Rent-A-Hero is the most distinguished of Sega's trilogy of RPGs built on the Sword of Vermilion engine, the others being Phantasy Star III and - well, Sword of Vermilion. Both of those games are victims of the engine's limitations and the pre-Sonic development environment that SEGA's console studios were stuck in: They're sluggish, disorienting, lack basic qol and mechanical nuance, and all around suck.
Rent-A-Hero is most of those things too, but I find these limitations work greatly to its narrative conceit. To put it succinctly, this is The Doordash RPG: Do mini odd-jobs for cash while the never-ending torrent of rent, groceries and bills (in this case, health items and energy for your suit) eat away at you. It's extremely repetitive, sorely lacks in variety, has extremely shoddy programming in the 2D combat sections, completely fails to waypoint you in lots of really obnoxious missions, all among other issues. It's 30 hours of 'get a job -> run around -> talk to identical-looking npcs -> run around -> beat someone up -> run around -> inspect a nondescript tile for plot reasons -> run around -> take the train to the one store with full heals and D batteries -> run around -> finish the job -> get paid -> deposit cash to your bank -> run home -> get another job'. It's the textbook monotony of the part-time lifestyle, which makes for an exhausting moment-to-moment experience, but has a hook and prose squarely ahead of its time. What kept me going was the comfort of the grind, and getting spoonfed those little bits of quirky human interactions - seeing a couple break up over their vomiting cat, helping a kid through her hospital surgery, being an actor for a live toku show, and more.Even with how much this game's structure makes you feel like a cog in the capitalist machine, there's enough of that good shonen hero meat to make you feel like you're getting somewhere meaningful through all the hum-drum.
Could've been a lot better, but I couldn't imagine this being anything other than a low-budget B-tier diamond in the rough. Adding even a little more spitshine would've drastically changed the feel - which is why I'm extremely intrigued by the DC remake. Is it gonna have that slimy jank I need, or will they make it - shudder shudder - good???
Here's to 1500 games!
Rent-A-Hero is most of those things too, but I find these limitations work greatly to its narrative conceit. To put it succinctly, this is The Doordash RPG: Do mini odd-jobs for cash while the never-ending torrent of rent, groceries and bills (in this case, health items and energy for your suit) eat away at you. It's extremely repetitive, sorely lacks in variety, has extremely shoddy programming in the 2D combat sections, completely fails to waypoint you in lots of really obnoxious missions, all among other issues. It's 30 hours of 'get a job -> run around -> talk to identical-looking npcs -> run around -> beat someone up -> run around -> inspect a nondescript tile for plot reasons -> run around -> take the train to the one store with full heals and D batteries -> run around -> finish the job -> get paid -> deposit cash to your bank -> run home -> get another job'. It's the textbook monotony of the part-time lifestyle, which makes for an exhausting moment-to-moment experience, but has a hook and prose squarely ahead of its time. What kept me going was the comfort of the grind, and getting spoonfed those little bits of quirky human interactions - seeing a couple break up over their vomiting cat, helping a kid through her hospital surgery, being an actor for a live toku show, and more.Even with how much this game's structure makes you feel like a cog in the capitalist machine, there's enough of that good shonen hero meat to make you feel like you're getting somewhere meaningful through all the hum-drum.
Could've been a lot better, but I couldn't imagine this being anything other than a low-budget B-tier diamond in the rough. Adding even a little more spitshine would've drastically changed the feel - which is why I'm extremely intrigued by the DC remake. Is it gonna have that slimy jank I need, or will they make it - shudder shudder - good???
Here's to 1500 games!
2 Comments
yeah there were a lot of moments like that i had to just check the playthrough for help, i was floored how many times the solution to a puzzle was 'keep talking to the same person'
Pangburn
4 months ago