''Dokuro'' is a video game developed by Game Arts and published by GungHo Online Entertainment originally for the

PlayStation Vita The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita, or Vita) is a handheld video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, and in North America, Europe, and other international territo ...

with later ports to iOS,

Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

and

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...

. The player controls Dokuro, who must save a princess after the Dark Lord wants to marry her.

Gameplay

The player is Dokuro, a skeletal worker for the Dark Lord. One day, the Dark Lord captures a princess and forces her to marry him. Dokuro sees the princess crying which breaks his heart and he thus decides to help her escape the Dark Lord's castle. Dokuro can flip switches to open up paths, carry the princess after drinking a potion, as well as others. The game's levels grow steadily more complex as the game progresses.

Development

The game uses a graphical style that imitates artwork in a children's storybook. The game's director, Noriaki Kazama, previously worked on gory video games such as '' Ninja Gaiden Sigma'' under Team Ninja. Kazama said that after he had a baby, he browsed through children's books at the bookstore and was inspired by the art style.

Reception

The PlayStation Vita and iOS versions received "generally favorable reviews", while the PC and Switch versions received "mixed" reviews, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. In Japan, '' Famitsu'' gave the Vita version a score of 34 out of 40. '' IGN'' said of the PlayStation Vita version, "Stunningly beautiful and exceptionally fun to play, ''Dokuro'' belongs in the library of every

owner." '' Joystiq'' claimed that "Despite the bony exterior, ''Dokuro'' feels like it has a real soul, like it was made by people who truly loved and believed in it. It's inspired, well-made, and thoroughly enchanting." '' Game Informer'', however, gave the same Vita version a mixed review, stating, "Between its unforgiving nature, unbalanced difficulty, and humdrum puzzles, I wouldn't have pressed on through ''Dokuro'' if I wasn't reviewing it. Rarely did I feel that fun "a-ha" moment that makes puzzle games exciting; instead I found tedium and frustration. I surely wasn't as devoted to this game as Dokuro was to the princess."

References

External links

Official site
*{{moby game, id=/92228/dokuro/ 2012 video games Android (operating system) games Art games Game Arts games IOS games Nintendo Switch games PlayStation Vita games Puzzle video games Video games about skeletons Video games developed in Japan Video games set in castles Windows games