History VideoGame / OkageShadowKing

Released in 2001 for the Platform/PlayStation2, ''Okage: Shadow King'' (released in Japan as ボクと魔王 (''Boku to Maou''), ''lit. Me and the Devil King'') is a Japanese RPG developed by Zener Works. While it had gotten mixed reviews from those that have played it when it first came out, being somewhere between a good game to a mediocre one at best, the game had a cult following in both its native region and in recent years, the west. Many critics and fans often note the game's art and character design is reminiscent of Tim Burton's works (particularly WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas), and the offbeat but interesting story make for a rather unique experience. It was re-released in 2016 as a [=PS2=] classic on the [=PS4=], as a result of its popularity in the east and cult classic status in the west, [[LateExportForYou finally allowing European RPG fans to experience the game for the first time.]] Unfortunately though, this is one of the PS2 games that suffer glitched visuals when played on [=PS5=], still as of February 2024.

Released in 2001 for the [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 Playstation 2]], ''Okage: Shadow King'' (released in Japan as ボクと魔王 (''Boku to Maou''), ''lit. Me and the Devil King'') is a Japanese RPG developed by Zener Works. While it had gotten mixed reviews from those that have played it when it first came out, being somewhere between a good game to a mediocre one at best, the game had a cult following in both its native region and in recent years, the west. Many critics and fans often note the game's art and character design is reminiscent of Tim Burton's works (particularly WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas), and the offbeat but interesting story make for a rather unique experience. It was re-released in 2016 as a [=PS2=] classic on the [=PS4=], as a result of its popularity in the east and cult classic status in the west, finally allowing European RPG fans to experience the game for the first time.

...It gets [[WidgetSeries weirder from there]].

* SurpriseCreepy: Take a look at the description. The game's initial premise is an extremely wacky widjet series, with one of the strangest cast of playable and non-playable characters you can find. Come chapter 5, however, it starts getting into surprisingly deep philosophical arguments about predestination and identity, and a huge deconstruction of typical RPG plots as to why they can get really, really, ''really'' screwed up.

* FiveManBand:
** TheLeader: Ari/Stan (Ari also could double as the TeamPet)
** TheLancer: Rosalyn, who's also TheHero.
** TheSmartGuy: Kisling
** TheBigGuy: Big Bull
** TheChick: Linda
** SixthRanger: Epros, who's only in the party for the final two chapters.

* TalkToEveryone: While most of it is just for kicks, it becomes mandatory [[spoiler:in order to come back into existence.]]
* TheButlerDidIt: [[spoiler:Subverted. Beiloune is the BigBad, and introduced as Marlene's butler, but he's actually her father.]]
* TheHero: Rosalyn. It's an extremely rare instance where the Hero is ''not'' the main character.
* TheStinger: [[spoiler: At the end of the game, after the credits roll, you get a scene of Stan in his Shadow form in front of Ari's house and makes some comments that seem to set up a sequel.]]

%%* DifficultySpike: Two.
** You can get by the Sewer Evil King without much problem just through random encounters on the way to Madril. Once Rosalyn and Kisling join the party and you enter the Rumile Plains to Rashelo, enemy encounters take a jump in difficulty and you'll be spending a bit of time grinding just to prep for encounters in the Aquatic Ruins, not to mention just to keep Ari alive.
** The second jump comes at the Addashi Desert. The previous bosses might be a piece of cake, but the Desert leads up to the back-to-back boss battles with Epros and the Vampire Evil King, as well as being one of the largest overworld areas.

* DifficultySpike: Two.

* FauxAffablyEvil: Stan.

* [[spoiler: LoveMakesYouCrazy: Beiloune separates the setting of the game from the rest of the world, all for his daughter. It's not helped when his daughter goes missing and the entire thing falls into chaos because he can't find her.]]

* [[spoiler: TheButlerDidIt: Subverted. Beiloune is the BigBad, and introduced as Marlene's butler, but he's actually her father.]]

In the small village of Tenel in the middle of nowhere, there was a boy who lived near the village named Ari, who was totally ordinary.

In the small village of Tenel in the middle of nowhere, there was a boy who lived near the village named Ari, who was an ordinary boy.

He was so ordinary that he blended in with the background, his friends, family, and peers all saying he was the type to 'live in someone's shadow'. He and his family live. However, his family's "normal" life is suddenly turned around on its head when his sister gets cursed by a ghost that causes her to speak completely in Pig-Latin. Not wanting their daughter to live the life of a comic relief girl (seriously, they actually say that), they turn to a strange and mysterious bottle that Ari's father found one day, which upon summoning, reveals a spirit and his servant.

The spirit in the bottle agrees to help for a price: one of the other family members will have to play host to the entity in the bottle and do as he says. The spirit in question reveals himself as Lord Stanley Hihat Trinidad XIV... [[SomeCallMeTim or Stan.]] After a quick competition to determine who has the best shadow, Ari is chosen to play host for Stan (and practically handed off by his family, poor sod) and Stan makes good on his word, turning Annie's (Ari's sister) shadow pink, just because [[JackAssGenie he never said he wouldn't]].

