Combat

The combat in Little King's Story certainly owes a lot to Nintendo's own Pikmin. Though the King can fight himself, he's rather useless. It's your loyal army who will do most of the fighting for you. It's tough to find specific units at the beginning of the game, but a podium is soon available for purchase and it can be used to summon troops instantly. Once your forces are amassed, they can be sent charging at the enemy.

At the beginning of the game, there's not a lot of strategy involved - army charges monster, army beats up monster, army kills monster. But as the game progresses, players are forced to multitask - groups of enemies will rush the King, or debris will need to be cleared away. It can be very challenging, especially in the epic boss battles. But a few taps down on the D-Pad will cycle through job classes quickly, and a semi lock-on system makes it easier to get your troops where you want them. The aforementioned Guardian boss battles are some of the best on the system. These fights range from basic brawls to races and even a pseudo-pinball game. But they all have one thing in common - they're hilarious, and the boss designs are fantastic.

Lingering issues

There are a few lingering issues, though. It's confusing that, as a real-time strategy game, Little King's Story makes no use of the Wii's IR. It would be so much easier to direct your troops with pointer controls. Using the analog stick feels downright sloppy. There's also no way to call back individual characters; if you send someone the wrong way and want to get him back, you'll have to call back your whole army. In the heat of battle, this can make the difference between victory and defeat.

Pretty presentation

There may be some weird gameplay choices but Cing has definitely not skimped on the presentation. I've already touched on a little of the game's personality - and really it was just a little. Every tiny little detail in Little King's Story has been so lovingly crafted it's astounding. Though it's not the most technically impressive game on the system, the art direction in Little King's Story is fantastic. It looks like a story-book come to life; some cutscenes even have a hand-drawn look that reminds me of Okami or Valkyria Chronicles. The characters all have disproportionately large heads a la Animal Crossing. Each character has a distinct look, and they're instantly lovable.

The soundtrack is great as well, featuring beautiful arrangements of classical tunes such as the William Tell Overture and Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. Some argue the licensed soundtrack is a bit of a cop-out but I think it fits the game world wonderfully. The sound effects however are awful. There are far too few, especially when it comes to combat. Since some enemies or barriers take upwards of fifty hits to fell, you can expect the dull thunks of swords to be ingrained in your mind for all eternity.

Good stuff

Petty criticisms aside, Little King's Story is a great game; it's fresh, original, and occasionally daring. But considering the history of fresh, original, occasionally daring third-party games on the Wii, it's likely Little King's Story will sell a grand total of twelve copies in the western market. It would be heartbreaking to see this happen, as the game really is deserving of your attention. It may not be perfect, but it's the most fun I've had with any game released this year, and it's managed to restore my faith in Nintendo's little white box. Hail to the king, baby.