3D Dot Game Heroes

[RunningMild]

I only heard of this game recently, but I'm fairly interested in it now.

http://au.ps3.ign.com/objects/143/14350003.html

http://www.videogamesblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/3d-dot-game-heroes-town-screenshot.jpg

Basically, it's like the PS3's answer to Zelda (the top-down ones), but the game world is built out of 3D blocks acting as pixels (which means you can design and build your own character pixel by pixel). With it's satirical and self-referential humour, it almost sounds like a non-turn-based version of Half Minute Hero.

It sounds like it might be good, especially if the reviews (http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ps3/3ddotgameheroes) are anything to go by. Release date appears to be somewhere in May, depending on whether you import or buy locally.

[JubeiSaotome]

Looking forward to this.

[McChimp]

Should be awesome, screw some of those average reviews!! Between this and ModNation Racer, I'm looking forward to suffering from a case of the cutes!

[igotnewsuper8systemWRONG!]

Should be awesome, screw some of those average reviews!! Between this and ModNation Racer, I'm looking forward to suffering from a case of the cutes!

Yep Dot Game Heroes and ModNation, May is a good month.

[Stevorooni]

This is out the same week as Red Dead Redemption and Mario Galaxy 2. DON'T MAKE ME CHOOSE!

[FX-GTZ]

Minecraft can already do this garbage, and its pretty much free, and also was featured in PCPP, not sure which issue, but a few issues back.
http://www.minecraft.net/

[McChimp]

This is out the same week as Red Dead Redemption and Mario Galaxy 2. DON'T MAKE ME CHOOSE!

That is gonna be a TERRIBLE week for choice (from my point of view, at least)!
In that short period alone you're looking at:
3D Dot game heroes - 13th
Red Dead Redemption - 15th
Super Mario Galaxy 2 - 15th
No More Heroes 2 - 20th
Split/ Second - 20th
Blur - 26th
Alpha Protocol - 27th
Note: Dates are taken from PALGN.com. Ones in bold are apparently unconfirmed.

Not that I'll be buying them all (if-any, other than Red Dead). But still, wtf is in the water this year?! It's almost like a games-avalanche!!

[RunningMild]

Should be awesome, screw some of those average reviews!! Between this and ModNation Racer, I'm looking forward to suffering from a case of the cutes!

Not to mention a case of customisation. ;)

Minecraft can already do this garbage, and its pretty much free, and also was featured in PCPP, not sure which issue, but a few issues back.
http://www.minecraft.net/


Minecraft is currently in alpha, meaning it's nowhere near finished, but you're free to try it.
Keep in mind that it's under heavy development and can be a bit unstable during updates.

Right, so I'm going to pay for an unfinished, unstable, alpha build of a game over a finished, stable, HD version that probably has better gameplay and more content anyway? :p

[borgster101]

Looks awesome, will get this! :D

[Australian Ninja]

I only heard of this game recently, but I'm fairly interested in it now.

http://au.ps3.ign.com/objects/143/14350003.html

http://www.videogamesblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/3d-dot-game-heroes-town-screenshot.jpg

Basically, it's like the PS3's answer to Zelda (the top-down ones), but the game world is built out of 3D blocks acting as pixels (which means you can design and build your own character pixel by pixel). With it's satirical and self-referential humour, it almost sounds like a non-turn-based version of Half Minute Hero.

It sounds like it might be good, especially if the reviews (http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ps3/3ddotgameheroes) are anything to go by. Release date appears to be somewhere in May, depending on whether you import or buy locally.

I want to go to there.

[Roman Salute]

I tried shopping at that Zavvi place for the first time yesterday and put in an order for 3D dot game heroes and it looks like that order shipped today, and for $40 no less. I'm pretty excited, can't wait to play as the spelunker :)

[Australian Ninja]

Tempted by this one. But bought too many games lately, so this one can wait. But I look forward to reading peoples comments as they play it.

[McChimp]

Will be playing it tomorrow, so I'll try and get some thoughts up then. YAY!!

[RunningMild]

Will be playing it tomorrow, so I'll try and get some thoughts up then. YAY!!

US import?

[AnTrAxX]

Not as good as I hoped. I'd wait until it's at least 30 dollars before considering it. There's so much breaking of the 4th wall there's nothing left to hold its roof up.

[McChimp]

US import?

Was 'sell on receipt' at work apparently, meaning it was free to be put on shelves when it arrived.

[borgster101]

Was 'sell on receipt' at work apparently, meaning it was free to be put on shelves when it arrived.
Wait does that mean a stealth Australian release or something?

[McChimp]

Yep, pretty much.

Just gave an hour and a half. Liking it, and it feels very 'Link to the Past'. Think a carbon copy of the Zelda template, with it's own cool graphics and some in-jokes........
don't know how much mileage I'm likely to get out of it, 'cos it's missing that Nintendo/ Zelda 'it-factor' that makes those games endearing, but that's not to say its a bad game. Far from it.

[Cobla]

Yeah I managed to snag a copy last week. Wasn't easy though! GAME received about 5 or 6 copies for the whole country, while EB "assumed the game wouldn't sell" and hence are not stocking it. JB haven't got it either as far as I can tell.

It is pretty cool though. A shameless LTTP clone, sure, but it's so tongue in cheek that it feels quite unique. Also the graphics look a lot like LEGO bricks so it's like some long-lost LEGO: Zelda game, except you know, actually fun. ;)

[borgster101]

Whoa, stealth release all right I didn't even see the release date anywhere!

I want to get this, damn limited release is going to make it hard to find :(

Might have a look around tomorrow.

