Devil Kings, known in Japan as , is a 2005 video game for the PlayStation 2, developed and published by Capcom. 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 (Oda Nobunaga in Sengoku Basara).
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 (with the Japanese Normal becoming Easy and Japanese Hard becoming Normal, and Easy rewards 30% less EXP and no 3rd+ weapons while Normal keeps the Japanese Normal reward). The fighting system was also modified, adding an element called "Priming" (one of the characters special attack was made the priming attack, and used that attack to "Prime" enemies making them more susceptible to damage and allowing for higher combo chains).
Characters
Date Masamune (Azure Dragon): Kazuya Nakai/Kirby Morrow
Sanada Yukimura (Scorpio): Sōichirō Hoshi/Andrew Francis
Takeda Shingen (Red Minotaur): Tesshō Genda/Mark Gibbon
Sarutobi Sasuke (Talon): Takehito Koyasu/David Orth
Kasuga (Venus): Natsuko Kuwatani/Venus Terzo
Oda Nobunaga (Devil King): Norio Wakamoto/Garry Chalk
Nōhime (Lady Butterfly): Yurika Hino/Kathleen Barr
Mori Ranmaru (Hornet): Hiroki Shimowada/Cathy Weseluck
Akechi Mitsuhide (Reaper): Shō Hayami/Peter Kelamis
Uesugi Kenshin (Frost): Romi Park/Alessandro Juliani
Itsuki (Puff): Tomoko Kawakami/Janyse Jaud
Xavi (Q-Ball): Kōzō Shioya/Lee Tockar
Maeda Toshiie (Lark): Tomohiro Tsuboi/Andrew Jackson
Matsu (Bramble): Yūko Kaida/Tabitha St. Germain
Shimazu Yoshihiro (Zaan): Kenichi Ogata/Paul Dobson
Tokugawa Ieyasu (Irdene): Tōru Ōkawa/Jason Michas
Mōri Motonari (Kahz): Shigeru Nakahara/Sam Vincent
Chōsokabe Motochika (Arslan): Ryūzō Ishino/Ian James Corlett
Hōjō Ujimasa (Orwik): Tadashi Miyazawa/Louis Chirillo
Imagawa Yoshimoto (Muri): Kōzō Shioya/Brian Drummond
Honda Tadakatsu (Iron OX)
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 (a DMC-type font was even used for the cover title of Devil Kings).