This year I've been experimenting and trying out different genres of games, and this game fits into the JRPG category. I always see this series of games on sale everywhere, and they all have positive reviews; I picked it up for a couple of dollars and decided to give it a shot (on Steam).

HNRe;1 is an interesting combination of genres. It feels like a mixture between turn-based JRPG and visual novel. I'm not sure if this is a common thing, but I found it worked really well. The visual novel aspects were really well done with a lot of thought and detail poured into the characters and the plot. It's like grabbing the gameplay of a tactical RPG, but also grabbing the best parts of the VN genre to ensure that the story is well-told and immersive. The entire story aspect is fully-animated and voiced. I've only seen this style before in Valkyria Chronicles.

The game is set on this strange utopian land of futuristic floating cities. It's a bright world of neon lights, computers, cyberspace and cute things. The plot goes deep, but basically evil/bad guys come to wreak havoc, and you control a party of cute girls who decide to fight against the bad guys. The main characters are called "Goddesses" and they can transform into different versions of themselves, and there's a lot more depth to the story. It sounds lame, but it's surprisingly engaging. Also, I'm trying to write this review on the game's merits but I have to address the elephant in the room: almost all of the characters are female and they're depicted in a somewhat sexual/provocative manner. There's a lot of cleavage and low-cut tops, etc. I must defend the game though, because it really does stand up on its own in terms of gameplay and story.

The surprising thing about this game is the difficulty. You see this game with the cute heroines and the cute squishy enemies, with rainbows and snow everywhere. But lurking beneath this sweet facade is a deep, intensely challenging game. I really struggled in certain areas and with some bosses, and I eventually turned the game right down to the easiest difficulty. Even after that, I still struggled my way through. It's a tough game, and defeating enemies requires a lot of strategy, careful selection of party members, skills, spells, items, weapons, armour, etc. Another unexpected element was the grinding: this game involves a lot of grinding. I think this is a common thing for JRPGs, and some people love this element, but for me I grew tired of it; I'd rather progress than to farm the same areas for hours. It would be very difficult to beat this game without grinding up your levels and farming for items.

The thing I liked most about this game was the universe, the setting and the characters. The story elements of this game are actually really clever and often hilarious. The characters often break the fourth wall and the game is very self-aware. Often the characters will mention things about RPGs or complain about the games industry, pop culture references, or other meta-elements. The whole game has a flippant tone and it works really well, especially since the characters are so well written. In this peculiar futuristic utopia we encounter all kinds of bizarre characters and enemies, many of which are very funny or entertaining. I really loved the huge variety in enemies; you fight everything from animals, geometric shapes, household items, aliens, slimes, fantasy creatures, sci-fi creatures, all kinds of things. One of my favourite enemies was a computer monitor which was displaying some kind of cute videogame. I mean, how meta is that? You're sitting in front of a monitor playing a cute videogame about videogames, and within the game you're fighting against a monitor displaying a cute videogame. Ingenious.

Anyway, I enjoyed this game and it offered lots of surprises. Not sure whether I'll play the rest of the series, maybe after I take a long break from grinding. Check it out if you think it sounds interesting, it can usually be found for around $5, well worth it.