1302: ZETTAI RYOUI– I mean HERO

Have I mentioned ZHP, aka Zettai Hero Project: Unlosing Ranger vs. Darkdeath Evilman on these pages yet? I forget. If not, I’m about to. If I am about to repeat myself, eh, whatever.

ZHP, as I will refer to it from now on to save my sanity, is an RPG from Nippon Ichi for PSP (Vita compatible). Its aesthetic and style is strongly reminiscent of NIS’ flagship strategy RPG series Disgaea, but it’s a very different sort of game — rather than being a turn-based strategy RPG, it’s a turn-based sort-of-roguelike in which you control a single character.

The concept of ZHP is pleasingly ridiculous. The Earth’s hero, the Unlosing Ranger, is on the way to save the world from villain Darkdeath Evilman when he gets run over. As he dies, he passes on his powers to the silent protagonist you spend the rest of the game playing. You, as the new Unlosing Ranger, are immediately thrown into NES-style turn-based RPG combat against Darkdeath Evilman and are defeated almost as quickly as combat begins. Thus begins a lengthy adventure to “train” yourself how to be a proper hero.

I’m only about 10 hours or so into the game so far so I can’t comment with any authority on how the game progresses, but I’m really enjoying it. It’s pleasantly portable friendly while at the same time being deep enough to also encourage hefty play sessions if you’ve got the time or inclination. Despite being turn-based, the dungeon crawling, exploration and combat feels very fast-paced and enjoyable. There’s a lot of loot to collect, all of which is reflected on your character’s appearance when you equip it, but a lot of it is very temporary — items have very limited durability, and thus become all but useless after a while.

Progression in ZHP is unconventional and bizarre. Unlike a traditional roguelike, there’s no permadeath — instead, being defeated in a dungeon tots up all the levels you gained on that particular run and adds them to your “Total Level”. This, in turn, provides bonuses to your base statistics, which means that “level 1” the next time you go into a dungeon is a significantly better “level 1” than it was at the start of the game. This progression can be supplemented by inserting various objects into your body, at which point they become “chips” that affect your base statistics. Then there’s Hero Energy to direct around, booster items to plug into your chips and all manner of other nonsense. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, but it seems to work really well.

At the stage I’ve just got to in the game, I’ve just unlocked a 60-floor dungeon that is clearly intended for grinding purposes. Given that the maps, enemies and even environments are randomly generated each time you enter, the whole game could have been this enormous dungeon and I’d have been happy, but there’s a fun and surprisingly “nice” story running alongside it all too — part of the game’s concept is that by running through the dungeons in “Bizarro World” you’re helping solve the problems of “real” people back on Earth while simultaneously powering yourself up enough to battle Darkdeath Evilman.

Anyway. If you need a portable RPG — and one that’s both toilet- and commute-friendly — then it’s well worth a look. Don’t let the Disgaea-esque aesthetic put you off if you weren’t a fan of that series — ZHP is a very different beast indeed and well worth your time.