GOTD 6/21/2016: Jikandia: The Timeless Land (PSP)

[celerystalker]

Jikandia: The Timeless Land is an odd duck on the PSP. It bills itself as an RPG, yet is definitively more of an action game with some Rogue-like sensibilities. On the train to school one day, your character and his/her pals find themselves whisked away to the magical world of Jikandia by some selfish douche named TemTem who clearly should have been using his vast powers to get his shit together in his homeland instead of picking on school-age kids to do his dirty work. You and your classmates agree to help save Jikandia, because A) the casts of The Vision of Escaflowne, Fushigi Yugi, El-Hazard, and the Pagemaster all said no, and B) they're fucking kids who aren't prepared to make sound life decisions. So, time to save some folks from, um, time.

Jikandia starts you off in its eponymous kingdom, a hub town from which you can outfit your characters, swap out team members, shop, and gather information. Leaving town allows you to select the current or any prior dungeon to play, and allows you to select the time limit for said quest. The goal is to swoop in, loot the hell out of the place, and kill a boss before time runs out. Clearing the dungeon allows you to keep the items you've collected and gives you a ranking and bonuses with which to improve your team. The longer the time limit alotted (you can choose from 3-30 minutes), the higher quality treasures can be found. Clear all dungeons wnd take down the evil King of Time to save the world and win.

Dungeons play out in a horizontal action/platforming concept, and you control your main character while the others fight and move alongside you slightly reminiscent of a sped up Sorcerian. The dungeons are randomly generated, and filled with timed enemies, chests, and doors that must be opened quickly if you want good treasures, ratings, etc. You are rated up to five stars for your completing the various demands of each, which can afford big bonuses including invincibility to good players. Dying simply lowers your rating, and you pick up right where you were, so the nain goal is to grab as much shit as possible, then make sure to kill the boss, each of which is strong or weak against the various attack types, making changing parties important.

The graphics in Jikandia are pretty weak, and the English dialogue is far too reliant on quoting other games, movies, and TV shows. Still, its framework of timed random loot crawls is pretty fantastic for a portable experience. It's easy to find time to crash through a dungeon or two when you get to pick the length, so it's super accessible. I ended up liking it, although I'd imagine it'd be less fun on a console.

Played this one?

[Emperor Megas]

It may be a while until break out the PSP again, but I do own this game. I haven't played it yet. I bought it last year knowing NOTHING about it, mainly because:

• It was like 7 bucks.
• There was nice Anime artwork on the from of the cover.
• There was sweet pixel art on the back of the cover.

I wouldn't have ever guessed that it was a speed running, loot grabbing, action platforming rogue like...? o_0

[celerystalker]

I wouldn't have ever guessed that it was a speed running, loot grabbing, action platforming rogue like...? o_0

That's a really clean one-line description of the game for anyone who doesn't feel like reading the description!

[kupomogli]

I've been interested in this game, but was never sure if I should pick it up. Your review sold me on it so I decided to put it as one of my filler games for free shipping on Amazon.

[celerystalker]

I've been interested in this game, but was never sure if I should pick it up. Your review sold me on it so I decided to put it as one of my filler games for free shipping on Amazon.

I hope you enjoy it! If not, I hope it was cheap!