Shikigami No Shiro

, released in North America and Europe under the title of ''Mobile Light Force 2'' and in some PAL regions as ''MLF2 - Mobile Light Force 2'', is a 2001 shoot 'em up developed by Alfa System and is the first game in the ''Shikigami no Shiro'' series. It was originally released as an arcade game and later ported to the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Microsoft Windows. The game was titled for its revised version for Xbox, which was then ported to Windows as .

When localized, publisher XS Games re-titled the game as a sequel to ''Mobile Light Force'', but in reality the games are unrelated. ''Mobile Light Force'' is known as ''Gunbird'' in Japan, and was not developed by Alfa System.

In 2017, Degica Games localized the series, with the first game released on Microsoft Windows via Steam on June 16 as ''Castle of Shikigami''.

Gameplay

When holding down the attack button, the player moves at slower speed, and all on-screen items are automatically retrieved. The player character is invulnerable when a special attack is in effect. When the player character is close to an enemy bullet, the points gained from destroying enemies and retrieving items is multiplied by a factor based on the distance between the bullet and the player character's center. The closer they are to the bullet, the higher the scoring. When destroying enemy in shikigami mode, the multiplier also applies to the number of items dropped by enemy and all items dropped by the enemy are automatically retrieved.

The Xbox release adds Practice mode, Gallery, and Replay mode, while the PlayStation 2 release adds Practice mode, Gallery, and Side Story modes. Windows includes I.R. mode and vertical screen layout from the arcade game. The North American and European releases of the game removed the screen rotation mode and all in-game plot.

Plot

In July 2005, a string of serial murders take place in Tokyo. All the victims are female and killed by external injury. The killings take place within 20 hours. On July 21, the 31st victim is found. The police force classify the case as special crime #568, and begin to seek investigators from occult sources. On July 23, there is a 32nd victim.

Characters

Playable characters:
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* ???? (Tagami, from Elemental Gearbolt)

Bosses:
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* (Stage 3)
* (Stage 4)
* (Stage 5)
* (Stage 5-3)

''Shikigami no Shiro Evolution''

''Shikigami no Shiro Evolution'' was released in two separate versions, a version which included a database containing character gallery, trailers, and unused voices, and a version which included developer videos. Both versions have improved enemy AI, new characters, a vertical screen mode, and the new Evolution Mode game mode.

Manga

A comic version was written by Tooru Zekuu (aka Shinji Takano) and illustrated by Yuuna Takanagi, serialized in the monthly ''Magazine Z''. Three volumes were published under Kodansha's Magazine Z KC label.

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Shikigami no Shiro'' on their November 1, 2001 issue as being the fourth most-successful arcade game of the month.

The PlayStation 2 version received "mixed" reviews according to video game review aggregator Metacritic.

References

External links

Official website (Alfa System)







Official website (Sourcenext)Official website (Kodansha comic)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shikigami No Shiro

2001 video games
Arcade video games
Fantasy video games
PlayStation 2 games
Video games developed in Japan
Video games featuring female protagonists
Video game franchises
Windows games
Video games about witchcraft
Xbox games
XS Games games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
Taito games