Half Minute Hero: The Second Coming

 PC
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 6 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 6
  3. Negative: 0 out of 6
  1. RPGamer
    Apr 30, 2014
    60
    Fans of the original Half-Minute Hero will undoubtedly be excited to experience more of the unique franchise, but at the same time, the new additions have a tendency to drag it down a bit.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 17 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 17
  3. Negative: 4 out of 17
  1. Theswweet
    Apr 10, 2014
    7
    After reading augh18's review, and seeing GiantBomb's quicklook, I felt the need to reevaluate my thoughts; although I still enjoyed the game,After reading augh18's review, and seeing GiantBomb's quicklook, I felt the need to reevaluate my thoughts; although I still enjoyed the game, I find it necessary to state that this game is different in many, very important ways, from it's predecessor. As noted, the exposition is beyond that which may be acceptable for such a fast paced game; the story takes itself way more seriously than the first game, but then remembers that the action needs to be front and center - thus, the 30+ boss characters that were created are given little more than a name before being culled off.

    Part of the charm of the first game was that the story was not really taken seriously; and part of the reason that some people disliked Knight 30 in the first game, was the immensely slowed down pace and the dramatically increased exposition; this sequel takes that reduction in speed, and continues down that path for the entirety of the story. Although the exposition could be forgiven in the first game, due to it's appearance near the end of the story, it simply does not work as well here. The fact that exposition FREQUENTLY cuts apart the 30 second action is frustrating. Considering that the times where I was the least interrupted was during romps through Global Dungeons is nearly unforgivable.

    Although I originally rated this game a 9, after careful consideration - and a few days to digest the entirety of the adventure - I simply cannot give it higher than a 7; and the only reason it is not a 6, is due to the inclusion of endless modes, the map editor, and multiplayer. This series deserves better.    … Full Review »
  2. augh18
    Apr 9, 2014
    5
    I have a hard time expressing what I feel about this game. I gave it a lot of time to try and enjoy it, but at a certain point I realized II have a hard time expressing what I feel about this game. I gave it a lot of time to try and enjoy it, but at a certain point I realized I was putting more effort into trying to enjoy it than I was actually enjoying it.

    It isn't that it's bad necessarily, it's that it lacks all the charm that made HMH1 such an amazing experience. I don't think the designers even know what made HMH1 so good, because even as someone who played the original for over a hundred hours while aiming for top scores on the leaderboards, I can't even tell you what made it so good. It came out of nowhere, it was an amazing game, and I couldn't get enough of it. It's like a lightning strike. It was so randomly amazing that it can't even be properly dissected. It had that "X-Factor" that so many products claim to have, but is only ever obtained by complete accident.

    HMH2 plays like Marvelous AQL was trying to hit all the notes HMH1 delivered, but that's the problem. HMH1 didn't feel forced or practiced. It's like they had the right people at the right time working on the same thing, and something amazing happened. HMH2 feels forced. Everything about it just feels tedious in comparison to HMH1.

    It happens in every industry. Led Zeppelin had plenty of songs, but only one "Stairway to Heaven", and how do you top something like that? How did they even make that? I bet they don't even know. And that's what I think HMH1 is. It's the video-game equivalent of "Stairway to Heaven". It's amazing and epic in every regard, the reasons that make it such a legendary experience will never be able to be fully explained, and as a result nothing that follows it will ever live up to the same experience.

    It isn't that HMH2 is bad, it only suffered the misfortune of following HMH1. On its own, this game might've been a 7 or 8/10 derivative JRPG, but as a follow-up, it made me feel physically depressed to play. I know that sounds extreme, but I was so in love with HMH1, to see this happen... it's like Hangover 1 to Hangover 2, or Mass Effect 1 to Mass Effect 2. Sequels to something mind blowing rarely ever work. The game developers accidentally created something amazing with the first release, and they're going to continue to rehash it as many times as they can because life is long and they want to keep themselves employed, but this franchise will never be as good as it was when it first started.

    If you didn't like HMH1, you might like HMH2 because it plays more like every other JRPG on the market than the odd whatever-the-hell-that-was that HMH1 was, but if you loved HMH1 as much as I did, this game is probably going to be a brutal reminder of why good things can't last. They rarely occur, and they're always so amazing that they can't be recreated or relived. Just have to hold out for that next moment when it feels like lightning strikes, and enjoy the hell out of it for knowing how fleeting that feeling is.    … Full Review »
  3. somedude14
    Feb 17, 2015
    3
    The original "Half-Minute Hero" is a blazingly fast, extremely challenging puzzle-based game with light JRPG elements that amounted to one ofThe original "Half-Minute Hero" is a blazingly fast, extremely challenging puzzle-based game with light JRPG elements that amounted to one of the most unique gaming experiences I've ever had.

    "Second Coming" is a game heavy in text and JRPG elements with some blazingly fast gameplay to break up the pace, and most of the levels aren't very challenging at all. In fact I'd say the difficulty in this game is gutted in comparison, and the original wasn't even hard (like "Super Meat Boy" or "Dark Souls"), it just expected you to pay attention and plot your routes. This is mindless.

    The art and soundtrack are still great, but releasing this as a follow-up to one of the greatest video games of all time? Bleh. This is just a mediocore JRPG in a "Half-Minute Hero" skin. I can't even call it a cash-in because they obviously put a lot of work into this, there's a ton of content there and for the price of an indie title to boot. It's just all wrong. If this were a cake I'd ask them to throw it out and start all over, but it isn't, so I'm just depressed. "Half-Minute Hero" could've been a major franchise, but they can't even get two games deep without ruining the formula.

    I guess this is why most artists are only known for one or two albums. Or one or two books. Or one or two movies. It's hard to achieve that kind of greatness. Who knows what has to come together to make it happen? The answer is: noone. Which is why attempts to recreate always fall short. "Marvelous Entertainment" had their time in the sun with the first release and the world hardly noticed. I hope it gets more attention in future generations, as an overlooked gem that never gets forgotten, but it probably won't. I'm just glad I had the chance to experience it before they unintentionally crapped on its memory by making it evident they're unable to recapture their own greatness.    … Full Review »
See all user reviews »