Class of Heroes 1 & 2: Complete Edition

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.

Back on PSP, I loved playing the Class of Heroes games. They scratched a similar itch as series like Etrian Odyssey and Wizardry at the time. Nowadays there are many more cool and interesting DRPGs, such as NIS’ Labyrinth series and everything Experience, Inc. has done since then. But due to their cutesy charm, silly attitude and surprisingly treacherous dungeons, Class of Heroes stands out to this day. If you like to set up your own party of weirdos based on your own granular choices, then bash them against endless waves of monsters and traps for the sake of loot and progress, you can’t go wrong with Class of Heroes 1 & 2 Complete Edition.

A certain type of player is going to love Class of Heroes 1 & 2: Complete Edition, but it’s important to keep in mind what these games are and aren’t. They’re fundamentally not all that different from their original PSP incarnations, and the new localizations aren’t great. Beginners will want to proceed with caution, as despite the colorful look and school theme these are extremely unforgiving experiences. If you feel like modern dungeon crawlers aren’t nasty enough or just miss the friction of the classic Wizardry games, this is going to be right up your alley.