PwerlvlAmy

User Score
9.0

Presentation - 9.0
Gameplay - 8.5
Value - 8.0

Buying its way to success?

Penny Punching Princess is a beat em up RPG developed and published by NIS. Mixing beat em up w/rpg and a dose of capitalism on top of everything else, this is a very weird game.

Story:


In a world that is all about ''might'' meaning everything and nothing short of ''survival of the fittest'' now the law of the land,the heroes must step up to ward off an evil that no one ever saw coming, the rise of capitalism. Join the heroes in the fight against and for capitalism as they discover just who runs the show in this world,people with money.






Game play:

Penny Punching Princess shakes up both the beat em up and RPG formulas in a very weird,but creative way. At face value this game acts like a traditional beat em up with your combo attacks which are activated by just mashing one button,to various charge attacks you'll be able to use to hit enemies for a bigger amount of hp. But the game has so much more to offer beyond this.

In a game about capitalism, what else could be usable in this game? money of course. Money is one of the key factors to why this game is so creative and why it's so weird in general. As long as you have money to spare, then the majority of the games mechanics are at your whim,which means you can pretty much do anything you want,including bribing off your toughest opponents.

That's right, if you do not feel like fighting a regular standard enemy or even a boss fight, ask them how much they're worth by opening up your handy calculator. With your calculator opened you can determine just how much each enemy is worth in coin and then honor that amount. For example if you're a fighting an enemy that wants 100 gold coins, then if you give him 100 gold coins he will stop fighting you and join you. I mean what in the? that's pretty awesome.





Every enemy you beat on your own via beat em up style fighting, you will earn currency,otherwise known as coins in this game. The more coins you have the more you can do in this game,such as pay off enemies,unlock treasure chests and get other bad guys on your side. But it doesn't stop there, as long as you have money, you do not have to worry about dying because even if you get a game over,then even that too, you can pay off and act like nothing ever happened. Pretty hilarious.

With coins you also have the unique ability known as a ''coin miracle''. With coin miracle you are able to use your money to summon Zenigami,who is the ''god of money'' in this game. Once he is summoned, a variety of things is possible when used, such as making your princess into a huge giant to overwhelm an enemy or summon rocks and meteors from the sky to wipe out an entire section of a level,all because you paid him to do so. Money is great. Money is justice. Owari Da!

People playing this game will also have the pleasure of playing with more than one character in this game besides the main character,the princess. The second playable character in this game is named Isabella,she is related to the princess,but was born... a zombie? how does that even work. While it doesn't make any sense at all,it does give the game some flare and charm knowing shes literally a stinky zombie character who helps you fight in your journey. However she is useful for another reason besides just tagging along.





In Penny Punching Princess as both the princess and isabella you have access to Kingdom Building. You get access to this feature in between stages and levels so the game stays fresh,at least that's how I took it. During this kingdom building mode,both you and isabella are able to enhance and create new armor, but they're also able to partake in a training system that lets them beef up their skills that they learn throughout the course of the game. But the real kicker to all of this is good. You remember earlier about me explaining that you can bribe enemies? well,every enemy that you bribe,becomes not only your friend,but an honorary civilian of your kingdom! pretty awesome!


Hold on, I feel like I'm forgetting something. There's no way that there's no actual objective in this game and that you just beat up bad guys and bribe them and that's it,that can't be. Well if you stated that then you're correct. Your main objective in this game is to take down the evil ''loaners'' of the world,who are worth TRILLIONS of dollars in coins. They're the strongest and most influential people in the entire world and with this power and wealth,they control all the evil mobs and are the main cause for all bad in the world,they're known as Dragolan. Money is power and they have all of it.

One last thing I want to touch upon is the games overall difficulty. Personally I say its neutral,not hard but not easy either. Even if you get stuck in a certain spot and can't beat it, you're always able to grind out a few enemies here and there to keep collecting coins and allies to use at your disposal so you'll never have a single moment of LONG down time in any one area. At the same time,the game isn't necessarily super easy either,yes you can pay money for everything, but remember not all enemies will cost 100 gold. Some can even cost 500 gold or HIGHER,which will completely drain you of your funds and will NOT save you from getting a game over when you desperately need money. Manage your wallet well.





Graphics/Environment:

Penny Punching Princess in the art and graphic department looks pretty similar to a game called Blossom Tales to me. What I mean by this is that it takes what you would normally thought you'd play on a console like the SNES, but gave it a sharper coat of paint and upped the creativity in its animations and execution. I'm really loving this approach developers are taking lately. It makes me extremely happy and I hope they continue the trend.





Final thoughts:

Overall my time playing Penny Punching Princess was an enjoyable one. I find it a fresh take on beat em up's,as well as an action RPG. The game manages to mix two genres that by itself at times may seem a little tedious,but NIS go and turn it into something that not only has charm,but also is very unique by itself. From its funny storyline, to its unique game play mechanics, I say this one is a must try and I highly recommend giving it a look!


Penny Punching Princess is out now on Nintendo Switch



https://www.gamenchickgaming.com/blog/penny-punching-princess-review-switch