Code of Princess Review

US box art feat. Princess Solange (img src: neoseeker)

So I bought another game for the 3DS for the third time on the same month. Way to go on saving my well kept 2nd semester allowance, huh?

I've been struggling in picking the right title to join my collection but I've so far picked several wrong games that really felt lacking since buying New Super Mario Bros. 2.
However, I think my dark days of bad titles have finally come to an end with my latest title - Code of Princess.

Code of Princess is about a half-naked chick wielding an oversized sword and the many friends she encounters on her journey to hack-and-slash and beat 'em up everyone who stands on their way and the peace of her kingdom.
If anything the setting of the story feels like Fire Emblem but with a lighter tone and a sill and enjoyable cast that don't seem completely bothered at all with all the events happening in their universe.

The game is pretty straightforward on the get go. The premise of all the events happening in the game doesn't really strike any serious story that triggers some kind of hardcore heat that would make you want to go nuclear every single scenario.
While at first it may felt lacking in a lot of ways, a couple of scenarios in the game (both in campaign and free-play) it'll eventually settle in warmly for those searching for repetitive combat in different areas that looks the same (overall) against enemies that could occasionally pack a punch when they feel like it.

Every scenario where combat is involved, the player is allowed to pick one character to fight with. Each character has a unique combat set but their button commands are all the same. Each stage features a long stretch of a road and is riddled with enemy soldiers, monsters and/or bosses. There are also three areas within each stage where the player and the enemies can move to and fro. These areas are the front plane, the middle plane and the back plane (moving in between planes are more noticeable in 3D). Think Summon Knight but a little more complex with a few (but still not enough) variety.

img src: crunchyroll

Some stages either require the player to defeat all the enemies to clear the stage, defend someone, or beat a boss. Boss fights are usually either too easy or a little hard depending on the stats, equipment and level of your character.
Expect sudden rise of difficulty every now and then so level grinding is really unavoidable.

Overall, while there aren't anything particularly remarkable in the game, it's still as original as it gets considering the current generation of gaming. Of course I could say otherwise when arcade classics are taken into consideration. However, I would definitely not recommend Code of Princess for long hours of gaming. Sure it's fun and the scenarios are humorous but the repetitive formula of the game, which is also its core mechanic, gets boring after a while.

Still, if Mirror of Fate, Yoshi's New Island and Code of Princess are the last games on Earth, I'd pick Code of Princess.