Underground Games: Prinny: Can I Really be the Hero?
It’s not often that the lackeys in video games get a chance at the spotlight. That rare chance came with Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero? Imagine if Toad was ever able to get revenge for their years of abuse or the Pikmin didn’t need a goofy astronaut telling them what to do? Much like the Servbots that I talked about in my look back at The Misadventures of Tron Bonne, Prinnies are the often abused minions in the Disgaea series of strategy games. These adorable, (and at times crude,) penguin demons are used for slave labor when not being used as fodder on the battlefield. But as it turns out, they also make fantastic platforming stars.
Disgaea always was a niche title, so imagine what would happen when a spinoff game comes out late in the PSP’s lifespan when so many gamers had given up on the portable. It’s not like there was anything jumping out to make gamers take notice either, with little advertisement to the point where only the Disgaea faithful were aware of it. Those who gave it a chance were sure to have a blast, and I don’t just mean how the Prinnies explode when mishandled.
Taking place in The Neatherealm, Etna, the fan favorite demon lord controls the largest collection of the little servants known as the Prinny Squad. After a shocking revelation in her refrigerator, she sends 1000 of them for a very important task… to replace her Ultra Dessert! The game has a very old school platformer feel, complete with hair pulling difficulty, pits, instant deaths, fights that revolve around solving patterns and thumb blistering button mashing. Prinny doesn’t have much to fight with, he has a pair of knives that are stronger on the ground but can shoot projectiles from the air. They can also ground pound and double jump if that helps! Let’s just say you’ll be glad you have 1000 lives.
With such a limited set of moves, the game really forces you to make tactful decisions on how to tackle each situation. Ground pounding on foes stuns them, making them easier targets, but you can also just try jumping in head first. Especially if playing on Hard, where any damage is a one hit kill, it makes every move feel important. It’s the small things like these that really suck you in and addict you to the game. If that wasn’t enough, there are tons of hidden items, stages, achievements and ranks to discover. But the biggest part of the replayability is that if you can tackle the first six stages in any order. Depending on when each level is played, stage layouts, enemy positions and bosses can completely change, so you have to play through the game at least six times to see everything these demons offer.
And you’ll want to, believe me. Thanks to the top notch presentation, including the music, voice acting and animations, the game is a laugh out loud joy to play. It’s obvious that the localization team was well aware of their audience, (find the Prinnies named Prieza, Prigeta and Prikachu or the Star Wars references and tell me different,) and features such clever writing that you’ll want to hear every line of dialogue recorded on the UMD. So much so that when you’ve put nearly 100 hours finding everything in the story, it’s one of the few games that has a large amount of downloadable content for Sony’s portable. Just when you think it’s over, it pulls you back in!
The game was popular enough to spawn a sequel earlier this year, where the Prinnies are sent to find a missing pair of panties, (did I mention the game is Japanese?) Just watch these trailers and try not to smile at all of these crazy happenings. If you want more Prinny action, you can always check out Disgaea 4, which was released a few weeks ago, but until then, head to your local bargain bin and pick up this hidden gem. You’ll be glad you did, dood!
