Dokapon Kingdom- the second best party game ever created (Wii/PS2)

[flyinj]

A few days ago I picked up Dokapon Kingdom for the Wii after hearing it was a mixture of Mario Party and an RPG that four people could play at the same time.

Yesterday afternoon, I had three friends over and we started playing it around 1pm. We finally stopped playing at around midnight.

This game is absolutely fantastic.

Here's the premise:

You create a character, and choose one of three initial classes (warrior, mage or thief). All the players start at the center of the kingdom, and take turns spinning a spinner and moving the amount specified. The gameboard/world is a huge area covered by a mazelike grid of spaces. The most common space is a yellow one, which usually results in a fight with a random monster. Sometimes, however, special random events occur when landing on these spaces.

Other spaces include loot spaces, which give you a random item... magic spaces, which give you a random magic spell and various other similar loot-givers.

The goal of the basic game is to have the most money after a specified number of weeks. The main way to get the big bucks is to take over towns on the map, which are another type of space you can land on. All the towns are initially guarded by a monster. You defeat this monster, and the town is yours. You can then invest money into the town, raising it's town level and income generation. If you invest enough money into towns, they eventually start producing items.

There is a lot of interaction with other players. You can cast overland magic spells that you find/buy on them, such as fireballs to reduce their health, muckyfoot to make it so they can only move one space for a certain timeframe, poison, fear, etc. If you land on the same spot as another player, you duel them. The winner can then do some pretty hilarious things to the loser. You can choose to steal one of their items, or more amusingly, you can give them a dumb looking haircut... or put a tattoo on their face... even change their name.

There are also dungeons you can go into and explore, which have some pretty sweet loot in them.

The game reminds me of a much deeper version of the Runebound boardgame. If you're into RPGs, boardgames, or fantastic 4 player console games, you have to pick this thing up.

[Mark L]

Damn you for sharing my taste in games! Now, in the midst of Fallout 3, Red Alert 3, Fable 2 and god knows what else, I have to look this up, too????

Thanks :)

[Lucidvizion]

Can you play 4 players (well) with 2 controllers?

[flyinj]

I had 4 wiimotes, but you could easily just pass one around to each player when it's their turn. You never need more than one controller active at a time.

[Kraaze]

Vaguely recalling this thread I picked this game up yesterday since my wife and I had a few gamers coming over to visit last night. The wii is always great for socializing and entertaining since the party games are top notch, so I figured I couldn't go wrong with this one. What I didn't anticipate was the addictiveness and bloodthirsty competitiveness this game brings out in my friends and wife. The pranking is awesome, and of course we all went for that after winning some PVP. Screw taking someone's money I want to give them a bad haircut!

Seriously awesome game, and well worth the cash for anyone who has at least one friend with a wiimote and 6 hours to kill.

[malkav11]

I love that one of the haircuts is a shark on your head.

Anyway. Yeah, it's a lot of fun in multiplayer, and one of the few multiplayer games I know of that can support four people on a single controller (particularly nice on the PS2 version, since most four player games on the system require a Multitap.). I sent it back to Gamefly, though, because it's not really very fun against the computer and I don't get enough people over to my house to really get the most out of multi. Maybe in a while when it's cheaper.

[unbongwah]

Is anyone playing Dokapon Journey? As someone who hasn't played either Dokapon, I'm curious: how do they compare?

[kerzain]

Does this game offer a fun and rewarding two-player experience? I won't be able to manage four.

[Lynxara]

I'm holding out to see if online is confirmed for Dokapon Journey. It was the one feature that the original desperately needed. Japanese developers need to start thinking global and realizing that nobody in America can just walk down to the train station and find random groups of people doing ad hoc multiplayer for new titles.

[flyinj]

Originally Posted by Lynxara

I'm holding out to see if online is confirmed for Dokapon Journey. It was the one feature that the original desperately needed. Japanese developers need to start thinking global and realizing that nobody in America can just walk down to the train station and find random groups of people doing ad hoc multiplayer for new titles.

The whole idea of this game being on a DS is kind of weird.

The Wii version is fantastic because you can get 4 friends over for a 5 hour game. You need one Wii.

With this, you need 4 DSes and 4 copies of the game. Which is pretty ridiculous. Even if it had internet WiFi support, I can't imagine it being much fun. The whole point of the game is to be sitting in the same room with your friends having a good time. Playing a 5 hour game of this alone in your room against strangers on the internet sounds terrible. Not to mention, how many would actually stick around for the full 5 hours?

If you have a Wii, get that version. I absolutely love it.

