3D Dot Game Heroes
3D Dot Game Heroes is a 2009 action-adventure video game developed by Silicon Studio and published by From Software in Japan, Atlus in North America and by SouthPeak Games in Europe. The game uses a unique style, presenting 2D, retro style graphics in a 3D environment.
3D Dot Game Heroes
The game follows a hero on a quest to rid the Dotnia Kingdom of a dark plague caused by the forces of evil in order to restore peace to the land. Legend tells of an evil king known as the Dark King Onyx who brought tragedy and darkness to the kingdom by stealing six magical orbs. However a hero rose up against the Dark King and with his legendary sword as well as the power of the orbs, he sealed Onyx away within another orb. However, the forces of evil rose again as the Dark Bishop Fuelle stole the orb and threw the Kingdom of Dotnia into a state of chaos once more.
Dotnia Kingdom is a kingdom run by King Tezro. It is also where Princess Iris acts as the next person in the royal lineage. Dotnia Kingdom is where the game 3D Dot Game Heroes occurs. Read more.
3D Dot Game Heroes is an action game with light role-playing elements, heavily inspired by the original Legend of Zelda. As with the Zelda series, the player character doesn't actually 'level up' through gaining experience, but instead discovers items which make them more powerful or allow them to access new areas, such as a boomerang which lets you hit faraway switches and bombs which can destroy rocks that block your path. There are six temples which must be found, as these contain the sages who can help seal away the evil king and rescue the kingdom.
The player can also find more powerful swords as they progress through the game. When the player's health is full and they swing their sword, the sword quadruples in size, annihilating anything in its path. If the player is hurt, then their sword only swings at its normal size. The player can visit a blacksmith to forge the sword and add to its length, width, power and more. The game also allows players to create their own custom characters with the game's easy-to-use character editor.
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then 3D Dot Game Heroes just whipped out an engagement ring on its first date with The Legend of Zelda. Squint your eyes and imagine that the smooth contour of the ergonomic controller in your hands has four sharp corners, and you could be tricked into believing you're playing through an unreleased sequel to the very first game in the classic Nintendo franchise. 3D Heroes may be an unabashed homage to a 23-year-old game, but it does a fine job of zeroing in on what made Zelda such an amazing adventure and re-creates those simple joys quite well. Unfortunately, the difficulty takes its cues from modern releases, making the dungeons a little too easy compared to the game on which this is based. But there are so many secrets to discover, jokes to laugh at, and environments to explore that 3D Heroes is a enjoyable game for anyone who longs for an old school adventure.
Although 3D Heroes takes most of its cues from the NES classic, its art style is all its own. The world is composed of tiny blocks, making the characters, enemies, and even the environment feel like parts from a sparsely detailed childhood toy. Its charming aesthetic creates an endearing backdrop that makes this adventure easy to get sucked into from the moment you fire it up. This simple design paves the way for a creation tool that lets you craft your own hero to save this mythical world from the dreaded dark wizard. The process is painless. Within just a few minutes, you can transform whatever resides in your imagination into your in-game avatar, tweaking your creation so it can walk, fight, and even strike a victory pose. You can play through the whole adventure as a shark, tank, or robotic tree, and you can switch up your hero whenever you load a saved game. The only downside is that the creation tool is limited to the protagonist. It's a shame you can't design the enemies you fight, the world you explore, or the labyrinths you traverse.
The dungeons are not quite up to the level of the fantastic overworld, but the aggressive enemies and mazelike designs keep things interesting. Going toe-to-toe with a vanishing mage or lumbering ogre is always exciting, even though the abundance of health potions means you won't have to fear death. These underground labyrinths are also where you acquire secondary weapons, which include a boomerang, bombs, a grappling hook, and other predictable tools to help you on your quest. Puzzles associated with these items don't veer far from what has been done in similar games. Far-away switches must be hit by a boomerang, flimsy walls can be bombed through, and targets are just asking to be struck by an arrow. Because the puzzles rely on such traditional solutions, your progress will rarely be halted by a nasty head-scratcher. Rather, just making your way through the winding paths is where the challenge surfaces. The multitiered dungeons require keen map-reading skills to navigate, and figuring out how to reach an elusive room on the other side of the map requires careful planning. Although the individual puzzles rarely offer more than a slight setback, the intricately structured dungeons are exciting to play through as you try to reach the tantalizing end.
