Customer Reviews

Glory of Heracles

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Nintendo DS continues its impressive run of portable RPG/Strategy games with this gem! Glory of Heracles takes a lot of good traditional elements and combines it with a clever magic (mini-game) system and adds a bit of Greek Mythology in for good measure.

The game, like many DS RPGs out there these days, begins with a pretty standard (some what contrived) storyline. You're a hero, you wake up with your memory all but erased, and over time you work to recover your memory (and do some other big things like save the world) along the way. Sounds familiar? The story here won't blow you away but it will keep you interested enough with a few twists and turns, and again if you're a Greek myth fan, you'll be happy either way.

As for the mechanics, the battle system is what you would expect. You can choose attack commands, magic spells, special skills, etc. One plus is that unlike some other RPGs, here you can augment your magic power by selecting an optional mini game after you cast your spell. The mini game gives you the opportunity to jack up your magic attack power ... but with the risk of failing as well. It's a nice little compliment to a traditional formula. I also like how you can do 'overkills' by attacking a downed foe and using the residual ether to replace a little MP that you need. It's a nice additional bit of strategy which is always welcome for a long game like this.

Battles tend to go pretty fast and the encounters within the dungeons and in the overworld are all random-based. The happen pretty frequently, but the fun battle system keeps the monotony down. Having the ability to collect items and forge your own weapons also adds to the fun.

Otherwise, the sounds and graphics are all reasonably done. The stylus plays a big role in this game. The music is decent and overall it's a solid product for any RPG fan out there. I would have given it 5 stars if not for a few places that were rough around the edges (grx could be a little cleaner, story could be a bit less trite, etc.) but overall if you're a fan of the genre, this game should suit you fine.

I didn't realize this was coming out until I saw an advertisement for it in Nintendo Power magazine. I'm always up for a good RPG and Glory of Heracles delivers. I love anything based on the Greek Myths (or other myths for that matter like the Norse ones!) so clearly this is right up my alley.

This is your standard story RPG (amnesia hero of the world). The graphics are a bit strange to me as they look like 3D characters but they are kind of awkward. It looks like a game that was done several years ago--but with a few upgrades. I believe that may actually be the case but I'm not sure. I know the series is strong in Japan but this is the first one brought to our shores.

I found the music to be a bit refreshing. It can get redundant in battle but overall I was fine with it as background.

The story starts off very slow in my opinion. Much slower than other RPG's. I put the game down several times the first several hours I played as I found it hard to maintain my interest. This knocks it down a notch from 5 stars for me--because that first character just cannot sustain the story himself. Even with the addition of Leucos it is hard to be motivated by story when you first play. I would advise to stick with it as it does get better as more characters are added and you encounter more characters. Some stay with you a while and others are there for their own little segment and will soon go away. I found the two that join you on ship towards the beginning of the game to be very funny--I enjoyed thier dialogue.

The gameplay is strange mix. Once you go into battle you go into a grid based tactical type encounter--so the game felt like a mix to me of a strategy RPG and a regular JRPG. I really liked it as I like both types. I liked how you could add power to your spells by the little mini games. I also like how you regain HP and MP when you level up and the various combos of things you can equip are interesting. There are some very interesting things you can "put on" that effect battle. Overkill is also a nice touch. These things have helped me out in a few situations.

The random encounter rate is high. It is not as high as some other JRPG's but it is definitely not for those that don't like the random battle concept. I know many find this tired at this stage in the game but I don't mind. I like to grind though so even if it was not random I would still likely engage in battling more often than many. I found the dungeon's to be quite fun. The skill enhancement that praying to the God's provides is also a neat touch.

All of these things kept the game from getting stale and kept me from focusing on the graphics which I've already noted were the least impressive of the package.

Overall a solid release from Nintendo. As always my reviews tend to be from the more middle aged mom perspective and I can say this is a non threatening title that is definitely worth a pick up. Revised: I think I'd recommend it for a beginner even though I found it a tad more complicated than something like Dragon Quest IV or Suikoden Tierkreis. There are lots of helps inserted (tutorials) as you go through the game so if you'd like to try it you are not totally on your own.

I think this game deserves a 4 and 1/2 rating, but given all the four star reviews, I made it 5. It is a very good game, and it kept me entertained. The battle system isn't anything to out of the ordinary for an RPG, but there are nice features, like the magic boosting mini games, and the overkill feature, which allows you to strike a enemy already killed to gain some MP (magic points). The graphics are moderate. But the storyline is completely unique. Although the beginning is somewhat cliche (you wake up with your memories lost), there are plenty of twists along the way to keep you entertained. A good example (slight spoiler) is, contrary to what you may think, the hero is NOT Heracles. I won't explain why he thinks he is just yet... that's a little to big of a spoiler. Some other nice features include the ability to forge and enhance your own weapons, as well as give them special powers. Again, the storyline is by far the greatest aspect of this game, but I don't want to give to much away. In short, BUY IT! It's an awesome game, and you'll enjoy it very much.

the adventure never stop with this game, it met my expectations and surpass it. the only thing it i would recommend that you need to build your players up to a level such as level 20 so that you can compete and have the advantage in your ball-court. also if you are not a strategical person this game isn't for you. it took me quite some time to understand my players weaknesses because it was more so about gaining more power then being tactical. but if your the type of game player that grow the more you play you will have no problem.