[Lynxara]

I have a Wii and I have that version of Dokapon. I can't quite get a four-man team together IRL so I haven't gotten as much out of the game as I would if I had online. I don't want to play randoms so much as play against the friends I talk to frequently on Skype but usually only see at conventions once or twice a year.

This game would make some sense to me on DS with Wi-Fi support-- most people these day have a network of online acquaintances who they'd like to play with a trash talk-- but without Wi-Fi support it isn't a product that makes any sense outside of Japan's ad hoc game party culture.

[Mr_PeaCH]

Saw this (Dokapon Kingdom) today for $30; if it was $20 I probably would have jumped. But people are commenting on how long the games are like it is a good thing... is there any way to get a shorter game for 2 or 3 players? (I can't imagine my kids hanging in there for more than an hour or so.)

[flyinj]

Originally Posted by Mr_PeaCH

Saw this (Dokapon Kingdom) today for $30; if it was $20 I probably would have jumped. But people are commenting on how long the games are like it is a good thing... is there any way to get a shorter game for 2 or 3 players? (I can't imagine my kids hanging in there for more than an hour or so.)

You can make them as long or short as you want. It's about 10 turns an hour with 4 people.

It's cool though that if you play longer, there is more loot and cool stuff to see.

[malkav11]

My initial opinion was revised after a friend of mine bought it (for PS2). It gave us months of hilarious fun, including multiple all-day sessions.

That was one runthrough of the story mode, btw (hah, story. not a word accurately associated with this game.). One we never completed. So yeah, it's a 60+ hour long party game.

[Reed]

Originally Posted by kerzain

Does this game offer a fun and rewarding two-player experience? I won't be able to manage four.

I'm wondering this as well... How does it play with just 2?

Originally Posted by Mr_PeaCH

Saw this (Dokapon Kingdom) today for $30; if it was $20 I probably would have jumped.

It's currently on Amazon for $20.

[Chaplin]

Ya know, this might be exactly what my group may be looking for. We are just too hip for those goofy Nintendo party games.... but throw in some mages, monsters, and swords....hooAH! Sad, but true.

1) How long does a game take?

2) How does the player to controller thing work out? Can we play 4 (max?) players with only 2 wiimotes?

This might cause me to dust off the old blue light maker of non-gaminess.

[crazy jane]

Originally Posted by flyinj

With this, you need 4 DSes and 4 copies of the game.

Not true. Up to four people can play with just one copy of the game. My husband and I have been playing and loving it. He has the card in his DS and I download it from mine. The map is somewhat limited, but you can still get a four-hour game out of it.

I think we may have to get Kingdom, though. I want to put a shark on his head!

[malkav11]

Originally Posted by Chaplin

Ya know, this might be exactly what my group may be looking for. We are just too hip for those goofy Nintendo party games.... but throw in some mages, monsters, and swords....hooAH! Sad, but true.

1) How long does a game take?

2) How does the player to controller thing work out? Can we play 4 (max?) players with only 2 wiimotes?

This might cause me to dust off the old blue light maker of non-gaminess.

1) Depends enormously on a great multitude of factors. Like I say, our game of story mode lasted many, many hours (but it's saveable at any time.). I'm pretty sure you could cut that way down with the right settings, though.

2) It's entirely turn-based and board-gamey, so you can (and we did) play with a single controller. (I wouldn't buy it for Wii, but that's me. I can't imagine it makes a huge difference.)

[flyinj]

Originally Posted by crazy jane

Not true. Up to four people can play with just one copy of the game. My husband and I have been playing and loving it. He has the card in his DS and I download it from mine. The map is somewhat limited, but you can still get a four-hour game out of it.

I think we may have to get Kingdom, though. I want to put a shark on his head!

Is the download version a more limited version of the game? Or does it behave exactly like you had your own cartridge as well?

[MonkeyPunky]

In the download version some of the "cutscenes" are missing, so you just end up seeing a background. Also I guess they cut down the number of sprites needed by making the character classes tied to specific colors.

[TomChick]

Okay, everyone in this thread who's played one of these silly Dokapon games is a jerk. Especially flyinj. You're jerks because a) I didn't know about this game earlier, and b) I know about it now and could easily do nothing but sit and play for several days on end. The only thing that could make this game perfecter is if it didn't have stupid kiddie anime graphics.

-Tom

[flyinj]

Originally Posted by TomChick

Okay, everyone in this thread who's played one of these silly Dokapon games is a jerk. Especially flyinj. You're jerks because a) I didn't know about this game earlier, and b) I know about it now and could easily do nothing but sit and play for several days on end. The only thing that could make this game perfecter is if it didn't have stupid kiddie anime graphics.

-Tom

I really hope you're playing with 3+ people.

