Alright just to get it out of the way before the main topic, since I have now started my second year of college, from now on I will be uploading on Sundays instead of Fridays. I’d probably keep uploading on Fridays were it not for the fact that Friday is my longest day. Right after college this week I was going to write up this post but thought ‘Fuck it, I’m too tired.’ So… Yeah.
Anyway, main topic everyone! Dokapon Kingdom is one of my favourite games to play with friends (If I had any… WAAAAAA! Nah Just kidding). For those of you who have never heard of Dokapon Kingdom allow me to describe it in 6 words: If Mario Party was an RPG. That is about the sum of it.
The main goal of Dokapon Kingdom
The main goal of Dokapon kingdom is to accumulate the most assets as possible (have the highest net worth) which are gained from: killing monsters, saving towns, beating bosses, completing quests and side quests and also (of course) killing the other players. Your net worth is the sum of: how much gold they have on hand, the value of any towns they may have and the value of any castles they may have. Towns are gained by killing monsters who have taken over them and castles are gained by completing any of the King’s quests.
Things I like about Dokapon Kingdom
- There’s no one way to play – There are multiple classes in the game that give their own benefits (For example: a Thief can steal items from any players they pass). The especially good classes do require some extra effort to get but, in the end, it really does pay off. Regardless of what you want to be however, players will always choose from 3 starting classes: A Warrior, a Thief and a Magician.
- Being in last place isn’t necessarily a bad thing – In Mario Party, once you’re in last place it can often be difficult to get out of last place (barring Chance Time or Reversal of Fortune). However, there are times in Dokapon kingdom where it is more beneficial to stay in last place. This same reason that makes being in last place worthwhile also makes it easier to get out of last place. I am, of course, referring to the Darkling (more on that later).
- The Combat System is well done – This is just a personal opinion. I’ll go over how battles are structured later but just know that I like how it’s done.
- The Job (Class) System is really well done – Essentially, you can level up your Jobs by killing enemies. This is not based on how strong they are, but it is based on how many you fight. While you are a certain Job you receive gold at the end of every week (note, all players taking 1 turn = 1 day). You get more gold if your Job’s level is higher. Once you reach Job level 6, you master that Job and get gold for that job (even if you’re not that Class anymore). Furthermore, when you master a Job, new jobs become available (For example: mastering Warrior and Magician will unlock the Spellsword Job).
What I dislike about Dokapon Kingdom
- It’s totally rigged – Most things are determined by a spinner (like movement) which has numbers 0-6. In the field, 0 is the least likely number to get for movement (since the space for it is so small). I will however clarify that it is not impossible to land on a 0 in the field (it has happened to me before). But (For example) in a certain event with a character called Mitch Digger: Mitch will offer to drill into the ground to find a spring (which will raise the value of one of your towns). Mitch will be successful as long as you use the spinner and land on the following numbers: 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. As long as you don’t get 0 or 1 your town’s value goes up right? Sounds easy don’t it? Well you’d be wrong! Cause it’s not! Most of the times that I’ve landed on 0 has been in this event. The spinner is fucking rigged! Whenever there is a moment where “oh you have to roll anything but a 0” you can guarantee that it will be a fucking 0!
- The AI Cheats – I’ll come out right now and say that I have no ‘Physical Proof’ that this is true okay? But I am 100% sure that the AI know, in advance, what the spinners are going to land on and what moves you are going to make in battle (if you decide before them). This is because I have seen several situations where the AI has done something done and it pays off immediately. Example: one time an AI was wandering far away from the objective (which is ordinarily a bad idea unless you have something better or more lucrative to do… Which they didn’t). What happened was, they managed to encounter Rico Jr (an uncommon random encounter) and (when they beat him) he dropped the Angel Wing. It was at this point that I noticed that the AI was extraordinarily close to where you get the Hero’ License (which you need the Angel Wing to get). This License is one of the things you need to unlock the Hero Class (One of the best classes in the game). If it were just one then I could pass it off as bad luck. But it’s not. If you want to play it, play it with friends and don’t put any AI in.
That’s it. No really. This game is generally balanced for all players. If any one player is doing too well the game is more likely to fuck ’em up!
The Battle System
Okay so here’s how fights work. When fighting a random encounter or another player the turn player picks between 2 cards that are face down. When they have selected a card, they get flipped. Whoever has the card that says ‘FIRST’ attacks first (Duh). You have 4 options for attacking and defending in a battle.
Attacking: Attack – a regular attack (nothing special), Strike – A stronger attack that deals a much larger amount of damage, Magic Attack – (only usable if you have a magic attack spell) the damage that is dealt by magic spells is generally Magic (MG) but can also be strength in some cases (eg. Mirror Image) and Ability – This can be any ability that can be learned by someone with your current Job or any Jobs that you have mastered (each with different effects).
