This game was originally released in Japan under the title “Phantom Kingdom”. It is a turn-based tactical RPG that has been grouped with such games as Disgaea and La Pucell: Tactics.The game begins as Lord Zetta destroys Raiden, all for the Sacred Tome. But when Zetta looks to the tome, he discovers basically, the end of his world. Before his world ends, he binds his soul to the book. Now, in the obsolete nothing, he discovers Pram: The Oracle, Babylon: The Dragon, and Mickey: The Ambiguously Gay Demon. All 3 are evil overlords themselves, so in helping Zetta regain his kingdom back through a “netherworld”; you’ll soon see they are only out for their own amusement…by throwing in different twists.
Character creation was fairly easy if you’ve played RPG’s before. There are a few things on your “battlefield” you can “possess” to create characters for your army. You act as Lord Zetta, the book, who comes with you through the Makai portals, and then allows you to invite choice party members to your new field. My first mistake was not creating enough characters. When I passed the first test, creating characters, I gained a store. I mistakenly sold my remaining items that I could have possessed. I equipped the 3 characters I made with decent items, and held my own until I got to a field where I picked up another item, and then possessed that.
The AI is set to target your magicians and healers. I’ve learned to summon them only when I have to, because they die quickly. I’m currently experimenting with different weapons until they level, when I can equip them properly. i.e.: my mage now has a dagger instead of a book. SHOW ME THE MANA!! The more levels your character gains, the more mana you receive. Higher mana levels allow your weapons to exert the special talents. The higher the talent, the higher the damage. Some talents are area affect, and some are direct. Your turn consists of 2 moves and 1 attack, not in that order. You can end your turn anytime but you cannot execute more than 2 moves and 1 attack. Your area of movement is limited, so strategy really comes into effect here. Each character on the field including the enemy are allowed a turn. Picking items up was also not too easy, because it counts equipment as items held, and you’re only allowed a few items. I found myself having to move other characters to pick things up, and then it wasted my turn.
Final Verdict
This was a hard game for me to review. I like role playing games (RPGs), but this game seemed a little blasÈ for me. The graphics were ok, weapons were ok, choice of different types of characters ok… it’s just OK. I was a little surprised at how immature the dialogue was for a Teen rated game. My daughter is 13 years old, and she thought it was pretty bad as well. There was a lot of minor swearing, and the whole flow of the dialogue was just weird. At one point, I was tempted to turn it off before the game even began. I gave Makai Kingdom: Chronicles Of The Sacred Tome a chance. Luckily, the strategy factor saved it. If you liked Final Fantasy Legends, you’ll like this.
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