3D Dot Game Heroes (PS3)

3D Dot Game Heroes has raised a lot of questions and speculation from the gaming community. Can something this close to classic action RPG's like Zelda and its ilk really stand up in its own right amongst today's modern gaming fare, or is it just a rip off with no place in the modern world? Read on to find out more:

THE GOOD:
- The game instantly instils that childhood, Sunday afternoon, gaming feel. It's pretty much the complete crystallisation of youthful videogame pursuits. Not many things give you that `butterflies in your stomach' retro feeling (although many things purport to) but this is instant cheesy grin material.
- The music follows suit with purely digital bleeps and beeps that'll send you reeling back to those heady days of retro video gaming. However not only are these analogue sounding ditties functional in bringing back those old flavours they're tightly written and often catchy as the flu.
- Although the graphics are minimalistic in their approach there are some really neat effects and everything runs so smoothly that looking at it on a big high-def screen is akin to revelation. The often Lego block looking environments and denizens of Dotnia are anything but boring and are literally stuffed with character proving that the likes of the unreal engine, although impressive, are less than necessary to provide an atmospheric and beautiful experience, and it's there in that answer to why these classic games stick in our mind so much lies: What the game leaves out the imagination makes up for if the mechanics are in place.
- The character builder is easy to use and an absolutely perfect tool for bringing your personality into the game world. I recently got through playing Golden Axe Warrior on the Megadrive Collection and as such my warrior is a cool little blocky rendition of Death Adder! Sweet!
- The land and dungeons are a total blast to explore, very well designed, and with tons of nods to From Software's recent gem Demon's Souls and blast-from-the-past fan service the NPC's are a lot of fun to interact with.
- Side quests are abundant and fun to seek out and complete. However blink and you'll miss them - if you just burn through from dungeon to dungeon you're missing out on a lot of content and exploration that make this game such a winner in my eyes.
- Getting hold of a boomerang, bow and arrow or a bunch of bombs for the first time may not provide the most original weapon set on offer but is still as exciting and filled with possibilities as it was back in the day.
- I've touched upon this in my other points but the humour on offer, and not just for the game aficionados amongst us, is often clever and will provide you with more than a few sly smirks, and by not taking itself too seriously 3DDGH is on to a winner again.
- The whole presentation from the loading screens to the font used within sticks close to its homage and roots and as such is a convincing little time traveller.
- No giant blue spiky hair and annoying kid characters with reams of anime story cliché literally dripping cheese from their gob's straight to your tired speakers. This might bite a few people's botties but I am so thankful for it I could weep. No pretension, no `innovative' new battle system, no emo haired angst fuelled nightmares: I couldn't be happier.

THE NOT SO GOOD:
- It's as old school as you could wish for (or pray never to see again) with very little progression from the games of the 80's - so for those people and reviewers who think the next FPS with a few new weapons is the ultimate step in innovation I can only say stay away from this one. For me this is not a bad point at all but people must be aware of what they're letting themselves in for.
- No big blue spiky hair or anime fuelled storyline - sorry for anyone who loves that stuff, again this is proper olds school: find the treasure, find the princess and kill the bad guy - end of story.
- Character progression is near nonexistent - if this is a big deal to you I still say play the game and you may still just be charmed by the games overall character.

CONCLUSION:
A charming, smooth and action packed adventure that'll hook you deep and pull you in more than a lot of recent offerings, if you let it. A lot of people may see this as a step backwards but for me it's a step back that proved refreshing and endearing. As you can probably tell I love this game and for the price I just hope a lot more people find comfort in the delightfully retro world of Dotnia.

3D Dot Heroes is an old-school adventure for the PS3 that owes much to the games of old such as Zelda (NES) and Golden Axe Warrior (Master system). It plays just like the classics with a young hero setting out on a quest to find six magical orbs that are used to seal away an evil demon, the story is pretty cliché by today's standards, but it helps give it that overall retro feeling.

Graphically this is one of the nicest looking games out there, everything in the game world, from people and monsters down to the trees and items are made up of little cubes. When you destroy and object or monster it breaks into the individual cubes and they scatter around the screen bouncing off of walls and other objects. The water effects are also great, glistening in the sunlight and rippling in the wind while still keeping to the graphical style. The dungeons look especially nice with their reflective floors and moody gold lighting scheme. The only issue that some may have is that the depth of field effects can be a little hard to cope with at first, I found that playing for about 50 minutes then taking a break for 5-10 minutes relives any eye strain.

Control-wise they are absolutely perfect. The game is extremely responsive and it's very easy to simply pick up and play without have to read through hours of tutorials (like some recent big name RPGs that I won't be talking about here =P). The game map can be quickly accessed with the push of a single button which displays instantly without any loading time, making navigation through some of the larger dungeons that much easier. Sub-items are used with the circle button, and can be quickly scrolled through using the L2 and R2 buttons. The items that appear on this quick scrolling menu can even be changed to enable even faster scrolling during intense boss fights or tricky puzzle sections.

*Minor game content spoiler*

There are a number of referential, and in some places hilarious self deprecating, jokes about other similar games and the developers, From Software, themselves. At one point the player comes upon a hidden cave called "From Cave" in which a number of items from the hit game Demon's Souls can be found. Several selectable characters from other From Software game can also be selected, such as White Glint from "Armoured Core For Answer" and "Rikimaru" from the Tenchu series.

*End content spoiler*

There are several extras that add just that little bit more to an already amazing experience. Players can take Snapshots in game and set them as their PS3 wallpaper, or even put them on a USB and set them as a desktop wallpaper (these snaps can also be viewed in game through the pause menu or at the title screen). Information on all the monsters in the game can be collected and viewed in an amusing bestiary (again, also available through the pause menu) and special loading screen art, which often parodies other games such as Megaman and Castlevania can also be seen in an extensive gallery (found in the usual place =D). Other options include camera angles, the ability to turn off the "Grid" texture effect and toggle the button guide displayed at the bottom right of the screen (for those forgetful gamers). Key of these extras is the ability to create your own characters using an easy to master editor function. In this, a player can draw out a character cube-by-cube in a small environment, which can be easily copied and flipped to create different poses (this is especially helpful when creating a walk cycle). There is currently a section up on the Official website called the "Hall of Heroes" where players can even download other users characters to play with. Any of character created here can be used in the main story at any time, as when a saved game is loaded the option to change the current character is displayed.

This is an excellent game for retro gamers and anyone looking for a good old fashioned light-hearted and extremely charming adventure game. I would also like to point out that this is an excellent game for kids! There are a lot of games out there that I honestly wouldn't want my son/daughter to play, either because their extremely violent (in situations where the violence really isn't necessary and doesn't add to the narrative of the game) or because they're way TOO kiddy to the point of being insulting and mind numbing. This is an excellent game for gamer parents looking for a good way to introduce their kids to the same kind of games they grew up with, or even for regular parents trying to find an innocent game for their children to play. Just a quick warning though, there are one or two slightly adult jokes, but these will pretty much go over most peoples heads and aren't really anything to worry about...

Chances are if your only interested in games like Gears of War or God of War, 3D Dot Heroes isn't for you, everyone else however I suggest you give it a go!

3D Dot Game Heroes is great twist on the zelda's of old. It takes the old 8 bit zelda formula and mixes it up with it's blocky 3D graphics and some miner gameplay twists. This game will take you between 20 and 40 hours depending on whether you rush through or take your time to do al the sidequests. All in all I would say it's a great game for people who liked the original zelda. It's funny and the gameplay is well balanced even though the screenshots of the giant swords would make you think otherwise. In the end it's all a matter of taste. I think if you like the idea you will like the game and it will be money well spent.