Software:Makai Kingdom: Chronicles of the Sacred Tome

From HandWiki
Short description: 2005 video game
Makai Kingdom:
Chronicles of the Sacred Tome
PAL region PlayStation 2 version cover art
Developer(s)Nippon Ichi Software
Publisher(s)Nippon Ichi Software
Director(s)Shinichi Ikeda
Producer(s)Sōhei Niikawa
Designer(s)Yoshitsuna Kobayashi
Programmer(s)Masahiro Yamamoto
Artist(s)Takehito Harada (character)
Writer(s)Sōhei Niikawa
SeriesDisgaea
Platform(s)PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch
Release
Genre(s)Tactical RPG
Mode(s)Single-player

Makai Kingdom: Chronicles of the Sacred Tome[lower-alpha 1] is a tactical role-playing game developed and published by Nippon Ichi Software. It was initially released for PlayStation 2 on March 17, 2005 in Japan, July 26 in North America, and October 28 in Europe. An enhanced port of the game, Phantom Kingdom Portable, was released for the PlayStation Portable in Japan on October 6, 2011. The game was later ported to Windows as Makai Kingdom: Reclaimed and Rebound, and to Nintendo Switch as part of the Prinny Presents NIS Classics Volume 2 compilation, with those versions released worldwide on May 10, 2022.[2]

A spin-off of the Disgaea series, the game follows a godlike being, Overlord Zetta, after he attempts to avert the destruction of his Netherworld and, due to his foolishness, is forced to confine his soul to the Sacred Tome, a reality-controlling book. He is forced to seek out other Overlords for assistance in reconstructing his Netherworld. The PSP, Windows, and Switch versions also contain Petta Mode, a route featuring Zetta's future daughter, Petta, who has gone back in time. The game was praised by critics for its humorous dialog, story, and deep gameplay, although it was criticized by some as being too similar to previous games from the publisher.

Plot

Setting

The main characters of Makai Kingdom are Overlords, beings of godlike power who rule over pocket universes called Netherworlds that also appear in the Disgaea series.

Characters

The protagonist is Zetta, a self-proclaimed "Bad-ass Freakin' Overlord" who is, to his knowledge, the strongest to ever exist. One of his main allies is Dark Lord Valvoga, an intimidating-looking being resembling a generic "final boss" who consists of three separate minds, the cowardly Mickey, the sultry Ophelia, and Dryzen, a crazed dragon skull. Other characters include Pram the Oracle, a young overlord who can see the future, Alexander, a God of Destruction who wields thunder-based powers and considers Zetta his rival, Demon Overlord Seedle, a former samurai, Salome the Traitor, Zetta's former pupil, and Trenia, a mysterious girl with an unknown identity who can be seen wandering around space seemingly at random.

Story

After the destruction of his Netherworld is prophesied by Pram the Oracle, Overlord Zetta travels to the Forbidden Library to prevent it. Finding the Sacred Tome, a book that controls reality, Zetta finds a passage claiming that his own stupidity would be the downfall of his Netherworld. Infuriated, he burns the book, only to remember immediately afterwards that destroying the book would destroy his world in a self-fulfilling prophecy. He quickly responds by confining his soul to the Sacred Tome and ventures to rewrite his world into existence by having the other Overlords of Netherworlds write wishes within his pages.

After fighting through a number of different Netherworlds, Zetta is supposedly fatally cursed by a godlike being known as The One. Soon after, his lost former pupil, Salome, asks him to marry her. Traveling to her Netherworld, Zetta fatally wounds Salome in battle, but she reveals that she was already dying beforehand. The true strongest Overlord, Salome was giving all of her mana to Zetta in secret due to her unrequited love for him. Realizing this, Zetta asks Pram to revive Salome, but she is thwarted by the vengeful Overlord Seedle. Alexander defeats Seedle, but Zetta is left without hope of reviving Salome or returning to his body.

Trenia reveals herself to be the spirit of the Sacred Tome that was exiled from the book when Zetta put himself into it. Believing that Zetta has learned his lesson and become a more humble person, she confines herself back into the Sacred Tome, giving him back his body and full power. Zetta then proceeds to revive Salome using his immense power. Meanwhile, it is revealed that the curse of The One is fake, and that the true The One is actually Ophelia.

Gameplay

The gameplay is somewhat similar to the gameplay found in Phantom Brave and Software:Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, other games created by Nippon Ichi. The characters summoned in battle have freedom to move within a circle set by the characters' movement points. Victory is achieved by scoring a set number of points, which are given by interacting with items on the map, discovering extension maps, and eliminating enemies. Several of the classes from Software:Disgaea: Hour of Darkness exist in this game as well, such as Warrior and Mage, but some of the equivalents of previous classes are different. Some classes also have distinctions between sexes.

There are a variety of weapon types, each with their own expansive sets. Characters can equip armor and various other accessories to aid in combat. Each class has four weapon types in which they are proficient, and can learn new moves to use in combat as characters master the weapons.

Vehicles are a new addition from previous Nippon Ichi games. They are similar to moving, battle-capable buildings. They vary in size, shape, and purpose, but are generally faster than travelling on foot. Vehicles can damage opponents and can level-up, but levelling a vehicle is different from levelling a character. Leveling up high ranked vehicles is difficult, and in actuality, impossible to raise them to 9999, as the cost will effectively be more than the player can ever make.

Many of maps are randomly generated. While, in many cases, the first map in a storyline mission is pre-set, the "extensions" to the map are often randomly generated. The randomly generated maps creates the potential to have vastly different situations even when replaying the same map. Within the game, there are two separate types of extensions: "Locked" and "Secret". While both extensions can be revealed by throwing something out of bounds into the extension, "Locked" extensions can also be unlocked by destroying a specific unit on the field, which is marked with an icon saying "Key".

Once an extension is revealed, there may occasionally be "special events" which occur as soon as the extension is unlocked. While many special events simply affect the enemies that appear in the extension, others will paralyze everyone on the battlefield, put everyone to sleep, or other effects.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic77/100

The game received an aggregate score of 77/100 on Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[3]

Notes

  1. ↑ Known in Japan as Phantom Kingdom (Japanese: ファントム・キングダム, Hepburn: Fantomu Kingudamu)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Koei To Publish "Makai Kingdom" In Europe" (in en). https://www.gamedeveloper.com/press-release/koei-to-publish-makai-kingdom-in-europe. 
  2. ↑ Lada, Jenni (2022-01-25). "NIS Classics Volume 2 Release Date Set" (in en-GB). https://www.siliconera.com/nis-classics-volume-2-release-date-set/. 
  3. ↑ "Makai Kingdom: Chronicles of the Sacred Tome" (in en). https://www.metacritic.com/game/makai-kingdom-chronicles-of-the-sacred-tome/critic-reviews/?platform=playstation-2. 
  • Official website Script error: The function "in_lang" does not exist.
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.[18]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
  18. ↑ "An update on MobyGames leadership". 2025-02-13. https://www.mobygames.com/forum/3/thread/269628/an-update-on-mobygames-leadership/#post-269628. 
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