Mahokenshi

The general premise is to pick one of the four mahokenshi samurais that lead each of the four specific samurai houses: Sapphire, Topaz, Ruby, and Jade. These are powered by folklore creatures, such as the Tengu or Kitsune, which gives the four leaders their elemental themes and gameplay styles. There is a sort of story here, in that you are a mahokenshi on a mission to protect the floating celestial islands from enemy invasion, be it Onis, goblins, mages, and whatever other nasties are trying to take over this spiritual place, as this once holy land was clean of such beasts. It is a simple setup, but during the campaign, there are scenarios within the levels that offer player decisions which feel ripped right out of a pen-and-paper book, those choose-your-own adventures that tell the reader to go to a certain page depending on their choice. In this game, those pages are rewards with some sort of beneficial buff towards the player. Mahokenshi could have been without them, but this touch helps provide the game with a clearer presentation of its theme that is spread across all its visuals, art and sounds.

Mahokenshi

One element to make clear about Mahokenshi is this is not a roguelike, even if in the beginning the three of four characters are locked, only becoming available after completing certain missions in the campaign. The heroes do not have their own campaign, rather, they are available to be used to bring different playstyles into the campaign. I felt this was a strange idea, because each character starts at level one when they unlock, and you level them up by playing with them, but this means taking a lower level mahokenshi into the campaign after spending a few missions with others and getting the hang of them. The game gives small tips on how to play these characters on first use, so I see no reason to have them locked away like this. At least they often level up after a mission, so it does not take long to get them on equal grounds with other heroes. 041b061a72