• Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
• Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep
• Sim City DS 2
• Dissidia: Final Fantasy (1, 2, 3)

Role-playing games have been a big part of Sony’s console success both in the United States and abroad for the PlayStation 2. They are hoping to continue that trend on the PlayStation 3 with one of the system’s first RPG’s, Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom. Sony Online is very familiar with the hack and slash genre with hits like Everquest and Champions of Norrath. Does Sony have a hit in the making or is Untold Legends another run of the mill role-playing title?

Overall the story and game experience are solid. You go on a near 20 hour exploration in the land of Dureth. In the beginning you are given the chance to choose one of three fighters - the warrior, scout, or mage - and then you can choose to play in one of four levels of difficulty. Both the inclusion of three different characters and four difficulty levels does provide a nice variation in play and gives players the opportunity to go back, especially considering each fighter has a slightly different story to tell.

From there, you are chosen by the king to go out and extinguish the barbarian unrest by facing wave after wave of enemies. Soon enough though, you realize that the king himself is killing his own people and now it’s up to you to stop him.

Like most other RPG’s, the game allows you to level up by gaining experience and various orbs in a variety of colors. Red orbs are for health, blue for mana, and yellow for essence. As far as experience goes, killing enemies will boost your statistics which in turn can be used to level up one of nine spells included in the game. Meanwhile, essence is used at checkpoints to upgrade a wide variety of items for you including new armor, upgraded weapons, and more.

One other nice thing in the game, although very small is the fact that friendly fighters join your cause once in a while. The fighters include villagers, animals and more, and you actually have the ability to give them armor and weapons. The only thing with these characters, however, is that they don’t stay forever. They’ll show up on occasion and then disappear.

Of course, you can’t talk about Untold Legends without discussing a key fact about the title and that is online play. Dark Kingdom does allow gamers to play with up to four people from any save point they have in the single-player game and you can then continue your quest offline after you’re done playing with friends. Overall this was one area in which Sony’s developers did a very good job.

Finally, the score from the Prague Orchestra is a very nice compliment to the game. Sadly, the voice acting couldn’t live up to the same standards and seriously needs an overhaul.

The big problem with Untold Legends is once you actually get into battle. Whether you’re the warrior, scout, or mage, all of them basically require you to push X and square repeatedly to pull off various attacks. Sadly this is what the game mostly requires of you and even the magician or mage is quite capable of hand-to-hand combat. Thankfully though, Dark Kingdom doesn’t solely rely on fighting and instead does have a few puzzle solving elements too.

Aside from the repetitive hack and slash nature of the game, there are some serious flaws in the game and environments. Although there are lots of characters on-screen at times, the result of this is some significant slowdown. On top of that, environments are rarely interactive unless getting stuck on or in objects is your idea of interactive. Add to that the fact that load times are rather long for a next-generation title and there’s little question this title was rushed to market.

As for the graphics, they look ok, but the environments are sparse. Most levels feature a few rocks and barrels and then much of the rest of the area is wide open space. What gets worse than that is the fact that areas will actually look empty and then enemies magically appear from nowhere. Meanwhile, the camera in Untold Legends is pretty rough too. Walls, trees, rocks, and more will get in your way during battle and block your view of the action.

Sadly, the last thing that needs to be mentioned particularly for a PlayStation 3 launch title is the exclusion of the motion capability in the SIXAXIS controller. Unlike just about every other launch title on the market, Dark Kingdom doesn’t utilize it at all.

Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom isn’t a terrible experience on the PlayStation 3, but it certainly isn’t the role-playing game most are hoping for either. Instead, it’s probably more of a title for RPG fanatics as the game’s graphics and repetitive gameplay pull it down. Certainly there are some good elements to the game like its online play and various upgradeable options. In the end though, Untold Legends sticks to its roots and doesn’t quite feel like it’s made the jump to the next-generation.

The game has very repetitive hack and slash gameplay that utilizes just a few buttons.

Graphics look decent, but the game suffers from slowdown and a poor camera.

