No Heroes Here is brilliant at times, but frequently makes for a frustrating co-op game.
I played the game with three of my siblings. WeNo Heroes Here is brilliant at times, but frequently makes for a frustrating co-op game.
I played the game with three of my siblings. We loved the idea of working together to defend a castle and scramble around trying to create cannonballs, gunpowder and fire them down on encroaching enemies. The incredibly inconvenient castle designs often require carefully strategizing. We would define loose roles like "Left Cannoneer", "Crafter", or "Deliverer". In some castles it worked so well we decided to try playing without looking at the castle layout before starting the level and without talking. Muffled screams of panic when a dozen enemies are pounding on the gate and everyone realizing we have no cannonballs left made for some exciting heart-pounding fun or glorious domination.
Other times, however, some mandatory levels would take us a good dozen tries despite our best efforts, strategizing, and communication, leading to a lot of frustration, particularly in the ice world where precision platforming on tiny, slippery platforms is commonplace in addition to having to keep the castle constantly fueled with quickly-dwindling braziers. Bosses, especially, seem to require an unfair amount of perfect coordination just to survive sometimes, let alone figure out what oddly specific combination of ammunition you need to fire to deal any damage.
When items start piling up, it's increasingly difficult to pick up the ones you want, which creates a space-management and risk-reward gameplay. I like that design choice! And it would be unfair to blame the game when siblings decide to cover everything with so many useless bags of gunpowder that we can't pick anything up and the game crashes. But even when we're all trying to work together, it still leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
Other than the character and stage select screens which are needlessly difficult to navigate, the game seems brilliantly designed, but we...just don't have that much fun. I can't quite put my finger on any one thing and I don't know how I would improve the game. We just...don't want to come back to it.
We all excitedly grab our controllers for Full Metal Furies, Flat Heroes, Moving Out!, or LOVERS in a Dangerous Spacetime, but, unfortunately, not so here with No Heroes Here.… Expand
