Code of Princess 3DS
  • Publisher: ATLUS
  • Release Date: Oct 9, 2012
User Score
7.4 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 48 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 37 out of 48
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 48
  3. Negative: 6 out of 48

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  1. raidendaigo
    Oct 9, 2012
    9
    Like JRPGs but wish they were more action oriented. Well then Code of Princess is up your alley. Great looking graphics, arcade style action and goofy plot lines make for a whimsical and fun game experience. The characters are well designed but and kinda fan-service but the game play and tone more then make-up for it. The 3d has a diorama effect giving a toy-like appearance to the experience, which was a plus for me. I can't wait to unlock all the characters.… Expand
  2. HeroOfLegend
    Oct 10, 2012
    9
    This is probably one of the best 3DS games I've played in a long time. Story mode is pretty awesome and the dialog is quite well written and funny. Voice actors are great too! The gameplay can be pretty challenging at times, but you can grind yourself up to the right level when you need to. I also like how you can play as different characters in both story mode and free play. Only issue i have is with the frame rate at times, but it doesn't really take away from the experience for me. A must have for any RPG fan.… Expand
  3. ttocs
    Oct 10, 2012
    8
    Very reminiscent of the much loved Guardian Heroes. You pick up characters as you continue along the main campaign and can level them up independently and assign them weapons, charms, armor, etc. The game takes place on a 2d plane with the ability to move from forescreen, midscreen, and backscreen (three levels) at will while attacking enemies and performing movies like in a fighting game. The gameplay is fun but the game can suffer from some slowdown when there are a lot of enemies on screen. It doesn't take away from the action too much though and you'll get used to each characters attack speed and judge accordingly. You'll soon find your favorite and upgrade to the nines while enjoying a decent story filled with a lot of silliness.… Expand
  4. malypso
    Oct 10, 2012
    9
    Being named the spiritual successor to Guardian Heroes, Code of Princess is finally here. But does it live up to the hype? Short answer, YES! COP is a beautiful JRPG beat em up game that has a ton of content, including local/WiFi co-op/vs multiplayer action, and over 50 playable characters. The campaign is broken up in bight sized sections, which is good for on the go gaming. The story is good and once I got the combat mechanics down I was hooked. There are some minor issues with slow-down but nothing that deters from the experience however, I could tell that this game was designed with the original 3DS in mind, not the 3DS XL. Either-way the game is fun and beautiful, never letting up not even at the end. Campaign isn't too long but, with 50+ playable characters and full campaign with up to 4 players Local/WiFi multiplayer and also a 2-4 player VS mode, Code of Princess will keep you busy for a long time. Enjoy and support great games from Japan.… Expand
  5. Ythan
    Oct 10, 2012
    3
    Fun graphics and a good sense of humor, but this game has serious slowdown issues and lag with the controls, especially when 3D is enabled. Unfortunately, since it's an action-oriented title, this seriously detracts from the gameplay experience and it ends up being a button masher with no sense of connection with your character. I was really looking forward to this title, but reluctantly have to admit that it fell far short of all my expectations. Might be worth picking up when it's eventually on sale for $10.… Expand
  6. forthesloth
    Oct 11, 2012
    9
    This game is awesome!... I have sunk about 10 hours into the game and am still captivated by the game play. The combat system is simple but deep executing the right moves at the right time to chain together combos takes skill and practice. The game plays more like a fighter than it does a brawler. I wish there were more depth on the rpg elements not they are shallow in anyway but i would have like to have seen more done with the weapons system. I can see why they didn't though the game is filled to the brim with content whether it be unlocked characters, online game modes, single player game modes etc. I could go on forever. I have had no frame rate drops and only had a lag issue in one match of the 30 or so ive played. The graphics are smooth and animations are seamless as well. This game is worth every penny of the 40$ price tag.… Expand