Voice acting isn’t very desirable, but the music score is very impressive

Not a very enjoyable experience because of the gameplay and the fact it doesn’t feel next-gen.

Online mode should give players a bit more to do, but still suffers from poor hack and slash.

]]> Tue, 05 Dec 2006 21:55:00 -0600 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/ahoy_a_boatload_of_new_ps3_screens http://www.gamebump.com/go/ahoy_a_boatload_of_new_ps3_screens http://www.gamebump.com/go/ahoy_a_boatload_of_new_ps3_screens# This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.The original author is Evan Lahti.

In addition to WEBZEN’s unmatched diverse product showcase, Nam Ju Kim, CEO, WEBZEN Inc., is scheduled to give a special presentation at the convention on July 27, 2006. His presentation to attendees, which will include many of the world’s most respected game industry icons and veterans and high-level Chinese government officials, will cover successful global strategies for video game companies.

“KINGDOM HEARTS II is a perfect demonstration of what can be created when two companies with astounding resources come together,” said Daishiro Okada, president and COO, Square Enix, Inc. “The result is an absolutely stunning video game that will engage gamers of all ages in multiple worlds both familiar and new."

“The creative collaboration between the Disney and Square Enix production teams has resulted in a game that is not only innovative but truly remarkable in scope,” said Graham Hopper, senior vice president and general manager, Buena Vista Games. “With the addition of new worlds from Mickey Mouse’s classic screen debut in ‘Steamboat Willie’ to the current film franchise ‘Pirates of the Caribbean,’ KINGDOM HEARTS II covers the spectrum of Disney properties.”

Be sure to read our full review by clicking here. The game has a suggested retail price of $49.99 (USD).]]> Wed, 29 Mar 2006 18:14:00 -0600 Shiva Stella http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_kingdom_hearts_ii_ps2 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_kingdom_hearts_ii_ps2 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_kingdom_hearts_ii_ps2# This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

Very few game sequels are even half as anticipated as Kingdom Hearts II, the second installment in the immensely popular Disney and Square Enix collaboration franchise. The game marks the return of Sora, Goofy, and Donald in the search for King Mickey, who has apparently freed himself (and Riku?) from the horrors behind the "dark gate" witnessed at the end of the original. The gang's new adventure once again spans several worlds - some old, some new - taken from Disney's archive of "most celebrated" animated films. As with the game's predecessor, KH2 features a cast of both Final Fantasy and Disney characters, from now familiar classics like Final Fantasy VIII's Squall (Leon) and FFVII's Aeries to Sleeping Beauty's three good faeries. Yes, the only franchise able to successfully base itself in the Disney realm is back, and it’s certainly worthy of its predecessor.

After a very lengthy and mysterious prologue that centers around a mysterious boy named Roxas and reminds the player of events that occurred in the

Some tweaks made. Menu system a touch cumbersome. Same great action as original.

More visual flair and pretty cutscenes utilizing in-game graphics. Gorgeous CG and effects.

I still love the franchise’s use of music, though KH2’s musical theme could have used reworking

You’ll really enjoy visiting favorite Disney worlds and speedily slaying foes.

You’ll like it enough to finish it and probably play it again. Nice draw-in factor.

]]> Tue, 28 Mar 2006 12:39:00 -0600 Shiva Stella http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_kingdom_hearts_ii_ps21 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_kingdom_hearts_ii_ps21 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_kingdom_hearts_ii_ps21# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

Very few game sequels are even half as anticipated as Kingdom Hearts II, the second installment in the immensely popular Disney and Square Enix collaboration franchise. The game marks the return of Sora, Goofy, and Donald in the search for King Mickey, who has apparently freed himself (and Riku?) from the horrors behind the "dark gate" witnessed at the end of the original. The gang's new adventure once again spans several worlds - some old, some new - taken from Disney's archive of "most celebrated" films. As with the game's predecessor, KH2 features a cast of both Final Fantasy and Disney characters, from now familiar classics like Final Fantasy VIII's Squall (Leon) and FFVII's Aeries to Sleeping Beauty's three good faeries. Yes, the only franchise able to successfully base itself in the Disney realm is back, and it's looking equally as fantastic as its predecessor.

