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Makai Kingdom: Chronicles of the Sacred Tome
Finally a turn-based RPG that breaks the
drought on the PlayStation 2, thanks to Nippon Ichi (Japan One) that
transform the gamer into the role of Zetta, an overlord who is trying to
assemble his troops to take over the known world. Although your schemes
may sound grand, you must first find a variety of items in order to
create your own soldiers and with that said, the gameplay of Makai
Kingdom is similar to Final Fantasy Tactics but with a touch of humour
and splash of Japanese anime.
What really sets this game apart from other turn-based RPG titles is
that it lets the player create their own soldiers from a variety of
different objects that are found in the gaming environment. The battle
system of Makai Kingdom also allows the gamer to make good use of their
creations and brings them one step closer to taking over the world,
unfortunately the menu system of the title is a little perplexing and
difficult which draws out the battles that should of been a simple
achievement.
As with similar turn-based RPG titles, Makai Kingdom allows the player
to perform a variety of manoeuvres that include melee attacks, spells,
healing and using objects. You can also summon new fighters throughout
the battle as long as you stay within the battles overall fighter limit.
So if you’ve got a limit of eight and bring six people to the
battlefield when you start, you can bring up two more people in total
for that battle. A nifty feature is that you can also kick out unwanted
players or enemies from the screen in order to bring another fighter in.
Graphically, Makai Kingdom is a bit of a hit and miss on the PlayStation
2 that contains high resolution character art with average looking
sprite animation. However, the title does contain a variety of special
effects like lighting and water effects that do go a long way in
immersing you into the gaming world.
The voice acting of Makai Kingdom is great and is "pure" Japan which
actually suits the title perfectly and everything sounds too forced and
contrived, like a bad SEGA game which is pure magic. The musical score
is also brilliant and once again adds to the wonder of the title, match
that with a plethora of battle sounds and you have one impressive
sounding game.
In conclusion, Makai Kingdom is a cute game that features great Japanese
anime art, moderate to difficult gameplay and an entertaining storyline,
unfortunately the menu system of the title makes the battle a little
long and will probably jeopardise the replay value. Recommended to
turn-based RPG fans!
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