Devil Kings
Devil Kings, known in Japan as Sengoku Basara, is a 2005 hack and slash game developed and published by Capcom for the PlayStation 2. It is the first installment in the Sengoku Basara franchise. The game's theme song for the Japanese version is "Crosswise" by T.M.Revolution. The western version featured a prologue, along with an original piece, due to license restrictions. The game was followed by several sequels and an anime series, all of them using the original title and setting of Sengoku Basara only.
Story
Sengoku Basara takes place during the Sengoku period, or Warring States period, of feudal Japan during which Japan was split into many minor states battling over power and land. The game features two historical warlords as the main protagonists: Date Masamune and Sanada Yukimura.Devil Kings' main character is Devil King.
Gameplay
It is a hack and slash, action game similar in concept to Devil May Cry, Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors.Some significant gameplay changes were made to the Western versions of the game. Four of the characters were made non-playable and various skills were removed or added. The difficulty levels were shifted to make the game more difficult. The fighting system was also modified, adding an element called "Priming".
Characters
- Date Masamune : Kazuya Nakai/Kirby Morrow
- Sanada Yukimura : Sōichirō Hoshi/Andrew Francis
- Takeda Shingen : Tesshō Genda/Mark Gibbon
- Sarutobi Sasuke : Takehito Koyasu/David Orth
- Kasuga : Natsuko Kuwatani/Venus Terzo
- Oda Nobunaga : Norio Wakamoto/Garry Chalk
- Nōhime : Yurika Hino/Kathleen Barr
- Mori Ranmaru : Hiroki Shimowada/Cathy Weseluck
- Akechi Mitsuhide : Shō Hayami/Peter Kelamis
- Uesugi Kenshin : Romi Park/Alessandro Juliani
- Itsuki : Tomoko Kawakami/Janyse Jaud
- Xavi : Kōzō Shioya/Lee Tockar
- Maeda Toshiie : Tomohiro Tsuboi/Andrew Jackson
- Matsu : Yūko Kaida/Tabitha St. Germain
- Shimazu Yoshihiro : Kenichi Ogata/Paul Dobson
- Tokugawa Ieyasu : Tōru Ōkawa/Jason Michas
- Mōri Motonari : Shigeru Nakahara/Sam Vincent
- Chōsokabe Motochika : Ryūzō Ishino/Ian James Corlett
- Hōjō Ujimasa : Tadashi Miyazawa/Louis Chirillo
- Imagawa Yoshimoto : Kōzō Shioya/Brian Drummond
- Honda Tadakatsu
Localization
While releasing Sengoku Basara, Capcom attempted to appeal to the western audience, by removing all Sengoku and Japanese references in favor of a generic fantasy story vaguely connected with Capcom's hit franchise Devil May Cry.An extract from IGN interview with the game's producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi:
These alterations were regarded as unpopular, as the Devil Kings version was a critical and commercial failure, and no more Sengoku Basara games were brought to North America and Europe until the release of Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes in the fall of 2010.
Reception
The westernized version received "mixed or average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.The Japanese version was met with "generally favorable" reviews from fans, critics, and consumers. Fans of the franchise seem to have given the Japanese version positive reviews and the westernized version negative reviews with one stating, "While Sengoku Basara was considered a cult classic among fans and gamers, Devil Kings was considered a terrible localization of a good game that should've been left unchanged for its western releases." The game received an 8/8/7/8 for a total of 31/40 from weekly Japanese video game magazine, Famitsu. The game was later re-released under the PlayStation 2 the Best label. The game sold a total of 88,711 units during its first week on sale in Japan and was the top-selling game of the week. The game has sold a total of 232,589 units in Japan.