Every videogame traces its roots back to 8-bit graphics. The majority of genres began during that time. This is not to say that games have not come a long way. Gameplay has been tuned to optimum fun, and graphics for games have clearly improved. Aram Jabbarri with Atlus USA showed me 3D Dot Game Heroes, a game that pays homage to the earliest of gaming and 8-bit graphics.
3D Dot Game Heroes puts you in control of a young hero or heroine of your creation as you try to save Dotnia. In fact, the game’s pixel editor is powerful. You can create layer upon layer of pixels to create any 8-bit hero of your imagination. You can even create a car that opens its doors and hood whenever it attacks. But if your creativity doesn’t work that way, you can use one of the premade characters available. Or you can rely on your friends’ thoughts and upload characters via a flash drive. Or you can go online and download the creations of other gamers. Creation possibilities abound.
Graphically, 3D Dot Game Heroes exudes old-school charm. Everything is built upon bricks of pixels. And, as of right now, it looks great. Water pulses like nobody’s business. Monsters explode into pixels when destroyed. Areas all have different themes and look unique. In fact, as I watched Aram play, I went to my happy place. Nostalgia overpowered me. I couldn’t help but think of one of my favorite NES games and the cave in the corner where you begin.
In fact, that’s the joy of 3D Dot Game Heroes. It’s one big homage to every 8- and 16-bit game out there. The text seems perfectly translated for its Western audience. There was a line of dialogue that read, and I quote, “GET YOUR WEAPONS READY!” The loading screens are also a major source of nostalgia and parodies. Almost everything from the original Castlevania to the malevolent puzzler Lemmings to Street Fighter II is fair game. Plus, at any time, you can look at the loading screens, take a screenshot and save it to your PS3’s hard drive to look at later. So if something looks really cool, you can turn it into wallpaper.
Gameplay looks like the typical “overhead” adventure game. You walk around, interact with people, solve some clever puzzles and beat the living daylights out of monsters with your sword. You can change your subweapons by equipping them in the menu screen and then rotate through them using the L2 and R2 buttons. So you don’t have to pause the action to find a particular subweapon. One of the big lures of 3D Dot Game Heroes is sword modification. And there are several swords with which you can tinker. You can change width and height, power and spin. However, it only has maximum size when your health is full. Furthermore, each sword can only be improved so much, so you’ll have to change your sword to match the situation.
If you ever get tired of the exploration or monster slaying, you can participate in some minigames. There’s Block Defense (tower defense), Blockout and Dash Circuit. Each game has its own rules and can be found in various places. What rewards you gain for participating are yet to be determined. But it looks like a decent way to spend an hour or two.
Sound wise, it seems awesome so far. From what I’ve heard, it reminds me of the game from which 3D Dot Game Heroes takes its source of inspiration. However, while it may sound like it, 3D Dot Game Heroes has its own identity. The flourishes and notes are its own. It’ll take you back to the “simpler time” and hold you there. I hope Atlus will release the soundtrack in some form.
Overall, 3D Dot Game Heroes seems to be shaping up nicely. The hype about it could be spot on: This is a love letter to retro/old-school gamers. And I can’t wait to get my hands on it. In this short article, I’ve probably only scratched the surface of what could be going on under the hood of this game. 3D Dot Game Heroes shouldn’t be taken at face value. The game costs $39.99 and ships May 11. For more information, visit http://www.3ddotgameheroes.com/.
