Dispatching the hero in Yuusha no Kuse ni Namaikida

While Yuusha no Kuse ni Namaikida gets inspiration from Dragon Quest, it’s nothing like it. Acquire’s game shares more in common with SimCity than it does with a J-RPG. The goal of Yuusha no Kuse ni Namaikida is to protect the purple devil from the intrepid heroes entering his cave and hunting him down. You can’t attack the heroes directly, instead you have to dig a lair for the devil to hide in and break mossy blocks to unleash slimes in the environment.

In the first stage you have a few minutes to build a labyrinth, which means you have to dig quickly by pressing the square button. Slimes are the bottom of the barrel in the monster food chain. While they can attack the blue armored hero, they can also be used to fertilize other soil. When you dig the white spotted fertilized areas you get a tougher insect monster. By the time you get a few insects or a healthy army of slimes a hero who bares resemblance to Loto from Dragon Quest enters the cave. Before he steps in you can place the devil anywhere in the maze, but once you place him he stays put. The Loto look-a-like begins walking through the dungeon in the most direct path to the devil. Monsters passively attack him and you can watch his HP dwindle on the top of the screen. Once he dies you are awarded points that to upgrade your monsters. Do you want stronger slimes or next tier insect creatures? The choice is yours and the battle is far from over.

When the hero dies he also leaves his skeleton behind. You can poke the skeleton with the pickaxe to revive it and gain an extra monster. In the second stage you want the insect monsters to eat some of the slimes. This transforms them into a stronger winged insect monster after being in a cocoon for a short period. To keep the food chain going you need mine more slimes and dig further underground. Soon a second Barbarian-like hero will appear and you get a chance to hide the devil again. If the Barbarian finds the devil he wraps him up in rope and tries to drag him out of the cave. The game isn’t over yet. All of those minions you made will still attack the Barbarian and if they kill him before he reaches the exit you still win.

Before the third stage you’re given more time to refine your dungeon and manage your monster ecosystem. This time two heroes will come in the Loto clone and a mage who shoots fireballs! The demo ends after the third stage, but it feels like later stages will require more careful monster management and maze planning.