Little Town Hero Review - BIGsh0t

Introduction

What do I think of when I see an RPG? The usual hallmarks of the genre: grinding levels by spamming attacks, a complex story, expansive overworlds, random encounters, and about 60 hours of gameplay to complete the story. Little Town Hero (LTH) takes these traditional elements of an RPG and turns them on their head. This game does not feature a traditional leveling system or party of characters, its story is straightforward and takes place inside of a small town, enemy encounters are meaningful and diverse, and it can be completed in 15-20 hours.

What Is It About? 

This departure from the traditional RPG formula is what captivated me about this game back when it was announced simply as “Town.” The idea of a role-playing game taking place in a single town seemed revolutionary, and I immediately wondered how a story worthy of this genre could play out in such a small setting. LTH follows a boy, Axe, and his friends as they wonder what lies beyond the gates of their town. You see, Axe has not been able to leave his town because of the monsters that dwell outside of it. He is not anxious to leave his town, but is simply curious what else he can experience. While working in the mines one day, he comes across a mysterious and powerful stone that is able to defeat monsters. Following this chance encounter, Axe attempts to prove his ability to go beyond the gates of his hometown by protecting it from invaders. The storyline is not overly complex, but the character designs are fun, and their personalities keep the game and story progressing smoothly. 

How Does It Play?

While the story may not be gripping, what makes LTH worthwhile is its immersive and innovative battles. Several different systems are incorporated into fighting: power levels that increase as the fight progresses and allow you to use more powerful attacks, support characters with helpful buffs, and movement across a board after each turn. These concepts are layered in nicely as the game progresses and do not overwhelm you from the start. Each of the first few encounters serves as a teaching moment to introduce new battle mechanics. These encounters clearly spell out the benefit of each mechanic, but allow the player to uncover how to utilize it to secure a quick victory. 

In the world of LTH, ideas (referred to as “Izzits”), are used to combat monsters and human opponents. There are three different types of Izzits: red ones that are attacks, yellow ones that are defenses, and blue ones which provide special effects. The best way to explain how these ideas are used in combat is to draw a comparison to card game battle systems. Each red and yellow idea has an attack and defense stat, as well as have a power “cost” that functions a lot like mana would in a card game. These ideas shuffle around in Axe’s mind and come to him at random, like cards in a deck. Several ideas are available to Axe at a time and it is up to the player to determine how to best spend power to activate the ideas (turning them into “Dazzits”) and use them in battle to defeat the enemy. Enemies also have ideas for combat, which are known to the player as they appear around the monster. The monster’s attacks also have attack and defense stats, much like Axe’s Izzits. Damage is dealt to the enemy by “breaking” the enemy’s attacks by inflicting attack damage above the opposing idea’s defense. After all of these are broken, the enemy is left open for a direct attack to their body which will claim one of their hearts and bring Axe one step closer to victory. Battles can stretch on if ideas are not methodically used and optimized - you will often find Axe without any Izzits after they have all been broken. All broken ideas are “shuffled” back into play when Axe takes damage, so it creates a need to not only strategize when to attack, but also when to be attacked. 

This innovative battle system makes each encounter meaningful, and enemy attacks are well integrated into their design and character. Players need to look at the game as more of a puzzler if they are going to move through battles effectively because this game will not let you pass by simply using any attack available to you in any order. It requires methodical thinking and planning ahead for future turns to take down enemies before they can deplete your hearts. After a turn ends, a number between 1 and 4 is generated and the player moves around a board based on the number rolled. Different spaces provide different benefits, especially if one of Axe’s friends are found, as they can offer special abilities and helpful buffs. All of these facets of battle keep combat fresh and obliterate the common RPG-plaguing problem of randomly encountering the same type of enemy endlessly and blasting them down with spammed and thoughtless attacks. 

Big Talent in a Little Town

Oh, did I mention this game is developed and published by Game Freak? Yes, the same developer as the popular Pokémon franchise. Playing through the game, I definitely felt traditional aspects of Pokémon games such as a rival periodically wanting to battle Axe. But the development team managed to separate this game from the giant franchise and avoid making it feel like a spin off or even that the two franchises would coexist in the same universe. What does carry over is the Pokémon-esque designs for enemy monsters. Overall, this is an impressive effort from a team responsible for a big-name franchise that has been rather formulaic in its iterations. Perhaps some of that fueled the immense creativity that went into making this title work. 

Elements of LTH were also reminiscent of the last innovative RPG experience I had, playing through Undertale for the first time. The parallel could certainly be drawn as both games feature human and monster interactions in unique combat - one featuring combat through words and the other through ideas. Perhaps I had Undertale on my mind because its creator, Toby Fox, provided the music for LTH. The soundtrack perfectly complements the mood of the game as the story develops and makes battles both intense and whimsical as you contemplate how to use your Izzits and Dazzits to defeat monsters. The star power of both Game Freak and Toby Fox fuels LTH and provides a high-end experience for a modest price tag. 

Conclusion

Little Town Hero is an RPG anyone can finish, and I believe it was intended to be that way. It does not involve a time commitment that will have you playing it for months, players will not find themselves lost and unsure of what to do following a vague clue from an NPC, and it will provide a unique experience to those who pick this game up - I give it an 7/10.

Little Town Hero is available now in the Nintendo eShop for $24.99

Special thanks goes out to Rainy Frog for providing a review code.