After a very lengthy and mysterious prologue (which I certainly won’t spoil for you here) that reminds the player of events that occurred in the ]]> Sat, 25 Mar 2006 20:17:14 -0600 Tim Grube http://www.gamebump.com/go/first_everquest_2_kingdom_of_sky_screenshots http://www.gamebump.com/go/first_everquest_2_kingdom_of_sky_screenshots http://www.gamebump.com/go/first_everquest_2_kingdom_of_sky_screenshots# This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor.

Check out these first screenshots of EverQuest 2: Kingdom Of Sky for the PC. The expansion is due out on February 21.

]]> Fri, 06 Jan 2006 17:14:00 -0600 Tim Grube http://www.gamebump.com/go/wrestle_kingdom_for_xbox_360 http://www.gamebump.com/go/wrestle_kingdom_for_xbox_360 http://www.gamebump.com/go/wrestle_kingdom_for_xbox_360# This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.

Check out these jaw-dropping visuals below.

Thanks GameWatch!]]> Fri, 23 Dec 2005 12:24:00 -0600 Shiva Stella http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_kingdom_of_paradise_psp http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_kingdom_of_paradise_psp http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_kingdom_of_paradise_psp# This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

The PlayStation Portable’s quality line-up is a slim one, with Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and Wipeout Pure – a launch game – garnering most of the acclaim. The handheld’s RPG line-up is even slimmer: Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade is the only decent RPG the system has, and that’s rather degrading considering Sony’s long-term relationship with Square Enix, which is currently developing titles for the GameBoy Advance and DS. To offset this significant drawback to PSP ownership, Climax has developed an action-RPG for the PSP: Kingdom of Paradise. While the game does have its drawbacks, it quickly becomes clear that it’s the best (action) RPG the system has to offer. Whether that says more for the game or the handheld is up to you.

Kingdom of Paradise is set in the land of Ouka, more than 300 years after the Seima-Ouka war. Though Seima itself was an advanced civilization looking to expand its empire, it still lost to Ouka, a continent divided amongst five clans: the Suzaku, Kirin, Byakko, Genbu, and Seiryu. The game casts players as Shinbu, a former Seiryu disciple who was exiled from his clan as punishment for a stupid, childish act. Shinbu quickly meets up with Sui Lin, a Seiryu disciple who is fleeing the Seiryu temple and the death and destruction the Kirin forces have wrought there. Sui Lin informs Shinbu that their master – indeed, their entire clan – is dead, and that if they want to rebuild the Seiryu they’ll need to locate their clan’s special sword, which was stolen by the Kirin. Soon it becomes apparent that the Kirin are after all the clan swords, and the remaining lords, urged on by Shinbu, have to present a united front against the Kirin if they hope to avoid the Seiryu’s fate. Though the story is simple and predictable, it’s adequate for a handheld title and provides a decent backdrop to the game’s events.

As an action-RPG, Kingdom of Paradise makes heavier use of combat skills than it does a storyline or leveling-up. The game features a two-fold combo system consisting of bugei scrolls and kenpu (attack forms). The bugei scrolls are all aligned with a particular clan, and each clan has an element (fire, earth, metal, water, and wood). Once you’ve acquired a significant amount of kenpu for each clan, you can add the pieces to your appropriate bugei scrolls to create elemental combos; each bugei scroll houses a distinct number of kenpu slots, and these slots are in turn numbered to correspond to particular kenpu forms. The completed combos are fun to watch, and you can even create your own combos via “free form” bugei scrolls, which enable you to choose the most devastating attacks from varied clan forms and string them together. The system sounds extremely complicated and is quite unintuitive to manage, but players quickly adjust.

