Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero?

 
 

Super hardcore games are a dime a dozen. The incredibly difficult games of yesteryear that enjoyed a life on the NES, Genesis and Super NES have died out, leaving only a few games that wear the badge of hardcore as an honor; Ninja Gaiden, Ultimate Ghosts and Goblins, and Devil May Cry 3. So who would've thought that the next game to come along and kick you in the groin and laugh in your face would be so darn adorable doing it?

 Prinny: Can I Really Be The Hero? is a side scrolling action platformer with roots stepped deeply in retro soil. You play as the titular Prinnies, from the Disgaea game series , who are slaves to the demon Etna. See, Prinnies are the souls of people who have lead worthless lives, such as murders and thieves, and must pay penance for their deeds. Etna has realized that her favorite dessert is missing and she orders the Prinnies to fetch her the Ultra Dessert. If they do not retrieve the dessert in 10 hours, she will kill them all. So you and 999 of your friends start the trek to gain all the ingredients, and hope you wont lose too many Prinnies in the process.
 

 
 Prinny is a unique game in that you start with 1000 lives and you're going to need every one as the game is brutally hard. This is due to two main issues: the very retro level design and the controls. Levels are designed like literal pits of death. Off-screen enemies will appear in your way during a jump, turrets and walls will be placed in hellish places to impede movement, and platforms are sometimes fractions of a pixel wide. The game made me feel like I was playing Super Ghosts and Goblins again, constantly cursing and screaming at my PSP screen in frustrating. The imprecise controls don't help you either. Prinny only has two attacks; you're regular slash and a jump slash where you can rain diagonal slashes down on enemies in front of you. This wouldn't be that bad if the game gave you a ranged attack as well, as you're only option is to risk getting close up, or doing the jump slash at the proper moment. Jumping isn't any better. You can only control the arc of your jump when you first input it. So if you jump to the right, guarantee you'll be at the mercy of whatever trap is there when you land. You can double jump, but again, after you dictate that arc, you are set in stone with it. It forces you to think before you leap, just like those old NES games that made you cry as a kid.
 

  
 

You're move repertoire isn't all bad though.You can charge a spin move that will make you run faster when released and jump farther. If you push down during this, you become invincible a few seconds. You can also butt stomp enemies to stun them or use as stepping stones to get to higher secret areas.  You'll need the butt stomp particularly, as there are tons of secrets in the game. Since the game is on a timer, the time of day and weather will change as you're 10 hr time limit clocks down(it only subtracts when you enter and beat a level) and certain areas will open up in levels that you already cleared depending on what hour you are on. There's even a alternate storyline for seasoned treasure hunters.

Graphically, the game is gorgeous. It mixes beautiful 2D sprites with nicely modeled 3D environments. The levels themselves are interesting and I was always looking forward to the next area to see what other part of the Disgaea universe I could explore and awe at.  The animation of the enemies is forgettable, and you can tell most of it went into the Prinnies themselves. Their various states are all animated wonderfully, whether they are squishing themselves to duck, twirling like a ballerina, or sweating bullets.

The game is hilarious too. NIS America continues their spot on translation of there titles, with a game that has very funny and superb voice acting by the cute Prinnies and superb writing. The real gems come from the boss encounters. The Prinnies always seem to stumble onto the bosses at the wrong moment, and the dialouge exchange that ensues made me laugh out loud at parts. 

 Ultimately, Prinny: Can I Really Be The Hero? mimcs the volatile birds it's based on. It's adorable and funny on the outside, but an explosion of difficulty awaits you if you want to conquer it.