Billing your title as a "Friendship Destroying Game" isn't something that's generally taught in Marketing 101, but then again, most marketing departments don't really operate on the back imported, niche titles from Japan like Atlus'. Honestly, that's fine by us, because the publisher's regular attempts at bringing over unique Japanese fare have culminated in one of the best localization departments and one of the best PR/Marketing groups in the industry. They have an audience, they know it well, and they want only to make gamers that are into that stuff happy (we also hear making a few bucks here and there helps).

Take Dokapon Kingdom, for example. You probably didn't even know you wanted a game where you can punish (or collaborate with) friends in a mash-up of classic RPG bits like hit points, experience and leveling up with... a board game? Yes, it's a weird combo, but it's one that actually ends up taking the oh so familiar party game and actually adds the one thing most in the genre don't have: depth.

So it's an RPG, certainly, but being a party game, there's also the multiplayer element that must be addressed. While you can try to find a multi-tap, three controllers and three friends (or have a slightly easier time of it with a PS3), if you're flying solo, the game will auto-fill the rest of the four-person party with AI characters. A fairly deep character customization setup will allow you to pick from a handful of basic classes like mages, thieves, warriors and ninja (there's a greater pool of 12 classes -- including two hidden ones -- that you can graduate to after mastering a given class a la Final Fantasy Tactics).

The classes are your ticket to a number of extra little bonuses. As a thief, for instance, you can steal an item as you run by them. As a mage, you can use spells (two of 'em, in fact) before making a move. Your class is also your ticket to a payday at the end of the week, which is good because all those store spaces on the map need money. Well, technically they don't need money, since you can challenge a shopkeeper to a rock/paper/scissors battle. If you win, you'll get the loot, but if you lose, you'll be a wanted man or woman, meaning you can't get back into Dokapon Castle for a set number of turns.

Dokapon Castle, incidentally, is where weekly quests are doled out (and finished, so being wanted in this particular instance isn't a good thing). You don't have to follow the quests necessarily, but the payout is huge, and given that money is the key to winning, it's a good idea to go after the quest -- or another wanted player to get the bounty. Still, if you're looking to win a bit more at the end of the week, you can choose to liberate towns. By stopping on a town, you can drop in and take on the monsters living there, thus winning their support. They'll pay a little at first, but if you throw a little more cash their way, you can level up the town, thus earning you a whole hell of a lot more at the end of the week.
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This is an RPG, though, so those battles that you'll get into, either by stopping on a random space or a town are going to mean your basic turn-based battles, but like the rest of the game, things have been... augmented a bit with a quick, simple party game mechanic -- in this case the very same rock/paper/scissors game that popped up with the shop keeper (and, incidentally a random encounter with a character that can steal players' money, and beating her will win a big chunk of all the cash she's bilked all past players out of).

It's deeper than just picking an option and hoping the other guy didn't pick the option that trumped yours, though. Most attack options are broken down into standard physical strikes, "special" class-specific attacks that can be swapped out, and a double-damage-dealing option. Each of these have their counterpart, which in the case of the first two options will cut down on damage or block an attack, but successfully guessing when an incoming big damage hit is coming in will not only avoid it, but counter, so there's a solid risk/reward option. The skills in the game can use this seemingly simple system in interesting ways like lopping off the enemies' counter attack option, and because fights are limited to just two phases per turn, an attack and a response (the attacker is chosen by picking a face-down card), the battles are incredibly quick. Any business left undone is finished next turn after a cute little "To Be Continued..." message.

There is another option for those that wish to live another day. You can simply opt to give up, though it'll mean dropping tons of cash and that square, town or otherwise, won't be won over. It's better than the alternative (read: dying), which leaves you out of commission for three turns. Preventing this is actually as easy as checking out the information on a space before moving there, accomplished by just pulling up a handy little information window that details the enemies on a space, their stats and even their skills.

Of course, if you do go up against a high-level enemy and win, the payoff is far more cash and experience, and when you level up, you'll not only gain advances to your base stats that fall in line with your class, but you're allotted a few points to boost things on your own however you want too. It, like most parts of the game, are constant reminders that even though it flows quite quickly, this is still a role-playing game, and a damn fun one to boot.

We're incredibly psyched about the hour or so we saw of the game. There's clearly a ton of depth that still remains to be explored, and as soon as we can get our hands on our own build of things, we'll be sure to let you, our dear readers, know about it ASAP. Until then, enjoy these screens and we'll have more for you soon!