The Class of Heroes series debuted all the way back in 2009 on the PSP. The handheld platforms at that time were in the midst of a first-person dungeon crawler revival, fueled by the success of series like Etrian Odyssey and Shin Megami Tensei on the Nintendo DS. Class of Heroes was developed by small studio Zero Div and was published by preeminent dungeon-crawling powerhouse Atlus in an attempt to serve that burgeoning hardcore market on PSP, a platform that their in-house DRPG series didn’t support.
Unfortunately, the game got a bit lost in the shuffle, and sequel Class of Heroes 2 had an even more complicated path to release. Originally localized by Victor Ireland’s Gaijinworks, the game saw an extremely limited physical release near the end of the PSP’s lifecycle and an even later expanded version on PS3 under the moniker 2G. Thankfully, Zero Div never gave up on their niche dungeon-crawling series, giving Class of Heroes an HD touch-up for Switch in 2018 called Anniversary Edition, and publisher PQube has seen fit to combine this improved version of the first title with a port of 2G in one combined package Class of Heroes 1 & 2 Complete Edition. Now that these games are finally on modern platforms and widely available to anyone with even a passing interest, are they worth a second look?
The defining aspect of Class of Heroes is the bright and bubbly school setting, a far cry from the darker and more foreboding tone of most games in the subgenre. This lighter approach fits the series’ game design quite well, as Zero Div took great pains to make Class of Heroes more accessible than many of its contemporaries. When players start their journey at the Particus Academy for adventurers, they have the option of enrolling in a few courses with the Academy’s teachers that serve as tutorials and initial questlines to guide the dungeon delving. These lessons explain the combat, party building, and dungeon exploring mechanics in-depth, offering a guiderail to ease genre newcomers into the experience yet remaining optional for genre veterans.
This commitment to approachability is important, as Class of Heroes is a true Wizardry clone, differing significantly from Etrian Odyssey or SMT in its mechanics. Melee characters may spend most of the game using basic attacks, differing from one another mostly in terms of equipment, passives, and racial traits. Magic users may feel constrained in the beginning, as limited spell uses, rather than the typical MP system, govern the magic system. Some character classes have very little use in combat at all, serving utility functions such as Thieves, who can unlock chests & doors and disarm traps, and Alchemists, who can identify items and combine materials into useful consumables and equipment on the fly.
Parties are limited to six members, but there are ten different races and 15 classes to choose from, so party building is varied and leaves extensive room for experimentation. Characters also have alignments (like D&D) which can alter stat gains and the affinity characters have with one another. Managing these is important, as the composition of your party and their affinity with one another impact your ability to use Gambits, skills that involve multiple characters in exchange for powerful effects. These can be game-changing, such as powerful attacks that hit all enemies, or a guaranteed chance to flee from an encounter. All in all, Class of Heroes offers a very robust character creation and party-building system, which is enough to keep even the most hardcore DRPG fans entertained without overwhelming those less familiar with the genre.
Despite the overall similarities between games in this collection, Anniversary Edition and 2G have a few key differences. The first title has randomized dungeon floor layouts, but the sequel has static dungeon floors, so the dungeon exploration experience in each differs significantly. Anniversary Edition‘s randomized dungeon floors grant the game some nice unpredictability, but as a consequence aren’t nearly as well-designed and cohesive as the static dungeons in the sequel. 2G also dispenses with the magic uses system from the first game, instead employing a more standard MP pool for each character. This ensures that magic classes are immediately useful from the beginning, but neuters the resource management and tension that define the initial hours of the first game. 2G also adds a handful of new classes, bringing the total to 18, and rebalances the returning classes. Due to these slight but significant changes, 2G feels straightforward compared to Anniversary Edition, and the two games have strengths and weaknesses that complement each other nicely.
The additions and improvements to the original titles in these HD remasters fall short of some of the lovingly crafted remakes and re-releases provided to RPG fans in recent years, but they modernize the presentation and mechanics enough to make the upgrade worthwhile. Anniversary Edition provides the biggest leap over its predecessor, as it’s the first HD version of the game. The 2D character portraits, backgrounds, and monster art are all upscaled and rendered nicely in high resolution. The 3D polygonal dungeon layouts retain their spartan presentation from the PSP original, but they at least look much cleaner than they did on Sony’s old handheld. Both games have been relocalized, though I hardly noticed any differences, given how these titles have little narrative focus.
In addition to the visual upgrades, the best new feature in Anniversary Edition is the Arena, a new area where you can challenge previously fought bosses to farm materials and quickly level up characters. This eliminates a lot of the grinding necessary in the original release when getting a new character up to speed or obtaining some of the most powerful equipment, and is a very welcome new addition. 2G, on the other hand, has hardly any improvements at all. While this is understandable, given that 2G was already an expanded and HD re-release of the PSP original on PS3, it would’ve been nice to see a few new features. In fact, one of the defining features of 2G for me from 2014 was its dual screen setup using a PS Vita or PSP in conjunction with the PS3 title, something that isn’t possible in this version. I don’t expect that this could work on current platforms, but I do wish there was a new feature or two to make up for the absence.
Class of Heroes has a reputation for being generic compared to other DRPG series. Upon revisiting both games with this collection, I found myself developing a greater appreciation for both titles than I had before. What these games lack in terms of originality in setting or mechanics, they make up for in charm and accessibility. A while back, I reviewed Experience Inc.’s Mon-Yu, a DRPG explicitly designed to be friendly to newcomers. While I normally enjoy Experience games, Mon-Yu was very disappointing to me because, in its attempt to make the game approachable to newcomers, the game watered down the core elements that make DRPGs appealing to the point it was boring and bland.
Class of Heroes, on the other hand, manages to navigate this (admittedly difficult) task of introducing players to the genre quite well. By having a lighter and more welcoming presentation coupled with good tutorials to explain the mechanics, Class of Heroes 1 & 2 Complete Edition serves as a good entry point to the genre for newcomers without sacrificing what makes this style of game engaging in the first place. The in-depth party building, character development, and dungeon exploration are all here, married to a difficulty level that isn’t a pushover but also won’t have you pulling your hair out in frustration.
If the game mechanics of Anniversary Edition don’t click with you right away, 2G is different enough and beginner-friendly enough to satisfy, and the reverse is true if you find the beginning hours of 2G lacking in tension or difficulty. Neither game is a masterpiece, but combining both games into one affordable package was a great idea and makes this collection a worthwhile purchase, especially since 2G had such a limited Western release. I appreciate PQube giving this oft-forgotten series a new lease on life and look forward to where they take the series next.
