Adventure Academia: The Fractured Continent (2022) [PS5] review

“Am I so out of touch? No, it’s the children who are wrong.”

-Principal Seymour Skinner, The Simpsons, 1994

As the victim of a terrible curse that forces me to play any game that looks even a little anime, you won’t be surprised to hear I’m familiar with Class of Heroes. You should be too! It’s a fantastic series of difficult dungeon crawlers originating on the PSP. They’re definitely a highlight of that handheld’s library for fans of games like Wizardry, though we only saw the first couple entries in the West. Well…until now, that is. Adventure Academia: The Fractured Continent is a new spin-off that hopes to capitalize on Class of Heroes’ cult fandom and fails miserably. Yeah, sorry, spoilers, but it’s best to get it out of the way now.

When Alex’s father, the principal of adventurer alma mater Obsidian High, goes missing, he rounds up some friends and goes searching! That’s about the most straightforward plot you can imagine and Adventure Academia’s not out to throw too many curveballs your way. Alex possesses the Ruler Orb, a magical artifact that allows him to lead a fighting force, and with scepter in hand he’ll romp across the realm in the hopes of finding dear ol’ Dad. Between adventures, Alex and company can rest and restock at Obsidian High, recruiting new teammates and shopping at the school store.

Considering the plot, parent series, and overall aesthetic of Adventure Academia, you’re probably expecting a dungeon crawler, right? Maybe a classic world-spanning RPG journey? Surely we wouldn’t make a new Class of Heroes game without incorporating some gameplay elements from that series, right? Well, all the expectations in the world won’t change the unfortunate fact that this is, at its core, essentially a questionable take on the classic RTS Dungeon Keeper.

Yes, really. You control Alex and his cadre of followers by pointing out places for them to move using a marker. They’ll do their best to get over to the point you designate, smacking whatever nasties they come across along the way. You can also order them to use skills, most of which offer unexciting stat buffs, and have Alex consume his regenerating pool of MP to power up his pals. Aside from setting movement designations and managing skills and power-ups, combat is largely a hands-off affair and you’ll spend more time watching than playing.

Where does the challenge from, then? Well, there’s not a huge amount of it to go around, but Alex himself can’t fight and will crumple like a wet paper bag if he’s engaged in combat. The name of the game is to keep him safe, typically by clustering people around him to screen baddies out. You’ll also need to dodge area-effect attacks where necessary, which is about as frustrating as you might imagine when you’re controlling everyone via suggestion rather than directly.

That’s…that’s pretty much it, actually! That’s the game! There’s a fair number of systems to fiddle about with, like tweaking characters’ personalities to suit your needs, but none are particularly deep or compelling. Combat feels like a chore, something you’re enduring for the sake of what minimal progression the game offers rather than something to look forward to. You’re simply too disconnected from the action to really invest in what’s going on. It’s a sharp contrast from the previous Class of Heroes games, which both offered a more personal perspective and were challenging enough to make your victories feel satisfying.

At least the presentation is nice; what presentation there is, anyway, since Adventure Academia doesn’t try very hard on this front, either. Characters romp around battle maps like paper dolls, between-battle conversations are largely visual novel style affairs with minimal animation and the game just can’t shake that low-budget feeling. This also applies to the generic music and sound, though there’s something to be said for the incredibly goofy intro song.

This is the part where I’d normally throw out the concession that hey, maybe Adventure Academia’s great if it’s the sort of thing you’re into! The problem is that it’s hard to say who would fall into that category. The gameplay on offer here, if we can call it that, is such a watered-down version of Dungeon Keeper that it’s easier to just suggest replaying that game. RPG fans, meanwhile, have a wide and varied array of superior options to check out. Class of Heroes aficionados would be better served checking out modern dungeon crawlers in the same vein as Stranger of Sword City. The bottom line here is that Adventure Academia just fails to excel anywhere. You should probably just save your tuition fees.

We would like to thank ACQUIRE for sending us a copy of Adventure Academia: The Fractured Continent for this review.

BROKEN PIXEL

Not Recommended

Cory G. believes the pen is mightier than the sword…well, depending on how sharp the pen and sword are. A child of the ’90s and a prolific writer, he strews his work about like Legos made of words, just waiting for your brain to step on them. He enjoys a devilish challenge, so when it comes to talking about some of the more difficult games out there, you might just run into the Infernal Accountant Mage. Some advice: hold on to your soul around this guy, and don’t sign anything. Read more at popzara.com.