Little Town Hero Review

During a time of the year where our attention is being bounced around between “giant AAA game X” and “massive multiplayer shooter Y”, it can be refreshing to spend some time with a game that celebrates its humble scale. Game Freak’s Little Town Hero shows commitment to its promise by providing a compact setting filled with pleasant characters, all wrapped up in some really charming presentation. At times, it can be overcommitted to this limited approach with repetitive scenarios adding up to feel like mindless padding. I’m also split on the battle system, which at times invigorated me with its strategic potential, and at others, made me lose patience with the number of random elements at play. However, Little Town Hero delighted me with its 20 hours of role-playing relaxation overall.

The game centres around a small unnamed village that has been isolated from the rest of the world thanks to its enclosed geography. The ruling castle is the only gateway to the outside world, and while they allow immigrants into the town, all residents are barred from leaving. You play as a red-haired boy called Axe. His main goal in life is to explore what lies beyond his rural hometown and he plans to achieve this by becoming a soldier for the castle. Those dreams are quickly put to the test when the village gets invaded by a rampaging monster. It soon becomes apparent that Axe may hold the spirit of a hero inside of him, and that his abilities could be all that stands between the town and the monsters.

The story is one that leans heavily on clichés and tropes with a “chosen one” protagonist who “never knew his father” and “must harness the powers of the magic stones”. I was seldom surprised or moved by the events that take place over the game’s nine chapters, even as the mystery behind the sudden appearance of these monsters is slowly revealed. Worse still, the game pads out its runtime with repeated battles against characters you have already faced half a dozen times.

However, I’d also say my attention rarely wavered because of how pleasant the overall tone feels. Simply put, Little Town Hero made me fall in love with its little town. It will only take you between 10 to 15 minutes to complete an entire trip around the village, but, amazingly, it was a trip I always looked forward to embarking on. Every NPC, shop and location grew to be a welcome and familiar sight, until it reached the point where protecting this cheerful home of mine was all the motivation I needed.

It also helps that Little Town Hero’s visuals and audio are endlessly endearing. The crisp cel-shaded graphics lend themselves well to the family-friendly appeal of the game, and the compact character design contrasts nicely against the towering look of the monsters. The soundtrack was largely composed by Undertale creator Toby Fox, and his ear for sweet, nostalgic melodies lends a great deal of heart to the game’s more touching moments.

I did encounter some technical issues while playing Little Town Hero. The game has a habit of stuttering when you enter a cutscene, and the framerate would falter while walking around certain areas of the town, particularly on handheld mode.

When you’re not walking around town trying desperately to find the perfect gift for the girl you like, chances are you will be engaged in a battle against one of the other characters or invading monsters. Little Town Hero’s turn-based battle system sees Axe think up certain ideas (or “Izzits”) that can then be transformed using power points into proper actions (or “Dazzits”). These Dazzits are then pitted against the enemy’s own ideas and a struggle ensues to see whose actions can break first leaving them vulnerable to an attack on their actual HP. Fights against monsters also take place on a board game-like map that gets moved around after the end of each turn.

It feels like a lot to take in at first, but I found myself quickly coming to terms with the basics as I took to the battlefield, with more nuanced strategies revealing themselves as the encounters continued mounting. For me, the most polarising aspect of the game’s battle system is how much of it is randomised. You can only have a maximum of five ideas at your disposal at the start of each turn, but you have no influence over the selection of what those ideas are going to be. Likewise, moving around the map is decided by the spin of a slot wheel, meaning you just have to hope you land on a number that will take you to a spot offering some helpful environmental aid.

With that said, having so much taken out of my control didn’t mean that I found every fight to be a frustrating game of chance. There are abilities you can earn throughout a battle that allows you to choose your own ideas and move freely around the map to a specific destination. Indeed, a lot of the fun stems from trying to control the uncontrollable and to plan ahead so the tide of battle turns towards your advantage. This often meant I had to make use of my Dazzits’ special abilities or use my power points wisely to open up an ability I might only need for a future turn. However, there were fights where I felt as if all the luck went against me and I could never gain a footing in my inevitable march towards defeat. And, for such a relaxing game, these few encounters left me feeling incredibly stressed.