Atlus announces Dokapon Journey for North America

[Evil Avnovice]

Having received my Atlus faithful e-mail, Dokapon Journey is scheduled for release on April 14 ,2009. Images are included, courtesy of Jeux-France (http://gamekyo.com/newsfr30035_dokapon-journey-cible-les-usa-en-images.html).

http://www.gamekyo.com/Webmasters/Images/68681020090203_120332_11_big.jpg (http://www.gamekyo.com/images11_4_30035.html) http://www.gamekyo.com/Webmasters/Images/68681020090203_120332_10_big.jpg (http://www.gamekyo.com/images10_4_30035.html)

http://www.gamekyo.com/Webmasters/Images/68681020090203_120331_2_big.jpg (http://www.gamekyo.com/images2_4_30035.html) http://www.gamekyo.com/Webmasters/Images/68681020090203_120331_3_big.jpg (http://www.gamekyo.com/images3_4_30035.html)

Press release and box art from GoNintendo (http://gonintendo.com/?p=71306).

IRVINE, CALIFORNIA — FEBRUARY 2, 2009 — Atlus U.S.A., Inc. today invited brave adventurers in search of fame and fortune to hit the road… literally. In the RPG-board game Dokapon Journey™ for Nintendo DS™, monsters have invaded the Kingdom of Dokapon, and the King has offered his throne and the hand of his daughter to any challenger who would rise to the occasion and save the land. Alas, that kind of offer is bound to attract some very over-determined adventurers…

Alone against devilish AI, or together with up to three of your friends via single- or multi-card local wireless play, sign up to save the Kingdom and win the throne. Just make sure to sabotage the competition at every chance you get!

Dokapon Journey is currently scheduled for release on April 14, 2009.


About Dokapon Journey

The Kingdom of Dokapon is in peril! Desperate to do away with the monster invasion that has overrun his land, the King has offered his crown and the hand of his daughter, Princess Penny, to whoever can restore peace once again. Heroes from distant lands rise to the call, but with multiple adventurers offering to assist in the struggle, each eagerly eyeing the prizes that await the champion of Dokapon, they must now fight amongst themselves to save the kingdom and claim their reward!

Key Features

* Irresistible board game-RPG combination - This board game and RPG fusion will make you think strategy like never before on Nintendo DS! Customization, strategy, and depth are all yours as you squeeze battling, leveling up, conquering towns, and much more into each turn.
* Playing dirty is the name of the game - This is all-out, winner-take-all competition, where the system favors those that know how to fight dirty! Jump into someone else’s fight, finish off the enemy, and snatch the experience. Mow down your competition and take a reward from their inventory. Use special items to slow down or injure those who get in your way!
* Total multiplayer experience - The zany head-to-head-to-head (-to-head) competition of board games is in full force whether you play alone or in a group! Assign control of each character to a human or one of three computer play styles. Get your friends together, and up to 4 can play in single- or multi-card mode!

[Chris_D]

This looks really cute. Have any CoGers played it?

[Ravenlock]

This is fantastic news. The Wii version of this is one of the best party games I have ever played. Although honestly, "party game" is probably not the right label for it - it's more like an RPG board game made digital, because it takes hours to get through a full game of it.

My brother-in-law came and visited my wife and I for Christmas '08, and I picked up a copy of this from Amazon on another forum's recommendation. Over the course of the week he was with us, we probably put 10 hours into it, easy. The basic gameplay is very simple - spin a spinner to move, deal with a random or fixed encounter, level up, get better items and weapons, finish quests, lather rinse repeat. He who has the most gold at the end wins.

But there's a ton of randomized events and other fun things to spice up the gameplay, and you are encouraged at every step to be as mean as possible to the other players. Beat another player in combat and you can take their stuff, or all their money, or, say, change their character's name to "Dorkapon" or "Pooface". Not that I would ever do that to my wife and brother-in-law.

Actually, as it turns out, I would. ;)

So yeah, hilarious fun for anyone who enjoys light, silly RPG gameplay. Great to see it coming in portable format, and I still wholeheartedly recommend the Wii version if you've got people to play it with who don't mind a little time investment. (You can of course save mid-game, so it isn't all in one stretch.)