I am merely hours into the game, and am having a blast. At first, I only bought this game due to the fact that it was $11 and Amazon gave a $10 game credit (so I thought 'Why not?') but I was actually surprised by how much I enjoy this game.

There are plenty of skills for each character: some are learned from various temples throughout the game (that you do not get to choose specifically) and others are gained from pieces of equipment or weapons (which you of course do get to choose/enhance yourself). I find myself well-engaged in the storyline and smirking at the often quirky humor. I'm wondering about the ending, wondering what ties all of the playable and mysterious 'immortals' together, and wondering what sort of trouble is coming next. They even throw in various ways to power up your spells with the stylus during battle, doing up to 170% damage from what I have seen (but you are not forced to use this system and can opt or do nothing when prompted to simply cast the spell normally). This is a great handheld RPG for any age that I would gladly have paid full price for.

Overall, this game is chocked full of ancient Greek lore and references, meshed together with cute and witty humor and keeps you engaged with an interesting-yet-familiar-and-user-friendly dynamic battle system.

This game is awesome

Pros:
Great Story
Interesting Characters
Decent combat system
Great setting
No annoying creature thing

Cons:
My copy got stolen
Combat can be too easy

As one of the other commenters said this was a great deal on amazon a few months ago. I'm super backlog on DS games and I finally got around to playing it the last few weeks. I think I'm about a quarter of the way through.

To be honest the first hour of this game was actually really really boring and the battles were pretty tedious so I ended up using "auto" for all the battles (there is a button that just lets the AI of the game battle for you but you have to press this during each turn of the battle) because that was easy and it worked.

I almost didn't pick it up after playing on it the first time. I don't mind giving up on games at all but when I picked up the DS the next day it was still in there so I was like alright I'll give it another try. It's actually surprised me, the story picked up a little and I ran into a battle were "autoing" it wasn't working at all, which forced me to actually play the battle and learn all the cool things my characters can do and the neat mini games for the magic attacks.

I actually really appreciate having to think about the battle and also using "auto" to supplement my battles. The more you play the more you will run into hard battles were you will either play completely manually or half manually and half auto and then you of course can all auto for super easy battles. Combined with story being picked up after the first few hours this game is hard to put down now. I can't wait to get home after work and play this game.

So I definitely advise you to not give up on this if you only played for an hour or two because it really does pick up and it's a lot of fun when you reach the harder battles in this game.

Glory of Heracles isn't a game with overweening ambitions to be innovative. It follows the basic standard for strategic RPGS pretty closely. But what it does, it does well indeed.

The story involves your character (he's amnesiac, so you can name him what you want) who discovers that he's an unkillable immortal. Searching for answers as to who and what he is, he falls in with several other immortals who don't know why they're in that fortunate state, as well as someone who may, or may not, be Heracles himself. Their search for answers on their identities and fates lead them to become involved in an ancient war for the earth itself.

The gameplay is turn-based, but compared to some recent offerings that had scarcely any variety of attacks (I'm looking at you, Nostalgia), Heracles gives a wide choice of physical, skill-based and magic-based options, as well as buffing and debuffing abilities. The menus are easy to navigate, though, even if deciding on which attack to select may be tricky. Additionally, little minigames optionally allow you to increase the power of attacks, so if you want to spend a few seconds chasing circles around the touch-screen, you will be rewarded with, sometimes, double your attack power. Or, if you feel lazy, you can skip it (which is a nice option).

The story isn't quite as powerful as, say, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, but it has some nice touches about the power of love - between friends, siblings, spouses and parents and children. And, really, who can resist a game where the mighty Heracles rallies his team with the immortal warcry, "Don't make me look bad!"?

I enjoy a good old fashioned RPG. I don't mind grinding. I am the type that tends to over level my characters. That said, I find this game BORING. It is extremely linear. You can't go back and revisit towns. It is easy to miss things (especially knowing which are important things are important to buy for later in the game), but then again it doesn't feel like it is all that important. Additional grinding just feels like a waste. I like a game that lasts 100+ hours but with this game I just feel like going to get a book to read. I have to force myself to pick up my DS to finish this.

As other reviews will mention, the problem with this RPG is that it is far too linear. Though there are side quests, the game and storyline gives you very little room for exploring or to play it in any different way than the linear storyline...
Other than that, it is a fairly fun RPG. I like the inclusion of blacksmiths and enhancing weapons.