Little Town Hero, initially announced under the codename "Town", is an RPG for the Nintendo Switch by Game Freak, released on October 16, 2019. It is directed by Masayo Taya (Pocket Card Jockey), with music composed by Toby Fox (Undertale) and arranged by Hitomi Sato (Pokémon).
The game's story revolves around Axe, an adventurous young man who desires to see the world outside of the town he grew up in. However, the town's citizens forbid everyone from leaving the town as they consider the outside world dangerous and unpredictable. Everything changes when a large monster suddenly invades the town, threatening the local villagers who had never seen monsters before. When Axe discovers a mysterious stone within the local coal mine, he finds himself able to harness the power of "Eureka", ideas given form, and drives back the monster. Armed with this newfound power, Axe sets forth on a journey to uncover the hidden secrets of the town.
The game's battle system revolves around a card game-like format where the player can choose from a selection of commands known as "Ideas" that are randomized each turn to do battle with enemies. In addition to Ideas that Axe can innately learn, Axe can also use the local environment or even allied townsfolk to gain new Ideas and turn the tide of combat in unique ways.
A PlayStation 4 port was announced in January, 2020 and is slated for release in April of that same year in Japan. The Western release for the game was pushed back to June due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Worldwide releases for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One followed in July 2020.
Little Town Hero provides examples of:
- Anti-Frustration Features:
- Losing to a boss means you have to retry it all over again, but the game allows you to see a hint for that battle, even telling you what Dazzits are effective against that particular boss.
- You're also given some Eureka Points that you can use right then and there to upgrade whatever Dazzits if you think you're struggling with your current movepool. Theoretically, one could purposefully lose against a boss a few times until they have enough points to upgrade more than one Dazzit instead of having to advance the story to do the sidequests for more points.
- An update to the game added in an Easy mode that helps to make combat more manageable.
- Boss Game: Much of the focus of the gameplay revolves around battling each chapter's massive boss monster. While there are other fights sprinkled in-between each encounter with duels against human opponents and puzzle-based ones against animals, along with minor sidequests, the main action centers on the monsters.
- Bittersweet Ending: With the help of his friends and family, Axe manages to stop the villains of the game, but he loses his father in the process. By the time the epilogue rolls around, he realizes that his thirst for adventure nearly got himself and his loved ones killed and he loses his enthusiasm to leave town, becoming wiser in the process.
- Call a Hit Point a "Smeerp": The skills you can perform in battle are referred to as 'Izzits' and 'Dazzits', with the distinction being that 'Izzits' become usable by turning them into 'Dazzits'.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Characters with unique models have hair based on the work they do. Those with red hair, like Axe, work in the mines, as are their family members. Those with green hair, like Matock, work at the farm. Those with blonde hair, like Nelz, work at the factory or in retail. Those with grayscale hair work at the castle, like Angard, or live there if they don't work, like the King. This pattern becomes a bit of subtle Foreshadowing if you observe that Margo apparently lives at the farm but doesn't have green hair. It's because that's not what she did when she was alive. Her spirit just wound up there.
- First Town: Uniquely for an RPG, the game's location of focus is a single town whose presence to the outside world is guarded by a massive castle with steel gates. The game's plot revolves around discovering the town's secrets.
- Mineral MacGuffin: Axe's Red Stone is the main focus for much of the early story, along with the Green Stone and eventually the Black Stones.
- Once More, with Clarity: A Hulk Ogre is the boss of both Chapter 1 and Chapter 7. The fight in Chapter 7, however, gives new context on the monster, as it reveals it was originally a human who transformed because of the Black Stones.
- Optional Boss: Insecnocide and Nightmare Doll aren't chapter bosses and can be battled at the climaxes to the sidequests tied to Witt and Margo.
- Padded Sumo Gameplay: Due to how you can't inflict direct damage until you've exhausted all of the opponent's Dazzits, and the same goes for bosses to you, battles can last well over an hour each, especially if Axe doesn't get the right Izzits or is underpowered just enough to force stalemates turn after turn.
- Red Is Heroic: Axe, the game's protagonist, sports fiery red hair. The special crystal he wields is also colored red
- Theme Naming: Pasmina and Yarne are named after products derived from wool—pashmina and yarn, respectively—as they tend to the sheep. Purl is named after purl stitching.
- Town with a Dark Secret: The main conflict of the game revolves around the special stones within the town's mining cave. The Red and Green Stones grant their wielders immense strength and the ability to teleport (or travel through time), respectively. However, the Stones gradually darken with repeated use, eventually becoming Black Stones, which can turn living creatures into giant monsters. This is why the villains of the game want to seize Axe's Red Stone for themselves.
- Wake-Up Call Boss: Cuatro, the boss of Chapter 2, is a big step up from anything Axe fought prior. Axe's Ideas, on their own, don't have the power to reliably inflict All Breaks onto Cuatro. Instead, you have to combine the effects of Axe's ideas, find allies to give you support, and seek out Gimmicks to bypass Cuatro's Ideas and inflict direct damage onto him. If you haven't learned the intricacies of these mechanics by then, especially how Axe's ideas work with each other, Cuatro will hand you your butt every time.
