Toshinden 4

The new protagonist in Toshinden 4 is Eiji's nephew, Subaru, who is the son of Eiji's brother Sho. It received a negative critical reception.

• Title — Toshinden 4 • Developer — Tamsoft • Genre — Fighting • Modes — Single-player, multiplayer • Platforms — PlayStation • Series — Battle Arena Toshinden

Story mode now consists of teams of three-on-three battles. Extra modes include Survival, Time Attack and Practice modes. Before every fight, there is a cutscene in line with the game plot.

Ten years after the events of Toshinden 3, Eiji Shinjo, who is now the new leader of an organization called the "Gerard Foundation", has organized a fourth Toshinden tournament which revolves around the gathering of four holy weapons that can be used to either save the world or destroy it. Eiji's old enemy, Vermilion, is after the four holy weapons for his own malevolent ambition and that many fighters from within the tournament, including Eiji's own nephew Subaru, find themselves getting caught from within the conflict itself. Along the way, Subaru is accompanied by Naru, an adoptive daughter of Eiji's old friend, Kayin who debut as a child in the third game, now grown up and currently trying to find her adoptive father's whereabout, following his disappearance. A plot point introduced in this game focused on the Four Sacred Arms. Though seen in full since Battle Arena Toshinden 2, their relevance was never previously brought up. Each weapon bears a reference to one of the Chinese cardinal beasts, Byakko, Suzaku, Seiryu and Genbu. The weapons also seem to change appearance depending on the user. While the Byakko no tachi (White Tiger Fang) is usually seen as a rather plain katana, the Seiryuu no yari (Azure Dragon Spear) was a long leaf tipped spear while held by Mondo, yet altered to an ornate golden rod in the hands of Eos. As a purely cosmetic addition, when using a certain attack, an image of the beast associated with the weapon will display in the background. Plotwise, it was said that when all four weapons were gathered together, they would bestow tremendous power on a person. Most characters in the game have their endings based around uniting the weapons and receiving the power of them. In some endings, they use this power to speak to a parent or loved one. However, Eiji's ending reveals the true nature of the power behind the weapons: It is the "Toshin", or god of fighting.