Yes, you could potentially play this game for 12 hours straight with four people. Not only that, but I did it with 3 non-gamers as well. Everyone loved it.

And if there weren't kiddy anime graphics, you wouldn't be able to put a pile of poop on your friend's head after beating him in a duel that stays there for the rest of the game.

[Chaplin]

I admit, I saw it was cheap so I grabbed a copy. It looks pretty cool. However, I really REALLY feel something is up with the AI. It seems to almost always get first hit, the right counter to the combat rolls, and near perfect spinner rolls.

I especially like when it cast a spell on a monster guarding a town. I wondered what it was doing, but all became clear as it rolled just the number it needed to land on that town it just blasted. Gee I wish I knew my roll before I took it...


Besides that though. Interesting game. I will have to give it a whirl with some buddies. When I am not waiting on a demigod silver bullet patch or trying to stop the hordes of plant hating zombies that is.

[kerzain]

How is this game for two players instead of 4? Can two people enjoy it? My wife and I would be likely purchase candidates if it's relatively fun for two.

[Chaplin]

From what very little I played of it so far, I think it would be fine with two players. In fact it might be better as this really feels like a "competitive race/ rpg" type board game such as WoW the Boardgame or Runebound in that you don't have a huge amount of direct interaction so extra players at some point would probably just slow the game down (or feel that way). That is not to say there is no interaction, there is some serious messing with people you can do.

If the AI didn't seem to cheat so much (maybe I am wrong) I would think the best way to play it would be just two people then some AIs to fill it in as the AI moves pretty fast.

However, I am super newb so maybe I am wrong.

[flyinj]

Originally Posted by Chaplin

From what very little I played of it so far, I think it would be fine with two players. In fact it might be better as this really feels like a "competitive race/ rpg" type board game such as WoW the Boardgame or Runebound in that you don't have a huge amount of direct interaction so extra players at some point would probably just slow the game down (or feel that way). That is not to say there is no interaction, there is some serious messing with people you can do.

If the AI didn't seem to cheat so much (maybe I am wrong) I would think the best way to play it would be just two people then some AIs to fill it in as the AI moves pretty fast.

However, I am super newb so maybe I am wrong.

I never tried playing with any AI. I've only done four person games. You can play with 2-3 people with no AI, and I'd suggest doing that.

It very much is a boardgame experience, with all the fun of a moderately complex ruleset being taken care of by the PS2/Wii/DS while all the players just have fun messing with eachother.

[Chaplin]

So what is the preferred way to play this as a party game? Do you set a number of weeks for "normal" mode or do you play "story" mode? Story seems more interesting, but it seems like it keeps going forever (only vs AI so far).

I guess we would be looking for a 2 to 5 hour game or a few 1 to 2 hour games judging by our usual board game sessions.

[TomChick]

It looks like the most manageable way to do a shorter game without the mandatory early-game slog is to play a game limited by turns and to start players at some advanced level. Because, yeah, it seems story mode is going to take some serious long-term dedication. As in "several separate play sessions".

I'm intrigued by the scavenger hunt mode where players have to return to Dokapon Castle with a specific set of items to win. I can imagine the cutthroat that might occur there as well!

-Tom

[Chaplin]

I am not quite getting the combat yet. I thought attack was the opposite of defense (rock beats scissors) but I am watching the AI just do normal attack against mobs that do normal defense and it is whooping the creatures. Whereas I may do a "strike" and the mob does a "defend" (not "counter" which I understand to be the opposite of "strike") and I do barely any damage and sometimes miss.

Is there less to the R/P/S and more about level/ equipment? If this is true, I like the game more, and will start focusing on equipment and leveling over worrying about what critters tend to do what R/P/S moves.

I look forward to getting some player vs player games of this on the weekend, but am trying to lower the learning curve as much as possible beforehand. Especially considering I am the least likely of the group to get frustrated by not understanding the game (which means I am the adopter and trainer for games). Also, I am trying to figure out what a good game setting/ length might be.

Thanks to this thread for bringing my attention to a game I would have totally missed.

[TomChick]

Attack and defense are just the natural pairing that pit attack value vs. defense value. But the attacker can instead opt to try a strike, which is a superduper attack pretty much guaranteed to put the defender in a world of hurt. Unless the defender does a counter, which will put the attacker in a world of hurt. But if the defender does a counter and the attacker does a straight-up attack, the defender won't get the full power of his defense rating.

At least that's the gist of it as I understand.

Which reminds me, I'd love to know some specifics in terms of how attack, defense, and speed interact. Anyone know where I can find such info? The Gamefaqs FAQs weren't very helpful.

-Tom