PSP World

Half Minute Hero Breaks New Ground on PSP

Half Minute Hero is a quirky new title from XSeed Games that falls somewhere between Wario Ware's bite-sized minigames and a traditional Japanese RPG. Everything that happens in the game takes place in 30-second increments, rather than the long epic hundred hour quests we have become accustomed to. This makes it a perfect title for people who love retro RPG games but don't have the time (or the attention span) to see a marathon storyline right to the finish.

The storyline will be instantly recognizable to JRPG veterans:

For centuries, an epic battle between humans and evil lords has been raging and destroying everything in its path. The civilized world is under attack by these relentless enemies and all that remains are ruins of castles and the bodies of the faithful knights who once proudly protected them. Throughout time, heroes and legends have risen above the chaos, only to eventually disappear into the ashes. As the last wandering sage and final hope for humanity, it is up to the protagonist to somehow transcend time and death to unite these legends and their unique powers in one last battle against the Ultimate Evil Lord.

In Half-Minute Hero, choose between four modes of accelerated gameplay, each complete with original quests, enemies and attacks. Battles are either random, real-time encounters with monsters, evil lords and bosses, or stage related encounters. There are 50 stages in Hero 30 Mode and 30 stages in all other modes, in which players have 30 seconds, or a half-minute, to complete their tasks before joining forces with the other past and future legends to fight together in the legendary Hero 300.

An unorthodox approach to traditional RPGs, Half-Minute Hero combines adventure, an epic storyline, legendary characters and a punishing countdown clock to destruction, to create an adrenaline pumping experience that will blow past conventional fantasy games. Retaining the charm inherent in classic RPGs, Half-Minute Hero is a breakneck foray into an ancient land of monsters and magic, all in under 30 seconds.

Half Minute Hero takes all of the grinding out of the traditional RPG experience. Turns out there's only 30 seconds of game left after that.