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So far there haven’t been enough great games for the PSP to justify the cost of the portable device, but it looks like things are changing. For example, X-men Legends II is a great game and port of the console version. However, that’s not the only game PSP owner’s have to look forward to because Climax Entertainment has finally released Kingdom of Paradis e . I was really looking forward to this game after reading some previews and I’m glad to say that the game turned out quite well.

The game starts with our hero Shinbu, practicing his swordsmanship when a girl bumps into him while being chased by some menacing looking baddies. Shinbu makes short work of them (I accidentally used 2 health potions at the start by the way, yay for no tutorial). After thanking Shinbu, the girl (Sui Lin) reveals that she is from Seiryu and she’s looking for a young warrior named Shinbu, who was once a Seiryu disciple, but ended up getting himself expelled from Seiryu. The Sui Lin attacked the Seiryu clan, killed off all the masters and disciples (excluding Sui Lin) and stole a very sacred sword. Sui Lin was the only survivor and is looking for Shinbu so he can aid her quest in finding the sword and reviving the Seiryu Clan. After some convincing, Shinbu agrees and that is how the story begins.

This is an RPG and interesting characters are a very important aspect in maintaining the flow of an RPG.  Kingdom of Paradise has some great characters and players should be entertained. Take Shinbu for example; apparently, Shinbu was expelled from Seiryu because he read the Ancient Monument which was forbidden. The reason why Shinbu looked at the Monument in the first place was because his master, while being sarcastic, told Shinbu to look at it. Shinbu took it literally and actually looked at it, which resulted in his exile from the Seiryu clan. 

Since this is an RPG, you should expect to be traveling, a lot. Getting from point A to point B on the map can get annoying and tedious like in most RPGs. What I really hate is that the map is not always very helpful. There will be a lot of enemies so be prepared to kick a lot of ass on your journey. Combat is not executed by menus like 

 

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turned based RPGs because Climax decided to take on the Action RPG genre. This definitely worked to their advantage because there are some really cool attacks and combos in this game.

Like I just mentioned, Kingdom of Paradise is an action RPG, so there are no turned-based battles. Shinbu can use sword strikes with just simple taps of a button. The best thing about combat is customizing. 

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Throughout the game, players can find new scrolls and can utilize them to create their very own custom combos. People who like to be creative will find something that they will like with Kingdom of Paradise because there are many different possibilities. (Hell, if I’m not satisfied with something about an action figure that I own, I will re-sculpt whatever it is that bothers me until my custom satisfies my needs. I am a very picky person when it comes to freedom of creativity and Kingdom of Paradise’s custom attack combinations keep me very happy.)

I haven’t found all the scrolls in my first play through, but I plan to play the game again whenever I can find a good guide. The one thing that might bother some people is that the game might get a little too repetitive for them, even with the great combo attack chart. The player is executing and creating custom combos, but that’s all they’ve got. There are magic moves (more on that later), but what I am trying to say is; don’t expect the game to be on caliber with an action game like Devil May Cry 3 for the PS2. In DMC3, the main character ‘Dante’ can pull off various types of combos with his weapons depending on the player’s pushing the attack button. Dante can also perform even more attacks if the player pushes the analog stick in a certain direction and taps the attack button at the same time. If you were to compare Kingdom of Paradise to DMC3, Kingdom of Paradise does fall short. However, this is a handheld game and it is an RPG so Kingdom of Paradise is a different beast than most action games and even though you're pushing the same attack button over and over again, it’s still a lot more of a rewarding experience than playing Dynasty Warriors XLV: Xtreme Legends (sorry, Dragon Warrior fanboys).

If there is one aspect about the combat that I can really hold against Kingdom of Paradise, it has to be blocking. (Block Shinbu, BLOCK DAMN YOU!) I have no idea why, but Climax thought it would be a good idea to let the attack button double as the block button. To block you have to hold down the attack button for a few seconds. The problem here is that Shinbu usually takes like three enemy strikes before he actually starts to block. This is a rather poor choice made by Climax, especially when it comes to boss battles.

Besides hacking and slashing at your enemy, Shinbu can perform powerful chi attacks. There are five different types of chi at your disposal and leveling them up is very important. To perform a chi attack, the player must hold down the square button. Shinbu then starts to charge himself up Dragon Ball Z style (with the exception of taking two hours to do it). Once fully charged, Shinbu can unleash a powerful chi attack at his enemies. Basically, think of chi attacks like magic. Players will quickly learn that chi is their greatest ally (yes, even more useful than NPC allies during battle).

Graphically, the game does have some nice models and smooth animation and it’s certainly impressive. What I really like is the character designs and the environments that they live in. You do not have to be a genius to be able to tell that the game was influenced by the culture of both the Japanese and Chinese. Just make sure you do not let the horrible box art turn you off. Shinbu looks really weird on the box and looks much better in-game. 

The game doesn’t just look impressive, but sounds impressive too. Every sounds fits the game and some voices are so-so, but for the most part; it’s very fitting. One thing I want to know though is why does Shinbu have to speak really fast sometimes? Thank God for subtitles.

Kingdom of Paradise offers some great gameplay and a good story. Best of all, it’s portable and you can take it anywhere. Fans of RPGs or Action games will find this game to their liking. It’s worth the purchase.

- J'Tonello

(January 6, 2006)

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