Title: Prinny Presents NIS Classics Volume 2: Makai Kingdom: Reclaimed and Rebound / ZHP: Unlosing Ranger vs. Darkdeath Evilman
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Developer: NIS (originals) / Codeglue (Switch ports)
Publisher: NIS (JP) / NIS America (NA and EU)
Release Date: May 10th, 2022 (NA)
File Size: 2.8GB
Review copy provided by NIS America
Last year I reviewed the first volume of this new series of classic NIS ports, being Phantom Brave and Soul Nomad. They were a decent couple of classic NIS RPGs that came with some flaws (some fixed, others not). Now we’re onto volume 2 featuring Makai Kingdom from the PS2 and ZHP which this time is from the PSP. Codeglue, who did the first volume have returned to also do these couple of ports as well. How do both games fare as games and how did the ports turn out in general? Let’s find out!
The first tutorial fight in the game. (Makai Kingdom)
Let’s start with Makai Kingdom. If you’ve played Disgaea and Phantom Brave, you’ll instantly know what you’re getting into, it’s very similar territory for these sort of SRPGs by NIS. The story begins when the overlord Zetta is looking for a special book, well after he beats this foe in his path before the book (after a tutorial section explaining the gameplay as well), he just then decides to destroy it… but then, quite literally hell breaks (not loose, but entirely) because the book was integral to the entire netherworld which Zetta was the most powerful overlord of. At the last crucial second, he decides to confine himself to the book to save it. Well he succeeds, but then he literally becomes the book and is trapped as such.
In the void, Zetta encounters a girl named Pram who’s like this powerful sorceress of sorts, well they’re also joined by this triplet-joined creature(s) that are mostly just spectators/comic relief. Anyway Pram tells Zetta they can rebuild the netherworld, they have the technology… well said technology is literally the book. The catch is that Zetta can’t do it himself. See, as the book, only someone else who writes in his pages can create netherworlds, and Pram gives us our first one… which is a tiny plot of land with an adorable doghouse. Hey, it’s a start!
Creating your party. (Makai Kingdom)
That’s when the game begins proper. Zetta realizes he needs a crew, so he teaches the player how to confine user-created characters to items (same as in Phantom Brave) which is how you build your first party. Different items chosen will give different stat benefits, such as a boulder giving your character more defense and the like.
Again it`s basically beat-for-beat like NIS’s other SRPGs. One cool bit I noticed how that the game encourages you to collect items during levels, and all you need to do is have a character, regardless if they’re holding anything or not, move to where such an item is, and if the red arrow is above said item, you can just collect it willy-nilly, and said items are kept after fights!
Where a lot of the cutscenes play out early on. (Makai Kingdom)
Visually it’s exactly as you’d expect from NIS on PS2. The collection does bump the game to 16:9 (seemingly cropping pre-rendered imagery like Phantom Brave did, but still in the original SD artwork however). You’re also given blur filters for the UI and characters (to turn them on or off). but sadly it’s not super consistent, as I’ve noticed some bits here and there aren’t affected. Text is all in HD though which is nice. Overall it looks the part for sure, but again it’d be nice if there was perfect consistency in the filter usage. Audio-wise it’s good. The game’s pretty much fully-voice acted which is awesome and the characters sound great and fun, same with the music. It’s your typical NISA/Disgaea-esc work.
Now onto the second game in the collection; ZHP: Unlosing Ranger vs. Darkdeath Evilman! This one originated on the PSP and I believe is the only original RPG IP by NIS on the system. Unlike the other games, this is actually closer to a rogue-like dungeon crawler like Shiren the Wanderer or Pokémon Mystery Dungeon.
Darkdeath Evilman vs. the almighty SUPER BABY! (ZHP)
The story is SUPER over the top and silly, I mean it begins with this final boss-like villain trying to destroy the most powerful being of all; the Super Baby. Yes, an adorable baby is basically god, but only the undefeatable hero can save the Super Baby! So you, an average joe, meet the hero at a street… and he just gets hit by a car and DIES. So with his dying breath, he gives you his superhero outfit to take his place, you do it only because well, you have to, and you then attempt to fight said boss, lose like that, and then are transported to a sort of sci-fi purgatory where the game properly begins. Following on alright?
You’re then joined by the spirit of the original hero you met earlier and he becomes your guide. You’re lead by this girl who shows you the ropes of training in dungeons, where the meat of the game takes place. If you’ve played rogue-likes before, you’re expecting the usual “die and lose everything” schtick right? That’s not quite the case here!
An example of a dungeon in the game. (ZHP)
The big twist is that when you die in a dungeon, depending how much you’ve leveled up while in it, you gain proper experience points and sort of become an ever-evolving Level 1 character. You get permanent stat boosts so that you start out stronger and stronger each time you re-enter dungeons! You do lose your loot and whatnot, but it’s not a bad trade-off I’d say.
Items you can find in dungeons include various weapons and equipment with special benefits. I personally love that spears can attack opponents 2 squares from you, giving you extra attacks before they reach you. As with other rogue-likes, you need to keep your energy up by eating, since once you run out (by walking and attacking), you lose health with every step, but you also have to keep an eye on your limited inventory space, so eat and heal when you need to.
You’ll probably be seeing this a lot. (ZHP)
Visually I like the cuter, more cartoony aesthetic. The game as said is very light-hearted and has a nice up-beat tone to it. Audio-wise I really like it, the voice-acting is again really good, but I really dug the nice music in the dungeons. The only issue is the way the port handles filters. Yep, it’s busted/inconsistent again. Even if you turn all filters off, some portraits in cutscenes are still blurred, and even the first “Nippon Ichi Software Presents” text upon boot-up is always blurred, yet right after similar text won’t be blurred. What is it with Codeglue and these filters?
Overall this is a solid duo of JRPGs that I can definitely recommend, as long as you don’t mind the issue with the filters. ZHP being my highlight of the two. I had a lot of fun with this one!
You’ll Love:
+ Both games are quite fun, especially ZHP.
+ Both games have appealing sprite work, and great voice-acting in both English and Japanese.
+ Both have some filter options and Makai Kingdom has an all-new widescreen presentation.
+ As long as you don’t mind buying both at once, the price value is pretty good.
+ Has screenshot and video capture support.
You’ll Hate:
– The filter options are again not very consistent where some elements aren’t affected (specifically stuff will stay blurred).
– Like the first collection, this one’s games can’t be bought on their own on Switch for some reason.
7.5/10
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