Just a boy with a big imagination

Game Freak's cutesy RPG Little Town Hero will be bringing its spirit of adventure to PC this week. The story of a small kid who dreams big will ?arrive on the Steam platform June 30, following its previous release ?on Nintendo Switch and PS4.

Little Town Hero is the story of bored boy Ax, who gets more excitement than he bargained for when an army of monsters invades his sleepy little village. Gathering pals, Ax decides to fend off the array of beasts himself, armed with only a warrior's eye and "Big Ideas," which play into Little Town Hero's "Izzit" and "Dazzit" combat mechanics. For more info on Little Town Hero, check out our own Adzuken's review right here.

Little Town Hero is available now on PS4 and Nintendo Switch and launches on PC via Steam June 30. A physical edition is still available to pre-order on consoles until June 23.

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Big Trouble in Little Town

NIS America has announced that the Big Idea Edition of 2019 Switch release Little Town Hero will no longer meet its re-scheduled June 3 release date. It wi?ll now launch June 26 on PS4 and Sw??itch.

Launching on Switch in October last year, the Game Freak-develop?ed RPG tells a cutesy tale of a young kid named Axe, whose big dreams of an exciting, adventurous life become reality when squads of monsters attack his humble homestead. Armed with "Big Ideas," Axe and his friends must save the town and its people from the destructive monster menace.

The Big Idea physical edition contains a copy of the gam??e itself, an art book, soundtrack CD, poster and lapel pin set. The Big Idea edition wa?s originally scheduled to launch on April 23, before being put back to June 2, but it seems fans will now have to wait a couple of extra weeks to do the monster mash.

Little Town Hero is available now on Nintendo Switch.

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Little Town just got a Little Bigger

Game Freak has announced that its think-'em-up RPG Little Town Hero is coming to PS4 in June, and will receive a similar physical release to its Nintendo Switch brethren in the form of the Little Town Hero: Big Idea Edition.

Released back in October of last year, Little Town Hero is a cutesy adventure game which sees a bored young boy name Ax finally embark upon the exciting escapades he has long dreamed of when a gaggle of ghastly monsters invade his quaint, sleepy village. No match for the invaders in terms of physical strength, Ax and his friends must drive the enemy back using the games "ideas" mechanic, implying adaptation and forward-thinking over rage-fueled sword-swinging. You can check out our own Adzuken's review right here.

Much like the Nintendo Switch release pictured above, the PS4 Big Idea Edition will include a boxed physical copy of the game, a soundtrack CD, a mini art book, a lapel pin set and a poster featuring Little Town Hero's charming splash art. A stagger??ed release will see the PS4 editio?n launch June 2 in North America, June 5 in Europe and June 12 in Australia.

Little Town Hero is available now on Nintendo Switch.

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Little Town gets a little bigger

Game Freak's charming RPG Little Big Town will be making the leap from Nintendo Switch to PS4 in just a few months' time. Publisher Rainy Frog announced that it will be bringing the adventure to the Sony platform in Japan as both a ph??ysical and ??digital release.

Released in October last year, Little Town Hero allowed Game Freak to step away from its flagship Pokemon series and try its hand with a new and different IP. Little Town Hero is the story of young boy Axe, whose desire for an adventurous life hits him in spades when an army of monsters invades his village. Lacking in experience and fighting knowledge, Ax must ?rely on his wits, "big ideas" and friends to save his humble 'berg from danger.

Earlier in the week, publisher NIS America also opened pre-orders on a new limited edition of Little Town Hero for Switch. Whether the PS4 release will be receiving a similar collector's set is currently unknown. If you want to read more about this unique title, then you can check out our own Adzuken's review right here.

Little Town Hero is available now? on Nintendo Switch, and launches for PS4 in Japan on April 23??.

Little Town Hero physical version announced [Japanese Nintendo]

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Do you need a hero?

Game Freak's underdog Switch title Little Town Hero is to receive a limited physical edition, the "Big Idea Edition," which is available to pre-order now from the NIS America and the NISA Europe online stores.

For those who need a quick catchup, Little Town Hero launched on the Nintendo platform in October of 2019, and is the tale of a bored child, Ax, who find the adventure he craves when a horde of monsters attacks his sleepy little village. Using courage, adaptation and "big ideas" in place of physical strength or experience, Ax takes on the gruesome invaders in a bid to become the hero he always dreamed of. You can find our review for Little Town Hero right here.

