Z.H.P. Unlosing Ranger VS Darkdeath Evilman: Difference between revisions

The official English title is ''Z.H.P. (Zettai Hero Project): Unlosing Ranger vs. Darkdeath Evilman.'' (This is actually causing problems with people buying it. The periods are part of Z.H.P., and most stores' systems will not see it as a result for ZHP.)

 

 

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* [[But Thou Must!]]: In the opening sequence, you're given the option to ''try'' to [[Refusal of the Call|turn down the Unlosing Ranger's belt]], but you'll get stuck with it anyway.

* [[Butt Monkey]]: You.

** [[Makai Kingdom|Valvoga is in the last bonus dungeon.]] Hey, Mickey did say that they always ask him/them to be bonus boss. Now we know who "they" are. (And he's not a fake!)

** {{spoiler|Asagi is in it. In fact, she's ''all the other cameo characters''. The entire cameo system was a plot by her to try to replace the other cameo characters with her -- cosplaying as them, anyway..}}

* [[Combined Energy Attack]]: {{spoiler|The Unlosing Ranger's final technique. The entire Earth cheers him on, which makes him stronger than rest of the cast ''combined'', allowing him to make a [[Heroic Sacrifice]].}}

* [[Cosplay]]: Not only can you equip random bits and pieces from every enemy in the game {{spoiler|including the last boss}}, beating the Anime cameo dungeons allow you to change your base sprite into the boss of said anime or game cameo dungeon, which actually has stat effects in game.

* [[Death Is Not Permanent]]: Ever. EVER. So much that even some enemies can't die.

* [[Death Seeker]]: Dangerama

* [[Eagle Land]]: Played straight, complete with a quote worthy of ''Team America World Police''... although this is later explained by {{spoiler|Oldllama's mental issues due to her Bizzaro Earth counterpart.}}

* [[Earn Your Happy Ending]]: While you can defeat Darkdeath Evilman early on a second playthrough {{spoiler|the endings you receive end with you dying in possibly the most pathetic way imaginable with everyone calling you a fraud.}} The game pretty much requires that Darkdeath Evilman hands you your ass several times before you can see a real happy ending.

* [[Extreme Omnivore]]: Certain abilities allow one to eat Organic Equipment, Inorganic Equipment, or Money.

** There are pieces of equipment anyone can eat; like Mermaid equipment (except for the Head), Harpy Legs, Hovering Cloud, and Appetite Engine.

*** Except when he's using his "hero lessons" to justify things like complaining about his parents finding his [[Porn Stash]].

* [[Genre Shift]]: This is a [[Roguelike]] with some elements from ''[[Disgaea]]'' as opposed to an outright SRPG.

* [[Gratuitous Japanese]]: The "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS1NWxIRWuE Stereotypical Asian]" version of the theme song is mostly composed of random Japanese words.

* [[Guide Dang It]]: There's no indication that you could pick up the rotating mirrors and the statues in chapter 4, other than the color of their dots on the minimap.

*** This can result in [[Alternate Character Interpretation]]. Just what ''is'' his personality? Why is he [[The Determinator]]? Is it Justice, Simplicity, Desperation, Stoicism? Given how many times he has [[Sweat Drop]] due to the people around him, he may be a [[Deadpan Snarker]] who actually keeps his mouth shut. Even Pirohiko comments on how he can't comprehend what drives him.

**** [http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=144433212269554&set=a.142942432418632.24292.142905722422303&theater This is supported by] [[All There in the Manual|a few ZHP-themed comics featured in Prinny Bomb and on NISA's Facebook page, one questioning why Pirohiko became roadkill even though he claims the suit makes the protagonist invincible.]]

