New Little King's Story

The last thing I expected out of a sequel to Little King’s Story was a bad game.  New Little King’s Story isn't bad, but it isn't good and it isn't a sequel either.  In fact, I’m not sure what they were going for here.  It’s the same game, except with a neutered and dull art style, a few bosses changed (for the worse every time), and a general sense of poor direction.  Gone is the surreal tale of a young boy’s playthings coming to life.  Gone is the sense of wonder and nostalgia brought on by the blurry visuals and gorgeous music.  Instead, you get creepy loli anime art and a generic RPG villain plot to go with it.

The drastic and unwarranted change in art direction reflects all of my problems with the game.  The creators didn't understand what made Little King’s Story good, and instead rushed out a port for the Vita and changed a few things to make it ‘new.’  Perhaps the best example of this is the ‘revamped’ fight with TV Dinnah, once one of my favorite boss battles in the original game.  Before, the boss had switched ‘channels’ that quizzed you on geography, mimicked an old western gun battle, and put you at the mercy of World War II bombers, all backed by a surreal introductory cutscene and amusing dialogue from TV Dinnah.  In New Little King’s Story, TV Dinah’s battle is just a lame early Nintendo DS-style touchscreen minigame.  You can essentially tap him a few times and win.  (Sadly, I can’t find any screenshots of this to post so you can see how awful the change is. Just take my word for it: It’s like replacing the opera in Final Fantasy VI with a rage comic meme)

I’m not against changes being made.  In order for New Little King’s Story to be fresh, the developers had to create a different experience.  However, if they’re going to stick so close to the original game in so many respects (it has the exact same world map, for instance) then there is no reason to make needless updates that attempt to fix what wasn't broken.  A straight port would have been a more enjoyable experience.  This is all made worse when considering that the original didn't sell well and had the opportunity to find a new audience on the Vita.   Now, any new players will be less interested because this product doesn't contain the same quality.

The game itself plays mostly identical to the original, which means it can only be so bad.   Exploration is still rewarding, collecting stuff is still fun.  That said, at the ridiculous price NLKS costs on the Vita market, I can’t recommend it until it goes on sale.  It’s a shoddy port… remake… thing… of a great game, and you have a Wii you should play the original instead.

5.5