On the Cutting Room Floor – Otogi 1: Myth of Demons (Episode 5)

Episode 5 of On the Cutting Room Floor (Games I’m Longing to Play) is Otogi 1: Myth of Demons, a cult-classic for the original Xbox.

If you know me, you know that there are TONS AND TONS of videogames I’ve never played. Sadly, although I consider myself to be a “hardcore” gamer, I really am not compared to most “gamers”. The reason for that is because, unlike other more productive people, I can never seem to find the time to play games. Period.

In fact, my most played system as of late has been my Nintendo 3DS, and that’s simply because it is the easiest system to play when I’m sitting on the throne…. And cause I’m a hardcore Nintendo fanboy to boot.

So I thought it would be fun to go through some of the games I’d LOVE to play and still plan on playing someday, but never have up to this point and why I want to play them. Maybe I’ll get to them at some point, and hopefully soon; but maybe not. We’ll see. Enjoy.

EPISODE #5 – OTOGI: MYTH OF DEMONS
Released: 2003
System: Xbox1
Re-Released: Never
Genre: Action
Developed By: From Software
Publisher: Sega
Is There A Digital Version?: No

Otogi: Myth of Demons is one of the most critically acclaimed, highly-praised action titles to hit the original Xbox. Developed by From Software, in the days before they hit it big with Demon’s Souls (but were well-known for the Tenchu & Armored Core titles), and published by Sega; Otogi 1: Myth of Demons was an extremely unique brightspot in the Xbox 1’s library, and served to give the system a huge critical hit that came out of no where and surprised a lot of people.

The game received high review scores across the board, was honored with Game of the Month and Game of the Year nominations, helping to feed the original Xbox’s image as THE system for great third-person action games; also being home to Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden series reboot.

Otogi 1 though was a different kind of game than say Ninja Gaiden or Devil May Cry. It was action through and through, but a slower-paced action than that of its contemporaries, and it was a game that was as much focused on atmosphere and mood as it was on crazy action scenes, swarms of deadly enemies, skilled combo-creation and tough boss fights.

In Otogi 1, players took on the role of an ancient Japanese style seemingly demonic human character, who was given the ability to completely level the buildings and structures of the environment around him with his weapons. Ancient Japanese mythology was the set-piece, and the game featured eerie, strange characters and spooky enemies.

Otogi’s hook is that you could use your sword and weapons to completely obliterate any building or structure in your path (this had been offered in a few games before, but unlike in them, here you were human-sized and not giant. Additionally virtually ANY structure could be completely destroyed), you could also float through the air which added a kind of poetic grace to the smooth-action. In the age of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, this seemed like it may become a new trend; it didn’t, but the floaty nature of the action gave the game a unique feel that separated it from anything else gamers had played. This, along with the haunting world, style and voice-work; made the game into a cult-classic.

Here is a video review of Otogi 1, by none-other than ex-GameSpot head honcho Greg Kasavin! (who was lead designer behind the hit RPG Bastion)

Much like From Software’s huge modern hits Demon’s Souls and its sequel, Dark Souls, Otogi 1 turned heads and was one of the first games to really put From Software on the map and break them from the mold of mediocre franchise titles they were known for. The game also was heavily Japanese-styled, just like the aforementioned modern titles (maybe it inspired them?) with a focus on the demonic. Unlike the games From Software was most known for at the time (Armored Core & Tenchu), Otogi was of very high quality, and many considered it a 3D action title of killer-app proportions for the Xbox.

Sadly the game was criminally never re-released, but the game still holds up well today. If you can track down an original Xbox system, I urge you to pick up Otogi 1! This is one of my brother’s favorite games, and I’ve owned it for quite a long while. One of these days I’ll get around to playing it… as I always tell myself. But this is one that I’ve always wanted to sink my teeth into. I only played a bit of it, I’m sure I’d love it if I really gave it another shot.

I’m a huge fan of other similar-styed action games like Devil May Cry and Ninja Gaiden, so I think Otogi 1 is really right up my ally. Of course, Otogi is more artsy, which very cool and all the more reason to play it!

I may do a “ListenToMePlay” of Otogi 1 AND 2 along with my brother RedWinged Angel (who joined me on the ListenToMePlay The Witcher 2 podcast) as he has been begging me to play the game and review it. :)

Previous Episodes of “On the Cutting Room Floor”:
* On the Cutting Room Floor Episode 4 – Drill Dozer
* On the Cutting Room Floor Episode 3 – Psychonauts
* On the Cutting Room Floor Episode 2 – Silent Hill 3
* Episode 1 – On the Cutting Room Floor: Games I’ve Yet to Play – EarthBound