Dokapon KingdomReleased:2008
Game system: Wii/PS2
Players: 1 Player/1-4 Players
Rating: 9
Story: There's two ways to play this game. One is the story mode, in which you and at least one other person, either a Computer player or a friend, try to rid all the towns of their evil monsters, which are terrorizing the towns, and worse, taking the King and his loyal subjects money! Whoever is able to help out the King, and make the most money in the game, not only becomes king of Dokapon, but also marries Princess Penny... even if your character is a girl. The game takes place in chapters, which unlock one continent each (there's a total of seven). The other mode is normal mode, in which everything is unlocked, and you can play for as long as you want.
Gameplay: When you first see the game, you'll undoubtedly notice the cutsy anime characters. The world map is also built like a boardgame, with you spinning a wheel with numbers 0-6 to decide how many moves you can make. There's no specific place you have to go: in fact, you could just run around in circles (or squares, I guess.)
But if you think this is something like Mario Party or one of those old-fashioned board games, you're wrong. First of all, your character is part of a specific class, the first three being Warrior, Thief, or Magician. After reaching the maximum job level of 6 for a job, a new job will be unlocked. (The first one is always a Cleric) You have turn-based battles, and you decide who goes first by picking between two cards. Then you will pick between four different buttons, one for attack, one for defend, ect, and watch the fight.
As the game goes on, you will be able to purchase bigger and better weapons, items like potions, and even get your hands on magical abilities. You will also randomly meet characters on the map that will either help you or damage you. Some of these characters are Risque the legendary bandit, which will steal money, items, or equipment from other players for a price, Leane, who will give you an item you bring to a specific town, and the faster you get there, the more money you'll make... the best and worst character you'll meet is a guy named Weber, who will occasionally give you a contract which allows you to become a darkling for a set amount of time, and totally destroy your opponents. The bad side is, he also has a high chance of giving you items like the big bug, which will eat all of your items unless you get rid of them, and a blackmail, which makes death come after you after so many turns.
Yes, I said death. Everytime you lose a battle, or if the Black mail gets to you, your character dies. They are then transported either back to the main castle, or the last temple your character visits. Then after a couple of turns, you character comes back to life and you can keep going. When you lose your life, you lose something in your inventory. Whether it's an item, money, or even the ownership of a town, you'll lose it. However, there's also a chance that you'll just be pranked with either a lot of face markings, or an awful haircut.
On both modes of the game, you'll find monsters on city spots. Whenever you defeat these monsters, you gain control of that town! Not only does it mean free healing services, but every day the town gains a little more tax money, which they can give to you. Also their town worth is added to you money, so it's a pretty big boost.
While you're techniquely supposed to be working together in the main game, you're free to be as bad as possible to your opponents. In fact, the back of the game case calls Dokapon Kingdom "The Friendship Destroyer," since you can literally do anything to your friends. You can assist them in multiple ways, but you can also steal from them, pull pranks, and even beat the crap outta them!
There's plenty of other things I haven't talked about, including the two, possibly three, special jobs, and other events, but then my fingers would break in two. So, for those of you who have read this, and looking for a good party game, please check it out.
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