Little Town Hero

 Switch
User Score
4.7

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 184 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 71 out of 184
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 184
  3. Negative: 100 out of 184

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  1. TheLionHearted
    Oct 16, 2019
    3
    The game is utterly devoid of depth in its battle systems or mechanics. The rpg aspects might as well be in name only, and even then, fighting quickly gets repetitive and is far too luck based.

    The main game is also flooded with too many systems to keep track of, and just bogs the game down as a whole. The story is unimpressive and small in scope, and while that isn’t a bad thing in its    The game is utterly devoid of depth in its battle systems or mechanics. The rpg aspects might as well be in name only, and even then, fighting quickly gets repetitive and is far too luck based.

    The main game is also flooded with too many systems to keep track of, and just bogs the game down as a whole.

    The story is unimpressive and small in scope, and while that isn’t a bad thing in its own, it adds to the feeling of lackluster design present in the game already.

    The music by Toby Fox is the game’s only real redeeming quality    … Expand
  2. Sercho
    Nov 18, 2019
    0
    It has bugs, sometimes the walking animation doesn't show up, the game freezes before a cutscene, the gameplay is difficult and it relies so much on luck. The character design is unpolished and the same models are used over and over even on the same area. This is an RPG but you can't buy anything from the shops. Gamefreak really should take a rest or care more about the endproducy.
  3. Andydoo
    Apr 19, 2020
    1
    The game's a trainwreck. I don't know what other people are on about, but nothing in this game was able to delight me enough to even finish it. It didn't run well, the battle system was neat at first but quickly became tedious and unfair around the midway point, it doesn't look that great, and there are even multiple grammatical errors in the game's dialogue. I've never felt so stronglyThe game's a trainwreck. I don't know what other people are on about, but nothing in this game was able to delight me enough to even finish it. It didn't run well, the battle system was neat at first but quickly became tedious and unfair around the midway point, it doesn't look that great, and there are even multiple grammatical errors in the game's dialogue. I've never felt so strongly that I wanted my money back. At least the soundtrack's decent, but that wasn't even GameFreak's doing. If you really do want to play this game, wait for a sale. It's nowhere close to being worth even $25. They should've just let Toby Fox make the whole game.… Expand
  4. Drakoh
    Feb 18, 2020
    2
    Jamás creí que un juego de Game Freak logrará ser así de lento y monótono. Muy aburrido tristemente. Si mejor parte es la música pero no es mucho decir.
  5. NothinButtNutt
    Jun 18, 2020
    4
    Allow me to preface, I can easily say that the 40+ hours I've spent playing this game was a rollercoaster. The presentation oozes with charm. The soundtrack is nice, there are a few stand-out songs here. The story has a bit of a 'slice-of-life' feel; I found the main cast of characters to be goofy and lovable. The presentation is very simplistic and colorful, which boggles my mind when itAllow me to preface, I can easily say that the 40+ hours I've spent playing this game was a rollercoaster. The presentation oozes with charm. The soundtrack is nice, there are a few stand-out songs here. The story has a bit of a 'slice-of-life' feel; I found the main cast of characters to be goofy and lovable. The presentation is very simplistic and colorful, which boggles my mind when it comes to the actual performance of the game. From several hiccups in cutscenes and gameplay to outright freezing in menus and extras, there's no excuse as to why something that looks simple is so poorly optimized.

    The actual gameplay? Oh boy... This is the conundrum.

    The main battle system is similar to the likes of a board/card game that emphasizes resource management, and Luck/RNG. I found that there is much depth with this system, as you find yourself with much to keep track of; From the power system to activate ideas, the space that you roll on, managing headspace (or deck) for your actions, the management of BP, the passive and aggressive effects of ideas, and mixing ideas together for stronger attacks and defensive options, there's a lot to keep in mind when in battle (Even to the point on where you'll find yourself planning around getting hit!). With so much to manage, you'll find that there's nuance to this system.

    It's the enemies that make this battle system fall apart.

