Little King's Story

When I was a kid (well, a smaller kid at least) every Christmas the family would gather around the TV to watch Rankin/Bass’ Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Back then stop-motion animation was a spectacle akin to CGI circa Toy Story before they started using it in toilet cleaner ads. Fast forward a few decades and I have a brood of my own; but as the times have changed, so have kids. My eight-year-old wakes up early to play his 360 (and complain that he doesn’t have a PS3) for 45 minutes before school and the last movie he saw was Monsters vs. Aliens in 3D which blew me away more than it did him... And our six-year-old twins aren’t far behind. When I finally convinced them to watch Toy Story, they were wholly underwhelmed, but the first time they saw Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer circa 1964 they made me buy the DVD…in the middle of summer. CGI is still special in the right hands, but there’s a timeless quality to stop-motion, similar to side scrollers like Super Metroid or Gunstar Heroes.



The first thing that came to mind as I embarked on Little King’s Story was how much the design reminded me of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer; not so much for the characters—LKS is far more twisted—but in the overall presentation. It’s not the technology per se that makes the game so special, but the way Cing bends it to their will, molding their tiny adventure with the utmost attention to detail as it pertains to their world, instead of making it bend to fit into a particular category or demographic. Over the past few years, the kinds of Japanese games that dominated the industry since Nintendo resurrected it have been waning in the wake of stiff American and European competition, and gaming has lost much of its innocence in the process. Even where pure fiction is concerned, simple concepts often become overly convoluted walk-throughs, designed and scrutinized to suit "everyone" and thus serve no one…at least anyone looking for any substance. The new status quo wants everything spelled out and absolute, but where’s the fun in that? Little King’s Story bucks that trend from the moment the curtain rises. Cing spend all of 30 seconds, if that, explaining how their tiny protagonist comes to rule the Alpoko kingdom, and even less on why it is how it is when it is…because it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that he’s the king of a peculiar little kingdom that his Minister, Howser, hopes he’ll make into a very large kingdom—in fact, he seems quite sure of it.

Your new kingdom stands at three Ministers counting Howser (along with Records Minister Verde and Anything Minister Liam), three Cows, and a few lazy citizens. The job rate is 0% and the treasury is empty. Not so hot, but nothing a little hard work can’t fix, and so off you go to dig up enough treasure to put the new kingdom plan into motion. You begin by recruiting a few citizens to dig up some treasure. Point your scepter at a crack in the earth and away they dig. Once you’ve amassed enough loot (you’d be surprised what’s buried around your castle) to erect a farmhouse—Howser sees to all construction while you slumber—send a citizen through the door and viola, they emerge a hardworking farmer. That’s how it begins… Each passing job class enables further progression into the surrounding areas: Grunt Soldiers hack away at any evil vegetation, Animal Hunters arrows can reach higher elevations, Buff Lumberjacks cut through barriers and provide brute force, Regular Carpenters build bridges, and so on... You begin with a tiny little band and eventually lead 30 or more various military and civilian troops into battle or what have you. The more you reap, the more you sow; with each passing conquest comes more houses and more jobs, and of course more citizens to govern, and they let you know it. One of your first official acts is the construction of a suggestion box so your citizens can speak their mind, ask for favors, and let you know how you’re doing, anonymously of course. When you’re not on official business—and there’s a ton to do—requests from the suggestion box make up the game’s side quests, each with its own difficulty rating, time limit and consequences. Every citizen has a name and personality and will address you when spoken to according to their demeanor and the condition of the kingdom. Fail a mission and someone could die; their lives are in your hands after all. Don’t miss the funeral. They can be resurrected, but a death is a death. As king everything you do, good or bad, right or wrong, in victory or defeat, affects your constituents. They celebrate with you when you’re victorious and call you names when you’re not, just like cable news!

(cont...)

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