UbiNintendo: Might and Magic Clash of Heroes
posted:
7/10/2009 1:07:00 AM
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Might and Magic Clash of Heroes
One of the lesser-profiled games I saw at UbiNintendo was Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes for DS. I’m a little sad that I didn’t get to spend much time with this one—I saw a brief demo by a PR manager but we were a little behind schedule so I didn’t see a whole lot of gameplay, but what I did see was impressive. They’re definitely going for a J-RPG look—the art style is distinctly anime, with detailed character portraits and cute chibi sprite characters on the actual battlefield. This intentional stylistic approach will hopefully give the game a wide appeal across both the anime-obsessed American audience and Japan.
The similarities to J-RPGs taper off a bit though, as Clash of Heroes’ focus is on strategic battles and less on wandering about being an angsty young adult. For one the map is very straightforward with pre-set paths for your character to travel; you move from one point to the next by tapping with the stylus or using the d-pad. The mechanic may seem a bit limiting but it’s supposed to keep players from getting lost, and the main idea is to get to the next battle anyway. The fights themselves are all about penetrating enemy lines while reinforcing your own troops.
Both you and your opponent command rows of troops that can be arranged in a number of formations. Combat is divided between the screens, with your enemy on the top one and you on the touch screen, allowing for stylus control. The game’s story is about the five fantasy-themed raced of earth teaming up to defeat an encroaching evil race, so this automatically gives you the five classes of soldiers and their varying abilities. Each class specializes in different skills, be they hard-hitting melee attacks, defense lines or projectiles.
The combat itself feels almost like a strategy-puzzler hybrid. You organize the different-colored classes into various shaped formations, by dragging them into horizontal and vertical lines. Some shapes form a barrier against attacks, while others charge through enemy lines and (hopefully) strike at the enemy general. It can be difficult to turn a war of attrition into a precise, well-aimed attack, but reinforcements are infinite, so after a while you don’t feel bad for using the little soldiers as meat shields and suicide attacks. The main goal of any battle is to deplete your adversary’s HP while conserving your own, but the variety of formations combined with the five classes creates a huge number of combinations and strategies.
The tutorial battles that I saw were over in a matter of minutes, but the more complex fights can take as long as half an hour if not longer. The solo campaign will run you 10 to 15 hours, and then of course you have head-to-head multiplayer as well. Overall Might and Magic Clash of Heroes was one of the sleeper surprises of the event and I regret not getting more time with it. Thankfully I won’t have to wait long for the final build—it releases on August 25th.
The similarities to J-RPGs taper off a bit though, as Clash of Heroes’ focus is on strategic battles and less on wandering about being an angsty young adult. For one the map is very straightforward with pre-set paths for your character to travel; you move from one point to the next by tapping with the stylus or using the d-pad. The mechanic may seem a bit limiting but it’s supposed to keep players from getting lost, and the main idea is to get to the next battle anyway. The fights themselves are all about penetrating enemy lines while reinforcing your own troops.
Both you and your opponent command rows of troops that can be arranged in a number of formations. Combat is divided between the screens, with your enemy on the top one and you on the touch screen, allowing for stylus control. The game’s story is about the five fantasy-themed raced of earth teaming up to defeat an encroaching evil race, so this automatically gives you the five classes of soldiers and their varying abilities. Each class specializes in different skills, be they hard-hitting melee attacks, defense lines or projectiles.
The combat itself feels almost like a strategy-puzzler hybrid. You organize the different-colored classes into various shaped formations, by dragging them into horizontal and vertical lines. Some shapes form a barrier against attacks, while others charge through enemy lines and (hopefully) strike at the enemy general. It can be difficult to turn a war of attrition into a precise, well-aimed attack, but reinforcements are infinite, so after a while you don’t feel bad for using the little soldiers as meat shields and suicide attacks. The main goal of any battle is to deplete your adversary’s HP while conserving your own, but the variety of formations combined with the five classes creates a huge number of combinations and strategies.
The tutorial battles that I saw were over in a matter of minutes, but the more complex fights can take as long as half an hour if not longer. The solo campaign will run you 10 to 15 hours, and then of course you have head-to-head multiplayer as well. Overall Might and Magic Clash of Heroes was one of the sleeper surprises of the event and I regret not getting more time with it. Thankfully I won’t have to wait long for the final build—it releases on August 25th.