To add a creative touch to combat, Climax also utilized the elemental clan forms in chi attacks, which are essentially short, decisive magical attacks that you charge up via square. Each clan has its own special elemental chi, and as some elements are weaker/stronger in relation to others, some strategy is used in determining the appropriate chi (or even attack form) for any given opponent. The Kirin, for example, are the primary bad guys and are aligned with earth attacks, which are weak to the Seiryu’s wood attacks. As Shinbu begins the game as an ex-Seiryu, he’s immediately got access to the Kirin’s greatest weakness and players waste no time in leveling up their wood chi, which progresses with each use. This system also applies to basic combo attacks; using Genbu (water) attacks against the Kirin drastically prolongs the fight, as the Kirin’s earth attacks are strong against water. For added combat depth, the system can also easily work against you; when fighting a Byakko (metal) opponent, Shinbu is automatically disadvantaged, as metal is strong against the Seiryu’s wood attacks; in short, you’d better focus on acquiring as many different kenpu and chi forms as you can, and thankfully kenpu is dropped by fallen opponents.

Enemies in Kingdom of Paradise range from the typical Kirin swordsman to the unusual mythological beast (giant scorpion, Diablo creature, etc), and all are smart enough to run up and start swinging as soon as they spot Shinbu. Opponents also include thieves, archers, and some animals (for instance, bats). For the most part, you encounter them as you’re en route from point A to point B, and as the game features some of the most expansive environments I’ve seen on the PSP, you fight often. Kirin pop out of the water, jump over bushes, drop from the sky, and once defeated, crumble to the earth. Enemy attacks are extremely simple and usually consist of the one-two swipe variety, which gives Shinbu and his occasional traveling companion (Sui Lin) an immediate advantage, further extended by the Kirin’s total abandonment of chi. Players can literally go through the game using only wood bugei and chi, slaying masses of Kirin while they traverse Ouka.

Climax’s action-RPG makes great use of these large environments, and the game’s five regions are connected via long roadways always visible on the world map as well as the simple overlay map. The landscape is dotted with foliage, poisonous pools, lakes and ponds, rushing waterfalls, large rocks and cliff sides, and good, detailed texturing. You can easily spy wood graining in the floors and the mythical inscriptions on stone monuments. Clouds float overhead, and at appropriate times players can stop to gaze at beautiful sunsets. Chi, the most vivid visual display during gameplay, is bright and colorful and visually supports all of Shinbu’s fancy combat maneuvers. Characters are equally as detailed and creatively designed (with Shinbu perhaps the only exception), and the game makes use of full, console-like cutscenes with model close-ups and actual lip movements, though characters do lack any significant change in facial expression.

The game’s audio elements are quite impressive, as ambient noises like footfalls and attack swipes add to the satisfying (albeit strange) presentation. Climax opted for voiceacting over plain text for dialogue, which gives the game a quirky aspect and is definitely unique for a PSP title. Some of the voiceovers are spot-on and very realistic, while others sound like they’re ripped from a very cheese anime. Climax also provided a real soundtrack for the game, which is another pleasant PSP bonus; music is either very lively or slow and sweet, embellished with flutes and chimes. The battle theme does a nice job of establishing an exciting mood as the Kirin rush you.

There’s a multiplayer, ad hoc option for those with friends harboring PSPs and their own copies of Kingdom of Paradise, and the game loads up your saved Shinbu, so the player with the most advanced Shinbu wins. In a refreshing move, Climax also added infrastructure support for gamers who’d love to download extra kenpu and other, exclusive online content. However, you’ve first got to hop on your PC to acquire a password to enter on your PSP’s download page, which seems like an unnecessary mess. Why not just include the password in the game manual?

Quite possibly the game’s worst point, besides its somewhat lackluster intrigue, is its missing block feature. Though you can block by mashing the same button you use to attack, you’ll rarely pull it off, as once caught in an enemy’s combo you’re nothing but juggled meat and absolutely powerless to defend yourself. Added frustration comes from the fact that once Shinbu does manage to remove his face from the floor, he tends to go right back down again, as the game uses an auto-targeting feature that doesn’t completely and accurately target. Shinbu will stand and look in the vicinity of his opponent, but not directly at him; this means that certain swipes in Shinbu’s combos are going to miss his enemy entirely, while his enemy’s attacks will strike Shinbu dead-on. The only way to combat this painful gameplay aspect is to hope you can stand and circle your opponent faster than your opponent can start swinging again, and this – at best – is 50/50. Expect a lot of unnecessary deaths because Climax left out a functioning blocking mechanic – a shame for any action game.

