Party games are difficult to review. From a single-player experience, it is utterly horrible. There is just no way to truly have fun on one’s own. But throw a second or third (or better yet, a fourth) person into the mix and BAM! Instant fun is had by all. Worse yet, if you want a solid experience, you have to buy into the Mario Party franchise or some sort of equivalent. It is not that the series is bad, per se, but for several years, the franchise has been doing the same thing several times over. And in some ways, the series is unbalanced. Gamers of my caliber 95 percent of the time rule those games while more inexperienced gamers are left in the dust. So if you’re ready to try something new in the party game circuit, have I found a game for you. It’s called Dokapon Kingdom, and it reigns over your PlayStation 2 with one controller to rule all players.
Dokapon Kingdom is about several different player-created characters who have been summoned to said kingdom. Apparently the kingdom of Dokapon has been conquered by monsters and the King and his daughter Penny are afraid that they’ll be dirt poor in a few weeks flat. So it’s up to you and your friends to save the kingdom from “destruction” and then go on weird errands (like curing Penny’s poisoned dog). Why do all of this? Well, it is not for the glory or meaningless stars, but they do it all for the money. Yes, pure unadulterated cash and the chance to rule Dokapon Kingdom.
The graphics are sort of an odd duck. On the one hand, the graphics are very anime-inspired. Thus, the engine exudes cuteness. It is endless entertainment to watch your characters’ emote shock and joy at their proper times. And then there is the odd wooden-carved look of some. Furthermore, when you’re just creating a character, there is some slight lag when choosing different aspects of a character. Past that, once the game gets started, everything runs smoothly. No more lag, no jagged edges and, best of all, no load times.
Gameplay is rather unique because it is a hybrid of board game and role-playing game. The game begins with you creating a character of either sex based on three job classes: magician, warrior and thief. Once you’ve selected a face and color and given your character a name, you’re thrown into the game world. Movement is done each turn by using the spinner that ranges from zero to six. It is uncommon to be forced to go a direction as the game will let you wander about the board as you please. Different spaces offer different things. Most will let you battle monsters (or other players), which is highly intuitive and fast-paced.
Each character’s turn during combat is limited to four actions depending on which turn it is. Combat begins with the player choosing one of two cards to determine initiative. If your character is “last,” you’ll be in the defensive phase of combat. During the defensive phase players can either defend, counter (deflects a strike attack but leaves you defenseless), use a defensive skill, and give up and not do anything for a turn. Attack phase lets you choose the normal attack function, strike (a potent attack but can be countered), a class specific action and an attack spell. Since combat is fast-paced, it is rare that it lasts more than one turn. And, best yet, you only see one whole round of combat at a time. Thus, you’ll never sit there long watching your friends (or family) duking it out with monsters or other players.
Also, characters gain experience points. Gain enough, and your character levels up. This allows you to input bonus stat points into your character, giving a sense of freedom that was never before present in a party game. Sure, plenty of RPGs have let you fiddle with a character’s stats. But never before has this been seen in a party game. The downfall is that early on, the strength and defense stats are highly favored. This is because high attack power can let you cut through many a monster. And the high defense lets you survive physical attacks. Furthermore, as you complete job classes, you unlock more jobs — thus giving you greater control in your character’s development. As written before, not unusual for an RPG but is so for a party game.
Another aspect of the game that is worth mentioning, and its main selling point, is that the game only requires ONE controller. That’s it! How in the world did it take developers this LONG to discover a multiplayer game that uses one controller? There’s a ring to rule over everything out there ... sorry, what was I talking about? Oh yes, the one controller use is actually quite practical. If you can trust the person, you can tell the person what to do. Or you can pass the controller around. (This is what my sister and I do.) You can play the game using the game’s AI, which is sort of worth it for watching the character’s reactions and hearing them pseudo-curse (hearing the guy scream “shazbot” is the coolest thing ever). But here’s the problem: The AI is downright brutal. It acts even worse than an actual human being. My sister and I started a three-player game with just us and the computer. After an hour, we started anew with only the two of us.
This leads us to the most important aspect of the game: You’re finally allowed to be as mean or as nice as you would like. You can steal your enemies’ identities by sending items to the King with their names on it. Assassination, blackmail, change hairstyles of other people, add items to enemies’ inventories, forgiveness? It’s all there. Go nuts. And it is for that reason that Atlus has dubbed this game “the friendship destroyer.” There’s so much to do and so many different ways to treat your friends that there is the possibility to kill friendships. As previously written, my sister and I have been playing this game for awhile. And we’re still talking to each other. The reason for that, I believe, is the fact that we have agreed to do the same thing. Also because we treated each other well.
Sound wise, the game is rather pleasant to listen to during gameplay. It won’t stay with you after the game is over, but it works. There’s the traditional magic and sword sounds. As previously written, it’s not outrageously out there. But it works. Oddly enough, there are moments when the game sounds like a Final Fantasy game. Yet, it works, because by the time you recognize that little tune, you realize it’s satirizing modern RPGs — from the over-the-top voice acting to the silly situations that are handled with such seriousness.
Overall, Dokapon Kingdom is a solid party game. I like this game a lot because it changes the party genre, forcing it to move forward. Finally, here is a game that levels the proverbial playing field and makes it accessible to those who are not familiar with video games. And the simple fact that only ONE controller is required is awesome (seriously, who owns the PS2 multitap accessory?). However, I do wish for one thing: a game that gets off the board game system. Or at the very least, arrange it so that it doesn’t feel like the characters are moving around a board.
Like every other party game, there is no reason to play it on one’s own. I hesitate a little bit in recommending this due to the few technical details (a few slow downs at the beginning). In the long run though, I like it more than Mario Party. Thus, those who are sick of the Mario death hold should seriously check this out. Those looking for a serious change of pace in their party games should definitely give this game a whirl. For all the time I’ve played this, this game can be a dangerous time-waster for my sister and me. Don’t let this game slip through the cracks if you have people (friends, family, dorm mates, complete strangers) to play with. It is a great time-waster.
