"I find myself hating it as much as loving it!"

I don't think that I have ever been so hopeful for a game, only to be let down so much... yet still love the game.

I thought Kingdom of Paradise would be the PSP game answer to movies like Crouching Tiger, Hero, and endless Shaw Brothers films. Instead, it comes off a bit too anime, and has and odd sense of fantasy and humor that I can;t say I like too much. Yet, the gameplay and style are solid, and they are very hard not to enjoy.

Gameplay: The game plays like a platform game with button mashing attacks. No lie. Too bad, because I was hoping for a tactical swordplay game, ala Bushido Blade. Instead, you spend a lot of time and energy collecting scrolls (with each are assigned to a move), to link together into styles/combos, then spend even more time to figure out how to use the system (worse learning curve than materia in FF7 or move sets in Legend of Legaia), only to find out the moves are all launched by pounding on O as many times as you can. No timing, no Street Fighter codes, just pounding away. The fights thankfully break up long bouts of running between areas. Free Running? Maybe. It gets old fast. Even in the opening segment you wake up in an Inn only to have to run a long way back to the temple you were just in.

What's worse is that fights play out like Renegade, Double Dragon, or any other brawler... a pseudo 3D field where the hero can only run and attack... not even jump! And blocking is a total chore... to use defense you hold down the only action button the game uses, O (unless you count [] which is used for Chi spells). The problem is, although the defensive moves are sweet (blocking, back flips, and so on), it takes the game a second to recognize the command... meaning you get hammered with 3 hits before defense kicks in. And forget about blocking in anticipation of the blow... it just doesn't work. The combos are fun to switch, and there is some nonsense about mismatching elements in a rock-paper-scissors manner (like Pokemon). You can switch between preset combos on teh fly using R1... nice button mapping that comes in handy. You can also switch between 6 items using L1... also handy. The problem is if you set, say, revive drops (heal potion) to one of the 6 slots.. and pick up a potion after a fight, it does not add to the count. You have to manually go in and drag the items together to condense them into one slot. Sort of disappointing and pointless.

One last good and bad (this game is full of dichotomies); the save feature. You can save at any point, which is awesome for a portable system. That was well thought out... the problem is the game never cues you to save, and there is no auto save. You have to access the menu to save... or face going WAY far back to replay a lot of running and talking. I had to fight the first boss 4 times.. and the first two I forgot to save so I had a lot of running to do. It gets old. FAST.

Look: The game looks amazing. The levels seem bigger than they are, and it does seem like you are interacting with a living world. The graphics are fantastic, and a great level of detail is paid to the backgrounds. The characters, however, turn cookie cutter fast. The moves look fantastic, each flowing seemlessly into the next in combos, and over the top spells also amaze. The problem is, the usual enemies are too weak for you to see all the moves in the chain... they often die 2 or 3 hits into your hard earned combo. And once you get the freestyle scrolls, there is a lot of micromanaging to do... which adds some much appreciated depth and customization. In the end, however, even a masterfully planned freestyle scroll is just as effective as any of the game's many cookie cutter ones. On the other hand, the Chi spells take less effort to set up, more use and effort to build up, look less wonderful, but are far more powerful than the martial arts. You have to decide early if you want to treat yourself to some fun and varied martial arts combos (and there are a TON of beautiful moves here), or if you would rather to win battles with less effort and stress by using Chi arts.

Pace: The game spends a lot of time in annoying, slow paced voice acting... and the acting is bad. I wish they would have left the Japanese audio in as an option, like Disgaea did. At least there would be some mystique... As I mentioned, the game milks time by making you run all over Ouka (the country the game takes place). Literally, run. And its a long run between each objective. You get so sick of running... even 1 hour into the game I was already frustrated.

