PoPoLoCrois

Reviewed by Jonathan Levy
December 24, 2005

Developer: SCEI Publisher: Agetec / Sony Computer Entertainment Consoles Available: PSP Number of Players: 1 ESRB Rating: E for Everyone

Cut scene from PoPoLCrois. Click image to enlarge.

Once upon a time in a land called PoPoLoCrois there lived a king named Paulo. Paulo loved his wife Sania dearly, but a tragic event took her away from him. Shortly after their son Pietro was born, the kingdom of PoPoLoCrois was threatened by the Ice Demon. Sania was the only one who could defeat the demon. Upon defeating the demon he stole her soul with him to the World of Darkness. 10 years later, Pietro stumbles upon the fact that his mother isn't dead, just that her soul has been taken. Pietro then begins his journey to save his mother against his father's wishes.

About two years has past since Pietro saved his mother's soul and Queen Sania has just given birth to a baby girl named Elena. The day was supposed to be a joyous one. However, a great evil came and overpowered Paulo's strong mind, bringing him to the dark side. Pietro set out on a daring adventure once again, but this time to save his father.

PoPoLoCrois has three main stories, each with a few chapters. The open movie brought about a fairy tale story book feel which would be very prominent throughout the game and cut scenes. It also has anime style cut scenes.

Screenshot. Click image to enlarge.

The game also had a very nostalgic RPG feel to it. Graphics are about the quality of the PSX but with a slightly higher resolution. You could zoom in, but I found no point in doing this. During combat it would zoom in automatically. The zoom did make things look a bit more pixilated, but it was tolerable.

I found the game very easy to get hooked on. The story is easy to get into and the cut scenes are always fun to watch. It is also interesting to see every character change and grow over 5 years, even if they are only slight changes. The villages also have some unique charm to them. Each town is different and the people there reflected this fact. You can see changes in some of the villages as time progresses and the fear when there is danger threatening the world.

The game does have a few problems. While the game play is smooth, it would occasionally have a lagged feel when there is too much going on. Running is always on, which becomes problematic in small areas. The combat system is a strategy turn-based system, but placing your character in exactly the square you want proved to be a challenge at times. There is a combo system, but exact placement of the characters on a focused turn is required. Thus discovering some of the combination attacks can be difficult. I also discovered a glitch in the map system. After quite some time playing I went to look at the map and after a few seconds it went blank. The most annoying part is that the combat encounter rate is very high.

PoPoLoCrois is thoroughly enjoyable. Although once it has been beaten there isn't much to draw you back into the game. There is a final save which gives you access to all the cut scenes, but nothing to let you go find the souvenirs you may have missed. I know I will always remember this game for its unique fairy tale feel and story telling.

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