Nippon Ichi Software
Review by Anthony
Okay, normally if I said a game company “isn’t even trying anymore,” you’d be right to assume that I’m criticizing them. Let’s call Makai Kingdom an exception. Basically, Nippon Ichi ran with straight-up fan service here, giving us a game that’s basically a gameplay hybrid of Phantom Brave and Disgaea combined with a funny, yet absurd story of overlords posturing and fighting each other. It breaks no new ground, the story is far from Oscar worthy, yet the whole experience reads like a love letter to NIS’ fans.
Makai Kingdom follows the story of Overlord Zetta, the most powerful overlord in all of the cosmos, as he attempts to reclaim his glory after making a nearsighted error that extricates his powers and his body. Battles take place on a gridless strategy field ala Phantom Brave, but many gameplay elements are more similar to the Disgaea franchise. Plot progression is linear but stages can be replayed and bonus dungeons can be unlocked at any time.
What’s good:
- The story scenes are a big highlight for the game. Though as I said, “they aren’t even trying” when it comes to this, just because they make no attempt at making a deep storyline doesn’t mean it isn’t enjoyable. Though the story rarely amounts to more than a bunch of characters with exaggerated personalities talking back and forth, it’s frequently laugh-aloud funny, and well-aided by excellent localization.
- NIS’ resident composer Tenpei Sato once again turned in a great soundtrack to the game. The home world music in Makai Kingdom may be one of the catchiest themes this side of a Rosenqueen shop, and several battle tunes are similarly enjoyable.
- The voice acting is delightfully over-the-top and well done. Crispin Freeman’s voice work for Overlord Zetta is fantastic, making him amusingly boneheaded and enthusiastic. Similarly, almost any line from the trio of Dark Lord Valvoga is made funnier by the vocal delivery. The presentation would fall completely flat without this, so thankfully, they nailed it.
- Taking the Phantom Brave shell, removing the Confine system, removing fusion/titles, while adding vehicles, facilities, clearly defined job classes/weaponry, and specialized reincarnation, Makai Kingdom ends up feeling like a more accessible entry into Nippon Ichi’s strategy library. Playing Phantom Brave, you could easily feel like you have to fight against the confines of the system, while it was simultaneously so open-ended that you could become indomitably powerful with surprising ease. The experience feels more balanced here, as it takes significant strategy and execution to become overpowered, but the system is streamlined enough that it’s suitable to just play to the end under traditional “make my party stronger” means.
- It’s almost redundant to say in regards to a Nippon Ichi strategy title, but the amount of options for giving the game additional replay value is excellent. There are a ton of classes to unlock, a slew of voice-acted bonus scenes, multiple endings, new game+, and enough weapons, vehicles, facilities, characters, and abilities to keep you busy for several hours past the main game.
- I really appreciated the game’s inclusion of the point/expansion system that let you leave a stage whenever a certain threshold was passed, or continue on for more experience/items. That’s an entertaining way of fleshing out the experience.
What’s neutral:
- Some of the game’s inclusions are a bit of a mixed bag. For instance, vehicles can be procured that allow a character to ride in them, and these can aid you by providing absurdly long movement and attack ranges. However, vehicles are only rewarded as random bonus items during stages, actually count as a character toward your team limit in battle, and acquire experience points separate from their drivers. Additionally, characters are summoned from Overlord Zetta’s starting point on the map, but can be stored in facilities to be summoned as well. Any of these can be carried, so using one high movement mule means you can cover a huge expanse of a map and wail on a far-away boss before even dealing with its powerful lackeys.
- I’m still not quite sure how to feel about the fact that story stages are often set, but also have random levels mixed in. Some of the random levels can have very specific strategies to tackle, while others can literally be finished in about 15 seconds..? Then after that, I run into a set story level that takes around 90 minutes to beat simply because the level is so enormous? Random dungeons are always an option, so I don’t know why these weren’t kept completely separate.
- Makai Kingdom lacks the challenge of the Disgaea franchise or even Phantom Brave. I don’t feel I did anything special in the game, yet I never wiped out, and within about 30-35 hours, I easily handled the final boss on the first try. Enemy characters sometimes walk into your range and just refuse to take action. That may be to balance the fact that swarms of enemies can jump out of buildings on a whim, but it’s still very odd in the realm of strategy. Straight up weapon-purchasing and level grinding is really all it takes.
What’s bad:
- I’m remiss to say again, but the graphics are very weak. The in-game sprites are even tinier and less detailed than Phantom Brave’s already raw sprite work, very few backgrounds are even used throughout the story, and even the potentially grand high-level special skills are rather unimpressive.
- Despite what I consider a more balanced and more accessible presentation, Makai Kingdom still suffers from Phantom Brave’s pseudo-strategy syndrome. Unless you go for bonus post-game goals, straight offense is pretty much all you’ll ever need to complete the story. Sure, armor helps, but having a character that can one-shot a group of enemies with ease will be far more beneficial than one that can adequately take a few hits. There’s some balance here with the jobs, but regardless of how weak a character may be in a specific aspect, the best solution almost inevitably is just to buy the absolute strongest weapons and just go berserk on anything that moves.
- A few aspects of the game are not explained particularly well. For instance, I was able to figure out early on that having a Merchant character level up increases Shop inventory. It took me researching a guide to find out that a Shop completely caps in level unless you have a Professor character and a corresponding Laboratory also leveling up...? Being thrown out of a stage counts as dying, but why does having a piece of a character’s equipment thrown out mean you lose it permanently? When a facility offers “+20% Attack”, does that affect all forms of offense, or just physical damage?
Is it any wonder why reviews for this game were very mixed? Whether it’s a case of Nippon Ichi going for straight fan service or overexerting itself despite a lack of ideas, Makai Kingdom ends up a pretty straightforward product. That’s an ironic statement though, considering the gameplay itself is anything but, offering Nippon Ichi’s trademark of insanely open-ended gameplay. In fact, this may be the only RPG I’ve ever played where not a single story character joins as a result of the plotline!
Whether you’ll enjoy this game is highly dependent on where you stand in two spectrums. Can you enjoy a game even if the plot is completely linear and silly? Do you get a kick out of completely open-ended RPGs with questionable difficulty and/or strategy? If “yes” to both, you should already own this game. If you hate Nippon Ichi games, stay far away. If you’re somewhere between those two, approach with caution. But truth be told, I have no specific affinity toward linear versus open-ended RPGs, and I had a lot of fun here. It almost hurt me to stop, knowing there were more things I could unlock, level up, and collect. Not a bad note to go out on!
Lauren: I wasn't the one playing Makai Kingdom, so I won't claim that this is a review. However, I feel that a brief special comment is necessary considering how much I enjoyed watching it. Those familiar with Nippon Ichi games will feel very much at home with its gameplay, style, and humour. More than anything, I need to point out the laugh-out-loud aspect that MK and most other NIS games have. Moments like the sudden astronaut story arc in Disgaea and the whole "corn" scene in Makai Kingdom come to mind. These guys definitely have their own wacky brand, and I honestly think the game is worth playing through just for the hilarity of the experience. Unless, of course, you hate tactical RPGs, and in that case, you just need to watch the scenes. Fantastic voice acting as always, too. Makai Kingdom encouraged us to continue with our "play every RPG that Nippon Ichi has made" streak.
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