[Purple Santa]

Released on my birthday. What a nice present from Atlus :)

[frederec]

Good to see Dokapon getting some love. I thought I was the only one that loved Dokapon Kingdom. That game finally got me to get my second classic controller. (Not that it's needed, but it controls better with one.)

The big question will be if we need one or two carts to play this together. That might be a dealbreaker for me. I'm not really crazy about buying one for me and my wife.

[Ravenlock]

The big question will be if we need one or two carts to play this together. That might be a dealbreaker for me. I'm not really crazy about buying one for me and my wife.

The feature list says single-card and multi-card play, so the only real question is whether there will be features enabled for multi-card that aren't enabled for single-card (like with Mario Kart) or whether it won't matter (like Clubhouse Games).

[Mike Kelehan]

As a party game, it's a lot of fun to play on the TV. We'll see how it translates to the DS.

[frederec]

The feature list says single-card and multi-card play, so the only real question is whether there will be features enabled for multi-card that aren't enabled for single-card (like with Mario Kart) or whether it won't matter (like Clubhouse Games).

Totally missed that, thanks for pointing it out. That's good to hear. Even if it's limited, it might be worthwhile.

[JayVe]

Video of Dokapon Journey

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Official Launch Date: April 14th

Official Site (http://www.atlus.com/dokaponjourney)

[Evil Avnovice]

Some new images. (Livegen (http://www.liveds.fr/news/118448/Une-dizaine-d-039-images-pour-Dokapon-Journey.html?c=2))

[Ravenlock]

Looks like it'll play pretty much exactly like the Wii game, which suits me fine. The look translates to 2D sprites well.

[Young Al Capone]

So has anyone played it? I just heard of it today and ordered it immediately. Unfortunately I couldn't find it locally.

[Smoof]

So has anyone played it? I just heard of it today and ordered it immediately. Unfortunately I couldn't find it locally.

It didn't review well from what I saw.

[Widgetcraft]

So has anyone played it? I just heard of it today and ordered it immediately. Unfortunately I couldn't find it locally.

I've played it a bit in story mode, and enjoyed it. It'd be better if I had people to play with, but I don't mind playing against the computer controlled players. I liked it so much, in fact, that I decided to go out and get Dokapon Kingdom for the Wii as well.

It is more shallow, and from what people are saying there is some wonkyness in the stats (defense is useless, apparently, and you should just dump those points into HP instead), but I still enjoy it for what it is. Tycho (http://www.penny-arcade.com/2009/5/4/) seems to like it quite a bit. Dokapon Kingdom didn't review very well either, yet the guys over at Three Panel Soul (http://www.threepanelsoul.com/view.php?date=2009-04-07) have talked about it kindly, and it seems to sell well according to the guy at Gamestop I spoke to as I was checking out.

[Young Al Capone]

I am going more on word of mouth, which tells me it is pretty good. I know it is supposed to be better with others, but my chances of having something like that are slim.

I always wanted Kingdom, but never got around to it before I sold my little sister my Wii. So I was stoked when I heard about this.

[Young Al Capone]

My order just shipped, I'll post some impressions once it arrives.

[Klunka]

I've had this for a week, lot of fun to be had. Those of you worrying about people to play with, there is single card multiplayer (2-4 players). Only difference is they cannot customize their stats at the beginning of the game.

Word of advice to anyone starting out, don't just jump into capturing towns and killing the big monsters. Until you're lvl 6 or 7, aim for chests, stores and random battles. Not many things as satisfying as stealing another players kill and XP, or just finishing the player off and taking one of their items. Lots of fun to be had.

[Young Al Capone]

Sounds awesome. I am stoked to hear that the single card play is good, because I knew no matter how good it was if it isn't available locally I am never getting any of my friends to pick it up. They just do not contain the density in their cores.

[Mike Kelehan]

My friends and I love Dokapon Kingdom. Fantastic multiplayer game. Never play it with less than three people. Ever. Ever. Negative reviews are usually based on the single player.