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Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake Review for PlayStation Portable (PSP)

Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake Review for PlayStation Portable (PSP)

A Hefty Package

Fat Princess for PS3 is one of my favorite PSN titles. The well-balanced, 16-player team-based multiplayer, hilarious presentation and concept, and simple gameplay mechanics made it a rather fun title. Unfortunately, Fat Princess did suffer mightily from one major issue: multiplayer games are drag-out brawls; more tests of endurance than strategic ability. Though Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake for PSP has even more content, this fundamental flaw has not been ameliorated. Additionally, a lack of voice chat, slow, unpredictable connections, and ho-hum single-player offerings take the shine off what otherwise is a quite robust portable package.

Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake screenshot

Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake is essentially identical to its console predecessor; if you really enjoyed what was on offer on the PS3, you’ll be happy to know that the portable version is practically its equal. Rather than changing up the formula substantially, the development team simply ported over the first game and added a few new multiplayer modes and a lengthier single-player story.

For those of you that have never experienced the face-stuffing fun of the first title, gameplay here consists of team-based multiplayer battles where humans and AI-controlled characters go at it. Though there are eight gameplay variations to choose from, the majority of play revolves around CTF-like game modes, but instead of a flag, you’ll have to capture the other side’s princess and hold her in your dungeon for a set amount of time without losing your princess. In order to make things difficult for the other team, you can fatten up the princesses with magical cake. The morbidly obese monarchs are much more difficult to abscond with due to their sheer weight, so it will take multiple opponents to carry her away with any kind of efficiency.

You can also up the challenge for your competitors, and tip the balance in favor of your team, by collecting resources (wood and metal). Stockpiling specific amounts of each resource will allow workers to build fortifications and shrines, manufacture siege implements (ladders, launch pads, etc.), and upgrade hat machines to give your team important secondary abilities. In the Fat Princess series, players are able to switch between five different upgradeable classes at the drop of a hat. That’s right; picking up hats back at your castle, or even up off the corpse-strewn battlefield, will let you take up a specific class role.

Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake screenshot

Rangers are bowmen that are lethal from a distance and will eventually wield muskets. The horned Warriors have a large reservoir of health, making them durable melee fighters that are especially deadly with their swords and poleaxes. Workers are for harvesting resources, building, and upgrading, though eventually they’ll get pretty tough once they learn demolitions. Mages use ice and fire spells, both as area-of-effect and as missile attacks, to take out foes from range, playing a similar role to the Ranger. Finally, Priests can either boost friendly units’ health or sap enemy vitality, making them essential support units.

The five classes in Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake offer varied roles in battle, which makes fighting fun by keeping things fresh. These are the same classes featured in the original, and, in spite of the fact they’re extremely well-balanced, the addition of a few more roles would have been nice. In fact, the old classes are so balanced that it’s virtually impossible to get any real advantage over the competition. While this keeps things fair, it also makes multiplayer games incredibly lengthy. These marathon sessions make wins satisfying, but they also make losses quite bitter to swallow. Moreover, such arduous battles are not particularly well-suited to gaming on the go. For starters, this game will blow through your battery if you’re not tethered to an outlet. Also, this game is only truly enjoyable whilst playing against other humans, so you’ll have to play in close proximity to a Wi-Fi hotspot or travel with friends that also own the game for Ad Hoc action.

Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake screenshot

The need to play this game as a multiplayer title becomes more apparent as you dive into the single-player offering. Though the story mode has been beefed up compared to the PS3’s, it still isn’t particularly enjoyable. Truly, the story mode in Fistful of Cake is little more than a glorified tutorial. Faring somewhat better, you can play the Gladiate mode, which allows you to take on wave after wave of enemies with any one of the five class types. This is an arcade experience that’s fun for testing your own abilities and mastery of each role but loses its luster quickly. Lastly, and probably the best of all the single-player options, you can setup mock multiplayer battles in any of the eight gameplay types against AI-controlled combatants. Of course, beating up on the CPU is only marginally better than, say, playing chess against yourself; this game screams for human competitors.

Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake screenshot

Unlike the original, Fistful of Cake only allows for eight players to join in on multiplayer action. While this seems like a paltry amount, it’s probably all that was logistically possible. As it is, connecting to eight players is often difficult, and ending the game with eight players is even less likely. Again, not a lot of people have the time, patience, or wherewithal to wage hour-long battles via their PSP without their battery dropping out, losing their connection, or just getting fed up.

Moreover, because the game is so dependent upon teamwork, it’s imperative that you get a nice mix of roles and storm objectives together. However, because there is no voice chat support, getting people to work in unison is extremely challenging, making games take even longer than they should. The dev team did add a “follow me” command to the controls, but only AI-controlled teammates seem to pay attention to the exclamation point above your head and follow you.

On the bright side, Fistful of Cake does feature 17 varied maps that change up strategy significantly and are very attractive. In fact, the entire game is very good looking. Really, nothing is lost in translation, as the PSP game is every bit as visually appealing as that of the PS3. Additionally, the funny sound effects and the whimsical, medieval/fantasy score come through your headset crisply and work to great effect.

Despite the game’s flaws, Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake is a keeper. I know I’ve been down on the game, pointing out a lot of serious flaws, but, after all, I still had a lot of fun with the game. If you’re willing to plug into the wall, be close to a Wi-Fi hotspot, and have the time and patience to play through a multiplayer session, there is still a lot to love.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 4.5 Graphics
This is a beautiful PSP game that, because of the cartoon-like visuals, is actually the PS3 version’s equal. 4.0 Control
The PSP has never been a comfortable way to game, but the simplicity of the game mechanics here lend themselves nicely to the straightforward scheme. 4.0 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
The mirthful sound effects are satisfying and will bring a smile to your face. The music is of high quality as well. 3.5 Play Value
The single-player offerings are playable in a pinch, but this game is really all about multiplayer action. Unfortunately, sessions are too long and connections can often be an issue. 3.6 Overall Rating – Good
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

  • Six new levels for PSP plus all of the originals – Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake adds six new battlefields to the franchise, including environments like Forest, Canyon, and Volcano.
  • Extended Single-player campaign – Play through the extended Story Mode chapters on the go to learn the dramatic tale of the beloved fat princesses.
  • Online Multiplayer – Go head-to-head with up to 8 players via Ad Hoc (nearby) or Infrastructure (Internet connection) Mode.
  • New Multiplayer game modes – New for Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake, select from four additional multiplayer game modes, including Grim Reaper, Dilapidated, Demolition, and Jailbreak.

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