Hero's Spirit Reviews

Absolutely monumentally cool and weird game. Just to set the tone, this is a bump combat (think Hydlide or, more modern, Fairune) puzzle game where combat is completely determined by who has the bigger number (ties go to the player). No HP, only live or die. This setup is used as the foundation for an intimidatingly large and weird puzzle box that doesn't bother to explain itself beyond the very basics. It's more arcane than 99% of modern games, but also more friendly than 99% of the retro games it's cribbing from. Absolutely jam-packed with secrets - the only game that consistently rewards my wall humping with *extremely important progression items*. This is Iceberg: The Game. I say that and it sounds intimidating, but I really don't think it is. It's confident and kind enough that any edge you push on is going to reward you. Not *once* did I hit a hard barrier where I had no idea what to do. I could always go somewhere different and find 10-20 keys, swords, diamonds, etc. that would help me progress the game. It also has the most brilliant mechanic I've ever seen in a game that's ostensibly turn-based: if you hold a direction, you move twice as fast as if you took everything step by step. This turns a game that might normally force you to stop and think about every move into a Thinky Action Game, which is. Wow. This one thing makes Hydlide-adjacent fully determinative bump combat into *an actual skill check*. It's minimal enough to be non-intrusive - if you're not an action game person, don't be scared away. But it really encourages the player to *move* without actually forcing you to think on your feet all the time. I cannot recommend this game highly enough. It is doing things I've never seen any other game do, and it's doing them with *such confidence* that it gets away with being extremely bizarre. If any of the above piqued your interest even 1%, just buy this game now. I finished this game thinking I'd possibly dug up many of its secrets: my final completion score was 53%. Upon reflection I'm certain I'm missing at least *five* progression items, amongst countless other important items. And I never did meet the friendly dragon people keep talking about!!