  7. Ullianov
    Feb 7, 2013
    7
    An action RPG with a charming cast of characters, each playing differently from one another, a good action-oriented gameplay (which slows down occasionally) and a goofy plot that never takes itself too seriously. The game progresses through missions (which lack variety) that seldom are hard to complete; little to no grinding required (still some micro management on equipments and status though). The coop and vs mode increases the longevity of the game. The perfect example of "good but not great" game for me.… Expand
  8. revrevolution
    Oct 15, 2012
    8
    This is a really fun jrpg with enough beat-em-up to go around. The artistic style is very appealing, and the humor aspects are silly and well balanced. In terms of gameplay, it's about as fun of mindless button mashing as there is - leveling up characters is fun as well as collecting new armor and weapons to help polish your character (which there are many fun characters to choose from for free play). My only real 'beef' with this title is that gameplay does indeed slow down a lot during during some battles - this can be distracting at times, but honestly after you've played the game for a while you get use to it pretty quickly. The slowdowns aren't enough to keep this game from being a real keeper, if you're into side scrolling beat down games, then check this one out.… Expand
  9. vicviper
    Oct 15, 2012
    8
    Great game, perfectly paced for a handheld. Playing Code of Princess is like stepping back to the 90's when games were developed to be a memorable experience. Incredible amount of content on the cartridge, without the need of DLC. If you enjoy old school beat-um-ups with with RPG elements buy this game.
  10. VegetarianWolf
    Jan 17, 2013
    10
    This is one of the only games from this generation that I feel deserves a 10/10. At first glance, I thought it would be just another one of Fatlus' JRPG games like all the rest. And I'm sure a lot of you felt the same. I bought this game originally just for collecting and archiving purposes, but instantly fell in love after I gave it a chance.
    Everything about the game is light hearted an    d goofy. And that is a great change from the usual pace of realistic dark and grimy shooters we have this days. But it doesn't ruin the combat a bit. The combat in this game is very deep and also fun. If you are a fan of fighting games, you will be able to pull of combos very easily.
    The dialogue is captivating. I haven't felt inclined to watch cutscenes in years. The characters are cool, interesting and have a lot of depth. I was also very impressed with the voice acting. Not a lot of 3DS games actually have real voice actors, just text to tell the story.
    On top of all that, this game has infinite replay value. 50 unlockable characters, all with their own stats you can customize to your playstyle, plus tons of unlockable items that do a variety of things.
    And the multiplayer. I don't know what to say, other than this is the best game to have on the 3DS if you want to play with friends.
    This is a must have game for any 3DS owner. Even if you don't like anime, trust me, you will enjoy this game thoroughly.    … Expand
  11. Oceanicus
    Nov 20, 2012
    9
    It has a genius localization thanks to Atlus, its humour is just great, you'll be playing to see what the character will say next, also, for the fans of beat-em-ups its a good game. The only downside is that it can suffer from frame rate when you're playing with more than 2 people, other than that, great.
  12. TylerDurden85
    Mar 10, 2013
    7
    Great graphics, decent combat (although sometimes repetitive), and a mediocre story. The RPG mechanics are well done for the most part. Several characters to choose from (you gain more along the way) and each can be individually leveled and geared. Combat consists of simplistic inputs similar to smash bros. However, technical issues mar this title. Frequent slowdown and input lag, in addition to some low quality audio (the static!) get in the way of enjoying what could have been a great game, that is now simply a "decent" game… Expand
  13. dharma
    Nov 25, 2012
    5
    Charming character designs and quirky storyline can't help this game from being a repetitive mash fest. Sure, it has this weird and funny Anime vibe to it, but alas the basic game is akin to brawlers such as Dynasty Warriors and the like, albeit in glorious 2.5D format. Could have been better.
  14. CastleMadeOfSan
    Oct 12, 2012
    6
    Originally I thought this game was very cool. The character designs are nice and the animations are good. The combat system seemed neat initially.
