Makai Kingdom: Chronicles of the Sacred Tome

"Haven't I played this game before?"

Right off the bat I can tell you that if you've played Disgaea before, don't bother with Makai Kingdom (MK). And if you haven't played Disgaea before, try to find a copy of it now. You will be getting a much better, much longer, much deeper title than MK, a game which cribs almost every single play mechanic it has from Disgaea while inexplicably leaving out many of the best.

The graphics and sound in this game will not blow anyone away; the 2D sprites, poorly shaped and inadequately animated, will not make happy those more interested in old-skool gaming, and the 3D backgrounds are limp and uninteresting, doubly so when all the repeating textures and colors are taken into account. And darned if the main castle theme isn't an almost EXACT replication of the Disgaea main castle theme, as well as many other tunes which you will swear you've heard before somewhere else before. I realize Nippon Ichi is merely milking a lucrative cash cow, much like Koei's Dynasty Warriors or Nintendo's Pokemon, but eventually that video game bovine has to run dry, right? Right??

At least the storyline shines, where you follow the tale of Zetta, a dark demon overlord (yes, kinda like Disgaea...) who loses his body and his kingdom, necessitating the creation of demon underlings to help fight his way back to the top for him, eventually, hopefully, getting him his form and his land back. Until then, his soul resides inside that titular Sacred Tome, from which you will make wishes to do any number of things, like creating warrior minions, erecting new dungeons, and many other things that you've done already in Disgaea. Hm, I sense a theme.

Standard SRPG gameplay abounds soon after, where you and your legion of party members go out to kick butt, making sure to protect Zetta's bookly shape from getting damaged, which will severely cripple your team if damage to him occurs. The game proceeds with several chapters and subchapters, some with random dungeon layouts and some with preset storyline battle arenas. Unlike Disgaea, however, that is pretty much all you get. No weapon dungeons, only a handful of crazy alternate endings, and only a select few NPCs to add to your party at the very very end of the game, some of whom are, shall we say, characters you've seen before. I think you know from where. Ahem. Regardless, the battling is as fun and as furious as any other Nippon Ichi title, with a kickbutt bonus gauge and crazy points-per-kill system, and SRPG fans will generally get their fill.

Unfortunately, that fill will only last you about 30-40 hours on the main storyline, and that is with me being very slow and very generous. The sidequests, in typical NIS fashion, will take you ages more, but the average gamer will have to ask himself if leveling up for an extra 20+ hours is worth it just to see a few extra (mostly bad) endings and secret characters. For this reviewer and his nearly twenty-five years of video gaming experience, no, it's not worth it.

So there you have it. If you're a NIS fan, by all means, go get this game if you don't mind a rehash of Disgaea sans the weapon dungeons and longer quest. You'll be getting a very good game with a terrific storyline. Just don't come complaining to me when you get a $50 case of deja vu...

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/12/05