When I saw that the developers of The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince were making a new game in the same vein, I was sold. I really enjoyed the first game, and was essentially on media blackout right away. So finding out the game switched genres was a very welcome surprise.
The Cruel King and the Great Hero is a JRPG in the style of a children’s story, with beautiful art and a sweet narrative. The genre is generally not something I can play with my 4 year old daughter because it’s too boring for her, but this was cute enough that she allowed it. As the narration is in Japanese, I read everything out to her, much like any other story book. Given she always asks me to tell her a story, an interactive one like this with a girl as the protagonist is a win/win situation.
The game is pretty easy to grasp, and once you get past the second intro section, battles become far less worrisome as you’ll have access to a store with health items. You will also acquire an item that allows you to teleport to the store if you get into a jam. However, if you take the time to grind a bit at the beginning, it’s pretty smooth sailing, especially as you add members to your party. Once you are strong enough in an area, you’ll be able to run instead of walk – this means fewer encounters in that section. If you’re ever unsure of whether or not you’re ready to progress, you can use this as a gauge, although you rarely need to be at this level to move on.
As you’d expect from an RPG, there are side quests (read: fetch quests) and main quests. The world is broken into several sections on the hub map, and is then more in-depth as you enter each area. So if you are given a side quest, it’ll mark the general area you need to go for it, then show you where it is once you actually arrive in the area. Completing these ensures you’re prepared for the main quest, as they help you explore and find items that will help your progression. It also allows for some fun interactions with side characters that you would otherwise miss. The game rarely lets you bite off more than you can chew, blocking off areas that it doesn’t want you going to until you’re ready.
Combat is where you’ll spend the majority of your time with the game. For traditionalists, you should feel right at home, as there’s likely nothing at play here that you haven’t seen. There are regular attacks, special attacks, defending, items, and escaping. The battles are turn-based, so you can take as long as need, or just button mash to completion. On top of reducing damage, defending also allows you to refill your gauge to use special skills in battle. This is probably the most complicated aspect, as it tasks you with the best way to approach the mobs of enemies, although it’s not a make or break feature. Not far in you’ll get an accessory that heals you each turn, and basically sets the game to easy mode if you find it too difficult.
I’ve gotten a bit spoiled with RPGs speeding up combat, or the gameplay in general in recent years. Be it re-releases of Final Fantasy games, or just a new Trails game, these really allow you to tweak how much time you spend with a game. As much as I appreciate the animation work, I only need to see the unique actions a few times before I’m ready to get it over with. I grew up loving the grind, starting with Dragon Warrior on NES, and I still appreciate the therapeutic nature of the monotony. But I also have far less time to play, so grinding is rarely a feature I seek out these days. And even if you aren’t grinding, the game feels like it throws enemies at you just to lengthen the game. It’s a bit like the game is getting in the way of itself, but I understand the reasoning. I just think it’d be a bit more enjoyable if players could focus more on the characters and story, which is the main draw. The battle transition is super satisfying though.
I really love the relationship between the King and the Hero. From the very beginning, you understand how much he loves the little girl. As you take Yuu out into the dangerous world, the dragon can be seen in the background watching over her. He even helps in battle, unbeknownst to Yuu. As a father, this really hit home with a four year old. Wanting your kid to go out on their own, but also watching from the shadows and doing what you can to help, whether they know it or not resonated deeply with me. There are twists and turns to the relationship, and it’s really something worth checking out if you’re a parent.
I know that this is coming out around some other big releases, including a game people are saying is one of the best ever made, so it’ll probably be overlooked. However, I think any parent with a love for turn-based JRPGs will enjoy this one. I know I certainly did.
8 out of 10
Pros
- Gorgeous Art Direction and Presentation
- Touching Narrative
- Traditional JRPG Mechanics
Cons
- Bloated by Battles
The Cruel King and the Great Hero was developed and published by Nippon Ichi Software. It is available on NS and PS4. The game was provided to us for review on PS4. If you’d like to see more of The Cruel King and the Great Hero, check out the game’s official site.
Here at GBG we use a rating method that you are more than likely familiar with – a scale of 1 to 10. For clarification, we intend on using the entire scale: 1-4 is something you should probably avoid paying for; 5-7 is something that is worth playing, but probably not at full price; 8-10 is a great title that you can feel confident about buying. If you have any questions or comments about how we rate a game, please let us know.
Check out OpenCritic for a better idea of how our review stacks against others.