Game Review #133: Heroes Trials (Nintendo Switch)
Reviewer: Jordan M.
Developer: Shinyuden
Publisher: Ratalaika Games
Category: Adventure, Role-Playing, Arcade
Release Date: 01.25.2019
Price: $5.99
Buy Heroes Trials from the Nintendo eShop here.
I Can Be Your Hero, Baby
Heroes Trials follows the story of Zoel and his sister, Elia. The world in which they live, Delhua, is seeking new defenders to protect it. Zoel and Elia are hoping to become these defenders by completing a series of timed trials, and ultimately coming out as the winners of the competition. Your character (characters rather), will hack their way through dungeons, solving puzzles, defeating monsters, or doing whatever it takes to complete the trial, while still trying to achieve the fastest time possible. At the same time, the world around you has all kinds of treasures and secrets waiting to be found. Regardless of if you're a speed-runner, a dungeon master, or an open world explorer, this game offers a little for everyone.
Letting Them Know Delhua You Are
Your character is controlled with the directional pad. You can play as either Zoel or Elia, between which you can easily swap back and forth using the X button. Zoel uses physical/sword-based attacks, as opposed to Elia, who uses magic blasts. You will need both characters’ abilities throughout the game to solve various puzzles. Another plus is Elia learns different types of magic, such as arcane, lightning, etc. These different forms of magic will all be utilized in upcoming trials. The B button is your attack button for both characters. Both characters’ attacks can be charged up by holding the attack button. Zoel is able to raise his shield with ZL to deflect incoming attacks.
Some of the enemies in parts of the trials seem to hit particularly hard in comparison to the damage done by your character, in my opinion. Also, it was a little hard to indicate at times when exactly your character was getting hit. This may also just be me. However, be very careful when attacking, because it can be pretty easy to get struck. Also, if you're playing as Elia, make sure to allow plenty of room between enemies for her attacks. She can be a little difficult to play at times, especially in rooms where swarms of enemies are coming at you. I died more than a few times, and when I did, giant ants feasted on my character. Ouch.
Zoel... a Red-Headed Goku?
The soundtrack isn't bad. The music isn’t anything to write home about for the most part, but it sets the scene for each area appropriately. The sprites and backgrounds gave me, at times, an almost Secret of Mana-ish feel, but a lot of areas seemed a little bland and hastily-presented. I think, had this game been refined a bit more, it could have been something nice to look at. Zoel, to me, definitely looks like a sort of Minecraft ginger-Goku. The enemies are very blocky at times, and some of them make some pretty odd sound effects in combat.
Heroes Trials Gets My Heroes Verdict
I have never been one to call a game boring, but perhaps this game wasn't made with someone like me in mind. I am honestly a little confused trying to understand who they were actually trying to target in general. Yes, the game has a good price to it, but it isn't anything I would necessarily call exciting. The enemies are lackluster and just don't seem very inspired at all, most of the time just looking like large, one-colored insects.
The trials are very much the same, and don't really offer anything as far as a sense of accomplishment or rewards. The puzzles are all pretty straightforward, and didn't really offer anything as far as a challenge, or show me anything new. I think this would be a great game maybe for a younger child starting out in an action game that isn't too violent and gets them used to running around, etc. However, if you're looking for anything as far as action for an adult gamer, I would maybe look for something a bit more challenging.
Score: 6/10
Buy Heroes Trials from the Nintendo eShop here.
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*Review Code Provided by Ratalaika Games