Perhaps to counter this problem, Kingdom of Paradise has very stupid bad guys. Enemies stand and wait for Shinbu to approach, which leaves them open to his sword-throw attack; you can literally spend ten minutes tossing your sword at opponents who are off-screen. If you do decide to plunge head-first into the foray, the Kirin will surround you and stand there, so you can attack them at your leisure. To spare yourself the misery of slaying imbeciles, just use your chi, which – beyond level one – is way too powerful. Why even bother using your sword when you can just blast foes with a single chi attack? This is further compounded by the game’s strong/weak elemental system, which is used only superficially, as the majority of opponents are Kirin (earth) and easily bested by Seiryu (wood) attacks. And dodging a dead thief’s bomb isn’t skill – it’s a cheap attempt at adding difficulty.

The menu system used for managing bugei and kenpu is simple, yet overly complicated, with very unintuitive controls; you’ll catch yourself cycling through pages of kenpu instead of equipping a bugei scroll, or un-equipping bugei when you intend to add kenpu to a new scroll. At least at the start, you’ll often be unsure of what button to push to get to the next menu layer that’ll let you do what you’ve already been attempting for the previous 40 seconds, making the menu system cumbersome.

The cutscenes, which have as many cheesy voiceovers as they do good ones, heavily feature poor, sappy, teenage dialogue that tries to put on an adult face by using big or just foul and inappropriately placed words. Coming out of the mouth of an idiot character, “bitch” at awkward moments only serves to cheapen the presentation. A note to all developers: pick a presentation style and stick to it. Burdensome complexities in a light, anime-like action-RPG are both stupid and un-cool. The cutscenes also start with a slight graphical “catch” as Shinbu’s movements freeze the moment before you lose control of him, and stay frozen for two-three seconds.

The game’s camera isn’t fixed, but you can’t control it, either; it moves in and out as Shinbu wanders from room to room, and the area presented on-screen is often too small to adequately determine your immediate environment. This really becomes a problem during boss battles, as you run around the area with the camera constantly moving when you’d much rather just grab it and focus it on a particular spot where you’re fighting, or pull it back so you can see what’s around you.

As for traveling, to break up the monotony Climax included some boxes and jugs for you to break, but these items are far from offering interactivity. There are also times when you needlessly wander the countryside in search of a particular NPC or event trigger, and I say needlessly because the game doesn’t always keep your objectives list updated. When the list is updated, however, you’ll still spend some time just scouring towns for particular shops or NPCs, as the towns are huge and the overlay map lacks any kind of target objectives; there are no dots, triangles, squares, or other symbols of note on the overlay map. You just sort of talk to people and hope you prompt an event.

While Kingdom of Paradise does have several faults, the most hindering being the camera and the lack of a proper blocking mechanism, the game is still the best RPG on the PSP, and also one of the handheld’s better games. Its good presentation, though riddled with quaint, inappropriate dialogue, is bolstered by the game’s strong visuals, console-like cutscenes, and musical themes. If Climax had spent more time tweaking the menu system, adding camera control, and giving us blocking and targeting abilities, Kingdom of Paradise would have been the perfect PSP gift this holiday season. At it stands, though, it’s enjoyable – but also mediocre.

Broken blocking and auto-targeting mechanics. Annoying camera. Over-powerful chi.

A nice visual presentation with polish. Full cutscenes.

Pleasant background music and (some) voiceovers. Good ambient noises that intensify as you near

You’ll enjoy the game, as it grows on you.

Ad hoc support is a nice addition, surpassed only by online content. But no online multiplayer.

