Official Site: http://www.3ddotgameheroes.com/
Source: Youtube Channel AtlusUSA
Developer: Silicon Studio
Publisher: Atlus
Platforms: Playstation 3
Release Date: May 11, 2010
Genre: Action-Adventure
Pros:
-Simple, challenging, and fun
-A LOT of secrets, items, and special events to unlock
-Reference to a lot of retro games will hit you with a wave of nostalgia
-Charming and creative presentation of 3D based pixels as its graphics
Cons:
-Some items require a lot of grinding to buy or pay off
-Default camera angle is cool, but obtrusive when getting attacked by enemies off screen
-It sucks dying in a dungeon and having to start from the very beginning
Anyone who enjoyed the retro games of the past, the original The Legend of Zelda in particular, will have a deep appreciation for 3D Dot Game Heroes. The combat, exploration, and simple puzzle solving will hit you in a wave of nostalgia and take the player back to the days where a game's limitation made it fun through the use of creative game design. It takes the many aspects of retro games and places them in a more modern setting of graphics, concepts, and theme. Although the game boasts itself as homage to retro games, it still has a deep and innovative gameplay amongst its simple objectives. Those who didn't experience the days of retro games that others have will still find the opportunity to have a glimpse of what made gaming so fun in the past through 3D Dot Game Heroes. If you can find the game for under $20 and want something simple and fun to play, I'd recommend picking this game up.
Graphics
The first thing that caught my attention to this game is the unique blocky pixel graphics. It's clear that it represents the pixelated graphics of retro games and is actually explained in the beginning of the game why it's like that. Its bright and colorful game environment is easy on the eyes and kind of makes you feel good when playing the game (almost like some sort of visual therapy). There are actually a lot of modern technological effects applied to the graphics, such as lighting, reflection, particle effects, and others which gives it that modern feel. This actually causes the game to lag in some parts where too many things are happening at once. One of the cool effects they implement is whenever the player kills/destroys an enemy (or gets killed themselves), they burst into a shower of their own pixels. The default camera angle is a slanted (almost 45 degrees) view towards the main character. It gives it a unique feel to the game where it doesn't feel exactly like "The Legend of Zelda", but it's a problem when you start getting attacked by enemies out of the view of the screen. Luckily, you can change the camera view and make it go all the way up as if you were playing The Legend of Zelda. This makes it much easier (and possibly necessary for FROM Mode or Spelunker Mode - The harder difficulties) to view your character's surroundings. Speaking of the character, the player can actually create the look of their own character through the character editor. After a while, the charm of the blocky graphics kind of wears off and feels normal. It's an interesting design choice with aesthetic value and stays true to the nostalgic factor. Graphics 8/10
Audio
A major element that captured the feel of a retro game in 3D Dot Game Heroes is its soundtrack. It's a hybrid mix 8-bit soundchips with modern day usage of orchestral recordings. The compositions reflect closely to that of "The Legend of Zelda" and various RPGs such as "Ys" and "Final Fantasy". Some are progressive and sounds like a grand journey or triumph while others are whimsical and peaceful.
Source: Youtube Channel asukacrystalrose
This is an example of the mixture between orchestral and soundchip blending together to create a retro and modern feel of a grand opening to an action-adventure game. I seriously enjoyed the musical scores within the game and I hummed along throughout the game. It has that distinct sound and feel that games in the past had where the song is more melodic rather than being more atmospheric. Not all the soundtracks are fun to listen to though. Some of the dungeon themes can be monotonous and even annoying sometimes. For the most part, it made me sleepy if I start getting lost in the dungeon and having to listen to the same 1.5 minute of "DUN DUn Dun dun...DUN DUn Dun dun...". The sound effects also have a good balance between retro and realistic. It's not too realistic that it sounds silly in a cartoonish looking game, but it's also not too 8-bit sounding that it's not modern. The team behind the composition and production of the music did an incredible job as did the team behind the sound effects. I think it was a crucial element to capturing the feel the developers were after for the game. Audio: 9/10
Gameplay
The gameplay is basically "The Legend of Zelda". I hate to keep bringing that game up as it's NOT a rip off of Zelda, but rather a huge homage to it. The land is peril and the King of "Dotnia" wants you, the hero, to save it as you are the only one to pull the legendary Hero's Sword out of the stone in the sacred forest. The player traverses an open world and follows a semi-linear path to progress through the game. The player is free to go wherever they want, but the game is progressed in a certain order. The player will go into dungeons, fight monsters, solve puzzles, obtain new items, and slay a mighty boss while meeting with the 7 sages that will help you stop the main antagonist in the game. One of the "BIG" differences in combat is that the hero wields a "BIG" sword. How big you ask? Enough to kill every monster in the screen with one swipe! This may sound really cheap and make the game seem to easy, but it doesn't. Certain enemies have tricks to them in order to beat. Some can block, some fly, other shoot from a distant, and some can't even be hit at all. Also, the player's weapons are only at full power when their health gauge is full. All these design choices make the player feel powerful throughout the game, but puts them at edge by not being over-confident as losing a speck of health can make your awesome 50 foot sword into a small dagger in comparison. Heck, for the extra challenge players can play Spelunker mode where they only have one bar of health. That'll really put the player on edge and make them play more carefully. The progression of the game is what makes it truly enticing though. Much like RPGs or games like Mega Man, the player's character becomes stronger and acquires a larger selection of arsenals to help them in their adventure. Some of the draw backs are that a lot of puzzles are reused, rooms and enemies are recycled in dungeons, and a lot of secrets (some that change the ending of the game) aren't really led to the player. If the player doesn't know about them, they could easily miss out on a lot of weapons, endings, items, and events. But bits and parts of those drawbacks is what also makes it fun. Defeating enemies easily that were once difficult to beat gives the player a sense of achievement and growth. Similar or exact copies of puzzles don't obstruct the player from progressing with a new puzzle that might otherwise frustrate them, but rather remind them that they've done it before and should possess the knowledge to do them again. And the secrets can be considered as side-quests, extra content (new weapons), and a treat (special events). I still can't excuse the necessity to farm for gold in order to improve a weapon or acquiring a new one. I eventually just did the side quest that gave me the true Hero's sword to finish the game as its base stats was enough to get me through the game. The game isn't ground-breaking or refreshingly new, but it was an entertaining adventure and one that reminded me of the good ol' 8-bit days. Gameplay: 7/10
Overall
I've been hounding at 3D Dot Game Heroes ever since its announcement and launch last year of May as I didn't want to spend $50-$60 on it. I got it sometime this year during a sale for Atlus games on Amazon for $13. I was eager to play it and when I did, it felt blissful and simply entertaining. There wasn't an elaborate story, long cinematics, hyper-realistic graphics, or industry breaking innovations to boast how great the game was. It was simply an homage to an already existing game done in its own way with its own little twists to make it their own. 3D Dot Game Heroes will probably not become a hit classic, but it's one of those games that a player will look back on years from now and see it like a game we do now for old classics such as NES, SNES, and Sega Genesis games. It has the play, sound, look and theme that make you feel nostalgic for it. My one playthrough lasted me 23 hours, so it's not a game you'll just breeze through. There will be even more hours added if you plan on creating your own characters, get all the secrets, items, weapons, events and upgrades. If you can find it for under $20, it's a great game to pick up and play through at least once. Overall: 8/10
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