Luckily the story isn’t too terrible either, and likeable characters can take me a long, long way. Glory of Heracles still has sluggish battles (although they’re better than in the Japanese version) but if the game doesn’t drag on too long, I think I can finish it.

Having said that, it’s still not a game I can recommend. I tried it when it first came out in Japanese and gave up really quickly because the battles were slow, the story wasn’t going anywhere and the characters were dull and lifeless. I forget who did the localization this time… hold on, I’ll check… 8-4 Ltd? Never heard of them. Anyway, they did their very best to inject some life into what was formerly a very straightforward and pedestrian JRPG script, and their efforts help to lift this sub-par JRPG into almost-playable territory. Having said that, if silly character and NPC banter doesn’t float your boat or isn’t enough for you to overlook lackluster gameplay then you really shouldn’t bother with Glory of Heracles.

Story: Immortal with amnesia and immortal without amnesia search for the reason why they’re immortal. That’s all the story I’ve got so far, but it’s all the story a game this meh needs. The silent MC is a bit lifeless, but the other characters make up for it with their little comments and arguments. Even though a considerable proportion of the cast is immortal, I’m guessing I’ll still get a game over if they all get knocked out in battle. Maybe the monsters eat them, or maybe the other immortals cut off their heads because there can be only one. That twist would make the game so much better. Throw it in, Nintendo. Please. Anything to liven this game up.

Setting: Just putting the word out for anyone thinking of getting this because of the ancient Greek setting: don’t bother. Sure there are ancient temples dotting the landscape and sure people walk around in tunics, but that’s about it. The houses are no different from those in Final Fantasy whatever, the cabinets you pilfer from are bought from Ikea , everyone lives in a regular nuclear family home, there’s not a slave or a nurse or a weaving loom in sight even in the larger cities like Sparta, etc etc. On one hand I’m no antiquities scholar, but on the other hand I’ve played enough RPGs to know all the standard features. And I’m sure I’m not alone in that, so what’s the point of making a game based on Greek mythology if you’re not going to give it a different flavor?

Gameplay: Even on auto-battle it still takes a while for every turn to complete. On manual it’s unbearable. Neither bosses nor random enemies pose any big threat, but they all have so much HP that you’ll be fighting them for ages. Money is hard to come by so I’ve been holding off on buying encounter-reducing items, but I might be forced to do so soon. On the plus-ish side, there are a lot of status effects, items, spells, skills and potential upgrades to keep track of (though it bugs me that they keep interrupting me with tutorials). Sorcerists, alchemists, polishers, Prometheus statues, other statues, blah blah blah. They’re wasted on a game this slow and boring, but it would be nice to have such a wide array of options in a better game.

Still I’ve only played for about 6 hours. I just escaped from the Spartan jail and entered the Taphus on the outskirts of town, for anyone who has played the game. As I said, I like the characters enough that I’ll probably keep playing unless something very annoying happens, but I probably won’t go very fast. If I ever write about Glory of Heracles again it will be when I’ve either finished it or given up in despair, whichever one comes first.

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ASH – Archaic Sealed Heat My World, My Way – Finished! Radiant Historia – Playable characters (minor spoilers) Glory of Heracles finished. Spoiling everything I can think of.