Class of Heroes
A first-person dungeon crawler with turn-based combat and party customization.
Class of Heroes is a PSP dungeon-crawling RPG from developer Zero Div. Acquire handled the Japanese release, while Atlus brought it to North America. Players explore dungeons, facing turn-based battles against waves of enemies. Critics gave it mixed reviews, praising its creative dungeon design but criticizing the visuals and grind-heavy leveling. It launched in Japan on August 26, 2008, and in North America on June 9, 2009. An enhanced Switch remake, Ken to Mahō to Gakuenmono Anniversary Edition, came out in Japan on April 26, 2018.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Zero Div
- Publisher
- Acquire (JP); Atlus USA (NA)
- Released
- August 26, 2008 (JP); June 9, 2009 (NA)
- Genre
- Role-playing
- Modes
- Single-player
- Platforms
- PlayStation Portable
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Players assemble a party by picking each character’s race, gender, stats, alignment, and major. Race and gender stay fixed, but alignment and major can be altered by visiting a school. Ten races are available: Human, Elf, Dwarf, Erdgeist, Halfling, Sprite, Felpier, Drake, Diablon, and Celestian. Each race has its own outlook on others, so players must manage compatibility. Races also bring unique strengths—Halflings make clever thieves, while Drakes are strong warriors. The party begins at Particus Academy, a hub for restoring Magic points, buying gear, starting labyrinth quests, and using alchemy on items found in mazes. Inside dungeons, random enemy encounters occur as players explore corridors. Combat is turn-based with a row system: characters in back rows wielding short-range weapons cannot hit far-off foes. After each fight, a tension gauge builds, letting the party use gambits in later battles. Every dungeon holds a magic lock; once opened, it lets players skip that dungeon on future visits. Saving is allowed anytime outside combat, and escaping a dungeon is straightforward. Traps are scattered through mazes and can wipe out the whole party if triggered. If the party falls, they revive at school. When a student falls, revival may fail; after two failed attempts, that student is permanently removed from the party.
Reception
Class of Heroes received mixed reviews from critics, with Metacritic scores ranging from 30 to 83 and an overall rating of 61. IGN reviewer Ryan Clements panned the game for its retro style mechanics and forced level grinding, conceding that grinding can be satisfying only when paired with good graphics, animations, battle mechanics, and storytelling, none of which he felt the game possessed. RPGamer's Glenn Wilson wrote that while typical first-person dungeon crawlers appeal only to hardcore gamers, Class of Heroes may be the first playable, enjoyable, approachable, and universally fun game in the subgenre, praising its originality, balance, monster artwork, and creative dungeon design.
Legacy
Class of Heroes is the sequel to Class of Heroes, released in Japan on June 24, 2009, and includes more jobs and majors for characters. A Kickstarter project by MonkeyPaw Games and Gaijinworks to fund localization and a limited edition did not fund, but the companies promised to continue translation and release the game digitally on PSN in mid 2013, starting a signup to gauge interest in a possible limited physical release that would include a digital download code. The campaign proved successful, with 2700 signing up and more pre-ordering when pre-sales began. About 200 physical copies were made available through the Canadian online shop Video Games Plus, with the rest exclusive to those who pre-ordered via the Gaijinworks website until May 12, 2013. Copies sold at VGP were limited to one per customer and did not include download codes. Fans could vote for the cover artwork; those who backed the unsuccessful Kickstarter received a special cover different from the website pre-order cover. The physical release was delayed when players of the digital version released June 4, 2013, reported bugs. The bugs were fixed in an update on October 15, 2013, and the UMD release shipped that month. A remaster is under development. A port of Class of Heroes 2 entitled was released July 15, 2010, in Japan for PlayStation 3, with more dungeons, skills, party members, and full voice acting. A North American PSN release and an extremely limited physical release came out in December 2014; a few hundred physical copies were available through Video Games Plus, with the rest exclusive to Gaijinworks pre-orders. The digital release came to US PSN on June 2, 2015. Remaster Edition was released worldwide for Steam PC on April 26, 2024.
Frequently Asked Questions
What platforms is Class of Heroes available on?
Class of Heroes was released for PlayStation Portable.
Is Class of Heroes single-player or multiplayer?
Class of Heroes offers single-player play.
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