Sound: Again, both bad and good at the same time. The voice acting is hit and miss, with the main character's being the worst. The sound of footsteps gets so annoying... rhythimcally timed "bump bump bump" that sounds like anything but cloth boots on dirt. The sounds changed when you run over wood, bridges, and so on... and the sound they make over puddles sounds great. So hit and miss, this game. The fighting sounds are cool, and sound like a wuxia movie... the swords sing as they class... but the enemies cries are so static, so THE SAME! Ugh.

Story: The story is good, I won't go into it too much (the game is much too short to just be ruined by a reviewer!). I will say that the game flirts with losing its cool ancient China/Japan feel rather often, by the appearance of Final Fantasy-esque monsters. Only 50 minutes or so into the game you run into a mid-boss which is giant purple scorpion. But just before that you fight the first real boss of the game, which is insanely hard (until you figure out the semi-useful defensive button), and just after you face two lecherous brothers (ala any kung fu, samurai, or wuxia pic). So I guess what I am trying to say is that it soon rights itself after straying into high fantasy. All of the Eastern themes are present; honor, revenge, retribution, loyalty, and the search for perfection in your art. The problem comes in the character interactions... they all too often forget they just met, and are totally familiar with one another. Then mystery sets in again... Confusing.

The story also forgets to tie up some continuity problems... for instance, the first "reveal" in the game is when the head of the temple gives you your fathers sword, which strengthens your resolve to take on the quest... the problem is, just 5 minutes before that you were fighting of bad guys with that SAME DAMN SWORD!

Extras: Again, a mixed bag. Regardless of what people have said, the password system is sort of cool for unlocking extras. The problem is, Sony decided not to localize this feature. The passwords are on the Japanese "Tenchi no Mon" website, and in Japanese. The only way to activate them (for now) on the US game is to figure out what keystrokes match the would be characters from a Japanese direct entry keyboard. I posted 3 that I found on another board earlier today, and they work well... but what an oversight on Sony's part. One thing I think is dumb about the password system is that instead of unlocking secrets already on the UMD, you have to be "live" on infrastructure to input the password, and download the "key" data to the secret item. What? Sort of unfair to those PSP owners who do not have wireless acess... and sort of a long, pointless process (you look up password on a PC, log onto net with PSP, enter password, and download the secret). I guess the reason this is done is so that the game is not limited in its extras by what was included at launch... they can forever add new items. But... with the game being less than 20 hours, I don't see the need for a bunch of skill enhancing items (especially since they do not change your character model's look at all!).

The Ad Hoc fighting was a nice addition (how many of us even are lucky enough to use Ad Hoc on any game?), but the game equalizes both fighters to the same level... basically ruining the fun of showing off your accomplishments. In game, there are little thrills. You can buy/find other swords, but the camera is far enough away to not show them off. Its no .Hack or Radiata Stories. And there is no hope in wielding all those cool wuxia weapons (sigh... I was hoping for a flying guillotine). Ad Hoc features also allow you to trade scrolls with other players, which is cool in theory... I love that the programmers add all sorts of cool extras... I just wonder how many use them.

Conclusion: It may seem like I didn't like the game, but I do. It is completely fun, and more rewarding than most. It is original in all the right ways, and it is very pretty to look at. The problem is in expectations and execution. It is not for hard-core gamers who like depth in fighting, depth in story, and complex customization. But it is easy to pick up and play, even with its confusing scroll system and non-existant password system. It is worth buying, but I had hoped for more... more story, more freedom of movement, more technique, and more customization. Even 10 hours into the game, when I start to feel that I was mistaken in my negativity towards it, I find myself doing the Free Running thing, hopelessly grasping to find the next waypoint (the diary and map are both often worthless in helping you realize what you are to do next), making me further frustrated with a game that looks and plays very well, and should have been epic. In the end, 2 games that I wasn't even planning on buying (X-Men Legends 2 and SOCOM) ended up being fantastic, and offering me much more than I hoped for. It was painful to wait so long for a game (and then have such trouble getting it), only to have it disappoint.

I give it a 8 out of 10.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/21/05