    You see, the villagers and monsters that you face don't abide by the same restrictions that you have. You have a limited amount of options and resources that can be tough to accumulate, but easy to exhaust, all while battling enemies that have unlimited resources, and the secondary effects of their actions are too strong. You'll find yourself working very hard in these battles and despite that rush of satisfaction when beating them, it's not worth the amount of time and effort spent on a glorified arms race.

    Little Town Hero has inklings of potential, the game has an interesting concept; however, it's marred with too many hiccups in execution. Despite the light-hearted and charming presentation, simplistic story, and a great soundtrack, the act of actually playing is a war of attrition, except you're at the mercy of the draw of the "cards", and the luck of the roll.    … Expand
  6. KebabMan96
    Oct 20, 2019
    2
    There are games that you know are bad and avoid, then there's games that you have really high hopes for that disappoint: Little Town Hero is the latter. I had really high hopes for this, given GameFreak (the same developers from the Pokemon Series were behind it), and when Toby fox was announced to be a part of the project I daydreamed about an incredible "meta-game" with ground breakingThere are games that you know are bad and avoid, then there's games that you have really high hopes for that disappoint: Little Town Hero is the latter. I had really high hopes for this, given GameFreak (the same developers from the Pokemon Series were behind it), and when Toby fox was announced to be a part of the project I daydreamed about an incredible "meta-game" with ground breaking mechanics.
    While the game looks fine, it suffers heavily from poor optimization and lag in various moments of the game, especially during cutscenes. The fights take WAY longer than you'd want them to, and the designs aren't very unique or vary much. But what really ruins it is the fighting system: mixing a board game (like Mario Party) with typical RPG systems (akin to Octopath Traveler), it seems like GameFreak had no idea what they were doing and confused originality for good mechanics. That is to say nothing about the plot itself, which (avoiding spoilers) goes nowhere. Sure, the game is meant to happen in ONE Little Town...but when that Town is so little and so lifeless, it cant but be interpreted as laziness.

    I didn't enjoy this game; and if people give it really high ratings, I can't but suspect they are doing it for off-topic reasons. You should never buy this game unless it goes heavily on sale and you want to study it as to know what NOT to do when developing core game mechanics.    … Expand
  7. Chadtheplayer
    Nov 8, 2019
    3
    I bought this for my nephew and he didn't like it. After hearing what he had to say along with my own experience playing it, there are many grievances that could've been easily fixed

    1) The battle system is probably the worst garbage I've seen to this day. A game based on a coin flip would be more engaging. It uses a overtly complicated Rock Paper Scissors format with names that are    I bought this for my nephew and he didn't like it. After hearing what he had to say along with my own experience playing it, there are many grievances that could've been easily fixed

    1) The battle system is probably the worst garbage I've seen to this day. A game based on a coin flip would be more engaging. It uses a overtly complicated Rock Paper Scissors format with names that are difficult to remember. It also gets tedious as you keep rinsing through it over and over on a board game

    2) The NPCs are recycled. Let's put it this way, a GameCube game has more variety in NPCs than this game. Imagine if I copy and paste the same 2-3 villagers in Animal Crossing, but EVERYWHERE

