The Cruel King and the Great Hero Review (NSW)

Written by Anthony L. Cuaycong

Title: The Cruel King and the Great Hero
Developer: Nippon Ichi Software, Inc.
Publisher: NIS America
Genre: RPG
Price: $29.99

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Nippon Ichi Software's The Cruel King And The Great Hero is an interesting title that casual observers may not expect much of, but winds up packing a punch all the same. With a plot and visuals that beckon to a quaint children's fairy tale, the Nintendo Switch game piques your interest at the start, and then keeps you immersed to the finish with confident storytelling and unique role-playing game mechanics.

In The Cruel King And The Great Hero, you get to be Yuu, a girl who has to take up the mantle of her father and become a difference maker in her own right. By teaming up with little creatures and beating up monsters, Yuu slowly adapts to the role of heroine, learning new abilities, finding new allies, and overcoming trial after trial in her journey to follow in her father's footsteps.

The general gameplay of The Cruel King And The Great Hero is pretty much what you'd expect. It's not really a game that tries to push the envelope and generate new boundaries, and it can even feel a little uninspired at times as a result. You can have your basic attacks to strike at your opponents, but you also have the ability to use energy for stronger moves that deal more damage. The companions you can get do spice up combat, though, as they bring singular abilities to modify how you play. Meanwhile, the boss fights, while not really difficult, are entertaining and engrossing. It's all in all your standard Japanese RPG fare, complete with equipment you gather to be upgraded, and even fights you can grind to ensure you're always at a comfortable and competitive level when you progress. You also have main quests and side quests to embark on, and the rewards you reap from these can prove helpful on your journey, even if they do trod the beaten path.

The Cruel King And The Great Hero has a story that may not possess the wow factor at the outset, but the way it's told stands out, and, in the final analysis, is what really matters. The narration and the art combine to make a charming world for you to enjoy. It's almost like a children's story come true, with a surprising amount of depth going to the various locations and characters you'll meet. It's an acquired taste that, once you pick up, manifests itself as a superb fit in for what the game wants to accomplish.

Where The Cruel King And The Great Hero really separates itself is in how it looks and feels. It's not often that you find a game like this, one that relishes in the innocence of its setting. Its art style boasts of a sense of beauty that harks back to a more innocent time of childlike dreams and fancy. The little touches that go into it, the cute spritework, the heartwarming themes of following in your parent's footsteps – these are all captured eloquently in the writing and how the story unfolds.

The Cruel King And The Great Hero does not have a long-winded narrative, and the battles won’t tax your patience. Depending on how you pace yourself, you may well see the ending 15 hours in. Even still, the story is able to move along properly and with consistency, not really feeling like it's going too slow or too fast, always giving you just enough to look forward to the next plot point.

Which, in a nutshell, is the best way to look at The Cruel King And The Great Hero. It's not going to have the insane playtime, or ridiculous stat grind, of, say, a Disgaea release. It won't have Phantom Brave's flexibility, or the exaggerated happy-go-lucky silly humor that other NIS titles usually churn out. What it does have is character. It’s propelled by a story that tugs at the heartstrings, a fairly simple and yet captivating tale of a child reaching out to shine. It may not be the best RPG game you'll play this year, but it will stick with you because of what it's able to offer.

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THE GOOD

• Cute, stylized art
• Straightforward, fun battles and exploration
• Consistent pace

THE BAD

• Relatively short for an RPG release
• An acquired taste

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RATING: 8.5/10

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