Review - Hercules no Eikou ~ Tamashii no Shoumei ~ (NDS)

REVIEWING

Hercules no Eikou ~ Tamashii no Shoumei ~ (by psycoblaster)

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- Introduction

• Hercules no Eikou Tamashii no Shoumei (also known as Glory of Hercules Proof of Spirit) is a 3D game that sure does shows the 3D capabilities of the NDS. The previous Hercules game of the series was released 14 years ago on the SNES, only in Japan. This also shows a possibility that an english release will be unavailable. This game definitely deserve a spot on your flashcart.

- Gameplay

• Hercules no Eikou is a turn based RPG, with many different characters and spells. All movement can be done with the stylus but the buttons on your DS just works as well. Balance is kind of bad, because shops sell items that are too weak for your level, the main character is kind of weak compared to the rest of the characters; characters that temporarily join you are way too strong, etc. The game is heavy on text, so if you don't know some Japanese, it will really be tough playing through.
• Once you leave a town and get out on the world, your character moves very slow, and you will encounter an enemy ever 5 seconds of walking, which really can get annoying just to reach your next destination.
• The battle is the nice part of the game. You can do an ordinary attack with your weapon, increase stats of a party member, decrease stats of an enemy, cast a spell, etc. Just like Etrian Odyssey, there are 2 lines in battle, the back and the front. When you stay on the front, you can get damage directly from an enemy, but you can use melee attacks to strike them back. On the back row, you automatically heal some MP every turn, and you cast spells and do some ranged attack. You can cast some spells or attacking skills even stronger using the touchscreen. Battle itself is very Golden Sun-ish. The character scaling might be a little too bad, because the camera wants to fit everyone and every enemy on the screen as long as possible.
• Many events trigger during battle, such as counter hits, 2nd hits, block, critical hits, and more.
• Elements are used to cast spells, and there are 5 types of elements, and each spells consume different elements. Don't worry, they refill by some amount each turn.

8.5/10



- Graphics

• This game shows off the 3D capability of the DS. Soma bringer style characters with spells that somehow resembles Golden Sun... All of these flashes and beams and auras and sparks... Each character and each enemy movements are very flexible, and you can see all the joint movement. All character's movements are smooth and connected, and as a DS game, I was very impressed. Towns and the over world were kind of empty, but when you enter a building or encounter an enemy, everything is very well designed. When you are running around and tap A, it does kind of lag. (Try running around and rapidly tap A multiple times...) But if we count that as an exception, the framerate is real smooth.
• Most of the game is 3D, while some 2D on the bottom screen.
• Many explosions, extra effect and glows make battles look more interesting.

9.5/10



- Sound

• Not much voice acting, but many sound effects. Background music is very clean. The background music fits each event, such as smooth and soothing music in towns, a fast and cool music during battles, creepy music when something bad happens... etc. Each sound effect also clearly represent the action; explosion sound really does sound like explosion, thunder sounds like thunder... it's just good enough for an RPG.

8/10



- Replay value

• This game really does depend on the player, if he/she wants to play again or not. A person that does not understand Japanese at all but finally finished the game might not want to play again, people that gets tired of turn based fighting might get bored and stop in the middle; For me, I didn't want to repeat the game again - not because it was boring, but it did quite take long, and I was stuck in many parts because of the Japanese... If a translation was available, I would definately play again, because I am really curious of how the story goes along, and I want to use all the spells and items and other features that I couldn't use because I didn't understand much of it.

8/10



- Overall

The game is pretty good, and has excellent 3D graphics for a DS game. You might want to try it out, and play as much as you can until you get stuck, save the save file and hope for an American release
This game was highly over my expectations for a DS rpg, and after I completed the game, I really wanted to play again in English if it does come out. (or a translation team starts translating this)
Very beautiful, nice action, and very smooth. (the 2nd game that impressed me for DS graphics, after TOI)
Even though it feels like many parts are empty, it sure has its own unique features.


8.5/10



Some screens:


(playing on the DS looks a LOT better than these screens)