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Little King's Story

EMAIL PRINT wii

9.0 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 49 critic reviews
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Based on 43 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: XSEED Games / Marvelous Entertainment

Developer: Cing Inc. - Town Factory

Genre(s): Simulation, Real-Time Strategy, Adventure

Players: 1

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Release Date: July 21, 2009

Summary

Little King's Story begins with the story of young boy named Corobo. Shy, and without many friends, Corobo stumbles upon a mysterious, powerful crown while walking in the forest near his village. He soon discovers that the crown grants him the ability to charm any person, and make them follow his orders. Suddenly, Howzer, the bull-knight, appears, informing Corobo that he is now King of the village, and he must not take this responsibility lightly. Returning to his sleepy village, as a King instead of a shy little boy, Corobo begins a quest to turn his small hamlet into a noble, fantastic kingdom. The storyline, visual look, and lyrical music of Little King's Story, work in concert to transport players to an interactive, enchanting, fairy tale world. By combining gameplay elements from life-simulation, real-time strategy, and adventure genres, the many aspects of creating a vast kingdom come to life! As King, players manage and involve their townspeople in the goals of creating this new territory; enlist them to dig for treasure, build new buildings and otherwise better their community. Of course, leadership is a two way street, so as King, players will try to conquer rival nations to create a single unified kingdom, as well as grant the requests of townspeople at whim. With the Wii Remote as a royal scepter, Little King’s Story allows players the chance to be the best king in the world. [XSEED Games]

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central

Also On The Web: Official Website Twitter

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

D+PAD Magazine

Little King’s Story is a game of stunning breadth, imagination and slickly implemented design, and filled with an envious degree of heart and soul.

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Wii Brasil

Little King's Story is a metaphor of his own existence. Filled with details that get together and form a large living world, like the Little King that build a great empire. Full of creativity, a a quality that much of the current industry needs, it is no exaggeration to call Little King's Story of "indispensable".

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Cheat Code Central

This lengthy, challenge, and utterly adorable title has great potential to bridge the gap between different audiences on the Wii. It's easily one of the best games on the system so far this year and one you absolutely won't want to miss.

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Gameplanet

Little King’s Story is a little beauty; fans of Nintendo’s classic ‘cutesy’ titles such as Animal Crossing and Pikmin will truly love it. We may be finished with the reviewing side of things but are still playing Little King’s Story... which is probably the best endorsement we can give any game.

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Everyeye.it

Little King's Story is, simply, a masterpiece.

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Vandal Online

This Cing masterpiece has become one of the best strategy games ever to have been released on a console, and one indispensable Wii title.

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GameZone

I challenge anyone to find a more amusing, engrossing, delightful, captivating, or just plain fun game than Little King’s Story on the Wii or any other system.

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NGamer UK

Funny, exciting, intelligent, weird and rewarding. This is what happens when great minds dare to be different. [May 2009, p.42]

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Official Nintendo Magazine UK

A beautifully polished adventure with buckets of depth. Game of the year material?

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Impulsegamer

In conclusion, Little King’s Story is quite an original and innovative game on the Nintendo Wii that can be played by gamers of all ages.

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IGN AU

Very possibly the Wii's longest adventure - and certainly one of the most varied. So many side-quests, hidden areas, collectables, characters, classes and things to do. A boon for RPG fans, so buy it.

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Games Master UK

Funny, charming and a real meaty challenge, there's nothing else like it on Wii. [May 2009, p.81]

Gaming Age

A great title for the Wii, and a blast to play. The gameplay mechanics are simple enough that most will be able to pick it up and figure it out, but there's enough difficulty involved, and ground to cover, that it'll keep even the more hardcore player interested for quite a while.

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The Onion (A.V. Club)

A fantastically detailed, funny, twisted adventure that will help banish any Wii-related buyers’ remorse.

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Gamervision

Challenging, intelligent, whimsical - Little King's Story is a wonderful game, and one that should be mentioned in the same breath as nearly any other game of quality on the Wii.

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NintendoWorldReport

Little King’s Story is a prime example of how a game can be cute and colorful, yet still challenging and fulfilling. With all that this game has to offer, there is sure to be something here for all types of gamers of any skill level. No Wii owner should overlook this fantastic and unique experience.

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Gamer 2.0

From building your kingdom, to recruiting an army, to choosing one out of seven princesses to be your bride, all the way to world domination–Little King’s Story has a lot to offer in a very polished package, so grab a copy or two before this one becomes rare.

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Cubed3

Little King's Story brings together a mix of game styles and genres, and blends them all perfectly.

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Edge Magazine

Every moment feels like it's been lavished with attention; Little King's Story is as rich as it is long, and it's a very lengthy game indeed. [May 2009, p.90]

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Nintendo Life

With a fantastic script and localisation, greater variety in the tasks involved and dozens of moments that will bring a beaming smile to your face, Little King’s Story outdoes Miyamoto’s garden game on every level. The King is dead – long live the King!

