Though I haven't been able to put nearly as much time into it as I would like to thanks to several other projects, this past week I was able to pop in and out of recent Nintendo RPG release Glory of Heracles a number of times—thanks in no small part to the game's save-anywhere functionality.
What attracted me to Heracles in the first place was one specific thing that I saw in videos: the touchscreen-based spell powerup minigames. These little feats of skill that amplify your spells aren't yet much of a match for my practiced stylus hand, though I already see signs of them ramping up in challenge as time goes on. It turns out there's a lot more to the game, though; it's an edge innovator, taking familiar core turn-based RPG mechanics and adding all sorts of neat little ideas. My personal favorite is Overkill; defeating an enemy just a little bit more than it takes to knock him out can net you an MP recharge—something that's starting to become a requirement as I progress, with spells that typically drain most of a character's MP. It doesn't feel unbalanced in the slightest, either; just enough to be challenging.
You may have heard that Heracles saw some changes on its way out of Japan to make it a better game—most notably, much-increased battle speed. While I don't have a comparison point (though I imagine setting the battle animations to "extended" might show a lot of what has been cut), I can say without hesitation that the battles, though they can still get lengthy, don't feel slow. In fact, with as much as is going on with a rapidly growing list of spells, skills, items, and enemies you'll need to exploit them to defeat, there feels like there's plenty of variety to keep me going. There's a lot going on here. The game does tend to bog somewhat in towns and on the overworld with the party's slow movement speed in both places, but these sections are typically easily smoothed over once I get back to business.
Localizers 8-4, who also worked on the excellent Baten Kaitos Origins for Nintendo, have done a good job here as well. They've made Heracles' cast rather entertaining and likeable. I'm over ten hours in, and looking forward to completing the game sometime in the near future, depending on how many snatches of time I can get. Thankfully, time-wise, it fits just about anywhere.
You may have heard that Heracles saw some changes on its way out of Japan to make it a better game—most notably, much-increased battle speed. While I don't have a comparison point (though I imagine setting the battle animations to "extended" might show a lot of what has been cut), I can say without hesitation that the battles, though they can still get lengthy, don't feel slow. In fact, with as much as is going on with a rapidly growing list of spells, skills, items, and enemies you'll need to exploit them to defeat, there feels like there's plenty of variety to keep me going. There's a lot going on here. The game does tend to bog somewhat in towns and on the overworld with the party's slow movement speed in both places, but these sections are typically easily smoothed over once I get back to business.
Localizers 8-4, who also worked on the excellent Baten Kaitos Origins for Nintendo, have done a good job here as well. They've made Heracles' cast rather entertaining and likeable. I'm over ten hours in, and looking forward to completing the game sometime in the near future, depending on how many snatches of time I can get. Thankfully, time-wise, it fits just about anywhere.