Beyond the concept, Penny-Punching Princess lives up to its name since the player embodies Princess, a young lady who will distribute mandals to the Dragoloan, a family that has corrupted the kingdom of our heroine with money. While his father has been dismissed from the Kingdom, our protagonist makes the decision to meet the Dragoloan family in order to put a good scourge on all these monsters obsessed with wealth. If the scenario of Penny Punching Princess will not remain in the annals, the latter serving above all as a pretext to go to fight, difficult not to smile during certain verbal exchanges. Indeed, despite its quirky tone and its rather summary dialogues, Penny-Punching Princess is a real satire of current capitalism. On the other hand, do not expect to be captivated throughout by this story. The dialogues are quickly repetitive and despite some nice twists, most of the conversations revolve around money. Nothing too serious since the game relies above all on its surprising gameplay.
MAKE IT RAIN
Money being the most important thing in Penny-Punching Princess, you will be able to count on your savings to make your life easier during your fights. Indeed, in addition to the different attacks of Princess, which we detail below, the latter can also use her magic calculator to bribe her enemies. To do this, you must first enter an amount on the calculator and select an opposing monster who agrees to join your clan against this amount. However, money doesn't grow on trees, so you have to defeat a few enemies before you can use your calculator. Each eliminated opponent earns coins, but you can also increase your gain by tapping on the enemy (via the console's touch screen) when the latter is in a weak position. In addition, you can also pick up chests that contain more or less money, but killing monsters is much more lucrative. Once this step is completed, you will be able to take control of any monster (except bosses), which allows you to use their special moves. Each enemy has its own attack, but you can only use it a few times. Then you have to bribe someone else. Better still, you will also be able to take control of the many traps that are present in the game area. From then on, you will have at your disposal a whole range of potential allies who can save you the day in many respects. If the first levels are quite simple, the adventure thickens gradually, so much so that it is often difficult to face a wave of enemies alone. The use of the calculator then becomes essential and the more money you spend to acquire the services of an enemy, the more powerful the latter will be. Finally, the “Miracle Coin” key allows you to spend a certain amount against a special bonus. Depending on your choice, you can regain life, increase your power or even trigger a devastating area attack. Again, the more you spend the more generous the reward will be.
LEAD IN THE WING
On paper, this quirky game mechanic sounds pretty awesome. However, once the game has started, the conclusion is rather bitter. If the calculator adds a lot of pep to the fights, its use is far from optimal. On PS Vita it's easy enough to press the touchscreen while staying in the heat of the moment, but on the Switch the big screen makes it very unpleasant, especially when cornered by the opposing forces. After a few hours we finally get the hang of it, but when dozens of enemies squat the screen it's hard not to make mistakes. A feeling that only amplifies when playing in TV mode. Since the console's touch screen is unavailable, you will have to type in your amounts on your calculator using the arrows on the controller. To top it off, the game doesn't go into idle mode to perform this operation and suddenly, while you're busy with your calculator, the enemies are unleashed on you. In any case, it's a bit of a hassle, but we can only advise you to play in portable mode if you really want to enjoy the game.
Luckily, Penny-Punching Princess doesn't just rely on her calculator to make the fights interesting. As we told you above, Princess is able to defend herself on her own. In addition to powerful (A) and quick (Y) blows, you can also push back your enemies (Y+B) and use a special attack (ZR). All the ingredients of the classic beat'em all are present and we also find the fights a bit messy, but which require a hell of a dose of concentration. On this point, the game does its job perfectly and fans of the genre will appreciate the fairly high difficulty of the title. However, don't worry, you don't have to be a controller god to get by. Indeed, during your adventure, you will be able to craft armor that will increase your defense and your attack while giving you a specific special attack. Once again money is essential and you will have to bribe your enemies so that they can be used as materials. From then on, the game takes on the appearance of an RPG, which is not to displease us. On the other hand, although the idea is excellent, it raises another major problem of the game.
FUN BUT REPETITIVE
Despite all the fun that Penny-Punching Princess provides, it turns out to be terribly repetitive. Indeed, the watches being very often too powerful for your character, you will have to farm the previous levels of the game in order to collect materials to build armor and obtain skill points which will allow you to increase the overall characteristics of your character. avatar. If in fact this is quite pleasant at the start, the task quickly becomes restrictive. In addition to having to refill the same game areas over and over again, you will have to complete them each time. Suddenly, when you have to go to a specific level to recover a monster then in another for the rest of the components of your armor, the operation turns somewhat into a nightmare. If at the start it is not unpleasant, difficult not to feel a certain weariness on this point after a few hours of play. Nevertheless, it is better to go through this stage if you do not want to break your teeth on a level a little too difficult. Fortunately, the eight chapters of the game allow to bring a little freshness to the whole. Each world has its own universe and adds many traps and enemies that will push you to your limits every time. Clearly, in Penny-Punching Princess, the player cannot just stupidly press all the buttons on the controller to get by. On the other hand, within the same chapter, it must be admitted that the levels are more or less similar in terms of construction. What amplify even more the repetitive side of the title. On the bestiary side, the game has not done things halfway and you will meet dozens and dozens of different mobs, even if there are a lot of duplicates (red, blue, green dragon…).
