ZHP, Unlosing Ranger vs. Darkdeath Evilman, from Nippon Ichi Software America continues the line of really bizarre games from NIS America. But now I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for them and always look forward to their particular brand of zaniness when a new titles shows up. ZHP is no less zany than one would expect from them. I love the fact that they make some of the strangest games around and still manage to find an audience and keep making games. Good on you NIS America!

You take on the role of the Unlosing Ranger, and pretty much the first thing you do, is lose. Then you go to Bizarro Earth, on the opposite side of the sun, and train until you’re powerful enough to go back and whip old Evilman, saving the Earth, Bizarro Earth and everyone on them.

The game is an isometric 3/4 view RPG that sees you dungeon running to gain experience and power (you can spin the camera to get a clear view). Some of the more interesting features are: when you die, you lose all your gear and levels. When you finish a level you lose all your levels. Sound strange? Welcome to NIS America games. There is still advancement in the game, it’s just in a different sense of the word.

You don’t die as you’re sort of already dead. Instead you get KO’ed. When you do, you’ll get status bonuses based on the amount of levels you gained on that dungeon run. While you revert back to level one, your base stats will be higher so you still gain strength over time. you also get experience bonuses. So say you die at the hands of a Magma Tortoise, when you go back and beat loads of them you’ll get an XP bonus for overcoming your fear of them. An interesting game mechanic.

But it’s not all wine and roses when you get KO’ed. You also get sent back to home base, your level is reset, you lose any equipment you picked up in that dungeon run, you lose any money you had on you and you pick up a fear of the creature that killed you (see above).