HomeVideo GamesPrinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood! - Review

Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood! – Review

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Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood! - Review 1Title: Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood!
Published By: Nippon Ichi Software America (North America)
Based on: The Disgaea Series by Nippon Ichi
Console: Playstation Portable
Release Date: January 2011
Genre: Side-Scrolling, Platform, Hack and Slash
Audio: English Dubs
Subtitles: English
Region: This review was conducted on a North American version of the title.
Cost: $29.99 from the NIS America Online Store
Blurb: When you think of a Prinny game, you do not purchase it for the engaging storyline, but instead a storyline that goes from start to finish with a comedic and less serious storyline that is intentionally light-hearted. This time, the Prinnies are after Etna’s stolen panties, and must track down the thief whilst trying to keep themselves alive. Also, you are provided with a secondary storyline featuring long-time gag “Main Character” Asagi, trying to claim the title of Main Character. The design is bright and creative whilst keeping the side-scrolling platform charm and has a strong music track list of both unique songs and remixed Disgaea songs.

Dood! Where’s My Panties? This review is for a game that was released in January this year however I have tragically unable to acquire this title until very recently, so you guys get a mini-review of this game incase you are on the edge of purchasing it and need that little extra push in either direction. So what is the Prinny game series you ask? Well, if you take one of the older Super Mario games, take Mario out, replace it with a cute Prinny, make the game hard and allow them to attack alongside an actual storyline (Well, more then Your Princess is in Another Castle), then you have this game series! Curious? Read on!

Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood! - Review 2

We’re going on a Panty Hunt~ We’re going to catch a BIG ONE!

The master of the Prinny Squad, Demon Lord Etna’s panties were stolen!?
(OH NO!)
If the Prinnies don’t find her panties by tomorrow morning, she’ll turn them into panties! And that is how Operation Panties, a black ops mission assigned to 1,000 Prinnies Began!
(Wonder how Prinny Panties would feel like?)

Were you expecting something complex? A plot to save the netherworld? Well fortunately or unfortunately, this is a story about the Prinnies, the lowest level of the low-level characters that in other games, die (and explode) by merely throwing them. However, the basic premise of the storyline is that Demon Lord Etna has had her panties stolen by a mysterious “Rare Item Thief”. Granted the power not to explode upon jumping, 1,000 prinnies set out on their epic quest to visit different regions of the world (via cannon transport) and find other rare items which they will use to lure out the thief in their carefully planned trap. These rare items are not that rare unless you would consider fast food to be a perfect thing to steal.

The storyline is just tongue-in-cheek, so the only times you get to see any part of the storyline progress is through the cutscenes before you begin a new level, with the individual bosses having their own miniture storylines that can be a mixture of quirky and tragic. As well, the interactions with other prinnies in the base alongside Etna and Flonne were the winning element – even if it held little value to the storyline and instead was there to bring more psychological tragedy to the poor Prinny (After all, that is why we love them so).

Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood! - Review 3

However, when it came down to it, I was more eager to complete the main storyline and move onto the secondary storyline – Asagi Wars: The Vengeance of Asagi. For those who are not aware of the character Asagi – she is a recurring character in almost every NIS game since Makai Kingdom – where she is out to become the Main Character of the game. These have proven interesting from Zetta locking her in another game world to her destroying the game world in Soul Nomad’s Bad Ending and in the previous Prinny game (Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero), became the main antagonist of the bonus chapters and ended up killing herself and becoming a Prinny.

With the news of her passing spread around the world, several other Asagi’s have come from all over to claim the title of Asagi and main character. Missing out on the entry into the Asagi Wars game, Prinny Asagi goes and hunts down her competition to claim the title. I have always been a big fan of Asagi, and while I found this storyline to be the same as the main storyline (Going to levels and defeating bosses), I also thought that it had a comical storyline to it and considering that this is the closest Asagi has gotten to her own game, thought it was a well implemented idea.

Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood! - Review 4

The purpose of the design in this game was evidently to capture the same charm of the Disgaea series graphics, but also remain faithful to the style of the side-scroll platforming game genre. The character and enemy designs are in 2D however as the environments in the Disgaea series are in 3D, most environments and some skills are designed in 3D. Whilst this may be considered weird for those who are unfamiliar with similar titles, they do complement each other effectively. This game generally does not utilize full character portraits (Except in a few skill attacks and rare occasions) and all dialogue appears with a characters face portrait in their text box with varying effects (See the first screenshot above) which left me expecting better. The game does utilize the occasional CG art – especially in Asagi Wars and they come off nicely as well. All the character designs are colourful and well designed, with the winning design aspect being the character expressions – especially in terms of the Prinnies which come up with both some extreme and adorable sprite facial expressions at times. As well, many of the monster and character designs are derived from monsters or party members from other games in the Disgaea series. What some may consider simplistic – Fans will no doubt consider it as art.

Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood! - Review 5

Music is one of this games strong suits. The games in the Disgaea franchise have always been known (To me at least) for the strong musical backing included in their titles. This game has a nice mixture of both unique tracks to this game but also songs that are remixed versions from previous games – especially from Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. These tracks do vary in style to suit the area you are in, but I almost always felt they hit the right tone to both get you pumped up in undertaking the level but also something I started humming to (Always a good sign).

As much as I hate to say it, the one disappointing voice actress to me was Michelle Ruff as Etna. Usually I would be saying that her role as Etna was one of the highlights of any game – however her voice sounded deeper then her many other roles as Etna. I do believe (Althrough I cannot find the source anymore) that she was possibly unwell at the time of recording – but I still wouldn’t call her role awful – just not up to her normal awesomeness. The Prinny voices are adorable as they usually are, and their constant screams of “Gotta Have Guts, dood!” and another set of half a dozen phrases surprisingly don’t get annoying and also work to pump you up for the task ahead. Whilst I am not entirely sure who voiced Asagi, it is the same person as Prinny: Can I Really Be The Hero? and whilst got getting as many chances to use her over the top voices as in the previous game – still proved to be enjoyable.

Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood! - Review 6

This game could be considered by some to be a Demons Souls of the Platforming Genre, as at the moment you scoff at the fact the game gives you 1,000 prinnies – you may find yourself with 100 less doing a level. This time however, the game is perhaps a bit more lenient and provides you with a bonus Baby Mode – which as the name suggests, makes the game easier by covering some pits and making your Prinny more durable then the 1-2 hits you get on the other two difficulties. The levels themselves increase in difficulty as the hours pass by, and whilst you are permitted to choose what levels you go to – what a might be an easy level in one hour will end up being much harder every time an hour (1 hour =’s one stage) passes by. The difficulty changes as the game progresses allows a different playthrough each time – as each level has different enemies to face and increased numbers of them as time goes forward – especially with the prinnies generally not getting any stronger over the course of the game. You are given a choice of 6 primary stages and then a linear path of stages until the end and they are all differently themed and each requires different plans of attack to complete without using your entire Prinny allowance.

Oh, you are wondering about what the gameplay actually is? If you haven’t guessed already, the levels are split up into two different zones – the platforming zone and the boss zone. The platforming stages involve navigating through the harsh netherworld terrain whilst slashing the many enemies on your screen without them attacking you too much whilst the boss zones are essentially what you would expect – a tough boss that gets progressively tougher. The boss designs are all unique and require different problem solving and plans of action for each one. One of the bosses for example involves the boss gaining more and more copies and you have to avoid getting hit by them and “hip pounding” them whilst another one you have to attack a specific region of the bosses head. The variety is well thought out and you are no doubt going to lose hundreds of prinnies the first time around. The only real flaw out of the gameplay is the controls. Whilst I do wonder if it is intentionally like this to add to the difficulty, but it is at times hard to judge exactly where you will land as it is not easy to turn, sometimes you require more precise timing else you will die through what most would consider a well-timed jump at so forth.

Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood! - Review 7

Asagi Wars has the same basic mechanics for the gameplay, but still has enough diversity to make it seem like a whole separate game to the main storyline. As Prinny Asagi is the only one available, she is not prone to dying but instead you play as just her. Instead of a Prinny Count you are provided with infinite lives and you survive in a level as long as your viewer rating remains above 0% – with different difficulties resulting in different rating drops. Of course, daggers are not appropriate for someone as awesome as Asagi, so staying true to her roots as a gun-class humanoid character in the other games – she has a variety of different weapons she can use from varying types of guns (Eg. Flame Thrower, Gatling Gun) to physical weaponary (Drills) to more comedic ones such as Eggplants and Cats. You are only provided with a limited amount of ammo, so if you deplete it all – you will be left to fight the boss with Eggplants. I loved how they changed the concept, but as with the main Prinny storyline, the controls are very tricky to use, with guns only being able to be used in horizontal and vertical directions and not diagonally, which caused me some strife. Otherwise, I loved the uniqueness of Asagi War’s gameplay.

Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood! - Review 8

This game is without a doubt aimed at fans of the series and those that like anime-styled games. Because of this, personally I found this a very enjoyable game that brought something different to the genre that shows there is still much more left in the side-scrolling platform genre then developing remakes of a 20-year old concept. I say if you are after a good PSP game that is not an RPG, consider purchasing either this game (Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood!) or (Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero?).

Final Score

Storyline: B
Character Development: B
Design: A
Music: A
Voice Acting: A-
Gameplay: A
Replayability: A-
Personal Opinion: A

Overall Score: A-

Sam
Sam
Founder of The Otaku's Study. I have been exploring this labyrinth of fandom these last fifteen years, and still nowhere close to the exit yet. Probably searching for a long time to come.

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