Hero Must Die. Again Review

As someone who plays a lot of JRPGs, it is genuinely refreshing to come across one that uproots some major conventions of the genre. Hero Must Die. Again comes from developers Pyramid and is lead writer Shoji Masuda’s attempt at subverting the tropes and traditions that have cemented themselves in JRPGs since the original Dragon Quest. The game doesn’t spend time on the usual heroic victories or overcoming adversity that you’d expect to see, instead focusing on more intimate topics like the process of dying and correcting any lingering regrets. Hero Must Die. Again doesn’t abolish every tired design choice in its field, but I was still impressed with its execution in being different.

The Hero in Hero Must Die. Again starts the game by defeating the Demon Lord to rescue his true love - framed as the final boss fight in any other JRPG. Unfortunately for the Hero, the battle also results in his death, leading to an encounter with a heavenly angel in the afterlife. To make matters worse, the Hero is without memory of his love, so the angel resurrects him for five more days of life to explore the land, celebrate his victory, and find the one whom he has forgotten.

The concept of living through these five days is at the heart of what makes Hero Must Die. Again so special. Once the Hero has been revived, there is no one path for reaching his eventual death. Even though the world map is relatively compact in size, every location is teeming with choices and quests to fill out the remaining time left alive. There are areas to battle enemies, party members to discover and recruit, favours to complete, and fishing spots to, well, fish. It was exciting to experience each town and dungeon for the first time during my early playthroughs. And after gaining knowledge of where to find certain characters and items, I could optimise my approach to spend my time more productively with subsequent resurrections.

Permeating through the game is an undercurrent of melancholy. The entire world is aware of the Hero’s final days with them and it’s touching to have party members and NPCs express their gratitude for saving the world, even if it comes at such a cost. Journal entries from the Hero talk about his waning condition which is tragically mirrored through his depleting abilities. As I went through each playthrough, the Hero’s equipment would become heavy, he would forget spells, and his core stats would decrease in value. In a genre all about levelling up and growing stronger, it was heartbreaking to have my main character gradually fall apart right before my eyes.

The world of Hero Must Die. Again also adheres to this sombre tone. Even though the Demon Lord has been defeated, the ramifications of battling against such evil has only created more strife. The remaining demon army is looking to avenge their master, racial tension continues to heat up between neighbouring villages, those in power are falling into corruption, and large portions of the population have lost everything from the war. It’s refreshing to see a game tackle realistic issues from a fantastical point of view during a period of the story that is usually cut off by the credits.

With that said, choosing how to spend the five days doesn’t always result in a Shakespearean tear-jerker. There are multiple routes to discovering party members and complete quests, some of which have a big effect on how other characters will react to you. During one lifetime, I became allies with the forest people after returning the Wind Orb to their leader and had her join my party as an archer. However, for my next resurrection, I gave the Wind Orb to a scientist who used it to restore a desolate village and also became part of my team. I then met up with the archer who felt betrayed and engaged me in a battle. Also, I romanced both of them. Because that’s how my Hero rolls.

Thankfully, the game is well balanced to have all areas manageable from any point during the five days. At the beginning, the Hero’s stats and equipment were maxed out but he was only accompanied by one party member. As the Hero’s state declined, I had filled out my party with a variety of characters to balance out the workload. Time management was another essential consideration. Resting is vital to keeping the Hero’s energy up, but it takes away important hours. The same is true for travelling between locations and falling in battle. I always had one eye on the clock, and I found myself sprinting through levels the more familiar I became with them.

If there is one generic aspect of Hero Must Die. Again’s gameplay, then it’s the battle system. While I enjoyed the lack of random encounters and being able to vanquish under-levelled enemies by simply walking into them, actual battles are a bit of a bore. They don’t waver at all from the turn-based “Attack, Defend, Magic, Item” menus and elemental attributes that were tired concepts decades ago. Whether this is deliberately parodying JRPG tropes is unknown, but I just wish something was added to make the long combat sections more exciting.

Hero Must Die. Again is a remaster of the PS Vita version of the game, which explains its simplistic visuals. Models certainly look crisp and some of the character designs are striking (and often revealing), but most of the environmental textures are pretty flat and the art style doesn’t ascend beyond bland fantasy. I did find the 2D perspective to be a novel one, but the absence of any platforming felt like a missed opportunity and the map could be obtuse with how all the rooms linked together.

In all, I played through Hero Must Die. Again four times. In the later playthroughs, I was greatly aided by the fast-forward button that accelerates battles, dialogue sections, and those snail-paced ladder climbs. At the end of each life comes a funeral scene that differs with the characters who give eulogies and how many mourners turn up, depending on the actions of the Hero. I always anticipated how well my Hero would be received after death, and there were some rather shocking twists that occurred if I failed to fulfil a promise.

It’s been a while since I played a game as idiosyncratic as Hero Must Die. Again. Its deconstruction of the JRPG genre results in a reflective experience that has the guts to tackle themes left out of many contemporary games. Many of these themes are wonderfully reflected in the gameplay, even if I wish the battles received a similar uprooting of conventions. And the non-linear pathways meant that each resurrection truly felt like a new beginning.