A common misconception among the gaming population is that the Wii is home to mini-game collections and family friendly shovelware. While there is a substantial amount of sub-par games, there are many quality games as well.

Another misconception is that there are no Wii RPGs. It’s true that there aren’t very many RPGs in stores, but they are there if you pay attention and look for them. Plus, there are quite a few classic RPGs available on Virtual Console for between 800 and 1000 Wii Points ($8-10).

To get a better idea of what’s available for budget concious gamers, I decided to do a little bargain shopping and research to see what kinds of affordable RPGs are out there for Wii owners. I didn’t look at GameCube RPGs, though there are quite a few like Baten Kaitos that are cheap and easy to find at your local GameStop…

So, my good friend and Gamertell assistant editor Jenni came over the other day with a little game called Dokapon Kingdom for the Wii. It’s a RPG style board game where you have to save towns and get lots of money. You can play against your friends or the comp to get the most money and towns. Oh and you can cause your friends lots of problems and annoyance, fun.

We decided to play since we heard that this game is known to destroy friendships. So far I can see why! We start out fine, she tells me the ropes of the game and I pick my character, a yellow witch, which I later regretted since she is weak without a magic spell (which you don’t start out with!). I was actually leading money wise for while until Jenni got her first town, then her second town, third, and eventually FIFTH town! This was only like an hour into the game.

I was basically having horrible luck, she got to the kingdom right away, and it took my so long that the king eventually hauled me over there impatiently. See you have to land EXACTLY on certain spaces, such as shops and the castle space…

Dokapon Kingdom for the Wii, Atlus and Sting’s RPG party game, recently underwent a pretty substantial price drop at GameStop. Since $17.99 used seemed like a fair enough price, I decided to splurge on the game that is supposedly capable of destroying friendships in a single sitting.

I attempted to play a single player game, against a computer opponent, but found myself getting brutally humiliated. There was only one solution, play against a friend.

That’s where Jessi, fellow Gamertell writer and good friend comes in. We decided to see just how trying Dokapon Kingdom could be on a friendship.

We began playing the game at about 7pm. I went with a black, female thief as my first character and she went with a yellow, female witch. I decided to be a benevolent opponent, and brought the game box, with instruction manual, along. I always was kind enough to explain some of the basics of Dokapon. Get more towns and money than your opponent, and don’t hesitate to inflict pain on others if you’re losing.

I quickly breezed through the introductory map, picking up a dagger and a potion for later use. Partook in a few random battles, and made my way to the castle. Meanwhile, Jessi was floundering in one of the circle paths you have to go through to reach the upper portion of the map. I graciously assisted her in escaping and continuing her journey to the castle, after she’d gone through the complete circle once already…

Anyone who has played the Gamecube or Wii versions of Mario Party know the potential for such a game to destroy friendships. So Atlus is using that fact as a selling point for it’s October 14, 2008 Wii and PS2 release, Dokapon Kingdom. Like Mario Party, Dokapon Kingdom is a party/board game, but at the same time it is a multiplayer RPG. It also features quite a few gameplay aspects that will make your best friends your fiercest rivals.

In Dokapon Kingdom, four players were asked by the king to save Dokapon and his daughter, Princess Penny. The winner gets to be the hero, and the losers only receive shame. So players set off to battle monsters, find items, level up their characters, attack their former friends, steal from other players and slander their opponents’ good names.