Kingdom of Paradise has many good aspects that are poorly executed
Kingdom of Paradise takes place in the fictional setting of Ouka, in which five martial arts kingdoms are posed on the brink of war. The main character, Shinbu, was expelled from his clan for taking a peek at a clan text, and the game opens with him saving the last disciple from his clan, soon to become the clan leader. The story is pretty poorly paced, and in less than an hour, I met the people who killed Shinbu’s parents whom of course he couldn’t find in the first 2 decades of his life, as well as two women…from the moon. Needless to say, it goes downhill from there.
The gameplay is pretty terrible, with a live combat system based on one button. If you like dynasty warriors, you may forgive KoP, and if not then stay away. You attack with the same button you block with, and use combos given to you by scrolls called “bugei”. If you have the proper kenpu, which are talismans you pick up along the journey, you can fill the bugei with them and use that combo. This is a pretty cool idea, and encourages the player to grind for the right kenpu to make the ultimate bugei. In addition, if you use a scroll long enough, it will level up, and become more powerful. In the end, however, you’re just going to be using your chi power, which is infinitely more powerful than your bugei, and can wipe out everyone on the screen when you become powerful enough. It doesn’t really seem to fit, since there’s no real reason not to use the chi power, and it only takes a second to charge it up. Maybe if the game used magic points or something to that effect, it would balance this out, but as is the game seems a bit broken.
One of the most ridiculous parts of this game is the world map, which consists of a small island you can ring around in about 10 minutes if you avoid fighting. Since the game is supposed to give the impression of a vast land in conflict, having the Rhode Island of martial arts Kingdoms doesn’t really help the process.
The story is arguably the worst aspect of this game. The characters, Shinbu especially, are pretty lame, and don’t stand out in any particular aspect. When the game ends, you aren’t going to care about anything but that it’s over and you never have to play it ever again. The dialogue is absolutely absurd, akin to poor anime productions like Dragonball Z. People screaming and giving lines that will give you cancer, it’s enough to make you chew your own foot off.
The graphics are alright, with the animations for the different martial arts moves being above average. Some of the high level moves are particularly impressive, having Shinbu fly around and chopping bad guys.
The sound is poor, with the voice acting coming in as one of the worst I have heard. Particularly amusing is a section in which a gate guard welcomes his commander back…with a Russian accent. Dosvidanya comrade!
This game is short, easy, and difficult to recommend. Unless you have a burning desire for an action rpg on the psp, buy this in the bargain bin at your own risk.