Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae

If you have ever wanted to live or play through your own anime that you do not know the ending to because you have seen it over five times, Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae is probably a good game for you. Playing as a Japanese schoolgirl antagonist (I know, go crazy you weebs), your schoolmate and best friend has been possessed by a demon, making her evil. Using divine powers of your sword, your goal is to strike down the hordes of demons attempting to keep you from getting to your best friend to take care of her and her carelessness in letting herself become possessed. With interseting sword moves and combos, this high paced story built arena-slasher keeps players on their toes and waiting for the next move in the story line.

Visuals

The graphics themselves are not bad at all, with their cartoonish, anime style in the game. Being a Japanese game featuring Japanese characters, it is not surprising that they adopted the same art style from their most successful shows into their video games. The popularity of anime in other countries leads me to believe that most will not be upset over the art style of the game, and those that are, should not be. The art style is not “realistic,” but if we are being honest, neither is a possessed best friend. The art style allows for smooth visuals and extra things that might not be available in a game that spends 60% of its effort into the “realism” of the game.

Outside of graphics, there are some visually pleasing things that happen in the game. The fast-paced fights are always something to watch, even just spectating another player. The game also features some important visual cues that allow the player to do their damage to demons more effectively, including a red signal on the enemies, and a visual sword flourish (along with the other visual sword moves).

Gameplay

The game is set up so that it is easy to get used to, but not entirely repetitive, with new waves posing different challenges and different settings for each fight encountered. Other than that, the game is similar to any other game with waves, like Call of Duty Zombies or other wave-oriented games. The story line in Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae, however, makes it somewhat unique from other wave games. Because of the story line, there is an actual end to the waves, and a singular objective and reasoning behind every kill.

After waves, players have options to upgrade weapons or perks about the character to make the game easier, but other than that, it is a pretty straight-forward arena style game mode with a story.

Pros

• Straight forward
• Has a story
• Easy to understand

Cons

• Can get repetitive to some
• Story is not completely developed (lack of interaction with story, even though it exists)
• Very easy even on higher difficulties