With 2D sprite games marking a resurgence, it was only logical when pre-order bonuses were announced for games such as Jump Legend Biography and the second 3DS Crayon Shin-Chan would be a Famicom and Super Famicom (respectively) download. Obviously Inti-Creates went one step further with the fun Mighty Gunvolt free with early copies of Azure Striker Gunvolt. Add Bandai Namco Games to the mix with Haikyu Quest -an 8-bit themed JRPG- given with pre-orders (and eShop downloads until 24 October) of their latest licensed game Haikyu!! Tsunage! Itadaki no Keshiki!!
Unlike Mighty Gunvolt: Haikyu Quest is actually in-game DLC as opposed to a separate home screen file, it also happens to be a whopping TWO BLOCKS in size. Also unlike Mighty Gunvolt is where-as Inti-Creates wished to create an authentic Famicom experience with a game that would actually push the machine; Bandai Namco go for the Tomodachi Quest-esque pastiche of the genre with over-exaggerated pixels. Tomodachi Quest is an appropriate reference point on many levels as after selecting your team on the volleyball court you are then propelled to a Tomodachi Quest-esque dungeon.
The goal of the dungeon remains the same: find and defeat the boss. Random battles aplenty plague your journey and there’s always the almost maze-like nature of the dungeons to try and dispel non-linearity although this in no way is to imply the game has any level of depth other than consisting of multiple (six) dungeons to Tomodachi Quest’s one. Enemies are like coloured flan versions of Dragon Quest Slimes and can be attacked either by Attack, Magic or Special. No items, weapons nor armour are otherwise located within the game highlighting the simplicity of not only the aesthetics but in the entirety of the game design.
Graphically Haikyu Quest isn’t strictly nostalgia as beautifully drawn sprites of the main characters and bosses appear in-front of the in-game action upon occasion (sadly not overlapping like the 3D effects of the 3DS Professor Layton’s or Ace Attorney’s). The bosses are like True Blood gone manga and are actually pretty cool although in reality they’re just the same as the flans other than often the ability to apply more damage to your five party members. Storyline is non-existent apart from perhaps the interaction with the vampiric bosses and the generic princess-rescuing mission as there’s no towns etc to speak of.
It’s not the stubbornness of the developers to not transcend fan service with the blocky pixels and the non-directional control that’s much of the issue. More-so the game is rather boring outside of its endearing aesthetics. Random battles are not only plentiful but seem pretty pointless, as does working out which attack to use against which flan. My recent review of Pinch 50 highlighted that a great game can be made even with the most minimal production values, unfortunately Bandai Namco appear to overlook the necessary aspects of what truly constitutes an enjoyable videogaming experience.
3/10
Review by Bri Bri. For more information on Haikyu Quest go to http://haikyu.bngames.net/special/first.html
