by Peeps
Get your cape ready, dood! It’s time to talk about Z. H. P. Unlosing Ranger VS. Darkevil Deathman. Z. H. P. is a new strategy RPG from Nippon Ichi Software and the Disgaea team.. It definitely shows its connections to Disgaea with references to character descriptions and the Prinny connection in the game. There are many other anime, video game, and real life references that are well written into the script to give a more identifiable feel to it. The main feel is like a saturday morning super ranger show from Japan, but with backhanded lessons with both dark humor and encouragement. The learning curve is fairly well balanced for those familiar with strategy games.
There are a lot of customization choices that range from silly to strategy changing. The shadowgram system also greatly supports this and definitely gives the feeling that the ranger you make is your own. The linear story can take away some of that unique feeling, but it does keep the character on the “TV show” feeling of script to dictate major choices. The pacing seems like pushing a huge boulder up a hill at first, but after some time it begins to feel not quite as overwhelming. The gameplay overall feels like a good mix of strategy and action. The item chaining is crucial later in the game, and the well done tutorials do help a great deal. The use of chance attacks and item effects is well done. Some of the item management can feel a bit crowding with food and other necessary items if you have not done much customizing, but again the tutorials can help show how to use customizing to help inventory stress. The caravan also adds to the options by allowing the player to make their own base with staff control.
The grid style setup keeps the feel of strategy games, especially during later dungeons with many traps. The turnflow is excellent and with randomized dungeons the gameplay does not feel very repetitious. The controls are very well done. The control set up overall allows for accessibly and may not be as complex as Disgaea, but it still feels like a well done accomplishment to finish a new dungeon. The menus are well set up, but have an odd spread out feeling due to some menus being accessible by base only. The battle controls are easy to pick up, but have a deep chain results. The array of weapons help the battle controls gain many options on style and gameplay results. The sound quality is very good. The soundtrack is very fitting for the theme. The voice acting feels forced sometimes, but overall is well done.
The graphics look good for the PSP and keep in feel with the game. The individual spites are very well done for each weapon, and some have minor changes such as gloves to major changes such as dog bodies or functioning tank legs. The levels are very well done for each theme and details can feel a little samey, but do have have a good range of variety. Overall this is a must have for strategy fans, Japanese ranger show fans, or even just fans of bizarre humor in games. With its many nods to classic games, classic game graphics (8-bit/16-bit, etc.), and TV shows, Z. H. P. Unlosing Ranger VS. Darkevil Deathman will not disappoint in humor or overall gameplay.
