Originally published as Work X Work in Japan, Heroland has made its way to the west almost a year later. Heroland has presented a modest media threshing behind his original release because his staff included the director of Mother 3 Noboyuki Inoue, who wrote the story, and the artist of Mother 3 Nobuhiri Imagawa. Despite the inheritance behind his development team, expectations for the game should be temperate given the relative size of the game. On its surface, however, heroland seems to feed its vibrant artistic style and its original humor with an addictive gameplay loop.
Heroland puts you in the role of a brand new employee of Heroland, specifically hired as a tour guide. Heroland is not your typical theme park. It is rather a resort that allows people to live their fantasies of heroes to conquer dungeons and defeat malefic lords. Think of Westworld… but in the vein of a typical fantastic RPG. Anyway, the personage-player soon meets a situation that requires its seemingly permanent position of tourist guide.
As a tour guide, the player’s role in the game is to guide various heroes and group members through dungeons looking for value and treasures. As a guide, players are responsible for selecting team tactics, survival of heroes and their assistance if necessary. Essentially, bringing the party live through dungeons is a good barometer of success. Although most gameplay items such as attack selection are automated, players’ choices during assistance are always essential to success.
Although the enemies are not real monsters (it is your teammates and colleagues), their defeat will increase the happiness of customers and will affect their level. The selection of equipment, group members and training plays all a role in the game, although it becomes a bit banal after a while. The good thing about Heroland is that it can be played in pieces. The dungeons are separated into battles, events, boss and treasure rooms. Players move from one panel to another, allowing game moments “the size of a snack” perfect for a fast game session at any time.
The writing of the game, like his gameplay, is better digested in pieces rather than Marathon. Although the comical aspects of the game have their moments, they can be a little ridiculous according to their tastes. However, writing corresponds very well to the aesthetics and the game as a whole remains constantly on the brand. Although the gameplay can become a bit banal, the possibility of accelerating battles is always appreciated, especially when you return to older dungeons to level the characters who have been left behind.
Passing to the aesthetics of the game, the artistic direction of heroland remains consistent with the rest of the game, offering a feeling of lightness to the game. The colors are vibrant while the game remains relatively simple but effective. The characters are well designed, which makes them unique and also correspond to their personality. I quickly found myself a few characters who have become my favorites, which made me invest more during the battles to make them happy.
Overall, Heroland is a solid title that finds its niche, hangs on it and goes into power. His humor and style may not be suitable for everyone, but for those who are right for him, they will adore it. Although the game starts a bit slowly, it will not take long for it to be seen, although the game can be appreciated both in small pieces and in much bigger. In Heroland, you will not be the hero, but you will allow everyone to be, and that’s fine. The game transforms the RPG genre just enough to keep things interesting, and who knew that being a guide in an RPG theme park could be so fun?
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