    3) Animations are wonky

    4) Feedback loop for incentivizing playing this game is nonexistent. The bigggest problem is the battle system, it ruins the game completely. My nephew and I had more fun playing Pokémon Stadium and The Mana series than this hunk of garbage. Stay away from this, your pocket will cry and the person you're buying this for won't appreciate your tastes.    … Expand
  8. DENOBREGA82
    Nov 8, 2019
    1
    Pokemon aside! I bought this game with high hopes giving Game Freak the benefit of a doubt. When I started playing the game I was kind impressed and it started fun, but even with easy settings playing though this game is just based on luck! Which in my case just give me a Legend of Zelda game where I can progress and get more powerful, so I can feel like I am in control. But this game justPokemon aside! I bought this game with high hopes giving Game Freak the benefit of a doubt. When I started playing the game I was kind impressed and it started fun, but even with easy settings playing though this game is just based on luck! Which in my case just give me a Legend of Zelda game where I can progress and get more powerful, so I can feel like I am in control. But this game just feels like waste of time and gambling which honestly is my own bad for buying a game ahead of time. I didn't even know I was buying a board game nor a card game ahead of time. I didn't even finish playing this game and don't feel like continuing.... I just want a refund but guess that's out of the question. This game has some potential, but needs lots of tweaks here and there and the "based on luck" is just not for me personally.… Expand
  9. Gamer_93
    Nov 14, 2019
    0
    I honestly feel like I wasted my time playing it. There is a plethora of similar RPG games that do this genre a lot better and with an actual story that grips the person playing it. I expected better from Game Freak.
  10. AvalonBunny
    Nov 20, 2019
    1
    Game Freak at it's best. Their developers are 20 years behind the rest of the industry when it comes to coding and animations.
  11. BurningShrine
    Oct 16, 2019
    1
    The first hour of me playing this game was needlessly frustrating. Not only did I get crashes (yes, I'm being serious) But I also had many bugs, including ones that prevented me from progressing the game, at one point the sound completely kicked out and I was left playing in uncomfortable silence.

    All of this would have been bearable, if it wasn't just a lazy, copy and paste, and more    The first hour of me playing this game was needlessly frustrating. Not only did I get crashes (yes, I'm being serious) But I also had many bugs, including ones that prevented me from progressing the game, at one point the sound completely kicked out and I was left playing in uncomfortable silence.

    All of this would have been bearable, if it wasn't just a lazy, copy and paste, and more importantly, completely boring RPG that kept me invested for about 2 hours before I began to get sick of it. After those 2 hours, everything felt more like a chore, and I gave up even trying. The battle and 'quest' system is so bare bones that it leaves you thinking why they even bothered in the first place.

    Save your money, this game sucks.    … Expand
  12. jkb73
    Oct 18, 2019
    1
    Boring and way too short. Not worth the cost at all. Wish there was more to explore.
  13. Yigzatoth
    Oct 26, 2019
    0
    One of the worst games i played this year. Here is why:
    1- Endless unskipable animations during combat.
    2-irrelevant player strategies with such RNG for ideas. 3-During fights when rolling the dice (1-4) always rolls the same 3 or 4. 4-Player is often forced to do things with npcs blocking the road. There are so much more that could say about this horrible game, but most important    One of the worst games i played this year. Here is why:
    1- Endless unskipable animations during combat.
    2-irrelevant player strategies with such RNG for ideas.
    3-During fights when rolling the dice (1-4) always rolls the same 3 or 4.
    4-Player is often forced to do things with npcs blocking the road.
    There are so much more that could say about this horrible game, but most important thing is, dont buy it, just avoid it like the plague.    … Expand
  14. mrfrank79
    Nov 15, 2019
    1
    Mecánicas Sosas y un acabado visual no a la altura de Switch, Una dificultad estúpidamente Elevada donde lo único que resalta es la musica de TobyFox
  15. patomorillas
    Nov 6, 2019
    2
    This sucks. The combat system is a complete mess, you can barely understand what's going on, and in order to improve you need to almost make a doctore in this game. The characters are flat, and the enviroment is just as beautiful as empty. It's a very sad game. I give them two points because effort was put in here.
  16. ChaikaTrebant
    Oct 18, 2019
    1
    Just a horrible game! Don't waste your money in this game. A total trash and a cashgrab.
  17. CaptainStarfish
    Oct 17, 2019
    3
    FOR CARD GAME FANS: If you enjoy card games, you'll find this game trivial and boring. There's no deck customization, just the mechanics of 'izzits' having an attack and defense stat. (Red being attack, yellow being defend, and blue being spells basically). It's not a card game, I repeat, it is NOT a card game. If you are used to playing card games, you will hate this game because theFOR CARD GAME FANS: If you enjoy card games, you'll find this game trivial and boring. There's no deck customization, just the mechanics of 'izzits' having an attack and defense stat. (Red being attack, yellow being defend, and blue being spells basically). It's not a card game, I repeat, it is NOT a card game. If you are used to playing card games, you will hate this game because the system is overly simplified, uncustomizable aside from outright +1 buffs from a skill tree and random moves you get TEMPORARILY from the maps you play on to use for one boss fight. If the cards were carried over or you could customize your deck at all, it might be a more interesting game with the opportunity to actually modify your deck in a meaningful way. One of the reasons I bought this game is because those mechanics excited me, and was incredibly let down.

