Little King's Story - Build a kingdom, raise an army, take over the world! - OUT NOW!

Cao Cao

Cao Cao

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Little King's Story is a collaboration project between Marvelous Entertainment, Town Factory, and Cing, directed by Yoshiro Kimura (Moon RPG Remix Adventure at Love-de-Lic, Chulip) and produced by Yasuhiro Wada (Creator of Harvest Moon). It puts the player in the shoes of a boy who, after finding a magic crown, is named king of Alpoko by the Bull Knight Howser.
Alpoko starts out as a third-world dump small kingdom with a run-down shack serving as the king's castle and a few "care-free" citizens; the king's first objectives involve finding treasure to fill the coffers, putting the citizens to work, and expanding the town. Eventually, Howser decides that the best course of action is for you to go and take over the world.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8u7px_GzWQ

It was released in Europe and Australia a few months ago (24 April 2009), where it's gotten some rave reviews, as shown at the Metacritic page. Many of the reviewers describe the gameplay as being a mix of elements from Pikmin (Throwing members of your royal guard at enemies/obstacles) and Animal Crossing (Wandering around town, talking to citizens, fulfilling posted requests). Perhaps what the reviewers praised most was the game's presentation, with oil painting-style cutscenes and in-game graphics that give it a sort of storybook look. The music is made up of a wide variety of classical scores (Bolero, William Tell Overture, Land of Hope and Glory, among others). Enemies generally stray away from the D&D/LotR orcs and goblins standard, opting more for normal baddies like sentient turnips, evil chickens, and the Onii tribe; Guardian UMAs and a diverse set of rival kings serve as bosses.

As the saying goes, appearances can be deceiving. At first glance, it looks like some game for kids, but, as many of the reviewers found, it's really a deep and addictive strategy RPG, with plenty of decisions to make and side-quests to undertake. The general playing time is pegged at around 30-60 hours if you do most of the stuff. An... interesting sense of humor is hidden underneath the cutesy exterior, as the game takes subtle and not-so-subtle jabs at subjects like politics, religion, imperialism, etc.

Overall, from what has been said about it, Little King's Story sounds like an original, charming, and entertaining concept that has fared well with the European critics. Fans of games like Harvest Moon, Pikmin, and/or Animal Crossing should check it out when it comes to the US in July.

I've tried to avoid spoilers in this post, so below is the Metacritic page in case you want to check out the reviews, along with some interviews with staff (Kimura is an interesting fellow, check 'em out), and a GT video that quickly cycles through different scenes, including some battles.

Metacritic
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Siliconera interview (Kimura)
N-Sider (Kimura)
ONM UK (Wada)
TrueGameHeadz video interview (Kimura)
Rising Star Games (EU publisher): Part 1 (Kimura), Part 2 (Character Designer Hideo Minaba)

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Kimura has been doing some interviews after the release of Little King's Story. Be aware, these interviews can be detailed and will likely contain storyline spoilers:
GamaSutra interview
411mania interview
Nintendo Norway Interview, Kimura answers Reader Questions
Joystiq TGS 2009 Interview

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NeoGAF topic
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/49802.html
E3 Trailer

North America Notes
Official US site

Kimura mentions in the Siliconera interview that the US version will have a few additions, including a monster that was designed in a fanart contest, Evil Dragoon Cat. It has also been confirmed that a harder "Tyrant" difficulty level has been added to the US version.

Pre-Order BONUS: Pre-order from Amazon.com, EB/GameStop, or GameCrazy to receive an Onii squishie figurine. You can see Kimura playing with it in the TrueGameHeadz video interview above.
Amazon
GameStop

Onii_bonusLG.jpg


"If you have two normal people standing there, and one of them says 'I KILL YOU!' and stabs the other one, that's just sad," [Yoshiro] Kimura tells us. "But if you have two little anime-cartoon cute guys, and one of them says [high-pitched voice] 'I KILL YOU!' and stabs the other one, it's serious, but it's really funny. It's the opposite of real people in games doing corny, goofy things... we have little goofy guys doing very serious things."
Click to expand...
 
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I've been looking forward to this for a long time, and its gotten some pretty favorable reviews from its Europe release, scoring close to 9/10 on average. I just hate that we have to wait 3 months for it here in the US. Seems like its a mix of play between My Life as King and Pikmin, which is certainly something to look forward to.
 
I hadn't paid much attention to this until I was reading an article in Play magazine today. Looks very interesting. I might just have to pick it up. Sheesh. First Animal Crossing, now this. My poor ignored backlog...
 
Nintendo Power's review scores were posted:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=366355&page=2

Little King’s Story (Wii) - 9.0
Virtua Tennis 2009 (Wii) - 7.0
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Wii) - 5.5
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor (DS) - 8.0
Mega Man Star Force 3 (DS) - 6.0
Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits (DS) - 7.0
The Bigs 2 (Wii) - 6.0
Dawn of Discovery (DS) - 8.5
Overlord: Minions (DS) - 7.0
Overlord Dark Legend (Wii) - 7.0
Click to expand...
 
