Fantasy Hero: Unsigned Legacy [ファンタジーヒーロー アンサインドレガシー] Game Sample - NS

What a strange little game... originally released in 2014 for Sony's PS Vita by the now-prolific development team at Arc System Works (best known for "Guilty Gear" and " BlazBlue", the later "Kunio" titles, etc.), the game was re-released about 3.5 years later for Nintendo's Switch in 2018 with the little bit of notorious paid content available by default (extra save slots and missions) at a reduced price of $9.99 from the original $14.99 price. As a Diablo / Monster Hunter hackey slashey ARPG game on a major diet, the original Vita version was not particularly well received, but it DID have multiplayer for up to four players. For reasons unbeknownst to me, this feature was removed entirely from the Switch version, making it a lazier than lazy port of an already short, borderline unfinished game... but is there still anything redeeming about it? The plot is... not good, and "barely" wrapped up by the game's conclusion. In a world brimming with lush greenery, blue skies and clear water, things were prosperous for humans and creatures alike with all forms of life living in harmony. This continued until one day, the world was blitzed without warning from a group of deadly creatures from another world known colloquially as "Decoders", descending on the world in a beam of light and killing anyone who opposed them left and right. Heroes attempted to rise up and oppose the decoders at the time of impact, but their efforts were futile, with few having the strength, training or technology to oppose them... within a single night, these Decoders forced humanity to seek refuge in hideaways, caves, and the outskirts of the lands and forests beyond their reach as they desperately clung to life. Twelve years pass from this day and a few select humans become beacons of hope due to the discovery of foreign materials salvaged from Decoders and various ruins leading to the creation of super gear known as "Hero Artes", and four heroes in this particular story and particular place take a stand against the Decoders. Arc System Works are not generally known for their RPG-Style games, so they can be forgiven here to some extent, but without going too much into it (spoiling it) or being too negative, the plot may just be window dressing for the action, but it's still poor. If you read between the lines, several events don't make sense with how events are lined up (especially as they pertain to the youngest playable character), the main character is your typical hot-blooded shounen hero but his stupidity is like a 12/10 (he makes outburst or decisions only to immediately realize they are contradictory or detrimental) and the cast as a whole are walking tropes that just don't have enough screen time to develop beyond being one-note. The game is broken up into missions and the main plot takes place over just nine of these... they are less than an hour long on average (20-30~ mins) and the game is both rushed and abrupt. Various side missions add a tiny bit of flavor text, but the plot as a whole is forgettable. Visually, the game is fine for a budget release and reminds me of an early Dreamcast game but the locales are extremely limited (Forests round out 70%~ with Ruins, Caves and misc. rounding out the other 30%~ of the experience). The sound is the game's highlight with the music selling the fantasy vibe and there's a few high profile seiyu (The main character, Acress, is voiced by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka who did Kirito from "Sword Art Online", Soma from "Food Wars!", etc., while Ashta is voiced by Naomi Ohzora who did Kiriha from "Tsugumomo", Hana from "Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out!", etc.) but suffers from the same lack of variety. There isn't much to the gameplay either. The player can pick one of four characters who have different specialties and skills. Acress is your average swordsmans, Mask is the powerful luchador character, Haul is the speedy long-range gunner and Ashta is the unorthodox support lead. While the gutted multiplayer diminishes the synergies these characters have, they are each capable of clearing the game solo. Each character has a weak and strong type button plus up to 8 ability slots for skills or items. The player picks up missions and then departs the nest to complete them with most areas being small and repetitive. Characters can gain experience for levels (levels offer skill points and stat points you can freely distribute, although changing them requires "Resetters" which are rare or expensive near the end of the game), plenty of goods denoted by rarity (higher difficulty = rarer items) and a few basic facilities, although you'll mostly be upgrading through post-game. The post game just loops numerous times with higher difficulty and the game is grindy. A quick run is about 7-10 hours. Combat is clunky but not too difficult if you use the recovery / cancel skill (the game CONVENIENTLY doesn't teach you). For $10, it's serviceable but don't expect too much. This is a video of various things. Enjoy.