Makai Kingdom: Chronicles Of The Sacred Tome
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| Makai Kingdom: Chronicles of the Sacred Tome | |
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| Developer(s) | Nippon Ichi Software |
| Publisher(s) |   Nippon Ichi Software KOEI Ltd |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 |
| Release date | JP March 17, 2005 |
| Genre(s) | Tactical RPG |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | CERO: All Ages (A) ESRB: T (Teen) (13+) PEGI: 12+ |
| Media | 1 CD-ROM 1 DVD-ROM |
| Input methods | DualShock Controller |
Makai Kingdom: Chronicles of the Sacred Tome, released in Japan as Phantom Kingdom (ファントム・キングダム Fantomu Kingudamu?), is a tactical role-playing game developed and published by Nippon Ichi Software for the Sony PlayStation 2 video game console. It was released in 2005.
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[edit] Plot
The story's protagonist is a self-proclaimed "Bad-ass Freakin' Overlord" named Zetta, who attempts to prevent the destruction of his world prophesized by Pram the Oracle. After discovering the Sacred Tome, Zetta finds a passage claiming that his own stupidity would be the downfall of his Netherworld. Infuriated, he burns the book, only to remember immediately afterwards that destroying the book would destroy his world. He quickly responds by confining his soul to the Sacred Tome and ventures to rewrite his world into existence by having the other Overlords of Netherworlds write wishes within his pages.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Overlords
- Overlord Zetta (Seiyū: Takehito Koyasu English Voice: Crispin Freeman) - Zetta is, in his own words, "the most badass freakin' Overlord in the cosmos". Though not too bright, Zetta makes up for his shortcoming with sheer power and attitude. (This is reflected ingame as he has the highest stats among the characters.) Even though he's gone through a major physical change, his personality hasn't really changed. Zetta later appears in Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories and in Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness as a hidden boss.
- Pram the Oracle (Seiyū: Kaori Mizuhashi) - Pram is the youngest Overlord in the cosmos, having managed to take over her father's Netherworld when she was only two. While she stands out for her ability to predict the future and her sheer level of power, it is said that she possesses another rare ability among the Overlords - Shapeshifting - though no one can truly verify this. Rumors say that she has only used it once. She is later referenced in Disgaea 2.
- Dark Lord Valvoga - Dark Lord Valvoga is actually three Overlords in one, consisting of Micky the Demon General, Ophelia the Fallen Angel, and Dryzen the Star Dragon. Valvoga is often summoned to be the "last boss" in various video games. Micky forms the upper body, Dryzen forms the lower body in the form of a gigantic dragon skull with a glowing red orb within its mouth, and Ophelia forms herself into a head in a hole in Dryzen's skull, placing herself directly in the center of the "body".
- Micky (Seiyū: Tesshō Genda) - While Micky is technically the one in charge of the body, he is often manipulated by other Overlords, Dryzen and Ophelia in particular, because of his timidness.
- Ophelia (Seiyū: Miki Narahashi) - Ophelia tends to be the "brains" behind any operation Valvoga does, and tends to be rather subtle in her manipulations. Whenever someone else tries to manipulate or pressure Micky, Ophelia steps in, though she is primarily doing it out of self-interest, as no one controls Valvolga but those who are part of Valvolga. At the end of the game she is revealed to be the mysterious force in the game known as "The One", but of course nobody else in the game knows this.
- Dryzen (Seiyū: Takashi Nagasako) - Dryzen bullies around Micky because it's fun, as well as when it benefits himself. Dryzen is massive and insane, with his most common statement tends to be little more than "Kill!".
- Alexander the God of Destruction (Seiyū: Kenji Nojima) - Alexander is Zetta's chief rival. As Overlords constantly wish to expand, many Overlords attempt to conquer other Netherworlds, and Alex is no exception. Alex has attempted to take over Zetta's Netherworld hundreds of times, and employed over a thousand assassins, but have yet succeeded. While Zetta considers this proof that he won, Alex claims that the fact that Zetta hasn't taken over his Netherworld is proof that the battle's been a draw, and that he can still kill off Zetta at any time. Even with Zetta being trapped in a book and his Netherworld destroyed, Alex continues to try and kill Zetta, in an attempt to claim the title of Strongest Overlord. Zetta refers to him as an "Asshat". Alexander later appears in Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories as a cameo appearance.
- Salome the Traitor (Seiyū: Ai Orikasa) - Salome is Zetta's former apprentice who gave up her humanity to live in the Netherworld. Despite having immense power, she has an unnaturally small amount of Mana power, which creatures require to survive in the Netherworld, leaving her body to die slowly. However, she intends to keep this a secret from everyone - especially Lord Zetta.