The boss fights waiting for you at the end are the only instances in 3D Heroes where you'll be challenged in combat. These giant monsters are quite difficult if you come to battle unprepared, but their pattern-based movement makes it seem like victory is attainable even when you find your life sapped from your body. What really ups the challenge is that, rather than requiring gimmicky uses of the new item you recently picked up, bosses are most vulnerable to your trusty sword. They demand swift slashing and deft footwork, forcing you to hone your basic skills to a fine point. Each of these foes is fast and deadly, stripping away your life with only a few hits if you aren't nimble enough. There's not always an easy solution to victory, either. Often you'll need to guard well, strike when your foes leave an opening, and just hope you can deal enough damage before they take you down. The bosses are a high point in this adventure and are the most rewarding and thrilling combat sections in the game.
3D Heroes is a refreshing trip down memory lane. Other adventure games, including the franchise this is based on, have gotten so complex from a combat and exploration perspective that it's nice to take a vacation from all the modern bells and whistles and experience something simple again. There isn't a lot in 3D Heroes that hasn't been done before, but that doesn't detract from the fun. The bustling overworld is bursting with silly side quests and secret goodies, and though the dungeons aren't particularly hard, the bosses at the end sure know how to put up a fight. The lighthearted atmosphere strengthens the appeal, throwing in quirky characters, chuckle-worthy references, and an infectious soundtrack to keep things fresh. 3D Dot Game Heroes is a pleasant retreat for anyone who pines for the good old days, but even those without nostalgic links to the past will find an enjoyable experience.
It's not quite as stunning or delightful an effect as something like Paper Mario, another Japanese RPG series that sought to distinguish itself through its unique visuals as well as its enterprising gameplay, nor as evocative as your first glimpse of Zelda's divisive Wind Waker approach (which I loved), but it's a strong foundation, and a pleasurable background perk.
Once it takes on a passive role after the introduction, however, you're left with another strong impression: 3D Dot Game Heroes is a massive Legend of Zelda rip-off. It's inevitable that games will be derived from other successful games, but this isn't Batman: Arkham Asylum building on lessons taught by Super Metroid and Metal Gear Solid; this is something else entirely.
You could still make a good, distinctive game out of that premise, as Nintendo has proven about 478 times with the Zelda series itself, and to be fair developer Silicon Studio has a crack at that. There are some good gags and diversionary antics to uncover - a tower defence game, which is good for 10 minutes' fun, and a "From Cave" populated by Demon's Souls and Armored Core in-jokes - a nod to the game's Japanese publisher, From Software.
Even though the game is supposed to be tongue-in-cheek, it does have to be said that 3D Dot Game Heroes dangerously walks the line between homage and simple theft. Items like the hook shot and even a number of enemies act and look as they do in the Zelda series. It cannot be argued that the game is incredibly nostalgic and much of the in-game dialog is funny, but a lot of the game threatens to stop being hilariously shameless and end up as just shameless.
# 3) This next piece will take much longer to complete, so get this quest at the beginning of the game and you'll hopefully chip away at it over time. Find the old man in the north end of Raejack Village. He'll give you a quest to kill 10 "monsters." It's a bit cryptic since you can't simply kill any 10 monsters. You must kill 10 crystal slimes. They're rare spawns, and can be hard to kill because of their extreme speed, but you'll know them when you see them. They sparkle and scurry around like a little cloud. Talk to him again when you're done to receive yourApple Shard.
Being an Alias Maya convert, 3D Dot Game Heroes encourages me to dabble with its unique character design options, where you can rearrange cubes to make your very own pixel powered hero. It looks a lot like Atlus has taken 2D 8-bit and 16-bit game sprites from the 1980s and added a 3D effect for you to play with. No NURBS here though, boxy rules!
Any game giving a nod to the NES stable would be incomplete without our old friend the mini game to unlock new weapons, shields and various goodies for your blocky heroes. The three main mini games you come across are insanely hard, but break up the narrative of the game in a clean and compelling way. 041b061a72