[Spudzilla]

Limited release and it's on PS3. Hardly anyone is going to play it.

[RunningMild]

There's so much breaking of the 4th wall

Since when has that been a bad thing?

[McChimp]

Whoa, stealth release all right I didn't even see the release date anywhere!

That's the thing. Any info on a specific release date was nigh-on impossible to find. I go by PALGN and a mixture of EB and Game websites, as well as Kotaku news, and the date was anywhere from the 15/5 through to the 27/5, so I'm guessing it was a matter of 'when it arrived'.

[Cobla]

Last week on Kotaku they said it had moved up to the 13th (http://www.kotaku.com.au/2010/05/the-week-in-games-52/). What they didn't say was how few copies would actually be available come the day. Some GAME stores received just enough to cover pre-orders and all the rest could only shrug as to when more copies would become available.

It's like the release of Crush all over again! (a title that was eventually re-released in Australia after turned out that - shock! - yes Aussies actually would buy more than 4 copies of it)

[RunningMild]

That's the thing. Any info on a specific release date was nigh-on impossible to find. I go by PALGN and a mixture of EB and Game websites, as well as Kotaku news, and the date was anywhere from the 15/5 through to the 27/5, so I'm guessing it was a matter of 'when it arrived'.

I just check the IGN release dates, which are usually within a week of the actual date.

Some GAME stores received just enough to cover pre-orders and all the rest could only shrug as to when more copies would become available.

It's like the release of Crush all over again! (a title that was eventually re-released in Australia after turned out that - shock! - yes Aussies actually would buy more than 4 copies of it)

Or Rock Band Beatles (except they didn't even get enough copies to cover the pre-orders). ;)

[borgster101]

That's the thing. Any info on a specific release date was nigh-on impossible to find. I go by PALGN and a mixture of EB and Game websites, as well as Kotaku news, and the date was anywhere from the 15/5 through to the 27/5, so I'm guessing it was a matter of 'when it arrived'.
Yeah I do the same. Sucks that this one just came out of nowhere.

Hmm don't like my chances of finding it tomorrow, but you never know I guess :/

[JubeiSaotome]

Eh, I'll import it if I have to.

[McChimp]

Yeah I do the same. Sucks that this one just came out of nowhere.

Hmm don't like my chances of finding it tomorrow, but you never know I guess :/

Can't hurt having a look/ calling around. Our store got 3 copies, with an email saying that there'd be more come early this week (Mon. - Wed. I guess).

[RunningMild]

I got a copy (pre-ordered, dunno if they have any others) from GAME today. Will post my thoughts later.

[RunningMild]

As you already know, it's really similar to Zelda, but it makes some neat additions to the formula. The only problem is that the dungeons and game world are absolutely tiny. Seriously, if you were complaining about the size of the overworld/dungeons in the DS Zeldas, don't even bother with this one.

[the_tic_begins]

For anyone around the south east of melbourne, game in cranbourne has one copy.
$89.95 but if you trade in one selected game its 19.95. (havent got the full list but it includes bioshock 2, ffxiii, blazblue and a heap of other newish titles.
$70 trade in value for bioshock 2 woot

[the_tic_begins]

Why is no one playing this :(

[RunningMild]

Why is no one playing this :(

I've been playing it since Friday. :p

I finished it tonight and I'm a little disappointed. Like I said, it's not a *bad* game, but it's such a short, simple game. Take the easiest, shortest dungeon in one of the DS Zeldas, double (or maybe triple) the length but not the difficulty, and you've got the longest, toughest dungeon in 3DGH.

Not only are the dungeons easy, but some of them have some really annoying design decisions. The Fire Temple was extremely frustrating because it was completely devoid of shortcuts and midway save points, so if you were 95% through it and you got killed, you had to start from the beginning and do everything again in the exact same order. Going through every room and hitting the same sequence of switches every single time almost made me quit the game. The other dungeons aren't quite as bad, not because they're free of those problems but because they're just not complex or challenging enough to make them into a big issue.

Once you've finished, you can do a second playthrough with all your equipment (New Game +), or you can try and 100% the game which may result in a different ending or something. So if you're obsessed you can squeeze some length out of it (more so if you plan to create tons of characters), but I didn't feel any motivation to carry on. Also, I'm not sure how much extra life you'd get out of 100%-ing the game because the game world is so small.

I liked the game's sense of humour, with all the little nods to gaming pop-culture and the self-aware jokes, but it was a bit average IMO with a lot of jokes falling flat. I didn't find it as funny as other self-aware games like Half-Minute Hero or Holy Invasion of Privacy, but overall it worked well enough.

Overall, it's occasionally boring, occasionally frustrating, and a bit too simple for my liking, but if you're obsessed with the Zelda formula (as I am) there's definitely fun to be had. It's definitely a 'My First Zelda', but they added a few good ideas like the sword upgrading system, the magic system, and such. It is VERY derivative though, so if that's a problem for you (ie. you complained about Darksiders being a Zelda rip-off ;)), you won't have much fun here. Also, if you didn't like the DS Zelda games for being 'too easy' or 'too small', just forget about it now.

If you're still interested in the game, I would definitely recommend getting it from GAME in case you want to exchange it for something else. Otherwise, import it for the lowest possible price, because I don't think it's worth $90 no matter how you look at it. However, if you have the time or motivation to create a bunch of different characters and complete absolutely EVERYTHING, it will justify the $50 Play-Asia is charging.

[borgster101]

Why is no one playing this :(

Because it's so hard to find! I ended up ordering from Zavvi, and now just waiting for it to arrive, which will probably be another week or so.