The Little Town Hero Big Idea Edition includes a boxed physical copy of? the game itself, a soundtrack CD, a small art book, two lapel pins and a poster of the RPG's awesome splash art, retailing for the relatively cheap price of around $50/£50 (not including any shipping or customs charges). Pre-orders are live, with the set expected to launch in spring.

Little Town Hero is available now on Nintendo Switch.

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I need a hero

In recent years, there has been some effort spent to reinvent the typical JRPG turn-based battle system. While many still see turn-based combat as enjoyable and even preferred, there’s a growing number of developers who find it antiquated. Attempts have been made to iterate the formula with added tweaks and features, ?or simply do away with it entirely in favour of real-time combat.

N??one have been so successful as to become ubiquitous, so the search continues for the perfect blend of RPG stats and compelling gameplay.

Which is to say nothing of Little Town Hero, a game I must snobbishly decla?re isn’t an RP??G, despite its claims.

Little Town Hero (Nintendo Switch)
Developer: Game Freak
Publisher: Game Freak
Released: October 16, 2019
MSRP: $24.99

Perhaps that was the original intention, but Little Town Hero more closely resembles a deck-building game than an RPG. There are no statistics, no dice rolls – just you, the enemy, and a shuffled deck of abilities. The idea is to present ?an experience that you can’t just grind your way through. There’s nothing between you and the enemy except pure strategy. And math. Lots of math.

Math can be fun. Games like Calculords have proven that.

Each of your cards (or izzits a??s the game refers to them) has three stats: cost to play, attack, and defense. You bash you??r cards against the enemies with your defense soaking up their attack and vice versa. Izzits that you spend power on become dazzits, and if they survive an enemy’s attack, they’re carried over to the next turn or can be immediately used again. The strategy comes from deciding which cards are needed to soak up damage, and which ones can be sacrificed to take out the enemy’s.

It may sound simple, but further complications are layered on top: BP to restore or trade out cards, guts and hearts that represent health, gimmicks and support characters that apply special effects. It can sound confusing, but in practice, it&r??squo;s a relatively straightforward system. Until it isn’t.

The story revolves around a boy with stunning sideburns who lives in a town isolated from th?e outside world. Villagers aren’t allowed to leave, so no one is really sure what’s beyond the protective canyon walls. The boy finds a strange stone in the mine. Suddenly, monsters.

There’s a mystery around where the monsters are coming from, but it’s often side-tracked by day-to-day town life. The story isn’t without its charm, but it’s formulaic and moves with the pace of a hair clog. If we’re going to continue to be charitable about the plot, we can say it’s largely just a vehicle to shuttle you between battles. There are three types of fights you’ll get involved in – boss, friendly, and puzzle battles – and all of them are a drag.

Boss battles are the longest as before you can damage a boss, you need to destroy the guts that shield their heart meters. Friendly battles have you facing o??ff in a spar against a townsperson. They’re usually resolved quickly, since there’s no guts counter blocking your health. Puzzle battles have you figuring out how to damage an enemy ??by playing your actions in a rigidly specific order.

Here’s where I’m going to put all my cards down: I absolutely couldn’t stand this game. Boss battles are far too long and it’s way too easy to get stuck in a stalemate for several turns as you attempt to blast your way through their defenses to get a killing blow. Whenever a pu?zzle comes up, it’s often trial-and-error to solve, which makes them more of an annoying chore than a fun challenge.

I’d probably be warmer on Little Town Hero if all the battles were like the o?nes against townsfolk. These are at least shorter, and typically res??olved in under 10 turns. That seems to be the sweet spot before things get frustrating like they do in boss battles.

It’s the lack of predictability that got me cursing at the screen. It seems that every time I’d ready a prime selection of dazzits, a boss would pull out some trick to make their attacks completely invulnerable or would be gifted the ability ??to instantly damage my dazzits. Turn-to-turn strategy goes out the window when, at any moment, your opponent can pull out a debilitating card that dashes any hopes you had of advancing the fight.

At times, it feels like Little Town Hero has suddenly chan?ged rules. I managed to clear one boss’s dazzits with an opportunity to do some damage, and, out of nowhere, they assumed a defensive posture. Apparently attacking them directly? while they still have guts results in taking 4 damage. That would have been nice to know earlier, even if it would still be bologna.

Even without the blatant cheating on the part of the bosses, there’s no getting past the fact that the game is repetitive and dry. Maybe the same can be said about any JRPG battle system, but at least they have the decency to resolve fights relatively quickly. Here, turn after turn is pract??ically the same, but boss battles drag on and on.