]]> Mon, 14 Nov 2005 16:15:00 -0600 Tim Grube http://www.gamebump.com/go/new_kingdom_of_paradise_screenshots http://www.gamebump.com/go/new_kingdom_of_paradise_screenshots http://www.gamebump.com/go/new_kingdom_of_paradise_screenshots# This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.

Sony has been pretty quiet about Kingdom of Paradise, but the company released new screenshots today. The game is due out on November 15 for the PSP.

]]> Thu, 03 Nov 2005 12:28:00 -0600 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_makai_kingdom_chronicles_of_the_sacred_tome_ps2 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_makai_kingdom_chronicles_of_the_sacred_tome_ps2 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_makai_kingdom_chronicles_of_the_sacred_tome_ps2# This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Eric Dayday.

Nippon Ichi is most likely not as familiar to most of you as, say, Square Enix/Squaresoft. They have been churning out RPGs in Japan for years – most of them selling very well. On this side of the Pacific this company is more notable as the brainchild of La Pucelle: Tactics, Disgaea, and Phantom Brave, all of which were received fairly well by the RPG fanbase here in the states. Earlier this summer, we were treated with Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana, and a mere month later, NIS America has blessed us with Makai Kingdom: Chronicles of the Sacred Tome. Following the same vein as their previous strategy RPGs, is Makai Kingdom different enough to stand out amongst them?



Before I get into anything about the graphics or the gameplay, let me get this out of the way – Makai Kingdom is just plain funny. It continues the trend of comedic value that Disgaea and company set. The script is hilarious and wryly written, and the delivery of the lines is spot-on most of the time. However, I will say that it is weird to hear Crispin Freeman, who voices the main protagonist stuck-in-a-book Lord Zetta, hit some of those spots. I’m used to hearing him in much more serious roles (Togusa from Ghost in the Shell: SAC or Regal from last summer’s Tales of Symphonia).

Now you may be asking yourself, “Lord Zetta is stuck in a book?” Indeed he is folks. The absurdity that is the story is another one of Makai’s funny parts. Lord Zetta is an overlord, and is in fact the most powerful overlord in the universe due to his manna power. However, one day he finds the secret tome in his overworld and sees that the tome predicts that Zetta’s foolishness will bring doom to his beloved overworld. Slighted by this comment, Zetta destroys the book, but in doing so he also destroys his overworld, thus fulfilling the tome’s prophecy.

With Zetta stuck as a book, he is dependent on someone else to do the grunt work for him – that is where you come in. With the ability to bind souls to objects, you will be able to create a small little army to do Zetta’s dirty work for him. What object you decide to bind a soul to will affect the created character’s base stats. A rock, for example, will give a +1% bonus to defense which is ideal for a frontline warrior, whereas a weed will create one with a +1% bonus in intelligence but a -1% penalty in attack, which would have you lean towards making a magician or witch. Of course, you don’t have to make them those job classes, but it would be smarter to take advantage of those bonuses or make those penalties less of a weakness.

This leads us to Makai’s main strength – customization. There are only a handful of job classes available at the start, but as you level up in certain ones, you’ll open up a lot more strong jobs, such as archers, the Nippon Ichi staples Prinnies, and the irresistibly cute Hell Kitties.

As complicated as these types of games are, equipment is thankfully simplified; anyone can equip anything and everything. The catch is that some jobs are better with certain weapons and armor, and by equipping them with those armaments, it will grant them bonuses to stats like attack and movement. The game helps you see what items a character excels with by attaching the word “expert” to the end of the item’s name. It’s safe to say that trying to fill up one of your underlings with “expert” weapons is the route to go, though there are times where you will want to keep someone’s hands empty, which I’ll get to later.

For those familiar with Nippon Ichi’s previous strategy RPGs, Makai Kingdom plays almost exactly like those with a few tweaks here and there. For those who aren’t, I’ll outline the basics of Makai’s. At the beginning of the battle, you use Zetta to invite characters into the battlefield. Instead of the usual grid-type movement most associated with Final Fantasy Tactics, we get a sort of free-roaming moving mechanic. A red circle will show the radius in which the character can move, but you can move him/her anywhere within that circle. Attack works almost the same. A red circle just like when moving will show you where you can attack, and then you use a wire grid frame to select what the unit will attack. Area attacks will not distinguish between enemy and friendly units so going all-out during battles isn’t always the best strategy to use.

