Once again, the folks over at Nippon Ichi have released another Strategy RPG that's very similar to their previous three releases. Makai Kingdom: Chronicles of the Sacred Tome looks, plays, and feels very similar to Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, La Pucelle Tactics, and Phantom Brave. In fact, if you've played one of these titles, you should have a pretty good idea of what to expect from Makai Kingdom.

If you're not a fan of NIS titles, or have never sat down to play through one, there are a few things you should know before delving into Makai Kingdom. First and foremost, the development team over at Nippon Ichi holds the quality of gameplay over the visual splendors the PlayStation 2 can offer. At first glance, the graphics in Makai Kingdom are well below most other PS2 titles. However, if you think graphics are the most important part of an RPG, you can stop reading now.

Since you're still reading, I assume that means you're a true gamer and happen to hold gameplay high above graphics. Such is the case with Makai Kingdom, as the gameplay is nearly spot on (although it does have a flaw or two). While Makai takes bits and pieces from just about every PS2 Nippon Ichi RPG, it borrows quite a bit from Disgaea: Hour of Darkness and Phantom Brave.

For one, the grid-less maps of Phantom Brave have made the jump to Makai Kingdom. This is very nice as it makes moving around the map much easier than the grid-based system of Nippon Ichi's older titles. However, at the same time it poses a few problems. Selecting which character you wish to move, as well as which enemy you wish you attack can be a bit tedious at times. The gripe is minor, but seasoned NIS veterans may find it a bit frustrating at times.

From the start players will learn that Makai Kingdom borrows quite a bit of humor from Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. The main character, Lord Zetta (the most powerful Overlord in the universe), has been trapped in a book (the sacred tome if you will). Luckily he has his moderately hateful demon and Overlord friends to help him restore his lost kingdom. As you progress through the game you'll come up moment after moment of rather humorous dialogue between the main and support characters.

The gameplay of Makai Kingdom is where the title excels. You start off making several custom characters out of various objects in your kingdom. At this point the gameplay closely resembles Phantom Brave. You invite your custom made warriors onto the playing field in a similar fashion to how you confined your fighters in Phantom Brave. The main difference is that this time around you can also invite buildings and other various objects. These objects can hold some of your troops, and even give them special attributes throughout the battle.

This is only the tip of the iceberg though. Your enemies can also invite objects into the playing field, and taking them out before the enemies within emerge can mean the difference between winning or losing the battle. In addition, certain enemies will have the ability to invite more enemies into the playing field. If you don't take out these enemies before they're able to invite more, you'll be in serious trouble.

If you're a hardcore fan of the previous Nippon Ichi RPGs, you're probably aware of the incessant leveling up that was not only a near requirement, but relatively easy to do given the setup of the game. That's not so in Makai Kingdom. Instead of leveling up your characters until they're nearly unbeatable, you'll need to use your head to strategically place your characters and buildings. You'll also need to take out your enemies in a strategic order to ensure you make it to the next round of combat.

All in all, if you've played one of the previous NIS RPGs you already have a pretty good idea of how Makai Kingdom: Chronicles of the Sacred Tome plays. It adds enough to a winning formula to be another solid purchase for fans of the series and fans of the genre. However, if you're new to the genre, this probably isn't a very good place to start. It would also be nice to see the graphics take a step up, but we may have to wait until the next generation of NIS RPGs for that to happen. Still, Makai Kingdom is an enjoyable SRPG with only a few minor nitpicks.