    But the game is very laggy in many places. Most times it doesnt interfere, but it can be very distracting, and many places it lags so bad the game is like a picture book unfortunately. If it didn't lag I would have enjoyed it more for sure, but     the lag is very jarring.
    Another thing that I didn't like is all of the stages feel the same. There is no real sense of progression in this game. Sure the stages have different backdrops, but that doesn't change anything, and the stages themselves are more like fighting game stages. The screen will scroll a small amount but thats it. You are stuck in a small flat space, and this can lead to the game feeling very samey very quickly. I was hoping it was going to be more like Golden Axe where you move to new stages and there is more of a noticable progression. Theres a lot of funny dialogue in the game which is good. The enemy design is also pretty cool which makes mixing it up a little more varied, Your characters never change either besides your stats. This isn't necessarily bad, but i think since the game has rpg elements, this would have made the game feel fresher as you played it more. Instead the entire game feels like me being on a small flat stage, doing the same combos, trying to ignore the lag. The only difference is you fight different enemies. If not for the lag and a better sense of progression this game would have been really fun to me.    … Expand
  15. Magejutsu
    Jan 25, 2013
    8
    TONS of characters with full voice acting, all with different play styles, and a charming story. Everything I'd expect from an Atlus game. Kept me busy for hours.
  16. Astrogamer
    Oct 30, 2012
    8
    Gameplay: The gameplay is relative simple as most beat-em ups are. B is a fast, light attack, A is a stronger but slower attack, Y is a lock-on attack, X is boost which uses up your mp, d-pad/slide pad are for movement and L/R for guarding. You can chain the attacks for more damage and using on dpad while attacking produces different moves. the lock-on mechanic and boost mechanic are essential in harder encounters as boost stuns nearby opponents and both double damage individually with a 4 times multiplier for both activated at same time. Stages consist of several enemies and sometimes a boss and are usually completed within 3 minutes. Each of the 8 characters plays fairly unique. Solange plays sorta like Ike from SSBB while Zozo is a magic user. I feel the gameplay is fairly fluid except when you must run between masses of enemies but this is eased with an increased speed stat. Also with a lot of explosions/effects, the game tends to get a frame rate drop but it doesn't really hurt the experience. Actually it makes the game as if it is some sort of bullet time. However, while the gameplay is fluid and simple, it does not really allow for variety in gameplay so the game gets quite repetitious after 5 or so stages so gaming sessions should kept short like around 20 minutes. The campaign should take about 7 hours. Then, there is freeplay, to play campaign as any of the eight characters if you unlocked them, bonus quests which adds several many hard missions, and the multiplayer of co-op and versus. The online mode is great if you can find another person play with. The versus matches are intense matches between 2-4 characters of the 50 possible character. Every character, enemy and npc is playable in versus. Want to play as a troll you fought in level 2. You Can! Want to crush your foes as one of the main villians? Sure! The little girl from the orphanage too? I guess. The old woman as well? now your being extremely creepy but yes. Co-op can be even more laggy with all the different effects of the attacks. Despite this, online mode is barren because very few have bought the game.

    Art and Music: The music and art of the game are outstanding. The characters are excellent each being very unique from each other. The cutscenes, animated by Bones studios (who animated animes like Soul Eater and the Cowboy Bebop movie.) are epic. The music though mostly being 8 songs and a bit of variations, fit the mood of the current scene and are excellent pieces of music. Simply the art and music are phenomenal. Story: The story is pretty good. The story is basically on the line of typical anime stories. The hero, Solange is forced to flee her kingdom as the Distron Army overthrew the DeLuxia royal family. She joins with several fantastical characters like the thief Ali, the necromancer Zozo and the Bard/Sage Allegro. The story is made much better which the several jokes made throughout the campaign like Emble-Semble Duo, Solange's clothing (or rather lack of) and Allegro's reference to his level. Voice Acting is pretty good and fits many of the characters. The cutscenes are almost like watching an anime. All these little touches make campaign much more enjoyable and make you want to get through the stages as fast as possible. You might be disappointed that Mister T was localized as Master T though.