* {{spoiler|[[Heroic Sacrifice]]: The previous Unlosing Ranger took the bullet for the rookie cop Pirohiko, and passed his belt on to him. This was the same incident as the main character's kidnapping.}}

** Also, {{spoiler|the protagonist supposedly pulls this off in the end, personally flying a self-destructing Giga Giant Darkdeath Evilman into the sun. He makes it back in one piece, though.}}

** The Main Character: {{spoiler|Not a case of [[You Suck]]; he has always been a badass that nobody recognized, nobody gave a chance.}}

** Dangerama: {{spoiler|Had to choose between [[Sadistic Choice|his wife or a lot of innocent people dying.]] He saved the people.}} He wasn't the same since.

* [[Hopeless Boss Fight]]: The eponymous fight against the "last boss", Darkdeath Evilman, which is repeated at the end of every chapter. It gets progressively less hopeless each time, until it reaches the point where you can't ''lose''.

** In [[New Game+]], they're not Hopeless, as if you continue to attack, the last turn will be a random [[Critical Hit]] for 999 damage, instantly defeating the boss -- if you want to continue the game as normal, you must hit "flee" the last turn before you lose. Unfortuantely, winning these hopeless battles causes one of the various Bad [[Multiple Endings]], due to the various psychological problems with the other characters not being solved. {{spoiler|To say nothing about poor Darkdeath.}}

* [[Important Haircut]]: {{spoiler|The nameless hero gains one from pure [[Heroic Spirit]] when he learns the special attack "120% Determination", even going so far as to change his portrait in game. This marks the point where he goes from being insulted by just about everyone -- "The Unlosing Ranger (Temp)", "The Fake Unlosing Ranger", etc. -- to actually gaining some respect.}}

* [[Informed Equipment]]: Averted. One of the game's selling points is that everything you equip will visibly change your appearance, to the point where [[Rainbow Pimp Gear|you'll look ridiculous]] very early on. This applies to enemies too.

* [[Karma Houdini]]: {{spoiler|Again, the protagonist's entire family. How do you say "sorry" for ''eight years of emotional abuse,'' triggered by something that ''wasn't even his fault?'' Level-9's "happy ending" rings hollow in the face of the hell the protagonist's family put him through.}}

** {{spoiler|Though to be fair, Choco did undergo [[Trauma-Induced Amnesia]] during the whole kiddnapping thing, so she doesn't remember that it was her [[Player Character|big bro]] that saved her. All that she does know is that her parents are sniping at each other because of something he did, so she begins to think that its his fault. YMMV, but she may not be as much to blame. The [[Jerkass|parents]], on the other hand...}}

** [[Awesome Yet Impractical]]: yet, there's really no absolute need for it.

* [[Large Ham]]: Pirohiko. [[Mad Libs Catchphrase|Hammy Ranger!]]

* {{spoiler|[[Legacy Immortality]]: The Absolute Victory Unlosing Ranger is believed to be immortal because they would continually pass the transformation belt on when the current one died. In fact, it's practically tradition to [[Take Up My Sword|hand the transformation belt to a random passerby]] that just happens to be in the area when they're dying.}}

* [[Level Grinding]]: Wouldn't be a N1 game without it. This one has the bonus effect of having [[Restart At Level One]] as a gameplay mechanic, however. The trailer even ''brags'' about it. "The most soul crushing grindfest EVER!" However, in the late game Item Synthesis and Shadowgram optimization are more important than levels.

* [[Love Makes You Crazy]]: The fourth boss, Bizarro Geo, becomes increasingly desperate when Bizarro Medeia flatly turns down his cries for affection, resorting to spawning multiple enemies called "Overflowing Love" to drive his point home.

* [[Mad Libs Catchphrase]]: Pirohiko sometimes ends a statement with "[Noun/Adjective] Ranger!" or, if the opportunity presents itself, something that sounds like [[Calling Your Attacks|an attack name]]. Bondage Ranger!

** One of the examples on the website has the hero with cat ears, angel wings, a huge 3' long "dagger", a Cthulhu arm, and his legs replaced with a kotatsu with a catgirl poking her head out of it.

