Okage: Shadow King

Zener Works set Okage: Shadow King apart from the ranks of JRPGs by featuring bug-eyed, lanky characters and a goofy premise, where the protagonist must join forces with an evil spirit that nobody takes seriously. As the casual tone of its dialogue choices also prove, this work belongs to a long line of clownish and lighthearted JRPGs that mock the genre's love for bombast, 'cool' stereotypes and predictable story beats. Other fields of writing were even more emblematic, turning - for example, what would normally be anonymous villager chatter into odd remarks and funny tangents, in a tradition that stretches from Working Designs-ified Lunar to EarthBound, from Grandia to Marl's Kingdom. While no character particularly shines, their witty and sometimes cartoony approach pairs well with their equally crude early-PS2 look.

On the downside, combat is too slow and shallow to match that level of entertainment. Both the party members (whose archetypes borrow a thing or two from FFIV) and the strategy (attack command until it's dead, save resources for healing and crowd/boss fights) had more in common with the early 90s than 2001, while its battle start & victory scenes take forever to pass. These problems, along with a verbose and confusing second half, severely hurt a game that - for the most part, exhibits the humor and personality of the masters.