“Who’s the most noble of all?”

by Cory Fiscus 

      When I was a little boy, I dreamed of one day having a story to call my own.  I had visions of sharing my Little Cory’s Story with the world, but my aspirations never came to fruition – and my story fell by the wayside, lost to mankind forever.  Now I am old and my face is hairy and I am all alone, but I am at peace with the way my life has been a disappointing failure…  all because, thanks to Xseed Games, I can live out my dreams of yesteryear through a little diddy called Little King’s Story for the Nintendo Wii!  Granted, this king’s story is not my story, but it is so close to what I imagined my story to be like that I have felt the re-kindlings of hope spark life into what was once a cold and spiteful chamber known as my heart.

      Little King’s Story plays like a hybrid child of Pikmin, Harvest Moon, and some sort of Sim game. Combining real-time strategy with RPG elements, LKS creates a truly deep experience for the Wii that, despite its looks, will satisfy almost any fan who takes the time to test it out.  You, the King, find yourself facing the daunting task of turning the podunk village of Alpoko and its lazy citizens into a thriving, powerful kingdom.  This can be accomplished by leaving the confines of your dumpy castle and recruiting the peasants to do your bidding, whether they like it or not.  The people in town can be assigned duties, from farming to mining to soldiering to cooking, and each townsperson’s skill is vital to progression.  By killing monsters (known as UMA) and unearthing treasures, King accumulates moneys and can then build new buildings, declare edicts to increase the citizens’ health, and learn new battle strategies, among other things.  As the game progresses and players overtake new areas, the kingdom will expand and more options will become available.  There are princesses to marry, rival kingdoms to usurp, monsters to be defeated, and treasures to be had.  Beyond that, there are tons of extra achievements to accomplish and to record, such as finding every monster or collecting every treasure.  These little extra tasks extend the game’s life, and give completists (such as yours truly) a swelling of pride and accomplishment once finished.

      The graphics are – let me be blunt – cutesy-wootsy.  There’s no real way around it.  But they become extremely endearing to those who don’t brush the game off based on its looks.  The bright colors become more and more appreciated as new areas are discovered and the castle is expanded, and the oil-painting feeling that resonates from the cinema scenes is artistically clever and adds to the style of the game.  The music in the game is downright genius, using classic pieces of well-known orchestrated music that are so craftily injected, I can’t help but smile and vocally contribute to the tune every time I play (especially the graduation theme song, “Pomp and Circumstance”).

      My only gripes with the game are the lack of IR use and some pretty annoying camera angles.  Rather than pointing the Wii remote at the screen and dictating where you want your subjects to go directly, players must aim the king using the nunchuck’s control stick and then send them out with the A button.  It really is a shame, as the Wii remote would work so perfectly for this type of task.  But these issues are easily overcome-able, and the gameplay is so refreshing and addicting that you’ll be willing to forgive it for just about anything.  Each townsperson has their own name and face, which gives the game tons of personality.  If unhindered, they go about the kingdom living out their lives, working, mourning the deceased, falling in love, and (upon the king’s command) getting married.  These little touches give the kingdom a personable feel, and as king, I actually began to feel bad when my loyal subjects died.  Speaking of which, the game is not an easy one, and would probably be too difficult for cutesy-wootsy children.  Some larger monsters can kill the majority of your men and women with a single strike if you’re not careful, leading to some frusterating moments and angry resetting.  However, the victory tastes all the more sweet after struggles like these.

      Bottom Line:  Little King’s Story is a wonderful addition to the Wii library, harboring with it a great visual style, awesome music, some downright hilarity (Shishkebaboo, anyone?) and a whole kingdom of fun.  Highly recommended to anyone looking for a deep, immersive video game experience – you’ll be listening to this story all night long.         9.5/10

▪      -Cory Fiscus