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donny2112 of NeoGAF summarized NP's review:
[quote name='donny2112'] * "Little King's Story is a deep, addictive, and thoroughly enjoyable effort that every serious gamer should experience."
* "It's two parts Pikmin, one part Animal Crossing, and one part SimCity - a winning formula concocted with the kind of TLC you'd find in one of Nintendo's first-party titles."
* Side quests and other diversions can take "hours and hours" of gametime.
* "you'll find yourself saying "just a few more minutes" until it's suddenly 2 o'clock in the morning."
* Graphics have a charming style versus being technically impressive.
* You can get attached to your subjects, which can make it hard if they die in battle. Sometimes they'll wash up alive on the shore the next day, though.
* "quite funny thanks to some clever writing and motley crew of eccentric bosses."
* "Tying everything together is a sublime classical soundtrack that fits the proceedings like a glove."
* Camera doesn't always cooperate, but it rarely detracted from the fun.
* No motion controls whatsoever.[/quote]
 
Looks like a definite buy, though I'm not sure at release (I'm surprised to see it is a $50 game!).
 
Quick update:
Little King's Story has gone gold for the US, so it is almost certain that it will release on July 21st as planned. Also, Hero of Legend was able to get confirmation from XSeed that a harder difficulty level will be added to the US version, the "Tyrant" difficulty setting.
 
The last thing I need to do is buy more games. I mean, 3 of my 9 Wii games are unopened at this point. But the game looks so damn fun...
 
This looks great, but I'm not so sure about buying it at launch.

Edit: Scratch that, the reviews are fantastic, preordered at Amazon.
 
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[quote name='botticus']Preparing shipment at Amazon, woohoo.[/QUOTE]


Just saw that this morning. I'm assuming it's next day delivery for Prime users?
 
You know, I'll go ahead and buy this one to support Xseed. I figure I owe them at least that since they're bringing over Riz-Zoawd.
 
[quote name='BlueLobstah']Just saw that this morning. I'm assuming it's next day delivery for Prime users?[/QUOTE]
If you did the free upgrade to Release Date Delivery, it certainly better be.
 
[quote name='BlueLobstah']Just saw that this morning. I'm assuming it's next day delivery for Prime users?[/QUOTE]

Since it was release date delivery, yes, it will arrive tomorrow for Prime users who pre-ordered. (EDIT: Damn, beat by botticus)



Can't wait for it to arrive. This will be the last game I purchase for a while, so I hope it helps keep my attention for quite a while on top of a few other games. Regardless, the reviews and impressions so far have been good and it was hard to pass up at $40.
 
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Mine shipped. I did super saver shipping, and it's estimated to arrive on Monday, but I'd imagine it'll be here Friday, knowing Amazon.
 
Ordered it last night along with the MadWorld DotD, right after the DotD appeared. Immediately after checking out, I sent off an e-mail to Amazon asking if my order was still eligible to receive the Onii squishy figure. They replied with a standard form "It was 'while supplies last'... blah blah blah... It might come with the order, but we cannot guarantee it."
 
Pondering just wrapping up The Conduit this week and saving LKS for the weekend, when I should have some blocks of time to set aside for it. We'll see how I feel when I find it on my doorstep in a half hour.
 
Mine is showing as delivered this afternoon. I am hyped.

I'm not sure why, but this is the first time I've been this stoked for a game since Brawl. I can't wait to get off work and play it.
 
Wal-Mart's website lists it (now OOS) but doesn't have the store locator option. Gamestop's site has it in stock but says no stores within 100 miles of me have it in stock. :(
 
[quote name='BlueLobstah']Mine is showing as delivered this afternoon. I am hyped.

I'm not sure why, but this is the first time I've been this stoked for a game since Brawl. I can't wait to get off work and play it.[/QUOTE]
Heh, this is probably my most hyped game since... the start of the generation. Been looking forward to it since it was announced as just a concept. It's been a slow gen for me. :D

But I'll make myself suffer until I have plenty of time to spend on it.
 
I'm only about 4 hours into the game, but my expectations of the game were matched. The game is a charming, well thought out addition to the Wii, and I have a feeling it will be my favorite game this year.

The game itself does certainly gain some inspiration from Pikmin, but only more or less borrowing some of the game-play with its own little twist. Think of this as a title purely in the Pikmin genre but with a little more depth and flexibility. It's really a mix of Pikmin/Harvest Moon/RTS. You control a small army of devotees which you can then assign different jobs which each have their own special ability, all with the task of conquering the world. Later on in the game, you can begin to equip some of your citizens with equipment, boosting or adding special abilities. For your town, you have to collect resources and treasure in order to afford new shops for new jobs. AFAIK, the locations of all of the buildings are pre-selected, but its still exciting to see your town built up with citizens.

