Half Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax Ultimate Boy Review (PC)
Half Minute Hero is certainly a strange beast; while the concepts it puts forward simply shouldn’t work and the framework it provides just shouldn’t draw you in, there is an inherent charm to everything it does and is simply unflinching in its resolve to win you over with solid mechanics and gloriously infuriating time balancing that will elate you upon your success.
The Time Goddess has chosen you to defend the realm from the evil wizard who is teaching his destruction spell to all who will listen and those minions are putting the world close to the brink absolute devastation and you only have thirty seconds to stop them! Luckily, the Time Goddess is a stickler for a little bit of coin and so will gladly reset those thirty seconds time and again for you to extend your life and continue your journey to stop the end of the world. The world is full of wonderful companions who’re interested in helping you save the doomed world and will provide you with items and bonus in combat that will help you along your way.
Half Minute Hero is chocked full of different elements from different genres; you spend a lot of time levelling up throughout your game with simple RPG mechanics that, like the rest of the game, are stripped down and streamlined so as not to not break the games excruciatingly fast pace.
You’ll run into combat situations while roaming the map and these will take place almost free from your control as the game will switch to side scrolling 2D perspective and you’ll watch as your hero runs up against the enemy, bounces back and repeats until either all the enemies are dead or your hero has fallen.
You’ll get to buff your hero with health and other items but largely you have no control. What you will need to do is think about the combat beforehand and will need to buy armour and weapons from the numerous NPC towns that litter the world.
During each mission that spans 30 seconds, you’ll find numerous paths and options for you to take which really boost any thoughts of replayability; you could be going for hours simply by making early choices of which route to take and where that leads you will spiral off down a completely different journey for your game and you’ll be able to earn titles and complete challenges as you move forward.
The soundtrack is initially charming and well placed but continued and repeated playthroughs will lead this jingle to be grating and a burden rather than something that should be a nice accompaniment to your journey and unfortunately it barely changes throughout the game.
Multiplayer is a good addition, even if the interaction between players is minimal. Mostly it’s just a quest you’re completing together unless you stumble across a battle they are engaged in or a town they are using for resupply you’ll rarely have any reason to meet. You’re encouraged to play cooperatively as your timer is the same and so will need coordination to properly extend your time and get everything done without having the world end on you.
Half Minute Hero is vibrant and colourful; it works on a lot of different levels and provides consistent feedback for your progression throughout the game. You’ll think you are in for a single 30 second game but in truth, once you’ve got the control and mechanics pinned down, you’re more likely in for a decent sitting that can be quickly retried again and again without much penalty or pain.
The game is a great casual experience that really buys into the idea of trial and error so well; it wants you to go the wrong way, or make the wrong choice, so you can quickly retry and be on your way all the more knowledgeable for doing it wrong the first time. Half Minute Hero is excellent and definitely something you shouldn’t miss.
Half Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax Ultimate Boy Review (PC),
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