Makai’s battle system is turn-based, not initiative-based. This means you can do whatever you want and when you’re finally done, you end your turn so that the enemy can do the same to you. This adds another layer of strategy as you can use hit-and-run tactics since your target can’t move until you have finally ended your turn. Of course, this is a double-edged sword and the computer AI isn’t afraid to pull the same kind of tactic. And because you can have all of your characters act in a single turn, the ability to combo on a single enemy becomes another useful strategy. Having multiple units focus on a single enemy will unleash tons of damage upon them.

I mentioned that Makai Kingdom features some new battle mechanics, the first of which is the introduction of facilities and vehicles onto the battlefield. Facilities are just buildings, but if you happen to have a few characters in a building during a battle, they will receive some sort of stat bonus. Hospitals will restore hit points, placing a character in a school will give them 50% more experience per turn, and characters deployed from a shop will earn money bonuses. It is always advantageous to use facilities, but earning new facilities takes massive amounts of manna (which is earned during fights and definitely takes some time to gather); wishing for a new facility may even cost you the life of one of your units. Also, if a building is destroyed while some units are still in it, you will lose those you had in there for the rest of the battle.

Vehicles, which can be bought if you have the right facilities on the home overworld, control just like a regular foot unit, and is in fact controlled by one of them. The vehicles will take damage before the unit controlling it does, so don’t be afraid to let a vehicle take a bruising every now and then. Suffice to say, vehicles easily have the advantage over foot soldiers as they are usually much more powerful and can cover ground a lot quicker. However, you cannot use any of the unit’s personal skills unless you remove them from the vehicle, which isn’t such a big deal considering that turns aren’t based on initiative.

The last innovative mechanic is extensions. In some battles, throwing an item out-of-bounds or destroying a key character/item will open up an extension of the battlefield. Doing so will make the area larger, in some cases doubling and tripling the size of the map. Battles don’t end when all the characters are defeated – instead Makai Kingdom opts for a points system in which you can choose to end the battle if you’ve met the minimum point requirement or to continue fighting. Because of that feature, it’s smart to find these extensions wherever you can as they usually lead to areas with more treasure and much tougher enemies, which almost always equals more experience.



Makai Kingdom is a great game and all, but I had a hard time shaking the “been there, done that” feeling because this really is just Disgaea and Phantom Brave with a new story and some slightly new battle features despite the back cover advertising it as “much more than just Disgaea with a fresh coat of paint.” It’s basically the same game most of us have been playing for years, but fortunately the additions to the gameplay freshen it up enough to at least give some players incentive to try it out.

The story isn’t all the great either, but then again, I don’t think most people will be playing this game for its story. It’s definitely not enough to play through multiple times. However, for the completionists out there, this game is right up their alley as I can see gamers logging in well over 150 hours trying to get every little facility and vehicle and then laughing on gaming forums about how their first apprentice is now level 9999. (Note: yes folks, levels go past the 99/150/255 barrier here. Hell, Lord Zetta starts out at level 2000)

And as complicated as this game is, power leveling can make things a lot easier. Hit a roadblock? Then head on over to the free dungeons where you can beat up on enemies over and over again until you’re at a level at which you’ll overpower everything on the map. This turns progression into a matter of spending time to level rather than using strategy to win a fight.

The graphics aren’t all that great either. They actually look borderline PSone-ish at times. I don’t mind the chibi characters at all, but the entire package screams “outdated graphics.”

The battle maps are quite a challenge to traverse also. Though the movement system isn’t grid-based, the maps look like they were meant for it as you’ll see plenty of sharp corners and blocky rises everywhere. Trying to position a unit in the spot you want can be a battle itself sometimes. Even worse is targeting an attack. There is a radius in which you can aim an attack, but if you reach the limit, sometimes you won’t even know it because the camera will continue on in whatever direction you were pressing while the target cursor remains trapped on the outer radius of the target circle. It would’ve been nice had they cleaned that up a bit.