** The cameo dungeons are ''filled'' with random bits and pieces from their respective games and shows, as well. In addition, they count as Rank 6 items -- which means they're expensive to repair, but can be leveled up to absurd power

* [[Metal Slime]]: Metal Cacti. {{spoiler|They completely fill up the "Makai Wars" stage; only unlocked when you beat all the Dengeki stages.}}

* [[Mood Whiplash]]: Very often. The ending is especially guilty of this. {{spoiler|The heroes chase after the self-destructing Darkdeath Evilman to save him, at which point, he finally agrees to believe in heroes and begs to be saved. This is followed up with Pirohiko, Dangerama, and Etranger taking turns trying to push Darkdeath Evilman's robotic exoskeleton into the sun with all of them snapping at each other for failing until Darkdeath Evilman tells them that the smart thing to do is for them to push it together. Then, the main character gains the strength to push it by himself and sacrifice his life in process.}}

* [[My Death Is Just the Beginning]]: A rare heroic version. Disgaea's reincarnate system makes a return. In addition, ''you can't not trigger it.'' The plus side is this means that even as you lose you get stronger. The minus side is this means they've basically shot the difficulty up to 11.

* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]]: Darkdeath Evilman.

*** {{spoiler|And just in case that's still not enough, how about [[Oh Crap|Giga Giant Darkdeath Evilman]]?}}

**** {{spoiler|Despite the name, however, he turns out to not be [[Obviously Evil]].}}

* [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]]: Played completely straight when Etranger {{spoiler|uses her powers to make Darkdeath a ''giant'' -- in a [[Shout-Out]] to [[Mighty Morphing Power Rangers]] -- in order to prevent a rival hero from saving the day. Then it doesn't wear off, making Darkdeath an infinitely worse danger than before. Er, whoops.}}

* [[Nintendo Hard]]: Considered by far and away [[Nippon Ichi]]'s [[Beyond the Impossible|hardest and ''grindiest'']] game ''ever.'' [[Oh Crap|This is saying something.]]

* [[Reconstruction]]: While it is a parody, it also is a pretty much by-the-books [[Superhero/Toku|Toku]]/[[Sentai]] series -- it could be animated and shown on TV with no issues whatsoever.

* [[Restart At Level One]]: As is traditional for Console [[Roguelike|Roguelikes]], every time you enter a dungeon, your level is reset to one. The game does keep track of your total level, and your Shadowgram affects both your base stats and level-up rate, meaning that by the end of the game, you're a ''much'' stronger level 1 than before...

* [[Rivals Team Up]]: With Dangerama, though he buys you some time to go learn a [[Combination Attack]] before he'll actually fight with you.

* [[Roguelike]]: Dying is ''mandatory.'' It helps you become stronger.

* [[Verbal Tic]]: The goons at WHS end their sentences with "kikii".

* [[Wham! Episode]]: Arguably, Chapter 9- {{spoiler|That family you've been seeing in the montage sequences? Turns out that the main character is the son that they keep complaining about. You also learn that you and your sister were kidnapped as small children, and were saved by the Unlosing Ranger- who wasn't Pirohiko back then. At the time, Pirohiko was simply a policeman- he became the Unlosing Ranger shortly after the incident, as the previous one was mortally wounded while saving you -- by the same serial killer that the then quite normal 8 year old main character was successfully [[You Shall Not Pass|You Shall Not Passing]] away from his little sister.}}

* [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?]]: Super Baby is foretold to be the world's savior, but her superpowers seem limited to self-levitation, self-protection, and {{spoiler|''[[Make My Monster Grow|turning the enemy into a giant]]''}}. Attempts to get her to do anything ''useful'' end up running into lame excuses. {{spoiler|Eventually subverted, as Etranger becomes capable of teleporting herself and others as well as telekinesis - not to mention giving her physical form a permanent age-up into a teenager.}}

** {{spoiler|in fact, she is the one who helps you guys save the world at the end of the game...}}