Pocket Kingdom: Own The World

Imagine an RPG where you don't get involved with the battles. You don't swing a sword, cast a spell, or even shift through menus or gray-colored windows. Sounds pretty boring, right? On a home console it probably would be. On the PC it would be laughed at for not giving the player a significant amount of interactivity.

But on the N-Gage this unusual RPG is turning naysayers into addicts. If marketed properly, it could easily turn N-Gage critics into people who can't leave their home without one.

Pocket Kingdom: Own the World isn't really a game where you aspire to take over the world and become all-powerful. You may become all-powerful, but your over-the-world-taking is scaled down to a pint-sized planet with very little depth. (Visually, as in dungeons and forests and other areas you'd typically see in a role-playing game). This world is flat, cartoony, and location selection is limited to a 2D map of cookie-cutter castles. This doesn't sound like the game I make it out to be, does it?

I knew very little about Pocket Kingdom: Own the World prior to reviewing it. That was good because I didn't have to listen to someone telling me how great it is, only to roll my eyes when I hear the game's description. But it really is addictive. Those who are doubtful will be extremely surprised; those with higher expectations will still be amazed at what the game can do. Within minutes of selecting units (which are limited to two types when the game begins), weapons and other gear, you'll find yourself committed to a game that isn't far beyond the 8-bit era.

Gameplay shots reveal that the battles are viewed from the side, something that's not typical of an RPG. As fists are thrown, swords are swung, and spells are cast, Pocket Kingdom begins to look an awful lot like a role-playing version of Street Fighter. That would be a great idea actually, and might be just what we'd get if the sequel had battles that were a bit more interactive. In this version all you can do is move the camera left and right to keep track of each of the characters. All battle decisions are made before the battles begin. Besides selecting the most appropriate units and weapons, party formation is another important element.

Contrary to what you might think, Pocket Kingdom doesn't become an entertainment-less bore during the uncontrollable battle sequence. Instead the game is quite the opposite as you watch your men duke it out with a number of powerful monsters and sorcerers. Beasts, with their damaging close-combat attacks, and spell casters, who can attack your party from a great distance, immobilizing them before they have the chance to do anything.

It's the horse-racing phenomenon that turns spectating into something that's entertaining. You think it's boring; sitting and watching while the horse (your fighters) gets out there and runs to the finish line. It becomes exciting when the horse gains money and experience (increase statistics) from his success. Your choices before the race affect how things turn out later. How much money you make will be determined by the amount of time you're willing spend training (leveling up) your horse. In turn, the level/experience of your house determines how many races you'll win (enemies you'll defeat) and how many championships you'll reach (the number of places you'll explore). It's very much a gambler's game. Lose all your dough and it's game over.

Play the single-player mode for a while and you'll obtain the Online Crest, which opens the locked N-Gage Arena mode. Most N-Gage Arena-enabled games don't offer true multiplayer gaming. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater had a ghost-race mode where you could try and beat other player's best time limit. It didn't take long for it to lose its appeal.

Pocket Kingdom: Own the World does what no other has and allows you to battle with real gamers in real-time. Not just the friend sitting next to you, or the gamer who lives next door, but everyone who's logged into the N-Gage Arena network.

Like Pokemon, multiplayer is not as exciting as the single-player aspect. It's more fun to build your army offline than it is to demonstrate its power online. However, both go hand-in-hand in creating entertainment.

Gameplay: 8.5
Not so much playing as guiding. You don't interact with the characters; you influence them. It's hard to believe that a game like that would be fun when we've had interactive, real-time RPGs for well over a decade. But like the Pokemon phenomenon, not everything can be explained. Pocket Kingdom: Own the World is fun because it's fun. There's no logic behind it other than that the developers found a way to make an RPG as simple as possible and with as little gameplay as possible and still keep us hooked to our N-Gage's.

They also found a way to make it challenging. Now that's an achievement.

Graphics: 6.0
Same old 2D graphics. Nothing new to see except for the battles, which look like they came from a NeoGeo Pocket fighting game.

Sound: 7.0
Moderately impressive music, slightly impressive sound effects. I kept the sound off most of the time.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 7.9
Not a new kind of game, but a variation of what we've experienced before. The final product is better than the concept, which wouldn't have been my idea of a good RPG had you told me about it when it first began development.

The idea of going online and battling thousands of people across the globe is great. But since the battles are view-only, it doesn't feel like you're battling a real person. It doesn't feel like you're battling anyone.

Multiplayer: 7.5
Fun and innovative (technology), but lacking in real gameplay, Pocket Kingdom's multiplayer battles won't hold your interest for nearly as long as EverQuest. The multiplayer experience would be much more engrossing if you had control over your party during battle. That would make it feel more like a multiplayer game, instead for a simplistic video that was pre-taped.

Overall: 8.2
Own an N-Gage? Then you gotta Own the World – Pocket Kingdom's world. I'm not sure what you expected to get out of your N-Gage, but you can be certain that Pocket Kingdom wasn't it. It's not revolutionary, it's not graphically advanced, nor does it offer a new type of gameplay. What it gives you is a different take on a genre that hasn't been promoted as much as it was in the late 90s. Being different can make an RPG go either way, but with Pocket Kingdom Sega hit the bull's eye.