Impulse Gamer was fortunate to preview this game early this year and needless to say, we were quite impressed with the BETA. So what exactly is Little King's Story? In its essence, it’s a combination of many genres that include real-time strategy, role-playing and adventure all bundled into one title plus a few elements of games such as the Sims & Animal Crossing.

Features:

• Built for Wii from the ground up.

• Accessible Controls - Give commands and control your townspeople to a wide variety of tasks with ease

• People Power! – Have your townspeople dig for treasures, build new buildings, and break obstacles to access new areas all in the name of bettering your kingdom

• Distinct and Lively Villagers - Each NPC (Non-Playable Character) in your village is unique with individual likes, dislikes, and evolving memory based on daily experiences

• Multiple Sub-quests - Any good king puts the welfare of his subjects before himself, so help your villagers by accepting some of their requests and unite the surrounding rival kingdoms under your flag to become the best king of the world

In relation to Animal Crossing, Little King's Story is quite reminiscent of this title, however it’s far superior in terms of gameplay, graphics and enjoyment. Apart from the engaging gameplay, Little King's Story boasts quite an engaging storyline that involves deceit, political twists, world domination and a touch of romance. Your main goal in Little King's Story is to control a young king who has been given the task of rejoining the kingdom of Alpoko together who is under the “watchful” eye of his advisor, Howser Oreganostein.

As you explore this ruined land, you speak with its citizens, engage on missions such as hunting down hideous monsters, search for gold and micromanage your town and its citizens in order to bring wealth and power to the land again.

Although you spend much of your time exploring as the King, you have access to other units such as farmers and soldiers etc, that will assist you in your missions. To look for missions, the best place to start is the Suggestions Box in the town square that offers the player access to fan letters from the townsfolk, missions, complaints and the like. Thankfully, the game does not throw you into this giant world, rather, it slowly opens up as you complete certain aspects of the game.

The real-time strategy or micromanagement aspect of Little King's Story is quite well created and is not convoluted as a PC game but rather suits the Wii perfectly. Although only a limited number of buildings are available to you at the start that include farms and barracks, as you progress, so do the buildings and units that you can access. Each of your citizens have a variety of skills that must be used to progress, such as using farmers to build or dig holes. Of course, this requires money and money can only be done by exploring or by battling creatures or the nefarious Onii.

Your citizens can swap their roles which is done by changing their classes once they enter the relevant building. For example if a farmer walks into the barracks, they are turned into a soldier. As the game becomes more complex, so do the classes of your citizens and you often need to balance your followers in the game to have a good mixture. Followers are needed to complete certain missions in the game and a good mix is always a good success.

Battles are quite fun as you can issue basic orders to your soldiers and although there are some basic creatures in the title, there are quite a few boss battles that does require some careful strategy and is reminiscent of Pikmin as you attack your foes. Your king is vulnerable to attacks, so he needs to protected and if he is injured, hopefully you can find a spring that will heal you or you will need to return to your castle.

Missions are generally for making more money, however the crux of the title is to conquer neighboring kingdoms and once you have conquered a kingdom, their princess will join your harem in your Castle. Apart from collecting princesses across the land, it’s great to see your humble castle become something magnificent towards the end of the game and looks quite Disney-esq.

The control system of Little King's Story is perfect on the Wii thanks to the innovative menu system that can be played by gamers of all ages. Controlling your King or your followers is quite simple and assists in the overall enjoyment of the title. Menus also assist with the micromanagement of your game that include how many people you have, wealth and happiness.

Apart from keeping an eye on your kingdom, you need to keep an eye on your king who ages from lack of sleep and battles and in order to rejuvenate, you must return to your castle in order to sleep and save your game. My only gripe with this game is the lack of a save anywhere feature and considering that some of your missions are quite lengthy, this does make for some frustrating gaming.

Graphically, the title is like a Saturday morning cartoon with a wondrous and bright colour palette and some really cute looking characters. The cutscenes use this great oil painting effect that looks quite surreal and melds well with the in-game graphics. The gaming environment is similar to Animal Crossing, however the attention to detail is more impressive and it’s quite an interactive experience. It’s the little things in the game that make it worth playing such as the celebrations in the town or the various lighting effects that make this game true eye-candy.

The musical score suits the genre perfectly as best one can on the Nintendo Wii and although there is no voice acting in the game, the mumbles and squeaks of the characters goes hand in hand with the story, gameplay and graphics. In other words, the sounds are very Sims and Animal Crossing like.

In conclusion, Little King’s Story is quite an original and innovative game on the Nintendo Wii that can be played by gamers of all ages. The various gaming genres included in this game do not feel forced or contrived but rather work in conjunction and adds something unique to the gaming industry. Just be warned though, this is one game that needs quite a large amount of time in order for the player to reap the rewards… besides, it’s fun collecting princesses!

Highly Recommended!