Quick thoughts on Code of Princess

I've been beating down a variety of enemies with a giant sword in Code of Princess, a side-scrolling action RPG for the Nintendo 3DS. Here are some thoughts on the game.

The story isn't anything special as we've all heard something along these lines before: In a world of man and monster living at peace, monsters have risen up against man. Solange, the princess of DeLuxia who wears very little clothing, escapes the castle with the DeLuxcaliber, a legendary sword. The kingdom has fallen, and it's up to her and a kooky cast of characters to save the day. Atlus did a very good job localizing the game and the voice acting is superb. The graphics and music are nice, and everything is easy to read.

Those who've played Guardian Heroes back in the day will understand all of the quirks of a side-scrolling beat 'em-up RPG. Attacking is done by mashing buttons and performing combos. More damage can be dealt by locking onto an enemy and activating Burst, which doubles attack power but drains magic points. The goal for pretty much every stage is to kill all the enemies or a boss if they appear, and because of this Code of Princess feels repetitive after a while.

The main campaign took me four to five hours to complete, but there are a ton of different bonus quests to complete, plus you can play through the story as different characters. Luckily, you can hold down the shoulder buttons to skip through cut scenes and story sequences to get into combat very quickly.

Watch out for my full review at www.theoaklandpress.com.

Get even tinier thoughts at www.twitter.com/JeffHoard921.