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Half-Minute Hero on the PSP is a dedication title to the retro era; players race through 30-second scenarios to save the world, help villagers or banish evil. Each scenario offers bonus accomplishments and rankings. All of this bundled in a classic RPG atmosphere with vivid colors and a great mini-story surrounding the Evil Wizard Noire and his search to resurrect the Ultimate Evil Lord. Gamers will dive through centuries of history in the Goddess era aided by the Time Goddess to end the battle against evil. Our recent preview had us biting our tongue as we avoided going into detail on the characters; this time around we’ll elaborate on the story and almost impossible gameplay within.

Those who take on the role of the Hero must stop the classic bad guy Noire from resurrecting the Ultimate Evil Lord. On the path to him are numerous Evil Lords carrying the Spell of Destruction which players must face plus various other foes including Mythical Creatures and Objects. As the game progresses, grinding levels becomes easier thanks to bought equipment from each mission. Half-Minute Hero doesn’t leave players hanging with only 30 seconds; thanks to the Time Goddess there are statues all over the world with the power to restore the 30 seconds for a small price.

The Hero story is the backbone to the game; it has the largest campaign and makes a second run in Hero 300 and even Hero 3 -- the first sees you racing against a 300-second clock without the Time Goddess, the second is a three-second hyper grinding spree with a difficult opponent and an increasingly greedy Time Goddess. With practice the chapters are not as difficult but they also make the player aware of some rare items they may have missed before making a revisit to the original Hero story tempting.

The Evil Lord is next; his story takes him through the world 100 years later, battling evil at every turn trying to lift a curse on Millenia, his love. Noire is at work again with evil statues controlling the minds of the human race and only the Evil Lord can stop him in this Era. The clock still limits players to 30 seconds before sunrise, after that point Millenia must return to the castle unless the Evil Lord pays the Time Goddess to reset time. The style revolves around strategy mechanics, as the mana level increases the summoned monsters increase in strength.