Wizardry’s pain and bliss, but with artwork in the anime style.
Class of Heroes: Anniversary Edition
Platform:Â PC, also on Switch
Developer:Â Zerodiv
Publisher:Â PQube, ACQUIRE Corp.
Release date:Â April 26th, 2024
Price:Â $19.99, $17.99 launch price through May 3rd
Digital availability:Â Steam
The dungeon crawlers of today are hospitable and consistently teach all the lessons necessary for survival. However, it isn’t the case with the Heroes of 2009 class. Expanding upon Wizardry’s genre-defining roots, the title evoked the experience of engaging with an intricate tabletop game.
When Heroes was first published on the PSP, it was imperative to study the included game manual. Even something as easy as assembling an adventure group was risky if you jumped straight in. You weren’t informed on-screen that characters needed to reach particular stat requirements in order to set the game’s equivalent of a job class. You may have placed a melee fighter in the back or a spellcaster in the front if you didn’t notice the lessons that the Particus Academy in the game offered. There were a lot of ways to end up with a humiliating loss.
Bring Your Own Manual, or BYOM
With new features like extra difficulty settings that adjust damage and the quantity of experience points and money you gain, the recently released Anniversary Edition smoothes over some of the rough edges of Class of Heroes. There is now an arena where players can re-face bosses, providing a quicker way to grind. However, the game is still incredibly difficult even after fifteen years. However, developer Zerodiv is aware that beating the odds may be strangely satisfying.
Yes, Class of Heroes is the careful DM who has read the rules cover to cover. Consequently, it incorporates numerous details that the majority of dungeon crawlers ignore. The makeup of parties is one of the more prominent instances of this. You’ll destroy the affinity rating of the party if you try to assemble a crew with diverse character alignments or pair up Diablons, who have high base numbers, with Celestians. You’ll have an uphill battle as you make your way through a campaign of more than 70 randomly generated dungeons.
Dungeons ought to be hazardous.
In the same way, your beginning gear is incredibly inefficient. Class of Heroes gives new players little perks, such as directionless armor, pointless daggers assigned to characters (even in the rear row!), and one-and-done spellcasters. But it’s nice to go back to the basics after endless crawls that eliminated the sense of danger that comes with traps.
Once the hazing phase of the game is over, Heroes becomes a more predictable and practical experience. Just don’t anticipate a lot of explanation. Aside from the academic setting of the game, you’ll go through menus instead of engaging in conversation with a town full of NPCs before going back to the dungeons. Furthermore, people who value a more realistic reenactment of role-playing games on paper wouldn’t have it any other way.
I used a review code that the publisher sent to play Class of Heroes: Anniversary Edition on a PC.
Review Overview
Gameplay – 80%
Controls – 75%
Aesthetics – 80%
Content – 85%
Accessibility – 60%
Value – 70%
75%
GOOD!
Summary :Â Be not deceived by the adorable anime-inspired artwork; Class of Heroes: Anniversary Edition is not a welcoming game for new players. However, that is more of a statement about the target audience for the game than it is a warning. Party management is purposefully disorganized, and dungeon crawling is suitably risky. For those looking for an exceptional education, Class of Heroes offers an incredibly challenging curriculum. Let the others enjoy their guided walkthroughs.