Defending: Defend – Slightly reduces the amount of damage you would take (except for Magic Attacks). Magic Defend – (Not actually called that) There are many abilities that can be used in top of this move (only used if you were attacked with magic) each with a different name (but all of them reduce any magic damage you’d take but not physical damage). Counter – Will not defend against any physical or magical damage BUT if used against a Strike, will dodge a Strike and deal DOUBLE the damage that the Strike would have done to you. And finally Give Up – I feel that this is pretty self explanatory (in certain fights, Give Up cannot be used).
Now I will talk about the biggest game changer that exists in Dokapon Kingdom… If a player has been in last place for over 2 weeks they will hear ‘The Whispers of Dark Revenge.’ They will also be given the ‘Dark Mark’ (A purple Bat that floats above their head). If this player heads over to the Dark Space in the First Continent (yes there are multiple Continents that open up when a chapter is beaten) or accept the Contract given to them by an NPC named Weber (this event is random) they will encounter Weber (possibly again). Weber will ask you to hand over all of your: Towns, on-hand Cash, Field Magics and Items (on the plus side, you keep any Castles and equipment). Now you might be thinking “That’d just put me further in last place! Nothing could be worth that kind of cost!”
…Nothing eh?…
Allow me to introduce you… To the Darkling!
The Darkling and the 14 days of Darklingdom
The Darkling is THE MOST POWERFUL CLASS IN THE GAME! This Job can only be used for 2 weeks (Hence ’14 Days of Darklingdom’) The 14 Days of Darklingdom WILL end early if players manage to kill the Darkling. That being said, there are few strategies that can actually beat a Darkling. First things first, the player’s equipment is exchanged with some of the best equipment in the game (The player’s regular equipment is returned after the 14 Days of Darklingdom are over). Allow me to run through them.
The Draco Sword: +333 AT (Attack)
The Demon Shield: +333 DF (Defence)
The Overlord Crown: +300 AT, +250 DF, +200 MG and +150 SP (Speed)
Offensive Magic: Giga Blaze – Spell power 18 (note: Fire spells also have a chance to reduce enemy DF by 25%… Not that the Darkling fucking needs it!)
Defensive Magic: Super Bounce – A Defensive Spell that will Reflect any Offensive Magic back to the caster at QUADRUPLE strength AND automatically counter Strikes (Unique to Darkling)
Ability: Delete – Randomly deletes the enemy’s entire Inventory, one piece of equipment, or all carried gold. Cause fuck you.
If that wasn’t bad enough, the player’s original stats are also TRIPLED when they become a Darkling. The Darkling will also be given the Doom Spinner which gives them 2-5 Spinners to move each turn (So good luck running you fat bastard). Furthermore, if you’re higher level, the Darkling gains enough EXP to reach your level if they kill you (“I just wanna tend the rabbits Darkling” “I know Player, I know”). The Darkling will also summon monsters to any owned town they land on (and get healed if they land on a town with a monster on it). The Darkling gets EXP for every town they take over in this way (Note: the Darkling CANNOT steal Castles in this way). I should note that the Darkling doesn’t receive this EXP immediately. They get it as soon as they are no longer a Darkling and kill something (literally anything).
At this point you’re probably thinking “So what if killing everyone is easy and I get EXP for it? I still have to give up everything just to get it!”
My response to that is… I’m not done yet. The Darkling has one final mechanic that is the whole reason why this Job is a Game-changer. The Dark Arts.
Every turn, the Darkling will Spin the Dark Arts Spinner. This will award them a certain displayed number of Dark Arts Points between 5 and 200. With these Dark Arts Points, the Darkling can use… Dark Arts. These Dark Arts can have CATASTROPHIC effects on the game. Allow me to list them all.
- Trap Summon (Cost – 10 Dark Arts Points): Sets 8 random traps on the Darkling’s current map
- Item Stopper (Cost – 20 Dark Arts Points): Temporarily Seals all players Bags (stops them from using Items)
- Caltrops (Cost – 30 Dark Arts Points): Temporarily gives all players a footsore (Makes players move one space at a time)
- Banker Strike (Cost – 40 Dark Arts Points): Temporarily closes all Loot and Bank Spaces
- Worker Strike (Cost – 40 Dark Arts Points): Temporarily closes all Building Spaces
- Market Crash (Cost – 60 Dark Arts Points): Throws away half of all player’s gold
- Nap Time (Cost – 60 Dark Arts Points): Makes all players fall asleep (Skips their turns)
- Day Off (Cost – 70 Dark Arts Points): A combination of Banker Strike and Worker Strike
- Come Here (Cost – 100 Dark Arts Points): Summons all players to the Darkling’s Space (If the Darkling is on a space where they can fight, the players will also be forced to fight the Darkling… So basically it’s Come Here And Die)
- Local Assault (Cost – 120 Dark Arts Points): Summons monsters to all towns on the Darkling’s current Continent and awards the Darkling EXP as if the Darkling had landed on them
- Ill Cartographo (Cost – 120 Dark Arts Points): Turns all Empty Spaces (which would usually initiate a Random Encounter or an Event) into Doom Spaces. If a player lands on a Doom Space, they are forced to fight the Darkling (The darkling does not retain damage from Ill Cartographo Fights)
- Castle Panic (Cost – 160 Dark Arts Points): Steals a random Castle from any player and awards the Darkling EXP as if they had landed on it
- Global Assault (Cost – 200 Dark Arts Points): Summons monsters onto all towns on all Continents (and awards the Darkling with a Metric Ton of EXP… This is the equivalent of New Game+ in Dokapon Kingdom)
The Darkling has the ability to completely Reset the game and fuck everything up. And also destroy friendships… It can do that as well. Since this Darkling is the most feared thing in the game… I will give you a couple methods on how to (legitimately) beat a Darkling!
