Toukiden 2’s newest weapons are both traditional and nontraditional

The Toukiden series has always featured these massive games where you’re using the best equipment available to you to fight monsters. As to be expected, new installments means new weapons. With Toukiden 2, the game does something a little special. In introducing the sword and shield and chain whip, people are getting traditional and nontraditional weapons at the same time. As such, it injects practicality and whimsy into the series and encourages two new means of engaging opponents.

The sword and shield is Toukiden 2’s logical choice. I mean, bladed weapons are hardly new to the series. There are already standard swords and knives, as well as other stabby things, in our arsenal. With the sword and shield, we get a rather balanced bit of equipment with two different stances. There’s a standard attacking stance, where you can do major damage and enjoy a bit of speed that you don’t really get from using a sword alone. Meanwhile, the shield allows for added protection when in the defensive stance. The shield not only blocks attack or redirects it, but also allows you to bash an opponent with a charge. You can really put together some great strategies here.

It’s almost like you have a close-range and mid-range weapon with Toukiden 2’s sword and shield. See, the shield has a retractable blade in it. You’re dealing with a weapon that can slash with a standard sword attack, crush with a shield power strike, and end up dealing thrust damage as well. It makes for handling Oni and hitting their weaknesses rather easy. The only downside is, it doesn’t have the same level of range and influence as some other weapons. Still, all this variety encourages you to be creative. This is a weapon that makes you think.

The chain whip is the opposite. It is rather weird. It seems like it would be difficult to use, what with being a whip made of a thick chain that comes with supplemental kunai. Yet, it’s one of the least complex pieces of Toukiden 2 equipment. It seems like it should be a long range weapon, but it’s really mid to close range. It looks as though you’d want to be on the ground in one place, slashing away, but it really encourages you to throw a kunai at an enemy, use the chain whip to latch onto it, then pull yourself in for a flurry of attacks.

While a chain whip probably wouldn’t work well, if at all, in real life, here it’s about getting Toukiden 2 Slayers to attack in a flurry of movement. There isn’t the same sense of strategy and complexity as the sword and shield has, what with its stances. Instead, it’s about staying in the air as much as possible. Throwing a kunai when you’re in the air means you send more than one down at a time, making it easier to hit a specific point on an enemy’s body and break it. Constantly moving makes it easier to avoid enemy attacks. There’s a sense of flexibility here. It’s okay if you’re button-mashing and flailing away.

All of Toukiden 2’s weapons have their merits; each offers people an opportunity to find strategies that work for them. With the new chain whip and sword and shield weapons, we have two very different pieces of equipment. One lets us have everything we need in one weapon, so we can tackle every situation and develop complex strategies with its stances. The other is surprisingly easy to use and encourages us to think on our feet. Through careful testing, people will be able to determine which works best for their needs.