Z.H.P Unlosing Ranger VS DarkDeath Evilman all begins with the Unlosing Ranger franticly trying to reach DarkDeath Evilman for the Final Battle. During the confusion, The Unlosing Ranger ends up getting run over by a passing car. While dying in the streets, the Unlosing Ranger notices a bystander (the main character).
As a feeble attempt to save the world from the Last Boss, The Unlosing Ranger passes his super belt to the Bystander, creating the weakest super hero in the world. Honoring the Unlosing Ranger’s last request, the bystander decides to show up for the Final Battle with the Last Boss, DarkDeath Evilman.
Being the weakest hero in the world, the new The Unlosing Ranger fails miserably and ends up getting killed in the process. Luckily, there’s another hero that is also present at the Final Battle – Super Baby. Even though the new Unlosing Ranger dies, Super Baby is the only one left to defend the Earth from DarkDeath Evilman winning the Final Battle.
After losing to the Final Boss, your limp body arrives on Bizarro Earth (think of this place as the flip side of Earth). Whatever happens on Bizarro Earth will also affect what happens on normal Earth. Bizarro Earth is where the game finally begins, and where you finally have control over the Bystander (yes, that’s your name), but to the world you are known as The Unlosing Ranger.
ZHP is a zany story that can’t be taken seriously. Anyone familiar with the Disgaea series by NIS America will find themselves feeling right at home with this fantastic RPG. If you weren’t lucky enough to play Disgaea, then you’re in for a real treat.
NIS America is known for their over-the-top stories and comical horror scenarios (like in Disgaea); this sets NIS America apart from other companies.
ZHP isn’t your standard run-of-the-mill role-playing game either. Its combat system is neither action-based or turn-based; it’s actually a mixture of both. The dungeons are designed on a grid system; even though the movement system feels turn-based, you have complete control over your character.
What determines your movement is the EN (Energy) meter. This meter depletes slowly every time you walk or fight an enemy. Once you run out of energy, you will begin to lose HP to compensate for the lack of EN. This is why it’s important to carry food with you at all times. When eaten, food replenishes the EN (Energy) meter. Food is just as important as carrying med-kits to replenish your health; you will never survive a dungeon without either of them.
Everything you use has a condition level. Once a piece of equipment reaches zero for condition, it will no longer be effective in combat. You can still use the item, but the damage it inflicts will be incredibly weak. Another unique feature that sets ZHP apart from your standard role-playing game is the special leveling system.
ZHP is the only role-playing game that rewards you for dying. Sounds too good to be true doesn’t it? Well, dying has its drawbacks. When you die, your levels are lost and you must start over from level 1. Additionally, you lose any items and money that you were carrying at the time of your death. While this may sound awkward, this is all part of the story. Despite being a level 1 again, your stats are much stronger than previous, and you are not as weak as before. You become stronger each time you die and return as a level 1. All your levels – including the ones you are gaining even before death – form an overall max level.
You will eventually unlock a shop called the Dark Clinic. This clinic will allow you to implant chips that will permanently enhance your stats. Once you start implanting chips, you will be allowed to place booster devices on the chips installed. This will let you modify areas of your body like your head, arms, etc.
Along with enhancing your body and limbs with boosters, you can also add containers to expand your overall carrying capacity. There is also something called an S capsule. Once installed, you can save important items that you don’t want to lose upon death. Just like the implant chips, you will not lose the booster devices upon dying, which is really nice.
ZHP allows you to revisit just about any dungeon or training tutorial that you have completed, allowing you to grind previous sections for experience and money. This makes ZHP the perfect game for any gamer that enjoys grinding for gear. ZHP can basically go on forever depending on your play style. I spent hours grinding levels and searching for elite loot.
The game’s story progresses on your terms and will only continue when you are ready to move forward. This is one aspect of the game that I truly enjoyed; it’s great knowing that you can relax and enjoy the game without the story forcing you along.
Every time you re-enter a previously completed dungeon, the game will randomly regenerate a new one. This keeps the experience feeling fresh even though you are repeating a previous chapter/dungeon.
There are countless items you can acquire from dungeons and shops, and the customization that can be done with these items is absolutely endless. Each item has its own unique look; you can spend hours just working on your hero’s fashion. No joke; no two heros can ever look alike.
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ZHP’s graphics are an amazing collection of isometric 2D art. The graphics are bright, crisp, and clear with plenty of eye-popping colors. The cut-scenes are wonderful; they resemble an Anime.
The music is a nice collection of catchy tunes that will stick with you. If you are not interested in your hero’s theme music, you can purchase a new theme song from the Music Shop to change it.
ZHP is loaded with hours upon hours of narrated dialogue. The narration is done so well, it feels like you’re watching scenes from an Anime movie. Plus, the dialogue is funny and witty, keeping you interested as the story unfolds.
ZHP Unlosing Ranger VS DarkDeath Evilman is one of the best role-playing games on PSP. There really isn’t too many role-playing games that can bring you a story with this much humor and also keep you interested in the game at the same time. The only other series that was capable of doing this was Disgaea.
NIS America’s Z.H.P. has the right balance of strategy, role-playing, and humor that ties everything into a neat, presentable package. If you want a top-notch dungeon crawler that offers endless hours of gameplay – and offers charming characters as well – then Z.H.P. needs to be the next game you purchase.
James ‘ Daripp3r’ Pittaro
Platform: PSP
Size: 569MB
Price: 29.99
Release Date: 10/26/2010
Developer: Nippon Ichi Software
Publisher: NIS America
Z.H.P. NIS America Page
| Review Score | |
|---|---|
| Graphics |  |
| The isometric 2D art is simply amazing. | |
| Sound | |
| Z.H.P.‘s music is a collection of catchy tunes that will stick with you. | |
| Gameplay | |
| With the right mix of dungeon crawling and strategy, Z.H.P is the perfect R.P.G. to have on the go. | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| ZHP is right up there with the Disgaea series. I really enjoyed ZHP; I highly recommend it to anyone that enjoys role-playing games. | |
