3D Dot Game Heroes Hands-On

There's been a surge of retro-looking games lately that not only cater to those of us who are old enough to remember what 8-bit means, but also serve as a history lesson on a style and genre that left a memorable mark in video games. It was before the days of checkpoints, regenerative health, and unlimited continues. Even though we can't see ourselves playing games that don't have these hand-holding mechanics, it doesn't mean we can't take a trip down memory lane and play a game that looked like it came fresh out of 1987--except with a twist. 3D Dot Game Heroes takes the best--or you could say "borrowed"--elements of the 8-bit action adventure genre from the days of yesteryear by making it 3D. By 3D, we actually mean the same pixilated character models have now popped out of the 2D plane. Atlus stopped by to give us a look at the recently released Japanese version and gave us a guided tour of this colorful 3D world.

As always, games like these are parodies of the stuff we played many game consoles ago. The story takes place in the kingdom of Dotnia where peace reigns only when the orbs of power are safe from the clutches of evil demons. Of course, sometimes the bad guys get through, and in order to bring peace to the land once again, a hero must rise with the power of a sacred sword to banish the demons, as well as restore peace by collecting all the orbs. Our story doesn't begin here, however. After the hero had restored order to the land and many years passed, the king felt it was time for a change. Peace was dull and 2D life just wasn't very exciting anymore. By formal decree, the leader gathered his citizens and armies to tell them that they should take the next step by going into 3D. We watched as houses, trees, and the people began to rise from the ground into 3D, like blossoming flowers trying to escape a life of flatness. The sacred sword was put back into place in the woods, but somehow, demons managed to get a hold of the orbs again, which meant it was time for a new hero to save the kingdom. This is where we came in to the story.

We didn't get to check out the character creator until after the demo, but you have the freedom to create your own 3D pixilated hero and build him or her out of tiny square blocks--like Legos. There are three classes to choose from with male and female versions of those character models, but if you want to play through the game as a sword-wielding soccer ball or koala bear, you can as long as you can create it. The differences among the classes seem to be primarily focused on how much you want to use magic. Regardless of whom you choose, you do get to wield a ridiculously large sword that can extend almost all the way across the screen and go through trees. Instead of beating around the bush, let's just say 3D Dot Game Heroes is going to feel a lot like the original Legend of Zelda.

The game begins as you wake up in your cozy cabin home and soldiers barge in to let you know that you have been summoned by the king. Monsters are on the loose and the princess has run off, so the first order of business is to head into the woods to see if you can yank the sword from its resting place. As soon as you do, a fairy appears out of nowhere to offer her help, and the two of you set off to explore the first dungeon. Before making it to the dungeon, we stopped by a small village and snagged a pair of speedy boots so that we could dash across the screen. We also took a pit stop at the blacksmith to upgrade our sword's length with the small amount of cash we had on us. There are several features that can be upgraded, but during our time with the game, it was just the length. Your sword won't always extend halfway across the screen (because that would be unfair), but it did when our health was full, which was conveniently represented by apples.

The buttons may be switched around in the English version, but for now, you use the circle button to swing your sword. You can swing in an arc, too, by hitting the button and changing direction with the D pad. Enemies will dart at you if you're lined up with them, so using this technique prevents them from charging into you where you'll take the most damage. Exploring the dungeon involved killing enemies, hitting switches, grabbing a boomerang to hit more switches, and finding keys to open doors--sound familiar? To give players more incentive to explore and return, there will be doors that cannot be unlocked in your first run-through, so you'll have to find a key somewhere else to come back to see what's hidden. From what we were told, there's quite a bit of secret content, and by collecting gray blocks as you go, a certain non-player character in the game will give you cool items if you go out of your way to grab them.

The boss at the end of the first dungeon wasn't too difficult. It was a giant worm that we had to slash at one segment at a time while dodging projectiles and staying out of its way. Once defeated, we freed an old man who had been stuck in the room for so long that everything had a strange yellow tinge to it. He handed us a medallion that came in handy for later puzzles, and then we headed off to the next dungeon. We were told that the game can probably be beaten in less than 10 hours if you were to just get to the end, but if you want to take your time to explore, there are plenty of reasons to continue. Usually, a bestiary will be updated as you encounter new enemies, but in 3D Dot Game Heroes, you need to beat a monster over its head with the compendium in order to get its data, and when you do, the word "GET!" appears over its head.

We were given a quick tour of the second dungeon and jumped to a later point in the game. We saw that many familiar puzzle elements were included, such as finding the right path through the dark woods and using a candle to navigate your way through dark dungeons. Other than the boomerang, you'll also have access to a bow and arrow, which fires at an angle, so you'll actually have to aim a bit to gauge the trajectory. You can pick up arrows that you've shot and missed, as long as they aren't lodged into the side of a tree that is out of reach.

3D Dot Game Heroes takes advantage of the PlayStation 3's power to make it one of the nicest looking 8-bit style games out there. The water and lighting effects are nice, plus you can take screenshots at anytime to put them on your hard drive for a slideshow later. There is the ability to share and download character designs, so you don't have to put in the effort of creating your own if you want to use someone else's designs. Depending on how familiar you are with retro games, you'll get a chuckle at the music and sound effects because of the memories that they will surely invoke. You will come across quite a bit of loading screens, but each image that appears during a load will be a 3D pixilated homage to a classic game like Castlevania or Mega Man. We didn't see any repeats, so this would be one of the few times that we'd actually look forward to a loading screen. We liked what we saw and will be sure to get our hands on the game once it's in English. Atlus just announced that the game would retail for $39.99 and is set to be released in May 2010.