PSP needs more games like this one...
And what I mean by that is more fun, original, pick up and play franchises like Kingdom of Paradise that really shine a light on the features that make the PSP a worthwhile system to own.
Kingdom of Paradise is, at it's core, an action-RPG that runs pretty steadily along side similar games like Castlevania: SotN or Dynasty Warriors, but it has more than enough sense of self and style to make it feel like something unique. The story follows the hero "Shinbu" an exiled warrior from one of the five elemental clans within the quasi-Chinese world of "Ouka". He's returning home for a visit when he finds himself saving the life a girl named "Sui Lin" (a fellow member of his former clan) which eventually leads him into uncovering an evil plot to steal the "sacred swords" of all five clans in order to gain the "ultimate power". It's a pretty cliché plot, but you meet enough interesting allies, enemies, and plot twists along the way to make it a fun experience.
The positives with this game are high, with only a few minor nits worth picking that just barely take away from the overall experience. The positives come in the way of audio/visual and some of its more unique game mechanics. To say that the game looks pretty, when considering that you're holding a handheld, is a massive understatement. The world of Ouka is flat out vibrant with color. Bright jade greens, ruby reds, indigo purples, it's all here and it's a very fun world to run around in. That's a good thing because later in the game there is a fair amount of back tracking, but the game has enough variety of enjoyable vistas to take in that I didn't find myself annoyed as much as I probably should have. The bright palette of colors also helps make the battles seem that much more enjoyable and really make the boss battles seem like something special. KoP gets a big thumb up from an art direction standpoint. Ouka actually feels like an ancient Chinese world brought to life, but as the more extreme powers and villains are brought forward it begins to take on a much more classic epic-RPG feel.
The audio is also a high water mark because it does everything right and very little wrong. The soundtrack is a spot-on shadow of the visual presentation with lots of Eastern style sounding string instruments like guzhengs and pipas. The voice over work is also pretty adequate for an import game such as this. Some of the dialogue comes off as pretty silly, especially things like screaming, but all in all it has a very dubbed anime feel to it. It's not the best voice delivery, but it's far from the worst. I was also a little shocked that, for a "T" rated game, it has some pretty strong language through out. It's nothing that's going to stir up controversy, but having someone tell a villain to, "eat *feces* and die" or having that enemy making unsavory comments about one of the heroes lack of pubic hair is something you don't hear every day in a fantasy-style RPG.
As for the gameplay, with a few balancing tweaks, could have been perfect, but what is here is well worth the the time to experience. Battles moves end up being sword moves along the line of something like Ninja Gaiden, but with customization that goes up and far over the wall of anything similar. As the game progresses you earn "bugei" scrolls which are in essence a string of predetermined sword strokes making up a full attack move. Each bugei scroll has a series of "kenpu" numbers that you can pick up from various enemies after defeating them. The more kenpu you collect, the more moves you can open up on that particular bugei scroll. You get to assign up to six of those scrolls to your attack menu and they can be changed on the fly during battle. There are literally hundreds of different kenpu and as you pick up "freestyle" scrolls, that allow you to mix and match any kenpu you like, the fighting system just really opens up to thousands of different combinations. It's VERY deep, but not to the point of being overly complicated or confusing. It's as simple or as complex as you want it to be.
The aspect of gameplay that I thought could have used balancing is the "Chi Arts" attack, or this game's version of magic attacks. They are elemental attacks that you pick up as the game progresses, but tend to be far too powerful for their own good. They can be fully charged within a few seconds and can literally clear the screen with one press of the square button. This feature could have worked a bit better if the chi gauge required a cool down period before it's available again or the power of the chi would level along with Shinbu. Unfortunately it's pretty easy to unlock the level 3 chi arts (with a little patience) which in turn takes away quite a lot of the fun that can be had with the bugei sword fighting mechanic. Chi ends up being a major challenge crutch if you let it.
The other added feature that makes this game help the PSP seem more like a legitimate platform are some of its downloadable aspects. With various codes players are allowed to download cool extras like weapons, armor, and kenpu. It has the very much required "save anywhere" feature too, which relieved my stress level more than a time or two along the way. If the game had only offered up something like a leader board it would have been all the more sweet. It's also a very nice thing to play a game that absolutely feels as if it were built from the ground up for the PSP. Nothing feels shoehorned or irrelevant and the game feels as if SCEA put a boat load of care into making this game a really unique original showpiece for the PSP.
In the end Kingdom of Paradise has all the marking of really great game, portable or otherwise. It has a fantastic art direction filled with fun and unique characters and a worthwhile storyline. It has a unique fighting mechanic with an almost addictive Pokemon-style of fighting moves and most importantly it shows that the PSP has a lot of untapped potential. KoP is totally worth your time if you're a fan of action/fighting/RPGs and anyone with a PSP should at least give it a rental.
+Deep, customizable, fighting system
+Nicely designed world and characters
+Fairly engrossing storyline
+Fun and useful downloadable content
-Moments of really weak voice acting and dialogue
-Overuse of the magic system can break the game's challenge