A couple weeks ago, I picked up a copy of Nippon Ichi‘s new isometric tactical super-deformed big pile of silliness, Makai Kingdom. These are the same folks that created the breakout hit Disgaea, which did so well they were able to bring us the somewhat less-well-received, but utterly lovable La Pucelle Tactics (released in Japan before Disgaea, and wrongly considered a prequel). I must admit I completely missed out on Phantom Brave, the game in which they departed from the “movement grid” tradition of their previous titles and classics like Final Fantasy Tactics. I hear it was pretty good, but this is about Makai Kingdom.

The plotline of Makai Kingdom is, as with all games of the tactics niche-genre, totally unimportant to the enjoyment of the game. In apparent acknowledgment of this perception amongst gamers, players are given the opportunity to explicitly skip any plot-point animations entirely. Basically you’re a demon overlord hell-bent on regaining his netherworld and his original body after he’s trapped in a book. He uses minions to wage his struggle to regain dominance in the netherworlds, as books aren’t very handy in a fight.

The lack of characters that are pivotal to the plotline is tremendously liberating in this game, as you are given absolutely no disincentive to building up, using, customizing, sacrificing, and recycling your minions. Minions that have been successful in battle earn “mana” that can be used to make wishes, ranging from the creation of new facilities in your underworld to the creation of additional dungeons that you can use to strengthen your army and fatten your coffers.

Unencumbered by a movement grid, many unusual tactical formations are possible. One serious drawback I’ve found is that there appears to be no means of denying movement to your enemies. This means that your tough, strong melee-fighters are not useful as meat-shields for your more fragile-but-quite-useful magic-using types. Enemies dart right through your front lines with nary a care, delivering untimely deaths to your valuable Witches, Wizards, and Healers.

The musical score is pleasant, with enough variation to keep hours of play from grating on your eardrums. The graphics are cute, and hearken back to the console platforms of our forefathers (or in my case, my slightly-more-spoiled neighbors). The animated plot-points are possibly the most disappointing portion of the game, as super-deformed sprites of supposedly-mighty netherworld overlords argue amongst themselves while floating in an utterly-uninteresting void. Clearly the plot wasn’t terribly important to the designers, which is fine by me, but such a lapse in effort detracts from an otherwise-excellent work.