    MY REVIEW: So.... I really wanted to like this game, and I tried really hard to. I was very excited about this when it was announced, since I loved Pocket Card Jockey for the 3DS.

    This game is not fun though.

    It is severely lacking in polish and funness. The overworld map somehow is too large considering the tasks available. When you're not in combat, the game boils down to "Walk here, watch badly animated cutscene, walk there." Rinse and repeat until you get to the chapter finale and fight some big boss. They put in the option to fast travel, which half the time is disabled because the game requires you to walk over to an NPC to trigger a cutscene. During the 3rd chapter, I literally had to fight my rival two times in a row in order to walk ANYWHERE else on the map... why even give me the option of walking away? Just start the battle automatically if there's no other option! There are a variety of shops in the town which seem like they should have functionality in some way, but there's no money system. I think if this game had been worked on longer and more fleshed out, it would be a lot better. I think the barebones of the system were finished, and then the rest of the game was just forgotten about.

    I wish my woes ended there. The battle system is also not very good. Once you get into the rhythm of the game, you quickly realize that the enemies are much stronger than you, and you're forced to use map gimmicks to beat the boss. This usually means for the first 9 rounds you are trying to collect whatever cards you can if you mario-party style randomly roll the correct number to walk around a small map while you build up your energy meter so you have the max 6 mana limit to cast all your spells, and then hope you have enough cards left in your deck to actually beat the boss without dying first.

    I have to state again, I really wanted to like this game. Unfortunately for 25$, I gotta say this is overpriced. Combat is repetitive and unfun. This game might be entertaining if you are 8-10, but honestly the random elements would probably make it too frustrating for a kid.    … Expand
  18. IcyLucario
    Oct 17, 2019
    3
    This tedious game was what they prioritized their self-inflicted limited resources to?
  19. SaiyanPride89
    Nov 7, 2019
    0
    Way too short and boring. Pretty generic. Pokémon Sword and Shield paid the price for this garbage game.
  20. Alex214
    Oct 28, 2019
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. F*ck Gamefreak, F*ck Masuda, you have wasted your time creating a game that nobody wants instead of improving Pokémon Sword and Shield graphics to be as the beatiful as Luigi's Mansion 3, and no Masuda, there was no reason to cut Pokémon since you basically reused everything from sun and moon, even the new rival reuses Tilo's animations. Iwata wouldIwata would be dessapointed because of you and your team, conformists… Expand
  21. zanttila
    Nov 10, 2019
    0
    I honestly hate to rate this game knowing they pulled resources from Pokemon. Who thought it was a good idea to have the main team work on an RPG indy board game while GF had a chance to create the greatest Pokemon console game ever. But no, we get this steamy pile RPG and a Pokemon game with 400 less Pokemon, sub par animations, less content for more money. GF really screwed the pooch on this.
  22. Ookamigaru
    Nov 11, 2019
    0
    I just wasn't feeling it. Not my type of game. Hopefully the do better next time. I thought I could love this like I do pokemon but I didn't.
  23. OmegaChase1002
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    National Dex died for this garbage.
    It's trying to be an RPG, a deck-building game, and Mario Party all at the same time.
    Those just do not mix.
    If you want an RPG with deck building mechanics, you're better off playing Megaman Battle Network or Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories (or it's remake).
  24. 3qyeetere
    Nov 17, 2019
    0
    Ruined Pokemon for this piece of **** game. The music is fun but the combat looks so slooooow. Changing moves. Breaking opponents moves. Moving every turn. It feels like I’m looking at paper mario sticker star and I genuinely hated that game’s combat and progression.
  25. outhere
    Oct 17, 2019
    0
    For what is supposed to be Game Freak's passion project, this game is a shallow representation only further displaying the complete lack of ambition this company has. Cutting your development team in half to focus on something that makes the team happy? More like cut the team in half to put out two mediocre products in a season instead of maybe one not mediocre one. I had incredible hopesFor what is supposed to be Game Freak's passion project, this game is a shallow representation only further displaying the complete lack of ambition this company has. Cutting your development team in half to focus on something that makes the team happy? More like cut the team in half to put out two mediocre products in a season instead of maybe one not mediocre one. I had incredible hopes for Game Freak's mainline series console debut with Pokemon. If this is the level of quality that Game Freak WANTS to put out, then hope truly is lost for the Pokemon series as long as it remains in this developers control. Might as well make mobile games instead of this constant disappointing churn-ware. There are games on the switch with x1000 more substance than this. Spend your money where it shows some value...

