Title: Heracles no Eikou III: Kamigami no Chinmoku
Release Date: 4/24/1992
Developer: Data East
Publisher: Data East
I decided to power through and complete this one. There is a complete English translation of this game available online, and through the power of illegal emulation, was able to playthrough this game on my browser. So this is no longer a placeholder post, but instead my complete and final thoughts on this title.
For those who didn't read the original post, this is a JRPG that was only exclusive to Japan on the Super Famicom, hence why it took a while to update. The next game is actually in the similar vein, which is why the updates on the blog have slowed down a bit as I play through these hard to access games.
Background
Heracles no Eikou III: Kamigami no Chinmoku, which translates to "Glory of Heracles III: Silence of the Gods," is part of a popular Japanese only RPG series from around this era. The "Glory of Heracles" series was a series developed by Data East (known for their bit-crushed voice sample "DAYYYYTAYEAST" and the Joe & Mac series), and actually dates back to 1987 with their first title being for the NES. The series was completely Japanese exclusive up until 2010 with the release of a DS title that actually managed to make it to the shores of North America. This series, along with Data East itself, have long been abandoned, though it has been mentioned in Smash Ultimate as one of the many spirits available in the game.
The series, at the time, was fairly popular in Japan, and featured scenario writing from Kazushige Nojima, who would later go on to write Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, and the Kingdom Hearts games (I don't know if this is a ringing endorsement or not...). The game was noted for its "dramatic" and "tragic" narrative, featuring an obvious but heavy influence from Greek Mythology.
For those not familiar with Greek Mythology, Heracles was an illegitimate son of the king of the Gods and notorious poon-hound Zeus. He was a nigh invincible demi-god who, while not invulnerable to harm, was known for his durability and immense super-strength. In the original tale, he was more of a bloodthirsty maniac than the lovably awkward underdog that he was in the Disney movie. He was prone to fits of violence and, perhaps instigated by the goddess Hera, he even murdered his own wife and child in a fit of rage. To atone for this crime, Heracles was asked to perform twelve impossible "labors" by the Mycenean king, Eurystheus; these included slaying mythical beasts, retrieving sacred artifacts, or even some really difficult chores (he had to clean some truly feculant stables in one day). It's one of the most famous "hero" tales of Greek Mythology, and would serve as a pretty neat basis for a video game.
Too bad these games don't follow the traditional "Heracles" story. Instead these games tell some original tales set in the world of Greek mythology. The first game sees Heracles entering the underworld to rescue Aphrodite from Hades.
Story
This game's story follows an amnesiac protagonist. He has woken with no memory, and travels around the world meeting with gods, heroes, mortals, monsters, and demi-humans to try to piece back together who he is. The unique part of this is that the protagonist is clearly more than human, as he is invulnerable and immortal. He can jump off cliffs without fear of damage, and do other death-defying stunts that no one else in the party would even attempt. The "jumping off a cliff" set piece becomes a recurring plot point in this game, as several characters will basically dare you to jump off a cliff to "show your courage" or ask you to prove that you are indeed an immortal by taking a jump.
Your character awakes in a village having no memory, and it turns out the village is run by Pixies. The pixies have tended to your health, and once they realize you are immortal (which happens because the ground randomly collapses beneath you leading to your first of many falls), they take you to a nearby village. This starts a long saga where you meet up with other amnesiac immortals (the first you meet is scamming people to watch him fall off a tower), and start to piece together what is wrong with the world. What unfolds is a tale of a blood cult trying to resurrect the Titans, a plot where the gods have purposefully taken a step back from guiding mankind to give them a chance to prove themselves as capable, and generally save the Ancient World.
In a way, much of the story is similar in structure to a Dragon Quest title, in that you are continually hopping from town to town and solving their local problems. The first town is a slaver town that is feeding maidens to a monster called "The Dark One," and another quest sees you gathering Gorgon blood to unpetrify Atlas, the Titan that holds the Earth aloft. You travel to a lot of "Ancient World" locations too, such as Persia and Crete (annoyingly Persia, being in the Middle East, has the wavy hot heat lines distorting everything, which really set off my motion sickness).
Honestly, the narrative is really packed. The game does do something unique in that it does have early "cutscenes" with much better rendered characters and artwork at times, usually when a god or goddess is explaining what is going on in the story. Characters continually enter and leave your party, including whole hordes of soldiers or monsters (you get creatures like Pixies and centaurs in your party at some points) who act in battle as one large unit who will slowly get killed off as they get damaged.
Overall, the story is pretty solid. Definitely clunky, but if you are no stranger to old JRPGs and fan translations, then this one is at least a solid letter grade above most other fare from this time (aside from the true classics). One neat twist is that the main villain and final boss ends up being a companion that you travel with throughout the game, which I don't think is something done in many RPGs even nowadays. As well, there are some really cool set piece locations, like the aforementioned petrified Atlas, or when you descend to Tartarus and are put into the body of a large statue. Overall, the setting, theming, and narrative makes this game stand out (though I am biased because I love Greek mythology).
Gameplay
First off, the battles are turn based, and it is a good ol' fashioned grind-fest of a game. You will be continually battling your way through hordes and hordes of random encounters in order to boost your measly stats. In typical JRPG fashion, you have attacks, spells, defense, and items. There is honestly nothing special about the combat, and many battles devolve into "hit attack, heal when necessary." Not to say that this game is easy, as some of the late game bosses are really quite difficult! This game loves to have bosses that will act for three or four turns for every one of yours. The final boss, in particular, is a real son of a bitch, with three forms and attacks that seems to just nuke your entire party. With some steady grinding and stat boosting, though, nothing in this game can be considered truly "difficult."
Other than that, you are exploring towns and progressing the story by chatting with the right people. You are putting together clues with what's going on, and solving simple "puzzles" to progress the story. The first town, for example, has you dressing as a woman to be shipped off as one of the slave girls who will be sacrificed to the Dark One. There is also a progressive day and night cycle which only moves when you are wandering around the overworld, and certain story events will only occur at certain times of the day. This led to a couple of annoying times where the game seemingly ground to a halt and I had no idea why I couldn't progress. It turns out I had to wait until night to progress the story. Annoying, but not a vorpal flaw.
Music
The music in this game is really quite good. The overworld theme really sticks in your head, and the boss theme also stands out.
Final Verdict
This game was actually quite enjoyable. I liked the "Ancient Greece" theming without being overtly a rip of Greek Mythology. There were enough nods to lesser known myths (Zeus flooding the world, a cult to Uranus, etc), and it was nice to see those dastardly Titans highlighted as a villain. Honestly I would recommend checking this out if you can move past the clunky early JRPG format.
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