I Wanna Be A Hero, apart from having one of the most unique names that I’ve ever come across in a video game, is a very straightforward experience. Players control a little androgynous child with an orange cat clinging to …
I Wanna Be A Hero, apart from having one of the most unique names that I’ve ever come across in a video game, is a very straightforward experience. Players control a little androgynous child with an orange cat clinging to its head, and attempt to ascend a ten-story tower filled with monsters that get tougher and scarier with each level.
A digital joystick on the bottom right of the screen and a four-slot ability box on the left make up all the controls that the game has. Combat is handled by running into enemies, and players unlock a random assortment of abilities to select from each time they level up.
As a true roguelike game, dying in I Wanna Be A Hero means you start from the beginning with a clean slate. Nothing carries over. This makes I Wanna Be A Hero a hard game to recommend to players looking for a quick gameplay experience. On top of that, the game’s difficulty really spikes at level 5. I found the first 4 levels a challenge initially, but far from impossible …and then I came close to beating the fifth level once.
Once.
It really comes down to which abilities you can select from during the crucial early levels. Some abilities drain your mana (which slowly regenerates) while other abilities are passive and are always active. Each time you level up you’re given three random abilities to choose from. Naturally the abilities that heal you are going to be worth picking up (as healing from randomly dropped potions or from leveling up are the only other ways to refill your health), and I found that passive abilities that stun or slow enemies to be the most hand of that variety.
The enemy types in I Wanna Be A Hero vary from level to level, with silly chickens and armored sheep in the opening levels, and giant slime monsters and evil sorcerers in the higher levels. Each enemy has particular ways that they can be dispatched the easiest. So the more you play the easier it will eventually get as you familiarize yourself with the various enemy types.
There really isn’t that much more to I Wanna Be A Hero than that. You start the game, go as far as you can, die, and repeat it all over again. Eventually, hopefully, you’ll reach the final floor wherein I’d bet you would have to make your way all the way to the bottom again. But that’s just a guess. I’m still stuck on floor 5.
I Wanna Be A Hero isn’t the most innovative game around, but it does what it set out to do, and that’s give players an easy-to-play (but hard to master) roguelike experience. If you haven’t gotten your fill of the roguelike genre on mobile yet, I Wanna Be A Hero may be worth a look.
