Class of Heroes: Anniversary Edition mini-review

The agony and ecstasy of Wizardry – but with anime-style art.

Today’s dungeon crawlers are welcoming, habitually imparting all the lessons needed for survival. But that’s not the case with 2009’s Class of Heroes. Building on the genre-defining foundations of Wizardry, the title mimicked the feel of playing a complex tabletop game.

Back when Heroes was released for the PSP, reading the bundled game manual was essential. If you dove right in, even a simple task like creating a party of adventurers was precarious. There were no on-screen notices telling you that characters had to meet specific stat thresholds before you could set the game’s version of a job class. If you overlooked the lessons offering offered by the game’s Particus Academy then you might have assigned a spellcaster on the front row or a melee fighter in the back. There were a multitude of ways you could reach an unceremonious defeat.

BYOM: Bring Your Own Manual

The recently released Anniversary Edition sands down some of Class of Heroes’ prickly edges, adding conveniences like additional difficulty settings that tweak damage and the amount of XP and money you’ll earn. Now, there’s an arena that permits players to rechallenge bosses, extending an expedient method of grinding. But make no mistake, the game remains unflinchingly tough fifteen years on. But developer Zerodiv knows there is something oddly gratifying about defying the odds.

Yes, Class of Heroes is that meticulous DM who has thoroughly studied the rulebook. As such, it embraces many of the particulars that most dungeon crawlers overlook. One of the more noticeable examples of this is found in party composition. Attempt to team up Diablons (who have high base stats) with Celestians or try to form a crew with different character alignments, and you’ll annihilate the party’s affinity rating, facing an uphill battle as you crawl through a campaign of 70+ randomized dungeons.

Dungeons Should Be Dangerous

Similarly, your starting gear is hilariously ineffective. From armor that provides little direction, rubbish daggers assigned to characters (even in the back row!), to one-and-done spellcasters, Class of Heroes offers newcomers few concessions. But after countless crawls that removed the sense of danger associated with traps, the back-to-basics approach is welcome.

Pass the game’s hazing period, and Heroes eventually settles down for a more predictable and pragmatic experience. Just don’t expect much in the way of exposition. Beyond the game’s academic context, you’ll navigate menus rather than chat with a town full of NPCs before returning to the dungeons. And those who appreciate a more authentic recreation of pen-and-paper role-playing wouldn’t want it any other way.

Class of Heroes: Anniversary Edition was played on PC with review code provided by the publisher.