    The combat is primarily luck based. Most of the strategy and skill ends up boiling down to rng. The visuals are fine but I really don't think visuals should buy back an entire mediocre game. There are some okay/relatively unique ideas in the combat, but it's either not fleshed out enough or grounded by the randomness. Want a better JRPG? Play Dragon Quest. Want better strategy? Play Fire Emblem. Overall I don't think this game has much to offer that any other game can't trump. There is also terrible pacing in the first hour or two, very boring and slogging along waiting for my game to get good isn't enjoyable at all.

    Look at Mario Odyssey, Breath of the Wild, and Smash Bros. Ultimate. This is what dedication to quality can achieve.    … Expand
  26. Rimandias
    Oct 18, 2019
    0
    I think it's better gamefreak focus only in Pokemon, this game is boring from the start to the end, with a dificulty very frustantig, the handicap between the hero and monster are, most of the time, way bigger and you see yourself in a situation where you depend soleny on lucky. There's bni strategy, there's grinding,
  27. Bowsertheboss
    Oct 16, 2019
    0
    The fact that every good review this game has is from pokemon shills who are here to "drown out the haters" tells you all you need to know. Imagine Sticker Star's combat, mixed with Mario Party's board game play, but only boss boss battles, and a single town that quickly grows old with its unchanging, dead atmosphere. The only thing you will be doing outside of the boring, tedious battlesThe fact that every good review this game has is from pokemon shills who are here to "drown out the haters" tells you all you need to know. Imagine Sticker Star's combat, mixed with Mario Party's board game play, but only boss boss battles, and a single town that quickly grows old with its unchanging, dead atmosphere. The only thing you will be doing outside of the boring, tedious battles are fetch quests, and wondering if your game just froze or if it's just a cutscene. Another drop in the bucket for Gamefreak's terrible saga of uninspired, lazy and downright insulting resume. Do yourself a favor, and buy a game that you'll want to play for more than 5 minutes.… Expand
  28. DoomDragon9000
    Oct 16, 2019
    2
    Little Town Hero is shallow and limited in content, and according to GameFreak correspondence in the lead-up to its release, deliberately so. It is designed to be completed quickly due to perceived time constraints face by its audience. While this is perhaps desirable for mobile games, it is unacceptable for a full-price, console offering. In terms of content offers minimal value.Little Town Hero is shallow and limited in content, and according to GameFreak correspondence in the lead-up to its release, deliberately so. It is designed to be completed quickly due to perceived time constraints face by its audience. While this is perhaps desirable for mobile games, it is unacceptable for a full-price, console offering. In terms of content offers minimal value.

    Combat is limited, shallow and repetitive. The gimmick here comes in the form of "izzits", which are ideas utilized to tackle bosses once they are converted into "dazzits". It's a welcome attempt at innovation, but ultimately resembles Paper Mario Sticker Star in all the wrong ways. And beyond that, this is standard JRPG fare with little to distinguish itself, at least not in a positive way.