Lastly, the throw mechanic seems virtually useless. To throw something, you have to throw whatever you have in your hands, like a weapon, away, pick up the item you want to throw, throw that, then pick up the weapon and re-equip. It’s just too much hassle for so little a reward. The main reason why you’d throw something is to open up extensions and most of the time you can just kill the “key” character to do so. Throwing is really just another unnecessary complication that didn’t need to be left in.



Despite Makai Kingdom: Chronicles of the Sacred Ground retreading a lot of ground that Nippon Ichi has already covered, it’s still a pretty darn good game. This isn’t going to attract the casual gamer, as the amount of micromanaging in this game will turn most of them off, and it won’t push the numbers of a Final Fantasy, but it will definitely satisfy the niche market that is the hardcore RPGer. There’s plenty to do with some hefty gameplay elements that ought to keep them busy for hours on end. If you’ve been a fan of NIS for a while, then you won’t be disappointed at all as long as you aren’t looking for an entirely new experience; for everyone else, be warned that if you aren’t willing to invest a chunk of your life into this, you’ll need to look somewhere else on the shelf.

There is so much to do and master. Your heads will spin when you see the customization options.

Love the chibi characters, hate the outdated graphics.

Excellent voiceacting; some tracks will start you whistling, but others seem recycled.

Its overcomplicated nature zaps some of the fun, but not all of it. Game sports awesome humor.

You won’t play it through multiple times, but you will log 100+ hours if you want everything.

]]> Tue, 09 Aug 2005 17:37:00 -0500 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_makai_kingdom_chronicles_of_the_sacred_tome_ps21 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_makai_kingdom_chronicles_of_the_sacred_tome_ps21 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_makai_kingdom_chronicles_of_the_sacred_tome_ps21# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Aaron Thomas.

Makai Kingdom: Chronicles of the Sacred Tome is the latest RPG from Nippon Ichi Software America, who you may or may not know from games like Disagaea: Hour of Darkness, La Pucelle: Tactics, and Phantom Brave. Makai Kingdom is a turn-based strategy game, with plenty of the style you’d expect from Nippon Ichi. Despite being pushed back before, the current release date is July 27th, and it looks like this date will stick.

In Makai Kingdom, you control Lord Zetta, a former ruler who has now merged with the tome that he destroyed because it predicted his downfall. His kingdom now destroyed, it’s up to you to piece together an army and reclaim his kingdom, or what’s left of it.

Combat is turn-based and takes place from an isometric perspective. Some of the combat is standard fare – you can attack with a katanas, battle-axes, and even modern weapons, but it quickly becomes more involved and more bizarre. Not only do you turn everyday objects – like flowers, rocks, and trees – into warriors by adding a soul to them, but you can customize them into a wide variety of classes.

Makai Kingdom also places emphasis on creating buildings, which like troop creation, has its own twist. Building structures to assist an army isn’t anything new, but summoning weapon factories, hospitals, and dog houses to the battlefield certainly is. You can load troops into the buildings, where their attributes will be increased, and then unleash them onto the battlefield onto your overmatched foe.

The battle maps are randomly generated, ensuring that no battle will ever play out the same way twice. The graphics aren’t anything to write home about, at least from a technical standpoint, but they certainly have a distinctive style to them, and any RPG or strategy fan will quickly point out that great graphics aren’t necessary for a game to be great.



It’s certainly not going out on a limb to say that Makai Kingdom: Chronicles of the Sacred Tome is a game that is going to appeal to a very select group of people. This statement in no way means that it’s going to be a bad game, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to change anyone’s opinion about the genre. In other words: For hardcore fans only.

For a more complete indication of what you'll be in for on this one, view the included movie file of this game in action by clicking here. Can we say  "Tactics with guns and freaky weapons"?]]> Wed, 06 Jul 2005 22:01:48 -0500