Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption

I've waited literal plural decades for this game and was not disappointed. If you're expecting more of the same as the Quest For Glory series, this is not that and doesn't try to be that. That said, fans of QFG will still find a lot to enjoy here. Many references to the world of Gloriana, the signature QFG sense of humour, and an interesting storyline and characters to tie it all together. QFG is my favourite game series of all time and I absolutely love Hero-U. It's an amazing and perfect blend of gaming sensibilities: the style and feel of a top-notch point-and-click adventure, the motivated grinding of an RPG, and a time cycle that inspires the addictive feel of "just one more day". Like a good book that you just can't put down, I had to tear myself away from the game when appropriate because it's quite a big game that likely can't be finished in one day, especially on a first playthrough. The replay value is off the chart because there are so many styles and character paths to explore. Fans of either the QFG series or point-and-click adventure games in general should not miss this one! It's games like these that is keeping old-school adventure style games alive, while also pushing them forward to the modern era.

Back in the days, while on a class trip to England, I stumbled across a game called "Quest for Glory 2 - Trial By Fire", from Sierra. Even though I knew nothing about it, it looked interesting, and I was eager to buy some new games for my Amiga. As I got home and started to play it, I realized I had found something more than the typical puzzle adventure game. QFG had a living, dynamic world, life-like characters, RPG elements, exploration, combat, and the puzzles could more often than not be solved in more than one way. More than that, there was a certain spirit to the game, an underlying theme of heroism and being the best person you could be. It managed to convey this without taking itself too seriously, featuring plenty of silliness and horrible/awesome puns. Now, 20 years after the last game in the QFG series, the Coles are back with a successor, set in the same universe. To my great delight, it captures the essence of what made me love the QFG games, while also being ambitious and different. In Hero-U, you take the role of a young rogue, captured and sent to a university for heroes. The university is located in an old castle, which you can explore as you are able, in between classes, training, and other activities. In fact, choosing how to manage your time is a major component of this game, as the game world and characters have a life of their own. You can not be everywhere at once, and there is not enough time to do everything in one playthrough. This makes for a game which you will want to replay to try out different approaches. You can tell that Hero-U has been made with a lot of care and passion. I know it was made on a very limited budget, but the highly skilled developers have managed to complete it without compromising quality or cutting content. Fittingly, their efforts could be described as heroic.

Ever since the Quest for Glory series ended with Dragon Fire, I dreamt of a new QfG game being released one day. When the first Kickstarter for Hero-U was announced, I was delighted. Even though the game took far, far longer to be completed than initially anticipated, it is everything I hoped for as a fan of Lori and Corey Cole's earlier games. While some elements are extremely true to their previous games, including the humour and characterisation, and certain gameplay elements, which will please rusted on fans, the game feels fresh, with elements of the Sims and games like Pillars of Eternity thrown in. One really cool hangover from the early QfG games is the fact that it is actually possible to pass the game without killing anything! This highlights the fact that this game is a genuine RPG, in that there are so many ways to tackle the adventure An interesting dimension of the game is the parallels to Harry Potter. When I read the Potter books I alway felt that one way or another they shared DNA with the QfG series- the obvious fantasy themes, of course, but also the humour and sensibility of the books. I always thought a game in which players explore and attend Hogwarts would have been fantastic- but so many of the Potter games were complete duds. This is about the closest there has ever been to a 'Hogwarts simulator'- in fact, while I am absolutely ecstatic to have a new game in Gloriana, one can't help but wonder what this team would be with a Potter license. One disclaimer- I am obviously a hard-core fan of the Coles, so was naturally disposed to like this game- but by the same token, after waiting a couple of decades, it would have been easy to be hugely disappointed. In fact the game has completely exceeded expectations. Old school fans- you will love this. For everyone else- the game may be an acquired taste- but is well worth trying and persevering with, especially if you like RPGs and fantasy (and can tolerate bad puns).

To be short, if you loved QFG, play this. Play this no matter what. It's like a magic portal to the childhood, when you were playing in the dark into small hours, carefully going through shadows of darkness, terrified by the night in the woods, or the swamp, or creepy castle. I think the best quality of those games is that you are going deep, really deep, out of this world into some fairy tale. And a proper fairy tale, where you have the perfect balance between adventures, humour and fear. This game for me was all that I wanted it to be. And I was sucked into it like in the old days, even though I thought I would never again get this feeling as a grown-up. Sure there's a couple of things that could be better, and they are already working on some of those. The stealth speed is far too low, which is especially annoying when you must crawl through big areas with enemies you can't really take on in a fight. I embraced time management, but something needs to be with Shawn being pulled out of important chains of events to go to sleep or to the dinner. All in all it is a must-have for fans of those old adventure games. I really hope the game does well and we will get the sequels, can't wait to play them

I was a Kickstarter backer for Hero-U and casually followed its development over the years. When the game was finally released (and I got around to playing it), the whole experience felt a bit underwhelming. I respect the effort involved in developing the art and assets; this was clearly a labour of love. However, for me, the environments and settings lack depth; everything feels rather flat. The 2D drawings that stand in for cut scenes (studying, resting, etc.) are different enough in style to the art of the game that their addition is immersion-breaking. Additionally, the environments aren't varied. As others have suggested, you spend much of your time in this game retreading the same rooms and corridors. Character movement is a bit 'floaty', and at times, certain motions and interactions are disjointed. The characters are seemingly cut straight out of your typical fantasy/wizardry setting. The influence of Harry Potter is often painfully noticeable. The light, comedic charm of the QfG games is replaced with hackneyed attempts at 'witty banter', which often falls flat (with emphasis on 'often', as there's barely a line of text in which these attempts are absent). Interactions between characters are meant to be jabby and playful, but you get the sense that the writers were trying just a bit *too* hard. Also, some of the 'humour' - particularly between sexes - feels oddly out of place and questionable these days. Reading through the dialogue in this game is like trying to pick up a generic paperback fantasy book from 1973. Some of the beats are interesting, but the dialogue is locked in its time and place. I was looking forward to this game. However, with all of the quality gaming out there - especially in the indie space - there are just far better games to spend my spare time with.