- King Drake the Third (Seiyū: Norio Wakamoto) - King Drake the Third is a lion Overlord who is generally considered to be the most charismatic of the Overlords, though most of the other Overlords just consider him an idiot. Despite his claims of being a great hero, Drake has no compunction with manipulating things to his own advantage, even taking advantage of an enemy when they're sleeping. Drake is the game's 'silly character', even to the point that if you are to unlock him, his proficient weapons are odd, such as Pie.
- Seedle (Seiyū: Shūichi Ikeda) - Demon Overlord Seedle is the Overlord of the Underworld. Though he was once an honorable samurai, said to be a part of a party of Braves, a reference to Phantom Brave, the circumstances of his death left him filled with an unnatural fury, allowing him to force his way into becoming Overlord. In addition, he seems to hold an unknown link to Salome.
- Babylon (Seiyū: Takeshi Aono) - The massive Dragon Overlord Babylon is the oldest Overlord in the cosmos and once ruled over it all. His wisdom and size gave him an advantage over almost everyone. He used to have near limitless mana power when he was younger, but he lost it all after he was cursed by a mysterious being known only as "The One". The strain of resisting the curse left him battered and a shadow of his former self. From there, he slowly wasted away over millenniums, eventually becoming senile, forgetful, and half-blind. He does command some degree of respect from the other overlords, even the egotistical Zetta.
[edit] Others
- Raiden - Raiden is Alexander's servant, an assassin charged with the task of killing Zetta. He is a demon of few words and is powerful for a non-Overlord. His name, appearance, and favored weapon set (Drum) are a reference to Raijin, the Japanese god of thunder.
- Trenia (Seiyū: Mamiko Noto) - Trenia is a mysterious young girl who seems to know more about what's going on than she lets on. She does not act like an Overlord, though she is able to exist in the space outside of the Netherworlds, where only Overlords should be able to exist. She loves to tease the other overlords and always retains a carefree and ditzy attitude. She also appears several times with a Cat Kid monster following her around. She has ADD (or a small attention span) and will often run off to chase butterflies. She is in fact the soul of the Sacred Tome which was pushed out when Zetta confined his own to the book.
[edit] Gameplay
The gameplay is somewhat similar to the gameplay found in Phantom Brave and Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, other games created by Nippon Ichi. The characters summoned in battle have freedom to move within a circle set by the characters' movement points. Victory is achieved by scoring a set amount of points, which are given by interacting with items on the map, discovering extension maps, and eliminating enemies. Several of the classes from Disgaea: Hour of Darkness exist in this game as well, such as Warrior and Mage, but some of the equivalents of previous classes are different. Some classes also have distinctions between sexes.
There are a variety of weapon types, each with their own expansive sets. Characters can equip armor and various other accessories to aid in combat. Each class has four weapon types in which they are proficient, and can learn new moves to use in combat as characters master the weapons.
Vehicles are a new addition from previous Nippon Ichi games. They are similar to moving, battle-capable buildings. They vary in size, shape, and purpose, but are generally faster than travelling on foot. Vehicles can damage opponents and can level-up. However, levelling a vehicle is different from levelling a character.
Much of maps in the game are randomly generated. While, in many cases, the first map in a storyline mission is pre-set, the "extensions" to the map are often randomly generated. The randomly generated maps creates the potential to have vastly different situations even when replaying the same map. Within the game, there are two separate types of extensions: "Locked" and "Secret". While both extensions can be revealed by throwing something out of bounds into the extension, "Locked" extensions can also be unlocked by destroying a specific unit on the field, which is marked with an icon saying "Key".
Once an extension is revealed, there may occasionally be "special events" which occur as soon as the extension is unlocked. While many special events simply affect the enemies that appear in the extension, others will paralyze everyone on the battlefield, put everyone to sleep, or other effects.
[edit] Setting
The game's characters hail from alternate universes, which Pram describes very clearly at the beginning of the game:
"There is, of course, more than one universe. In one such world, in the corner of a backwater galaxy, humans rule over a senseless planet. However, that's about as important as a speck of dust in this pluralistic cosmos. Here in the Netherworld, things work the same way.
Even though many of the characters come from different worlds, all of the universes and their characters exist within the same story continuity.
Makai Kingdom's multiverse helps expand on some of the elements of alternate dimensions mentioned in Nippon Ichi's other games centered around demonic Overlords, Disgaea. Every universe has its own Netherworld, therefore many Overlords exist in this continuity to vie for power.
In Makai Kingdom, characters from previous Nippon Ichi games (Disgaea and Phantom Brave) may make appearances as challengers to Lord Zetta. The characters from Disgaea, ie Laharl and Flonne, are treated basically the same as the other Overlord story-characters - they hail from another Netherworld and are seeking power, revenge, or 'love and justice'. The characters who arrive in Zetta's Netherworld from the Phantom Brave world are transported there by a powerful being from the Phantom Brave story.
