How Long Does It Take To Beat Little Town Hero?
The newest turn-based RPG from Game Freak is, surprise, surprise, not a Pokemon title. Rather, it's an adorable little game called Little Town Hero, in which players protect their little town from not-so-little monsters. Don't let the term "RPG" scare you off; this game was made with tight time schedules in mind, rendering the main campaign short but sweet.
So how long does it take to beat Little Town Heroes? Not long at all, for good reason: in an interview with Nintendo Life, Little Town Hero's director Masao Taya reflected on how large RPGs have become, and said that thanks to adulthood and work, he hasn't had time to play them.
"RPGs are really time-consuming, and with how big the maps are, you can easily get lost and stuck in areas where you only get to battle weak opponents," he said. "That was a large part of the reason that I stopped playing as much."
Taking this to heart, Taya made the map in Little Town Hero compact and made sure not to include any frivolous encounters. It's this minimalist approach to RPG gaming that enables players to finish Little Town Hero in around 10-20 hours of play.
The battle system in the game could take some getting used to, however, as it was designed so that players can't just spam their most powerful attacks in order to defeat the monsters that menace the village. Rather, they have to strategize and come up with careful battle plans while taking on each respective monster, capitalizing on their respective weaknesses.
"If it takes [players] a little longer to understand the [battle] system, you're looking closer to 15-20 hours," Taya said.
Yes, the length of the game is fairly minuscule when compared to most full-fledged RPGs (we've got 70 hours logged on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of Wild just looking for Korok seeds, after all). But this still appears to be a game worth checking out if you enjoy the role-playing-game genre. And it's made by the people behind Pokemon. With that in mind, why wouldn't you give it as shot?
Little Town Hero launches for Nintendo Switch on Oct. 16, 2019.