Makai Kingdom due in Europe
Disgaea fans take note!
Koei plans to continue its admirable policy of releasing Nippon Ichi's delightful role-playing games in Europe by publishing Makai Kingdom: Chronicle of the Sacred Tome for PS2 on October 28th.
Makai Kingdom continues to explore the Netherworld that gamers encountered in the highly acclaimed Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, another Koei release in Europe, and promises to be just as amusing and inventive as its forerunner.
Although at first glance it sounds like the usual waffle - Netherworld ruler Lord Zetta is cast out, is fused with a Sacred Tome, and has to try and regain his lands while fending off the machinations of three evil overlords - it should be a lot more interesting and amusing than that.
Unlike Square Enix's grandstanding Final Fantasy efforts, which rely on visual splendour as much as anything to underscore their grandiosity, Makai Kingdom appears quite old-fashioned - but uses this approach to allow for randomly generated battle maps.
Fighting the bad guys of the day will involve commanding an army - summoning them (using the 'INVITE system') to your side for support - and fending off nasties using everything from broadswords to rocket launchers. It also borrows characteristics from Nippon Ichi's other titles, including another game we liked, Phantom Brave.
On the whole then, "one for the fans", but as long as Koei keeps channelling Nippon Ichi in this territory, we're confident there will be decidedly more of them when the next chapter rolls around. Bless you, Koei.