Half-Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax!

[LaughingThesaurus]

It's a game available for PSP, and for Xbox 360. I don't know who the console-gamers-on-their-off-time are around here, but if there are any, they should definitely play this game if they haven't already. If you have, fantastic!

To bring anyone who hasn't up to speed: Half-Minute Hero is a (fairly old actually) game that's based on old JRPGs. It has particularly simplified RPG elements and such, but makes up for that with a very long series of 30-second long quests. Evil Overlords, and Evil Overlord Wannabes around the world have discovered a spell of ultimate destruction, which will destroy the world thirty seconds after it is cast. Naturally, you have to stop them in what really amounts to be more of a strategy/puzzle game than an RPG. Of course, after you're finished with Hero 30, there are a couple of bonus stages, followed by a quest called Hero 300, for those who want something slightly long term.
...and if you hate yourself, you can try Hero 3, which Hero 300 unlocks for you to play...

Wouldn't be much of a short-session sort of game without some perks to go for, either. Each stage has two titles to earn, which you are not told how to get. They mostly involve different clear strategies in any given stage, to keep you trying new things. There are also companions to recruit, gear to get (which can't be used in older stages, before the hero would have gotten it, because time travel is a factor) and alternate paths to take throughout the world. There are also medals you earn for having quick enough clear times.
...oh, and if you're worried about that thirty second time limit, it's not strictly thirty seconds. A game mechanic involves paying off the time goddess so that she rewinds time to enable you to reasonably do things... and the cost goes up every time.

So, has anybody played this gem? I quite like it, and I've frankly had to get back into it because all my other games are on PC.
I'm told it's a love-it or hate-it experience, however.

[Mánagarmr]

Umm nope, never heard of it. Then again, I don't own any consoles aside from a very dusty old Gamecube in a cupboard somewhere.

[LaughingThesaurus]

Darn.
It's quite a good game, but it's nothing to go and buy a console over unfortunately. Maybe if you had access to a PSP, you could play that version for cheap or something.
But, I will be honest, the only reason I picked it up was because "How can an RPG only last 30 seconds?"

[zespri]

I never owned a console except for PSP. And I used it for skype and reading books only. For about 2 months at which point I gave up and bought an iPhone. If I get bored enough, I'll dust it off.

[LaughingThesaurus]

Dang it. This is what I get for liking games that didn't do so great, that are like really obscure.

Well I guess... you can look at how the game looks on paper to discuss? Or... I guess wait until zespri gets bored enough. =(
Oh well. It's really fun. There's the hero mode, and an evil overlord/princess/knight mode to play on the PSP. Hero 300 is a longer game where you have 5 minutes to stop the evil overlord, across multiple continents, but there's no time reversal. Hero 3 is a game where you have a three second time limit to stop the evil overlord. ...I have not beaten that one yet, and I don't plan on trying any more.

[madcow]

I've played this one actually, it's fun. I went through and beat all the modes (including the fiendish 3 second hero), though I never replayed the base game as it tried to encourage (I rarely replay games) nor did multiplayer - it was still fun.

I have a 360 for some of those AAA titles that I know I'll never see on mac (dark souls, dragon age, and probably the upcoming xcom). Though some of my favorite titles are just the XBLA titles. Beyond the unfortunately named half-minute hero, I've also played and loved Shadow Complex, 'splosion man, and there were probably a few others I can't think of.

The two current XBLA games I play are Spelunky HD (this is really a fantastic game great for quick single plays or hours at a time, and you can play the original PC version for free), and Fez.

[LaughingThesaurus]

One of the paths on the main game does have a Zero Wing reference boss, though. That level's pretty well worth replaying around to get!
Yeah... I think the most worthwhile use my 360 ever got is with XBLA games. The only games I've played otherwise, to any real length, are Lego Star Wars and Rock Band. Have you ever given Rock Band Blitz a look? I've been playing the demo over and over again, hoping a god descends from the heavens and bestows 20$ for me to buy the MSP I need for it.
I do have Fez, and I think I got to the point where the puzzles are so obscure that I no longer want to beat it. :p I also played Spelunky on the PC, before it went XBLA, and it was probably the most fun roguelike-y game I have ever played in my life. Sure, some things are hideously overpowered, but when you can die in two hits (to be generous) then it doesn't seem so bad, now does it?

[madcow]

Yep, I played Spelunky before the XBLA release and it was great, the HD version adds a few new enemies/items along with local only co-op/battle modes.

And the other games I couldn't think of that I played were Bastion and Might & Magic Clash of Heroes (which is more of a battle puzzle game but fun).

[Aklyon]

Where did you get such a giant title from? When I played it on the PSP, it was Half-Minute Hero.
I like that version, but the 360 graphics look out of place.

[madcow]

The 360 was a remake/updated version. I guess it has new game modes but I couldn't say what the difference is exactly. I think it also had the option between the original or the new art style, it has been awhile since I played it.

[LaughingThesaurus]

Oh, the giant title is the 360 version. I didn't know if the PSP version had that title for sure or not. The 360 version has the cartoony graphics style, but you can also play it in retro graphics style... and if you have the PSP version, I think you end up with more content in the end. Like, the Evil Lord and Princess and Knight 30 modes are only one level each. =(
It's still a fantastic game to play in Hero 30, though. Good for little sessions or for long ones.

[Aklyon]

You certainly do get more out of the PSP version, then.  I'd gladly trade cartoony graphics and extended title for more game, retro graphics, and less of a mouthful name. (games being a mouthful to say that I know of belong mostly to the Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! What did I do to deserve this?! series, though the name get shortened after the first game)
PSP version:
Hero 30, plenty of stuff.
Princess 30, 20ish levels?
Evil Lord 30, no clue but it was certainly a lot.
Knight 30, same as above.
Also, Hero 300 and The Goddamn Hero 3 mode, which may or maynot actually be titled as such.

[LaughingThesaurus]

Well, it's awful convenient for me to have the silly 360 mouthful edition. I'm just disappointed that they chopped out half the content on the other modes. I mean, Hero 30 does have like 70 levels and several alternate paths that don't count towards that level count, so maybe that got bigger in the 360 version?
Probably the only reasons I would ever pick up a PSP otherwise are for hacking it (which I probably would decide against) or for Dissidia/012 Duodecim.

[Aklyon]

The PSP is completely worth it for hacking purposes(as long as you make sure its either a PSP-1000 or a certain kind of PSP-2000 along with a spare battery, for the easiest way of doing it), I have basically three different (older) handhelds in one on it,psp included, though limited by not having gotten a bigger memory stick for it since I got the psp. And some PSP games of course, but they take up far too much space on the memory stick in comparison so most of mine are in semi-awkward umd form.

[LaughingThesaurus]

Oh, it's not a question of whether it'd be worth it. Without question, it would be worth it. My problem with it is, it will simply become too tempting to pirate. Like, I really don't want to, and I avoid it wherever possible, because it really just reflects badly on myself and the community of the console I pirate on... The only reason I ever really would is if it's a hassle otherwise (IE, portable games, which I don't have a hackable portable, probably for that very reason. Also, GFWL, but 90% of the time I just don't play those) or if there is no demo, or a poor demo (IE, many, many PC games) in which case I delete the game after I decide on whether I like it or not.

Jeez, now that I typed all of that up, I'm thinking about how convenient it would be to have like, a SNES and a GBA and a bunch of PSP games all like wherever I go. Curses!
Well, my money's going elsewhere this semester. I need to think about it more.