I'm only a couple of hours in, but it was difficult to put it down. Tomorrow is going to be a long day at work.

I only have a few complaints, but they're related to controls. The gameplay itself is otherwise very solid.

If you're on the border about picking up this game, do it. This game doesn't have a big publisher, advertising or marketing behind it, so it is going to need every little bit of word of mouth in order to be successful. For some reason, I have a feeling the title isn't going to do well so I want to try to hype it up as much as possible. This is definitely worth the full price.
 
[quote name='BlueLobstah']AFAIK, the locations of all of the buildings are pre-selected, but its still exciting to see your town built up with citizens.[/QUOTE]
This makes me really happy. I hated having to manage the logistics of building a town in A Kingdom For Keflings.
 
Whew, thought cannons were useless until I found out you need to use carpenters on them out in the wild for outside of town access.

Going up stairs with a bunch of people is a pain (but defensive tactics seem to work best oddly enough...). Also it's a bit of a pain to target specific things sometimes.

EDIT: Metal Uni's are difficult and the "Fat" boss is quite interesting... but how the hell am I suppose to beat him without losing my entire army? ~_~
 
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[quote name='Draekon']Going up stairs with a bunch of people is a pain (but defensive tactics seem to work best oddly enough...). Also it's a bit of a pain to target specific things sometimes.[/QUOTE]


Not the best method, but I found if you corral in front of the stairs, then throw them all up seems to work best for getting everyone across.

Also, I noticed that for boss battles it doesn't seem like you can lose anyone, so feel free to go all out.
 
[quote name='BlueLobstah']Also, I noticed that for boss battles it doesn't seem like you can lose anyone, so feel free to go all out.[/QUOTE]

Your people do die but they'll repopulate until you hit maximum allowed population. Although their "health" stat will be completely random. I think anyways. Nevermind, you're correct.

The problem with this boss is that it's very unique. I guess I should have done more side quests to aquire more items to equip as characters with 10 health doesn't seem to be enough. I did find out how to beat the boss, but it's still tough because I apparently just suck at how this boss works. When you fight the boss in the land of the sweets, you'll likely know my woes. :p

Oh and you can get the boss as low as 50kg, but it's a pain to hit at that weight. Don't think it's possible to run away from the fight once you trigger it like other bosses too.

EDIT: Beat the boss finally, but lost 10 of my 17 people. Sad face. ~_~
EDIT 2: WTTTTTTTTTTTTTF @ THE SCENES AFTER THAT BOSS... MY KING IS NOW TAINTED.
 
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Started this up tonight. Got far enough to marry two of my soldiers, and then I promptly got a farmer killed by a cow. :( I'll be restarting that part tomorrow.

So far I love it.

Is there any easy way to find out who's ready to get hitched? They named the two soldiers who were in love, but then they mentioned "other citizens" and I don't know of any way to find that out.
 
[quote name='botticus']Started this up tonight. Got far enough to marry two of my soldiers, and then I promptly got a farmer killed by a cow. :( I'll be restarting that part tomorrow.



Is there any easy way to find out who's ready to get hitched? They named the two soldiers who were in love, but then they mentioned "other citizens" and I don't know of any way to find that out.[/QUOTE]

Dead citizens come back to life in about two days. Although it does drain your money when they die (50k per death I think?). All equipped items on the dead characters are returned to you and you'll need to re-equip them if you want to use them again.



You can marry citizens? Really? I've seen the hearts but never approached them.
 
Anyone who's playing the game have an opinion on the lack of pointer controls? I get the "yay, no motion control" mentality, but this game seems like it's crying out for controls like in "New Play Control Pikmin." Any thoughts?
 
While I'd prefer the pointer, I think the only benefit would be knowing where you're aiming without having to hit the Z button/not having to actually turn to change direction. There's only one distance at which people are thrown, so pointing wouldn't be much more precise.

[quote name='Draekon']
You can marry citizens? Really? I've seen the hearts but never approached them.[/QUOTE]Day after my church was built, I was told that my people were falling in love. But I didn't even see hearts over the people I married.
 
to get people married need to get a church.

for me best way to figure out if someone can marry put everyone in your party and send them all in the church at the same time. If someone can marry it will happen and repeat until no more marriages happen.

very fun game :)
 
[quote name='botticus']While I'd prefer the pointer, I think the only benefit would be knowing where you're aiming without having to hit the Z button/not having to actually turn to change direction. There's only one distance at which people are thrown, so pointing wouldn't be much more precise.[/QUOTE]

Exactly the kind of info I was hoping for -- thanks.

Guess I *have* to buy this now. /wallet
 
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