the mysterious woman.
Herein lies the biggest problem with this Wiiboot; the story is both the game's strongest and weakest element. While I don't mind a fighter with a proper plot, this game borders on visual novel-esque with not only long back-and-forths between the game's various characters on 2D screens but highly compressed 3D cutscenes to illustrate the more tense moments... sometimes. Other times, the 3D cinematics add nothing to the plot. There's no auto-function for text, you can only fast-forward (and skip cutscenes). There's also no sound-mixing options, so the spoken dialogue is often at odds with the music, so you're better off reading the text. The plot is all over the place too... magical girls meet sci-fi meet strange cults meet godlike entities meet characters with almost no screen time, and as there's only one main plot, it somehow manages to be slow and not fleshed out either. Games like "Evil Zone" and "Battle Tycoon" seemed to strike a good balance with the story and combat, and while Toshinden spends an admirable amount of time trying to develop its world, it is at the expense of nearly everything else.
What about the rest? Under-developed. The actual battle graphics are admittedly pretty nice at a glance, especially for the Wii, but the game is lacking in animations and covers most of the inadequacies with outlandish particle effects. Most of the arenas are smaller and less imaginative than the ones in past Toshinden games and the player can't even jump of their own accord. As such, ring-outs are also out of the question and with barely a dozen characters and less than a dozen stages, there isn't much to the game. The soundtrack is also nothing noteworthy... the thumping tunes of past BAT games are replaced with... stuff, for lack of a better word. The opening is weirdly upbeat anime fair from the idol group "HKT48", but doesn't fit too well, and I've already forgotten all the music after I stopped playing.
The gameplay isn't the best the series has seen, which is saying A LOT as BAT never set a particularly high bar. Combat features two main attack buttons with a combination of other buttons triggering recovery, evasion, dashing, a blast barrier, a powered-up mode (where characters movesets change) and specials. The combat is as clunky as ever and the A.I. is awful (running 90 degrees around the opponent works on all difficulties) and while you can grab a few pick-ups, your weapon can also be broken and reclaimed. The game has a Story, Vs. and Survival Mode with Practice... that's it... no wait, there's also a "Combo Make" mode. In this mode, you can purchase extra attacks for characters with points and build basic combos from up to four moves (changing things up a bit like Kakuto Chojin). The problem is most moves are disconnected from others and have a very specific use, so little thought went into the system.
This a vid of the game in action. Enjoy.