Coming May 11 for $39.99
IGN preview from a month ago.
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IGN preview from a month ago.
But 3D Dot Game Heroes takes its Zelda love to another level with nearly identical items, dungeons and enemies and more. Longtime fans will recognize stand-ins for Stalfos (skeletons), Tektites (hopping bugs) and Keese (bats) early on; a fairy named Lee offers you pro tips; a row of red apples represents life; the first dungeon requires block pushing and key retrieving... the parallels are endless. Other games get some love as well -- Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy and even Demon's Souls (which shares the same publisher) all show up as fodder for 3D Dot Game Heroes retro-stravaganza.
The combat is based on the jabbing and slashing short sword action made famous by the green Hero to Time, but your 3D Dot Hero isn't limited by arm's length. The swords you'll come across -- and there are a bunch -- will eventually engulf the entire screen, and you can augment abilities that let them pass through obstacles unhindered or send projectiles in their wake. Of course, the true power of a sword is only unleashed if you have full health. Until you take a hit you'll have more range and increased power, but this is easier said than done. You can acquire dozens of different swords that have different effects in combat, some of which are rather oddly skinned to resemble other items, like a fish and a baseball bat.
You'll also gain a compliment of magical abilities to back up your attacks, like a full-area freeze that puts a lair of ice over everything nearby, even blocking off doors. There are tools and items to collect, some straight out of Link's inventory, but we saw some unique ones as well. For instance, a thick tome called the Bestiary can be equipped and use like a sword, but in return for bashing monsters with a book you get entries in the book, including a 3D monster model and a humorously vague, classic RPG description.
The combat is based on the jabbing and slashing short sword action made famous by the green Hero to Time, but your 3D Dot Hero isn't limited by arm's length. The swords you'll come across -- and there are a bunch -- will eventually engulf the entire screen, and you can augment abilities that let them pass through obstacles unhindered or send projectiles in their wake. Of course, the true power of a sword is only unleashed if you have full health. Until you take a hit you'll have more range and increased power, but this is easier said than done. You can acquire dozens of different swords that have different effects in combat, some of which are rather oddly skinned to resemble other items, like a fish and a baseball bat.
You'll also gain a compliment of magical abilities to back up your attacks, like a full-area freeze that puts a lair of ice over everything nearby, even blocking off doors. There are tools and items to collect, some straight out of Link's inventory, but we saw some unique ones as well. For instance, a thick tome called the Bestiary can be equipped and use like a sword, but in return for bashing monsters with a book you get entries in the book, including a 3D monster model and a humorously vague, classic RPG description.
One intriguing feature we saw in our session with 3D Dot Game Heroes is actually one that I usually balk at: character creation. The game lets you customize you character at any time – so you may have several different looks throughout the game. The tools for customization are interesting: you paint pixels in 3D space which you can rotate and recolor using simple controls. You can use this to create your favorite copyrighted heroes, but original creations can be shared online when you save them to a thumb drive. You create several animations for a character, so if you want your booger monster to puke every time it gets excited, that's your call. The shape of your character won't affect gameplay at all.
While the game has been out in Japan for some time, the localization it has received in the US is unique. It not only includes all of the downloadable content Japan has received to-date, but also some added features. One of the coolest features is an optional install which can eliminate load times entirely.
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