    Pros: Excellent art and music, very funny story, simple but good combat, great cutscenes

    Cons: Repetitious gameplay, Online is empty, if you are a feminist Solange's clothes    … Expand
  17. partyintheback
    Oct 14, 2012
    9
    Code of Princess is basically a spiritual successor to Sega Saturn's Guardian Heroes. It's a 2D brawler/beat 'em up with beautiful sprites, fun gameplay, role-play hooks like loot & leveling up, in addition to tons of unlockable characters and a fun story that uses them all very well. I love this game. So why'd I give it a 9 instead of a 10? There's some serious framerate slowdown at times, which can definitely put a hamper on the game's glorious gameplay. Had they polished up the framerate, this game would truly be a 10 for me. Definitely a rare treat of a game and for fans of Guardian Heroes.… Collapse
  18. CleverMiam
    Nov 8, 2012
    4
    Do you remember Guardian Heroes from the DreamCast? Well, I sure do, and when I saw some trailers of Code of Princess, I was sure this was its spiritual successor. Unfortunately, I was wrong.
    First let me put the good points on the table. The graphic and the 3D for this game is really good. The music is a bit better than average and the JRPG feel and design is great, and I'm not talking a    bout boobs here. The character designs is wonderful: you got booby princess, alibaba thief, zombie mage, rocker bard and even an Pharaoh cat shop keeper, PHARAOH CAT SHOP KEEPER!! you don't get more "Japan" than that. Our band of heroes are a bit cliche, but that doesn't remove any charm from them and the story is okay.
    However, the game start flattening when we go to the gameplay criteria, which is both repetitive and short. Here, we got the average arcade beat-em up style mixed with some JRPG elements, seems like a winning combination. But the battle system is poorly varied. Even counting the fact that you have an immense roster of character at your disposal (like 50), each of them have like 6 different attacks. While some character are more physical and others more into magic, you always end up using the same attacks over and over until your enemies are defeated. It becomes boring quickly unless you switch characters often, but you can't because if you do so, you'll have to start at level 1, so you have to go through all the story with the same character if you want to progress steadily. The story is nothing new, but is interesting the first time you go through. However, it's really short. If you stick with the Main character through all the game, you'll finish the story mode in about 2 or 3 hours, which is too short. They added some challenge missions which is mostly composed of mission you already did in the story mode, most with a twist to spice things up. The fact is, unless you re-explore the story mode with different characters, you'll put the game down after the first play-trough. It's a good game, but it's too short and repetitive to be worth 40$    … Expand
  19. Adretel
    Apr 19, 2013
    9
    this game is good like the games that we have in the 90's but sadly in this generation of gamers when a game wants to be like and old school god game the is underated and killed by bad critics, i think this game is vibrant ad colorfull and has a good sountrack (if your ear was trained in the 90's), i would recomend to everyone who want to had a good time. this game is replayeable and you can play with every character on the game.… Expand
  20. pizzaday
    Mar 18, 2013
    5
    Clunky controls, tacked-on RPG elements, and terrible lag get in the way of an otherwise solid sidescroller beat'em-up. Not bad, but not worth the time when games like Muramasa exist already.

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
67 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 36 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 36
  2. Mixed: 20 out of 36
  3. Negative: 2 out of 36
  1. Games Master UK
    May 9, 2013
    52
    A royal pain in the ass. [June 2013, p.83]
  2. Gamereactor Sweden
    Apr 24, 2013
    60
    This could have been good, but the visual chaos on-screen is really a shame.
    Read full review
  3. Eurogamer Portugal
    Apr 21, 2013
    80
    With a simple gameplay but that leaves us always wanting play more, an appealing visual look, and modes that guarantee entertainment for many hours, this is certainly another great game for the Nintendo 3DS's catalog.
    Read full review
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