    Story and character progression are one-dimensional. A pleasant art direction and Toby Fox soundtrack offer a silver lining to what is otherwise a bland, uninspiring RPG experience. Frequent and severe performance issues exacerbate the unpleasantness of it all. Be sure to skip town on this one.    … Expand
  29. Theflash2319
    Oct 23, 2019
    0
    Not good. Ruined Pokémon fit this. I can’t believe all resources were put into this game. Very sad
  30. WettyTamm
    Oct 25, 2019
    0
    Pokemons recorces were wasted on this half assed card battle game. No deck building, and really should have been on mobil
  31. 20Gigabytes
    Oct 24, 2019
    0
    **** graphics, no voices, **** story, **** music and very **** gameplay. Nothing saves this trash.
  32. bidoofhunter
    Nov 4, 2019
    0
    Id give this crap a negative score if possible. What a boring ugly game. We lost a complete pokemon game because gamefreak wasted resources on this crap.
  33. Metacriticerr
    Oct 17, 2019
    0
    Meh. They spent all their resources on this instead of a good next iteration of their bread and butter
  34. KingNothing
    Oct 17, 2019
    2
    Looks bad, sounds boring, plays even worse. I just wish the developer released this game earlier and focused on the other games we really care about
  35. Derex20
    Oct 16, 2019
    0
    The game itself is not bad, but it fails in terms of story, the final boss is predictible, the gameplay at the hour becomes boring, and it doesn't have an incentive to continue playing.
  36. ElHeroeLoco
    Oct 16, 2019
    2
    Boring story, battle style, don't buy it, just in a 50% sale The only good thing it's the music, but you can listen it in YT
  37. Derex18
    Oct 16, 2019
    0
    They cutted content for pokemon SWSH for this game, and even with that, they make a mediocre game. Do yourself a favor and buy DQ11 instead, it's a better RPG than this
  38. RockVincent
    Nov 19, 2019
    0
    Work hard on Pokémon not other game.
    Stop letting all the fans down.
    Change the ceo pleases he can do nothing.
  39. gragabot
    Jul 27, 2020
    4
    I don't think the dev team knows how to do side quest. Most of the design for side quest is garbage and confusing. I got all the way to chapter 8. But because of their side quest design, I decided not to border with the game anymore. I feel like the game would be much better if they just simply remove the entire side quest. Why do you even need it? No map, no list, and time-limited. WhoI don't think the dev team knows how to do side quest. Most of the design for side quest is garbage and confusing. I got all the way to chapter 8. But because of their side quest design, I decided not to border with the game anymore. I feel like the game would be much better if they just simply remove the entire side quest. Why do you even need it? No map, no list, and time-limited. Who needs garbage side quests (there is only a few of side quest). Basically I spend more time on trying to figure out whether if there is side quest available, wondering through the whole map, than spend time on fighting. If the whole side quest design is removed, i'd give it a 7.5. With it, 0 points.… Expand
  40. AlexMakesToast
    Nov 23, 2022
    4
    Little town hero = 4/10
    ............................................................

Awards & Rankings

29
#29 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
64

Mixed or average reviews - based on 25 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 25
  3. Negative: 3 out of 25
  1. Nintendo Force Magazine
    Apr 29, 2020
    65
    If Game Freak simply tweaked the battle system to run a little faster and be less rigged, the game could really shine. [Issue #43 – November/December 2019, p. 18SW]
  2. RPGamer
    Nov 11, 2019
    60
    Overall, Little Town Hero is a lot of great ideas mashed together with a solid story, but unpredictable combat, average graphics and forgettable music drag down and tend to overwhelm the best parts. Reducing the randomness of the largest battles or otherwise streamlining these encounters would have noticeably improved the game’s overall flow. As it stands, Little Town Hero is neither especially great nor particularly bad but harmlessly average; with ample patience in the face of bad luck, there’s the sparkle of an enjoyable gem hidden under the game’s false starts.
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  3. GameGrin
    Oct 30, 2019
    75
    Despite having a battle system that, while interesting, can feel at odds with the rest of the game’s tone, Little Town Hero is a delightful, small-scale adventure that will calm and charm you with its serene setting, fun characters and joyful presentation.
    Read full review
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