<http://schema.org/articleBody>
" Release Date: September 26 Platforms available on: PS Vita Price: \u00A329.99 / $39.99 Developer: Marvelous Entertainment Publisher: Konami Genre: RPG / Real-Time Strategy The original Little King&amp;#039;s Story arrived on Nintendo Wii to little fanfare in 2009. Despite peddling an ambitious blend of real-time strategy, life simulation and role-playing elements, Cing&amp;#039;s gem failed to garner a mainstream following. It was criminally under-appreciated, yet there were plenty of novel ideas to build on in a sequel. Now that one has touched down on the PlayStation Vita, the series gets another well-earned shot at the big time. New Little King&amp;#039;s Story follows on from its Wii predecessor and carries over many of its core mechanics, but stands alone well enough to offer newcomers a smooth acclimatisation. The kingdom players amassed in the original game is under siege by an arcane invader known as the nightmare, and it&amp;#039;s up to us to lead the people victory against him.  The title takes place from the top-down perspective and casts the player as a monarch called Corobo (but you can name him however you please). Much of the game is spent handing out simple orders to your loyal subjects - sending soldiers into battle or commanding craftsmen to build structures, for instance. On top of this, there&amp;#039;s territorial expansion and stats management to contend with. Recruiting citizens to do your bidding is a fundamental part of the game. This is a simple matter of heading over to them and hitting circle, and once they&amp;#039;re in your thrall, specific roles can be assigned. For instance, you can train up woodcutters for gathering raw materials, imperial guards for combat, and builders for constructing platforms to higher ground. Giving orders is gratifyingly simple. Pushing square near a point of interest sees your men interact with it however they can, while circle pulls them back in retreat. Exploration and resource gathering are also essential components of New Little King&amp;#039;s Story. In order to train up your citizens in their specific roles, structures must be built to accommodate this. For example, building barracks lets you recruit soldiers and setting up workshops allows you to hire craftsmen. Unlocking additional classes grants players access to new territories, while further structures can be constructed as the borders of your empire expand.       Combat accounts or a sizeable portion of the experience, and the bulk of this is carried out by ordering your troops in to battle in numbers. The idea is to overwhelm enemies, but timing your retreat is also vital, particularly during boss skirmishes. Although you wouldn&amp;#039;t last long without an army by your side, players can get their hands dirty by carrying out attacks with the X button. Once again, it&amp;#039;s a relatively simplistic interface with plenty of room for tactical depth. New Little King&amp;#039;s Story is an enjoyable game, aided greatly by a straightforward and intuitive interface. In spite of this, it feels the need to bore players with long-winded explanations and reams of text. The protagonist has a trio of colourful advisors at his disposal, who advance the story with dialogue during cutscenes and deliver tutorials for each mechanic. These segments are overly long and flat, consisting of nothing but 2D sketches and endless text boxes.  There&amp;#039;s never a shortage of interesting things to do in the game, with quests in no short supply, new territories to extend your reach into and level caps to hit. However, aside from online rankings and an item-crafting mechanic, there aren&amp;#039;t quite enough brand new features to stave off d\u00E9j\u00E0 vu for players familiar with the Wii edition. Bearing a resemblance to its console predecessor is certainly no bad thing. The original Little King&amp;#039;s Story had many good qualities, not least the way it blended multiple genres seamlessly; but its lesser points also make a comeback. Having to reassemble your army at the beginning of each in-game day grows tiresome, and amassing a balanced group of followers that has you covered in all situations is needlessly difficult. Putting our minor quibbles aside for a moment, there&amp;#039;s plenty to appreciate about New Little King&amp;#039;s Story. It&amp;#039;s a beautifully presented game, rendered in an effective pseudo 3D motif. The character models have a manga influence, and do little to stand out among their genre counterparts, but you can&amp;#039;t help but admire the vibrant art style. New Little King&amp;#039;s Story should be commended for the way it amalgamates several complex genres into one fun and accessible package. It will almost certainly appeal to RPG fans more than real-time strategy veterans, but the elements it draws from both genres complement each other exceptionally well. Although players familiar with the Wii version will notice more than a few similarities, most of the comparisons drawn will no doubt be favourable.   "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/review/a408539/new-little-kings-story-review-ps-vita-a-jewel-in-the-crown/>