Somewhere, there's a happy medium between adventures and RPGs with too much plot and those that let you race through with little consideration for the NPCs in the world. Blizzard's Diablo series is probably the perfect exponent, but going a little too far toward the later is Heroes Trials.
Off Zoel and Elia go adventuring, more or less within the first 30 seconds, wading into a simple 3D land to prove themselves worthy. After some initial chat, the other characters around the game are pretty much pointless. Instead our two heroes, swap around to use their magical or sword attacks, depending on the enemy. They roam around a sparse landscape, on the lookout for treasure and health among the shrubs.
Fighting is the only way to advance, using their various strengths of sword or magical attack to defeat the blobby-looking demons. There are a steady stream of monsters to whack, although it is good to see you can avoid a lot of unnecessary combat. The two set off to complete a series of trials to see who will become guardian of their kingdom. But, in reality, you cast a few spells, lob a few bombs, and visit a few stores, with some rare useful treasures to pick up along the way.
Clocking Off From Adventuring
The game is played against the clock, so you won't want to waste any time, but the developer's big claim that "An adventure like no other. Two heroes, two ways of playing against the clock." doesn't ring true as they stumble around to master the Tower of Akron.
There's no tactics to the combat, blocking with a shield is rarely needed. There's no sense of achievement (apart from a quick and easy Platinum) and all you really have to do is follow the map to the next "quest."
Heroes Trials feels like Japanese developer Shinyuden's first game development effort - it is certainly their only game listed on Stream. Sure, everyone has to start somewhere, but I know there are more valuable and rewarding games out there that could be ported.
Graphically, the game looks simple enough on the Vita's small screen, I dread to think how bad the Cross Buy PS4 version looks on a larger display. There's a few effects thrown around, but literally nothing to get excited about.
On the plus side, if Shinyuden make enough money to work on their engine, add some complexity, depth and a bit of love to their games, then it is worth supporting if future efforts will have more to them. But this is the generic paracetamol of games with stock woods, icy and dungeon levels, few interesting enemies or attacks to learn and no love to feel for the heroes.
Score: 4/10
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Price: £4.99 (PSN)
Developer/publisher: Shinyuden/Ratalaika
File size 350MB
Progress: Bored in the sticks
