3D Dot Game Heroes Review PS3

3D Dot Game Heroes is a retro gamer’s dream come true. Visually, the game takes the old school pixelated sprites of yesteryear and projects them in 3D, creating three-dimensional pixelated sprite characters and environments. The resulting visuals are simplistic, but bring back fond memories of 1980s and 1990s RPGs.

The overall plot of 3D Dot Game Heroes pokes fun at the formulaic RPG story lines that consist of a hero who defends the kingdom from an ancient menacing evil, which almost every other RPG in the 1980s and 1990s followed. In 3D Dot Game Heroes, the story revolves around the Kingdom of Dotnia that was besieged by the Dark King Onyx and saved by a hero and the power of the six sages. The Dark King was trapped within the Dark Orb and peace came to the land. Visitors came from far and wide to pay their respects to the hero, but eventually they forgot about him and tourism died down. The king boldly decided to enter an age of 3D, and the Kingdom of Dotnia was completely transformed into 3D. During this transformation, a Dark Bishop by the name of Fuelle stole the Dark Orb and was attempting to release the Dark King upon the world again. The player starts off as the descendant of the hero who previously defeated the Dark King.

3D Dot Game Heroes is heavily inspired by Legend of Zelda in terms of game mechanics, such as the life gauge and sage temples. The game overall is very easy to pick up and play. Boss fights are just a matter of attack and retreat until the enemy dies, which usually occurs within less than 5 minutes including the intro cutscenes for the boss fights. There a few minor side quests that provide either life shards or empty bottles, but are not necessary to complete the game. There are also a few mini-games as well, such as a Tower Defense, Dash, and Blockout (A Breakout clone).

3D Dot Game Heroes is a fun 8 hour RPG that pokes fun at the old 2D RPGs, through it’s ridiculous plot, but at the same time is an homage to the same games that pioneered the way for role-playing games today. The game was overly simplistic, but completely enjoyable and would be a great entry for new young gamers interested in RPGs, but cannot yet grasp the complexity of modern games. At the same time, it is also an enjoyable experience for older gamers, such as myself that have fond memories of RPGs on the Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, Sega CD, Sega Saturn, and original Playstation, that had 2D sprite graphics. I would highly recommend this game as a buy for new and old gamers alike.