Arcade shoot ’em up Castle of Shikigami 2 is coming to PC/Nintendo Switch. Demo ver. out now on Steam

Publication date of the original Japanese article: 2021-09-24 16:15 (JST)
Translated by. Ryuki Ishii

Cosmo Machia and KOMODO announced on September 24 that the PC (Steam) version of Castle of Shikigami 2 is coming out this December through the game brand DEGICA GAMES. Nintendo Switch version is also in development.

Castle of Shikigami 2 is the second installment of “the dramatic shooter” series that came out in arcades in 2003. The original version was developed by AlfaSystem and was later ported to consoles. The newly announced PC/Nintendo Switch version is being developed by Cosmo Machia.

There are “seven (+1?)” characters to choose from, and 5 stages to play, with each stage consisting of 3 parts plus a boss fight. Each character has three attack methods: normal attack, shikigami attack, and special attack. They differ from character to character, and players must utilize these three attacks to defeat the enemies. There is also a system called TBS (Tension Bonus System) that allows you to “earn high scores by getting close to enemies or enemy bullets.”

The story takes place in 2006, and it revolves around “the god-hunting armaments” housed in a “twisted castle” that suddenly appeared above Tokyo. Although Castle of Shikigami 2 is a shooting game, it features a fully voiced story (in Japanese) in which “the unique backgrounds of each character are intricately intertwined.” The game supports local multiplayer with up to 2 players, and “when playing with two players, a completely different story unfolds depending on the combination of characters used.”

According to Cosmo Machia’s Akihiko Eiki, the director of Castle of Shikigami 2, the newly announced version is not a remake or remaster, but rather a straight port of the original source codes (Famitsu). The game does have some additional features though. New Entry Mode will revamp “enemy placement in all stages.” The arrangement was handled by AlfaSystem’s Naoki Suda, the director of the original Castle of Shikigami 2, and the difficulty of this new game mode is said to be quite high.

There’s also a game mode called Dramatic Change Mode that allows you to switch between characters in solo play, enabling you to “get the same demo as when there’s 2P.” The game will also have a brand new translation as well.

Castle of Shikigami 2 is set to launch in December for PC. The Demo version is currently available on Steam. The release window for the Nintendo Switch version is yet to be announced.