Released in 2001 for the [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 Playstation 2]], ''Okage: Shadow King'' (released in Japan as ボクと魔王 (''Boku to Maou''), ''lit. Me and the Devil King'') is a Japanese RPG developed by Zener Works. While it had gotten mixed reviews from those that have played it when it first came out, having being somewhere between a good game to a mediocre one at best, the game had a cult following in both its native region and in recent years, the west. Many critics and fans often note the game's art and character design is reminiscent of Tim Burton's works (particularly WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas), and it's implied that his works actually inspired most of the game's setup. It was re-released in 2016 as a [=PS2=] classic on the [=PS4=], as a result of its popularity in the east and cult classic status in the west, finally allowing European RPG fans to expierence the game for the first time.

Released in 2001 for the [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 Playstation 2]], ''Okage: Shadow King'' (released in Japan as ボクと魔王 (''Boku to Maou''), ''lit. Me and the Devil King'') is a Japanese RPG developed by Zener Works. While it had gotten mixed reviews from those that have played it when it first came out, having being somewhere between a good game to a mediocre one at best, the game had a cult following in both its native region and in recent years, the west (despite still being unknown). Many critics and fans often note the game's art and character design is reminiscent of Tim Burton's works (particularly WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas), and it's implied that his works actually inspired most of the game's setup. It was re-released in 2016 as a [=PS2=] classic on the [=PS4=], as a result of its popularity in the east and cult classic status in the west, finally allowing European RPG fans to expierence the game for the first time.

Ari was an ordinary boy, so ordinary that he blended in with the background. He and his family live in a small village called Tenel back in the middle of nowhere. However, the family's "normal" life is suddenly turned around on its head when his sister gets cursed by a ghost that causes her to speak completely in Pig-Latin. Not wanting their daughter to live the life of a comic relief girl (seriously, they actually say that), they turn to the spirit of a strange and mysterious bottle that Ari's father found one day. The spirit in the bottle agrees to help for a price: one of the other family members will have to play host to the entity in the bottle and do as he says. The entity in question is the Evil King Stanley Hihat Trinidad XIV... [[SomeCallMeTim or Stan.]] After a quick competition to determine who has the best shadow, Ari is chosen to play host for Stan (and practically handed off by his family, poor sod) and Stan makes good on his word, turning Annie's (Ari's sister) shadow pink, just because [[JackAssGenie he never said he wouldn't]].

''Okage: Shadow King'' is an Eastern RPG that was made by Zener Works in the early 2000's. It has gotten mixed reviews from those that have played it, having being somewhere between a good game to a mediocre one at best, with the eastern world generally having a very high opinion of it while the western world barely know it exists. Much of the game's design is reminiscent of Tim Burton's works (particularly WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas), and it's implied that his works actually inspired most of the game's setup. It was re-released in 2016 as a [=PS2=] classic on the [=PS4=], as a result of its popularity in the east and cult classic status in the west.

There is also currently a fan-made radioplay in development. Progress can be tracked both on the [[http://okage-radioplay.tumblr.com/ Tumblr page]] and the [[http://okage-radioplay.weebly.com/ website]].

* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Multiple characters tend to say nearly the same thing in a row during conversations if they really want you to go somewhere. Only some - e.g. Rosalyn being deferential to Marlene due to royalty - are justified. May also function as a form of NoticeThis.

* AGodAmI: [[spoiler: Beiloune's classification powers]] make [[spoiler:him]] virtually a god in the setting.

* ItWasWithYouAllAlong: [[spoiler:Beiloune is trying to find his daughter Marlene after she disappeared into the world. Part of her spirit is in the music box Ari's mother gives him before he leaves on his journey, and she emerges from a house in Triste once the game world is open to the world at large. It's half implied that either the main world forgot Marlene or that Belioune started to put more emphasis on the doll version the party came over with, and it's entirely possible none of the game would have happened if Beiloune hadn't gone obsessed over the doll.]]

** [[spoiler:Ari lives outside the Classification system to the point where he isn't even suppose to exist, and anyone associated with him tends to break with their roles. This is the key to stopping Beiloune, as Ari's failure to comply allows Ari and his allies to go after him instead of simply playing their roles.]]

* JackOfAllStats: Ari. Where Rosalyn and [[spoiler:Big Bull]] tend to physical attacks and Kisling, [[spoiler:Linda, and Epros]] lean towards magic attacks, Ari's a pretty middle-of-the-road fighter with some decent support magic and a Neutral typing, meaning he won't ever be weak or strong against anything. Considering Ari must be in the party, this works out to a case of TropesAreNotBad, as it makes him increasingly versatile the more the game goes on where other characters start to be limited more and more by their elemental typing.

* HeelFaceTurn: Three of the seven fake evil kings join you after knocking their power out of them.