Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption Review

The phrase “All things come to those who wait”, commonly attributed to Violet Fane, is a particularly common turn of phrase in the UK. In fact, it’s so common that it’s been used in two hugely successful advertising campaigns over here, one for Heinz tomato ketchup, and one for the drinkable tar-like substance Guinness. And so it is with Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption: a game which was crowdfunded twice since 2012, and finally arrived in 2018 to eager players. Nearly a decade after the first funding, this Switch port has arrived in 2021.

Set in a school for heroes, you play Shawn, one of the “Disbarred Bards” (because they don’t like the connotations of the word “Rogue”). Your days are spent learning your craft, and evenings spent exploring the school grounds and possibly adventuring in the dungeons below the school if you find the time. It’s very akin to classic RPGs like Baldur’s Gate or Fallout, but with elements of point-and-click adventures, as you might expect from the creators of the King’s Quest series.

Them filthy rodents are still coming for your souls...

It’s a good job that many of those wanting to play the game had lots of patience, as it is needed to play this title which doesn’t exactly move at a fast pace. This does make for a relatively relaxing title to play and fits in with the rogue theme, but it also means that it’s a game that demands a bit of time sunk into it in order to get the most out of it. It’s not a game that you can grab for a quick blast whilst waiting for the bus for example. 

The slowness continues on into the action. You spend a lot of time in the classroom listening to lectures that your tutor is giving, and you must pay attention as there are quizzes on them later (I’m not joking here, there really are). This requirement to actually memorise information that I can’t look up in a help menu is something I haven’t had to do in a game for years, so it took me by surprise the first time that I saw it. If I’m honest, I personally feel that there’s a good reason that games don’t ask you to memorise facts these days, and I’m not sure it’s a welcome return from my point of view. 

Once you are allowed out of your classroom, you’re expected to spend time practicing your skills. And by this, I mean you walk up to a training dummy for example, click on it and select to train, then you’re greeted with a static screen that shows a picture of Shawn fighting a dummy, followed by a stat boost in most cases. It’s not exactly the most interactive experience and I’ve had more stimulation cooking a microwave meal. At least those move around a bit after you press the buttons. 

Target practice isn't much of an interactive affair.

The “action” in the training room will invariably be cut short by dinner time, where you go to see another static scene of your character talking with the other characters. Sometimes this reveals important plot information, but more often than not, it doesn’t. You can go and help wash the dishes for the cook afterwards to earn some money so that’s something. At least after dinner I can do something exciting. And by “do something exciting” I mean I can go help my roommate look for his panpipes he’s lost under piles of dirty laundry, or kill some rats in the school basement.

Combat is turn-based and those in the battle move at a pace which suggests a brisk walk would be enough to avoid conflict. You also start with a very limited set of actions and it can be a few hours into the game before you learn any skills more complex than “chuck this empty wine bottle you found at something”

And talking of learning new skills, these are learned by taking another class, with more lectures and tests. These are referred to as elective classes and you can take them throughout the game at specific intervals. When you have taken one, Shawn will tell you that he has his first class, but he won’t mention any further lessons and at no point does the game tell you that the classes are daily. I assumed as they were elective classes, they would be less frequent so I was waiting for Shawn to say “oh, I have my weekly magic elective today”, but he did not. By the time he said “I have a test in magic class today” I realised that I was going to have to reload an old save if I wanted to use magic. 

The artwork is lovely if nothing else.

Because time management is such an integral part of the game, there are massive sections that can be missed like this. If you want to go hunting for rats to earn some money to buy a school uniform, you might not be able to join in the weekly poker game with other students or wash the dishes for the cook for example. It means you have to pre-plan carefully to get the best out of the game and likely you will only see everything the game has to offer with multiple playthroughs.

The trouble is that the glacial pace and lack of signposting means that you may not want to play more than once. Personally, I struggled to play through once, even with an editor reminding me I have to play it. I can see how it could be a relaxing play if you want a Baldur’s Gate setting with Stardew Valley speed, but that’s not something I can honestly say I had ever really considered being something I might want. Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption isn’t a bad game, but it’s something that could be a bit of an acquired taste. Much like Guinness in fact, but without the hangover the next morning from overconsumption. 

Holy cow, garlic!