Little Town Hero feels like a game best played in short bursts, but that doesn’t seem possible with how long these boss battles are. Even the town part of the game – the filler in which you run around town, battle with its inhabitants, and do fetch quests – is thin and doesn’t stand up very well.

The advertised soundtrack by Toby Fox of Undertale fame does little to help things. It’?s not bad, but it’s definitely generic and forgettable. I don’t think it’s going to trousle anyone’s bones, is?? what I’m saying.

I f??ound myself wishing pretty hard for the end of this game. Every time I sat down to play, I’d walk away in a bad mood. It&rsquo?;s hard to enjoy a game when its battle system, the core mechanic it’s built around, is so aggressively boring. The fact that it tries so hard to frustrate any strategy you can build up just makes playing it a tedious chore. And to round things out, it’s tied to a generic story.

I didn’t expect to have so much vitriol for Little Town Hero going into it, however, I found very little to like. Its 18-ish-hour runtime felt like an eternity as I slogged throu??gh battle after battle. I struggle to fathom who this game is designed for, but all I can recommend is to stay away lest you get dealt a bad hand.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game purchased by the reviewer.]}

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The battle is won in the brain

Game Freak has released an extended gameplay video for its upcoming Switch RPG Little Town Hero. The?? clip not only gives us a look at the game's cutesy, hazardous wor?ld and its titular hero, Axe, but also shows off some of the title's unique combat, which is based around "ideas" and adaptation.

In essence, combat in Little Town Hero will play out not dissimilar to a tabletop card game. Axe will be able to form ideas - or "Izzits" - and then spend "Power" (think of it as ability points) in order to convert them into "Dazzits" - essentially offensive, defensive or stat-buffing maneuvers. Some of these moves are one-shots, while others can be used several times in battle. The ultima?te goal is to beat out all of your opponent's Dazzits to win the round.

In between rounds, Axe and his opponent(s) move around the map, and Axe can take advantage of friends and gimmicks located in certain spaces, such as having a villager heal him, or utilising a nearby cannon. Players will need to efficiently manage the Izzit/Da??zzit syste??m, while taking advantage of Axe's environmental surroundings to win the day. It sounds a little more complicated than it looks in execution, but its an intriguing battle mechanic, and I look forward to getting to grips with it in person.

Little Town Hero launches on Nintendo Switch October 16.

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Think on, kid...

Pokemon developer Game Freak has released a lovely new trailer for its cute looking RPG Little Town Hero, which launches digitally on Nintendo Switch next mo??nth.

As related during the Ninte??ndo Direct held earlier thi?s month, Little Town Hero is the story of a young boy named Axe who dreams of an exciting life of adventure outside of his peaceful, sleepy village. A?venture finds him, however, in the form of a swarm of villains and monsters who attack Axe's sleepy little 'berg??.

As a kid, and not much of a match for his enemies, Axe must rely on "ideas" to get through battles, synergising skills, adapting tactics, and using type-based attacks and tools in order to win the day. I'm looking forward to seeing what Game Freak can produce once let free of its Pokemon enclosure. As an added attraction, Little Town Hero features a soundtrack composed by Toby Fox, creator of the popular RPG Undertale.

Little Town Hero launches on Nintendo Switch October 16.

Little Town Hero 30 second trailer [Gematsu]

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Remember this one?

Do you remember "Town"? The cutesy-looking RPG revealed during a Nintendo Direct presentation late last year? Well, it appears that the latest endeavour from Pokémon developer Game Freak is now officially Little Town Hero. What's more, it's hitting Nintendo ?Switch next month.

Set in a small village "on the edge of the world", Little Town Hero is a colourful RPG which concerns young hero Axe, who tires of village life and yearns for the excitement and adve??nture of the big, wide world. Unfortunately, the big, wide world comes a-callin', in the form of hordes of monsters who suddenly start threatening the town and its humble folk.

In Little Town Hero, Axe must defend his isolated homestead and its people from attacks perpetrated by these monsters. The kick is, instead of utilising an arsenal of deadly weapons, Axe defeats his enemies via "ideas" - using type matching, strategy, and tactics - rather than swords and maces. As the story progresses, Axe ??will learn the truth behind the monsters' origins, while finally embracing the opportunity for adventure he so desired.

With colourful, likable visuals and a soundtrack composed by none other than Undertale's own Toby Fox, Little Town Hero might've come out of nowhere, but definitely looks like a title worth keeping an eye out for. As an aside, it's also pleasant to see Game Freak branch out into non-Pokémon titles, here's hoping Little Town Hero proves a successful venture for the studio.

Little Town Hero launches on Nintendo Switch October 16.

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