1. SQUARE ENIX.
Come on, an RPG developed by Square..? Shouldn’t that mean something? Sure it isnt a JRPG in the traditional sense, but thats part of the allure. The words Square and RPG in the same sentence hold some weight in this industry. I don’t know if it was bad marketing or what that more people are not talking about Heroes of Ruin, but a great developer behind a great genre that they help define means great awesomeness.
2. DUNGEON CRAWLING LOOT FINDING GOODNESS
Top down dungeon crawlers have always been fun. From older games like Gauntlet Legends to story driven incarnations like Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Heroes of Ruin has a very similar feel. That shouldn’t be a bad thing. The old addage “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” comes to mind. There have been plenty of successful games with this model and gamers love them. A new story with new characters and classes should always be welcome, and this one is no exception.
3. MULTIPLAYER AND VOICE CHAT
How long have we all been crying that Nintendo did not have a legitimate voice chat system for their platforms. Whether it be worldwide or local area network, this game has jump in jump out multiplayer options WITH voice chat. Let’s be honest, that is pretty cool. Multiplayer games are fun to play multiplayer, and it creates a great community and a cool feel to hear your ally through your handheld.
4. MINDLESS BEAT ‘EM UP
The 3DS is a handheld system. You take it with you on the bus, on the plane, or on your lunch break at work. Often you just want to let off some steam and pop in a game where you can mindlessly beat up monsters and pick up some loot. Heroes of Ruin delivers in this area. Do you only have a quick ten minute break? Kill some stuff and loot it. You have the option of progressing the story, but it is not so story driven that you can’t just hop in a dungeon to kill some imps without feeling disconnected.
5. GRAPHICS AND GAMEPLAY
So number five is actually two reasons. Some people may complain that the graphics are sub par in comparison to other titles on the 3DS. Would they be right? Sure. Does that make the game unplayable? Not at all. The gameplay is what drives this game. Leveling up your character and learning new abilities to change the way your character plays, finding out how your class and ability choices synergize with teammates, and searching for the perfect loot to make your character feel godlike are all big parts of Heroes of Ruin. Oh, and don’t forget the 3D adds a depth to the graphics that makes it look pretty fresh.
I believe that every once in a while, gamers should stick their heads out of the mainstream world of Call of Duty 27: Modern Galactic Desert Warfare and rummage around outside of the box. You may be suprised to find little gems waiting for you here and there, and you’ll have a great experience and make a great memory with a game everyone else may have forgotten about.