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Telegraph

An intelligent, charming and utterly addictive video game. But its crowning achievement is its unerring dedication to its own imagination. CiNG throw ideas at it from every angle and nearly every single one sticks. The result is a delightfully crafted adventure, that will pull you into its magnificent fantasy world and refuse to let go.

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3DJuegos

Cing crowns Wii users as kings in a game which gathers the best of Miyamoto's Pikmin. Both strategic expert gamers and non-strategic expert gamers will enjoy a life simulator based on the experiences of the Harvest Moon's creator. If you are a Wii owner, then you can't miss Little King's Story.

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Meristation

This is nothing more than a Little King's Story. An incredible game that takes everything that we've seen so far in the strategy genre and pushes it even further to become one of the greatest games on the Wii system. You just never get tired of finding new items, places - of expanding this weird and fantastic kingdom that's settled on a Nintendesque world. Lots of chances for us players to have fun in what's probably the longest adventure for this console.

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Eurogamer Spain

It's difficult to find a videogame with so well balanced general values, even more so if we bear in mind that it's a game that mixes several genres. Is really funny and impeccable in their astounding and artistic visuals. One of the best Wii games.

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Multiplayer.it

Little King's Story reaches a perfect balance between friendliness and depth in terms of gameplay: it's certainly one of the best games available on Wii, and even manages to surpass a masterpiece such as Pikmin in some ways.

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Pelit (Finland)

Little King’s Story is (hopefully) the sleeper hit of this spring. The cute Japanese visuals hide a surprisingly deep, varied and at times rock hard game that is a joy to play. This is an old school game with a capital G and just what the Wii needs. [June 2009]

GamePro

An intriguing blend of real time strategy, life development and role playing action, Little King's Story proves itself as a fun-filled and wholly engaging experience for even the most jaded gamer, all wrapped up in a deceptively cute package.

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Nintendo Power

A resounding success. [Aug 2009, p.88]

RPGamer

Despite a few issues with the boss fights, Little King's Story is an adorable and surprisingly challenging game that can easily addict a person for its twenty to thirty hour duration.

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Destructoid

Man, I really wish the game could have been called Gears of Warcraft: Wii Edition. I'd bet dollars to donuts that with that name, it could have sold a trillion copies.

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Play Magazine

I can’t sing Cing’s praises loud enough. Little King’s Story is the freshest Wii game since de’ Blob and a return to the kind of Japanese development that made me fall in love with games in the first place.

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IGN

Little King’s Story misses the boat in a few key areas for me personally – the largest of which is the lack of IR pointing in a game specifically based around real-time strategy elements – but at the end of the day there’s no denying that this title has serious staying power, an immense amount of charm, and is downright fun despite its faults.

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GameSpot

This deep, challenging, and beautiful RTS-RPG hybrid is cleverly disguised as a child-friendly introduction to the strategy genre.

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SpazioGames

Little King's Story may be considered one of the best games in spring 2009, as well as an example of how to make games that can give you emotions and be fun at the same time. Rising Star offers the gamers a great mixture of strategic, RPG and management elements, creating the perfect recipe for a natty and at times ironic adventure. Recommended for all Wii owners and, most of all, for Pikmin lovers, who will find in this game a similar gameplay.

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GamerNode

Little King's Story is one of the best in the Wii's library. It is fun to play for hours on end, and offers much more depth than your average title.

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Gamer Limit

Little King’s Story is the first truly remarkable, original RPG to hit the Wii. Don’t let the kiddy veneer fool you, it’s pure win!

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RPG Fan

It's one of the more groundbreaking games to come out this year, especially considering many of the uninspired titles making their way to the Wii.

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GameTrailers

Little King's Story is an impressive package, with only a few lingering flaws keeping it from true greatness. It's a slow burn that rewards those with the patience to appreciate its elaborate setup.

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Game Informer

I can't fault a game that offers such a fun, engaging, and lengthy adventure on the Wii. [July 2009, p.87]

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LEVEL (Czech Republic)

A sweet child face hides an uncompromising blend of RPG and strategy. Simple, but clever game mechanics promise long-term playability. [July 2009]

Teletext GameCentral

The consistently surprising offspring of Harvest Moon and Pikmin will make a royalist out of anyone.

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Level7.nu

Playing as a young boy with the mission of saving an overly cute world might not be the most unique concept to bless the Wii, but in this case the formula is surprisingly addictive. If you in any way enjoy the gameplay and concept offered in other titles such as Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon this is a game you'll thoroughly enjoy.