Basics for Fighting Darklings
- Unless the Darkling is unable to defend themselves (like if they are asleep) DO NOT use Offensive Magic or Strike (as they will, most likely, use Super Bounce)!
- DO NOT engage the Darkling if there is a chance that they can attack you first!
- If you are guaranteed to attack the Darkling first (For example: if you use a Reveal), DO NOT engage unless you are sure that you can kill them in one hit!
- If you need time to perform these methods then try to obtain a Vanish (which will make it impossible to fight you)
- Carry multiple Reveals (show which card lets you go first during the start of the fight), Deathblocks (Survive 1 Fatal Blow and take no damage from that attack) and Revivals (Self-explanatory) as possible (you’ll need ’em!)
- If you are trying to dodge the Darkling, STAY AWAY from places where the Darkling can loop around (as they can use multiple numbers to reach you)!
- Another good rule of thumb is to get as close to the Darkling as possible (cause then they have to land on several really high numbers or several really low numbers to fight you)
- Finally, stick to spaces where the Darkling CANNOT fight you, even if they land on the same space as you (This is essentially any space that is not an Empty Space or a town).
Methods for Killing Darklings!
(Note: These methods require a hefty chunk of Luck to succeed)
- The Non-Soul Fire Method (From the Wiki) – Use Magic Medicine (To double all of your stats for a week) 1-3 days before the encounter and lure the Darkling to a Dungeon. Once there, wait for them to land on an empty space then cast Down (Lowers all stats by 50%), Sleepy Time (Put them to sleep) or both Field Magics on them. Once that’s done, attack the Darkling with everything you have! If the Darkling uses Item Stopper, you can no longer access your items (making this impossible).
- The Soul Fire Method (From the Wiki) – Have Soul Fire (an Ability that can be learned after you reach Monk Job Level 2) followed by 3-4 Deathblocks and a Reveal (any other Items are up to you). When you engage the Darkling, DO NOT use the Reveal immediately! Instead, use Soul Fire (to increase your AT by 50% every turn you’re in battle. When you run out of Deathblocks, use the Reveal to hit the Darkling with full strength. If the Darkling uses Delete and Erases your inventory, then this becomes impossible.
- The Copycat Method – (My usual method in late game): Have Copy (an ability that Copies ALL OF YOUR OPPONENT’S STATS… If higher) and just hope that whatever Deity is up there (If any) gives you a break. You can get the Copy ability from Robo-knight Job Level 2 or from the ???? ability (Which gives you a random ability… Yeah good luck with that).
- The Take a Dive Method (My usual method in the early game) – Before, the Marked Player (Player with a Dark Mark) becomes a Darkling, have you (or one of the others playing) lower their net worth in an attempt to take the Marked Player out of Last Place. If successful, the purple bat will fly away (and the player can no longer become a Darkling).
Those are the only methods that the Wiki and I have for Darkling Slaying/Circumventing. Dodging is a valid strategy but, if you kill the Darkling, you get to take a piece of their awesome equipment that I listed earlier. And then you’re overpowered and everybody hates you. Regardless, it is a rare moment to see a a Darkling die. I’ve personally seen it once; when the Darkling was dumb enough to Strike me and I Countered (Knowing that there was no other possible way for me to win)… Yeah that was a good day.
In Conclusion
Despite it’s faults, Dokapon Kingdom is a very fun game to play (Unless you’re up against the AI). I typically enjoy every game that I play with friends and it is a very fun experience that I would recommend to any avid RPG gamers, fans of Mario Party or anyone with a couple days to burn away with friends (cause full games take a fucking while man).
I hope you enjoyed this weekly installment of whatever-the-fuck and that this is in some way helpful or enlightening to you… At least now my life has purpose. Regardless, if you have any ideas on what you want to see next, just leave a comment.
Thanks for reading! (Damn just one word short of 2900 words… Oh wait. Never mind)
theterminologytitan 