Because Disney seems to like hard gender lines, we've got games tailored for boys and games tailored for girls. Children of the female persuasion get the Disney Princess line, video games with boxes virtually slathered with images of the most popular of Disney's princesses and a hearty helping of pink.
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| Now bring me that pink horizon. |
Disney Princess: Enchanted Journey seems to be a toned down, "girly" answer to Kingdom Hearts, having come out in 2007 after Kingdom Hearts I, II and Chain of Memories were already on the shelves. The main character is entirely customizable, from hair to skin tone to clothing style and color. The player picks the little girl's name, as well, giving young children the chance to put themselves into the game as far as customization will allow. After your pixie guide gives you a quick tutorial, you're gifted with a special wand that you get to use to bop enemies on the head. The wand, similarly to Sora's Keyblade in Kingdom Hearts with the addition of keychains, can change appearance depending on the world you're playing in. There's no killing in this game, only changing the enchanted Bogs back into the butterflies and creatures they were before an evil princess came to the four (five with Belle's special unlockable stage) different worlds to foul things up.
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| These are Bogs; Genie themed for Agrabah. |
I found the premise of the story interesting, if not cliche, but this game wasn't really made for my demographic. The villain of this tale is a princess that doesn't want to be "princess-like"; she's not into being kind or courteous. The player gets to visit Ariel, Cinderella, Jasmine and Snow White in their respective worlds to fix issues that the Bogs and their mischief are causing. Ariel and her mer-friends have lost their ability to make music, time has decided to go a little wibbly wobbly in Cinderella's town, Jasmine's dealing with confusing mirages and Snow White's world is being drained of color. Once all four worlds are completely saved, each world has three short chapters to get through, the player unlocks the fifth world where we meet Belle in the Beast's ballroom. There really isn't a problem there, you just get to play Keep Away with a few Bogs.
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| Sort gems with the dwarfs to foil those rainbow muddying Bogs. |
From a technical standpoint, the graphics are pretty good and the voice acting's not half bad. Given that more than a few of the characters are voiced by their original actors (Jodi Benson is Ariel, Paige O'Hara is Belle, Linda Larkin is Jasmine and we even get Tim Curry playing a sailor in the Little Mermaid stage), it's worth it to sit through the dialogue. There's virtually no challenge to this game, even though there is a difficulty range given to each chapter and world. Pixie states that Ariel's world is the easiest while Snow White's is the hardest, but I doubt anyone will notice any change in level. All you need to do is change the Bogs back into their natural forms, play a few mini puzzles and collect gemstones, which aren't really worth anything. There's no currency in the game, no leveling up, and once the gem counter reaches it's limit, nothing happens.
I had the opportunity to play this on both the Playstation 2 and the Wii, haven't had the chance to play it on the PC, but I would suggest going the PS2 route if possible. The Wii-mote isn't nearly as responsive as it should be, though twirling it around like a wand was a little fun. There is a two player option available, with the second player being just as customizable as the first. Replayability is incredibly low but one run through isn't painful. Enchanted Journey is also an incredibly short game; you might waste two hours, max. Give it to a kid the game was made for, though, and they could be busy for a while.
Rating:
Demographic: 4 - 8 year old girls.
System(s): Playstation 2, Wii and PC.
Players: 1 - 2
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