This week's feature game is about the greatest (in my opinion, of course) party game/RPG combo ever! The ultimate in friendship destroying games (literally): Dokapon Kingdom.
System: This article is about the Nintendo Wii version, but it is also for PS2, and Nintendo DS (Dokapon Journey).
Players: You can choose anywhere from 2 to 4 players, not always 4 players like most party games.
Usable Controllers: The Gamecube Controller, Wii-mote, or the Classic Controller
Story: You start off as an adventurer on a quest for the King of Dokapon. He summons you and tells you that monsters have started appearing all over the kingdom, attacking the towns and stealing money. The King starts a contest and says "Whoever brings me the most money will become King of Dokapon and can marry my daughter, Princess Penny." So, you travel across the 5 continents of Dokapon, killing monsters, saving towns, attaking your friends, completing mini-games and meeting assassins and even making friends with Death.
Tasks: Ranges from killing monsters and liberating towns to bringing an antidote for Penny's poisoned dog, Cash, to bringing the King a requested snack.
Gameplay: Think of Mario Party without the stars. Add monsters to fight, towns to save, the ability to buy weapons, items and magic and level up, Change jobs that start with magician, thief and warrior and eventually evolve to things like Spellsword, Ninja, Robo-Knight, and even a Ninja, all with different special abilities to help you kick the crap out of your opponents.
Multiplayer Value: This game is named the ultimate in buddy betrayal for a good reason. You can use your magic, power, weapons, items and special abilities to attack your dear old helpless friends instead of the monsters. If you manage to defeat them, you can do almost anything you want to them. You can steal all of their money, take all their items, take all of their magic, or even steal a town they worked so hard to liberate. You can force something bad on them such as your status effect or your debt. You can cut their hair, change their name to whatever you want (yes, seriously), and draw on their face. Or...if you are a nice guy, you can forgive them and let them off Scott-free.
Battles: The battle take place sort of rock-paper-scissors style. You can choose 1 card out of 2 in the beginning. That card will either be blue or red. If it is red, you attack first. If it is blue, you defend first.
The attack commands start with Attack, An offensive magic attack if you have one (They can be bought at magic shops), A battle skill (depending on your job), and a strike (which is a normal attack, but much stronger and riskier.
The defensive commands start with defend, a defensive magic if you have one, Counter (used to counteract a strike) or Give Up. Giving up still penalizes you for losing, but not as bad as if you were killed.
Shops: There are several shops that sell different things for you to utilize in the field and in battle.
Weapon Shop: Go here to buy weapons and shields for battle.
Item Shop: Go here to buy items to use in the field, such as extra spinners and crystals.
Magic Shop: Go here to buy magical items such as Cobra Strike (poison) and Blistered Feet (lets the victims only one space per turn.)
Concept: This game introduces the new concept of a party game and an RPG at the same time. An ingenious combo that I hope to see more of. You can save whenever you want on the map, and people can join and leave the game whenever you want them to.
Graphics: Classic Nintendo-style chibi characters and monsters.
Entertainment: The game is so addictive, your friends will have to sleep over for a week or 2 just so you can keep playing. Program the DVR for the next couple of days, because you wont wanna stop.
Personal Experience: I have never seen a game that has made me want to throw a controller at my friends and my TV more than this game. Forming alliances may seem like a good idea in the beginning, but trusses dont last forever because when you get that Blackmail from Weber, you're going to need someone to send it to...
Replay Value: Even if you play the game once or ten times, youre going to want to play it again. This is even more true when you have loyal friends that want to play with you no matter how many times you send Robo-sassin after them or turn into a Darkling. If not, 3 computers on Sneaky level are fun, too.