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Thunderbolt

But even when you huff and puff and bemoan its wrongdoings, Little King’s Story bounces along with an insatiable charm and letting it get the best of you then seems pointless, because it has such confidence in what it does right.

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Gamer.nl

Beautiful graphics, well thought through humour and addictive gameplay that will offer hours and hours of gameplay. That's what you'll get if you buy Little King's Story. It's a mystery why you can't point your Wiimote and give a character a simple order, but in the end the game will even put a smile on the face of the biggest sourpuss.

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games(TM)

With both its addictive, rewarding gameplay and the wealth of imagination that's been poured into the presentation, it's incredibly difficult to stop playing Little King's Story. [May 2009, p.112]

Eurogamer

Little King's Story is not the best game you'll ever play. It's repetitive, it's lacking in depth and it can feel slow and frustrating at times. Plus it's got some dodgy politics and a rubbish save system. But it's the best game I've played all year, and that includes Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad. It's charming, engrossing and just plain fun.

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Worth Playing

In the end, Little King's Story is a cute yet exceptionally deep title that will provide hours upon hours of gameplay for anyone willing to master it. However, poor control and pathfinding, coupled with overwhelming scale and some exceptionally frustrating bosses, might turn off a lot of gamers who are looking for a game to ease them into the RTS/simulation genre.

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GameSpy

I appreciated the places the story took me in the end, but the final series of boss fights not only felt forced into the game's plot, but also were so long and arduous that I wondered if I'd ever beat them at all.

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1UP

A few poor design choices keep this game from being easily recommendable to all. Everything but the unforgiving boss fights get repetitive quickly; the game can be light on explanations, leaving a lot to your own deduction; and the pathfinding is terrible.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 43 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Tim H. gave it a9:
Fusion gameplay at its best, thievery and homage at its most blatant. Buy it, even if it's a little baggy. You'll grow into it.

anonymous gave it a9:
Very fun game, just a blast to play almost like a mix of animal crossing, pikmin, and an rpg. I do have one comment though it has to do with metacritic, how does 1up.com's score of B- equal a 67 on here that doesn't make sense

Harvey D gave it a10:
I have literally spent the last five minutes thinking about what words I should choose to describe this game. And, finally, I have settled on the thought that it is indescribable; not the game type, but what the game offers. I've played almost everything new and old across various platforms, but it really has been a long while since I've felt what this game offered. One of the things that surprised me the most about this title was the mature themes that several of the stages developed. It's a reflection of life and our mortality, but delivered as visual poetry. It's gameplay mechanics are akin to Pikmin, but revolve more around unique classes in a, overall, more colorful world. The game runs about 20+ hours without taking on too many sidequests so you get your money's worth. It's a shame that games like this fly under everyone's radar and are simply forgotten. It's this generation's Beyond Good & Evil.

gfh dfhfdj gave it a10:
Absolutely fantastic. I love everything about this game (even the first hour which, in retrospect, is quite boring, but you're so immersed it doesn't matter) and it is paced almost perfectly. Extremely difficult in the latter 3/4 of the game, it is one of the biggest challenges of it's kind. A great game.

dagtastic dag gave it a5:
The problem with Little King's Story is it is too slow and awkward to play. I appreciate the gameplay concepts, and in fact underneath the terrible controls is a fairly decent game. One of the issues is that the game adds too many game elements for your individual "pikmin" to conquer. So you spent most of your time collecting and releasing villagers rather than exploring game content. Also using the button and thumb stick control scheme to try and wrestle your way through the map, selecting various villagers, targets and commands is just plain tedious. And that is what is truly, truly bizarre about this game, and what is ultimately frustrating. I don't understand why a game developer develops what is essentially a point and click game, for a device that is made for the point and click mechanic and doesn't implement it. If this was a gamecube game, I would have forgiven the terrible control choices, and if this was an N64 game I would have forgiven the silly save/mission system, but we should be beyond this by now.

Jason H. gave it an8:
Little King's story is very good, but it's not the masterpiece its made out to be. It's very similar to pikmin, but there's more micromanaging. Citizens have various amounts of life, different names, equipable items, and a variety of classes. The party sizes are much smaller than in pikmin, and Corobo is necesary for more tasks than olimar. This is all fine, but despite the fact that littleking's story is more detail oriented, the controls make directing Corobo's army more difficult than it needs to be. An example would be that there is only one attack button and one retreet button, and there is no option to attack with all your army at once, or to retreat only specific unit. Still, it's an awesome game with amazing style and presentation.

Lee T gave it a10:
This is a very fun game. While it does start out boring, there is a lot of strategy at play here. You will have to learn the various bosses' attack patterns and weaknesses to win. There are plenty of different classes (14 according to the back of the box, though I haven't gotten that far), and every one of them is useful for progression in some way. I've played about 7 hours of it and thoroughly enjoy everything it offers.

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Little King's Story

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