Good, even without the nostalgia
When I decided to play Hero U, I was afraid that much of the praise came from players that wanted to revisit Quest for Glory and praised it due to their nostalgia. Well, after having finished it I can say that the game is fun, well written and entertaining. I never played Quest for Glory, and after having finished Hero U, I liked the world and the storytelling so much, that I'm seriously considering playing those older games.
Characters and story are well portrayed. The text is witty and fun to read and the Persona like approach to day management (mixture of school and dungeoning) is fun to play.
Graphics are functional and pretty, specially the still pictures, but the animations of some characters, specially the main character, are often way too mechanic. Watch any videos displaying the main character walk or run and you will understand what I speak about.
Beyond the adventure-like game, there's also a full RPG game. There's a number of dungeons that spawn enemies every time that you visit or revisit a section. Enemies can either be sneaked or fought, and perhaps this is the weakest part of the game. Combat is perhaps too easy, with little in the way of gear or tactics. With the exception of a few boss fights, there's little serious challenge for the hardcore RPG player. Perhaps because of this, the game has little to no grind, so you're not pressured to kill the same enemy 200 times to get enough money to buy the gear needed to progress. That makes the game to flow, to tell its story and sweep you into it.
So, overall, what you get here is a good and fun adventure game, with a well written story and a pretty decent RPG to boot. Totally recommended
15 gamers found this review helpful