The Lincoln Spotlight: Half a Minute Hero: The Second Coming

Box art                                                                                                              By Opus
What is... Half-Minute Hero: The Second Coming?
Half-minute hero is a new game, fitting under the umbrella term Japanese Roleplaying Games (or JRPG), made by game studios ‘OPUS’ and published by Marvelous. Within this JRPG, you have 30 seconds to complete your tasks before the world ends; usually by some sort of deus ex machina sort of spell to obliterate the world, this game packs many references to past popular JRPGs, like the ‘Final Fantasy’ series or ‘ChronoTrigger’. It tries to capture the style of the fantasy epics of gaming while making you laugh, one story beat at time. However, does the fast pace of the game make the comedy and the epic story fall flat, or does the story itself work with the fast paced action of the game play?   

Graphics and Sound
The graphical style of this game is of the classic, unforgetable 16-bit style, reminiscent of the old fantasy epics, where you have a very charming aesthetic and absolutely beautiful sprite work. The brilliant and unique artistic design of each end-level boss is so superb, that it functions  to give us a brief insight into their personality in the short period of time the bosses are on the screen. The soundtrack itself is the only weak part of the aesthetic, because there are certain tracks that definitely get old after repeating some of the harder levels. For the most part, in cutscenes the sound adds to the emotion behind some of the characters. With all that there isn’t much more to say, apart from the fact that the game can run on almost anything, due to it’s 2D 16 bit aesthetic. While with this art style it's very subjective whether you like it or not, I personally enjoyed it, andI would rate this part a:
4/5      

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Cut Scene                                                   By taken:Ishaan  

Gameplay and Story
The game itself starts you off, the player, in a fantasy world where you are the “chosen one”, who comes from a large blood-line of “chosen ones”, who will ultimately save the world. The clichéd nature of this kind of story is clearly done on purpose, because the developers of this game wanted to make a satirical comedy of the awfully cliched great fantasy games. That being said, the jokes within the game are very hit or miss at times. However, the real strength of the this game is derived from how the simple gameplay can be so fun and challenging. When you start a mission, you have 30 seconds to level up by slaying different monsters so you are strong enough to defeat the boss of the level. At the beginning of the game you meet a time goddess. She will help you in most of the missions by rewinding time (but not without a little payment, of course). The missions are puzzles in which you have to manage your time between leveling up and doing whatever you need to do to gain access to the boss. In general, the story and the humour of the game will keep you entertained, and while the gameplay is very easy to understand, it always keep changing little details, therefore making it a fun game to play when you are bored. We rate this part a:
5/5
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Encounter                                     Taken by: Anonymous

Conclusion
In conclusion, we think that this game is mechanically perfect, its extremely unique style of gameplay that continuously changes is something that doesn't get old. The game uses its clichédstyled story to its advantage, and turns it into an extremely entertaining satire, filled with memorable moments, and comedy.The only thing that can be argued to be bad, or displeasing, is the graphical style of the game, which in the end is totally a preference.This game is a must buy for anyone who doesn't mind a simple puzzle solving and the art style. This game can be picked up on Steam or your PSP for about 10‎$. Go out and give it a try!
   
Final score:9/10
By Francisco Pereira and Roberto Rodriguez

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