It’s a good month to be an RPG fan because there have been a lot of good RPGs alreadylikeTriangle Strategy. Another charming title,The Cruel King and the Great Herois a new RPG for the Switch and PS4. This game is just one of many more coming soon.
The Cruel King and the Great Herolooks aesthetically likePaper Mario, holding huge appeal for fans of the games. It is turn-based as well, but it operates differently, and is a solid RPG experience. However, there are a few hiccups along the way, and it’s up to gamers to decide whether these issues are minor annoyances or deeply troubling matters.
8Best: The Art Style
The Cruel King and the Great Herolooks like is a storybook come to life. That’s how the story is presented as well. A narrator goes through the tale of Yuu, a human girl, who befriends a dragon king that is in charge of all monsters.
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It is not an original idea, but it also isn’t explored much. The art itself, though, looks great on a TV with PS4 or Switch but even better when in handheld mode on the Switch. This is especially true for thenew OLED screens. The environments are all wonderfully varied, ranging from forests to snowy mountains to caves dripping with honey.
7Worst: Random Battles
This game brings a return to one of the most disliked old-school mechanics from RPGs. The game has random battles. Turn-based RPGs still have a place in modern video games. It’s just unfortunate to see one that doesn’t come with at least some innovation.
For example, thevibe of the gamedraws from thePaper Marioseries which uses active turn-based commands. However,The Cruel King and the Great Herodoesn’t even have that. The combat isn’t bad, but it could be more engaging, and the random battles weigh things down more.
6Best: Character Design
As mentioned above, the graphical art style is great. So, it should come as no surprise that the character and monster designs are also top-notch. Yuu’s outfit — a simple dress accompanied by a cape, pot for a helmet, and a stick — is too adorable for words. All the monsters look cute too.
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There is also a MonsterDex option in the game where players can view these cute but deadly critters in finer detail. There is also the Collection in the menu which features concept art for the game.The Cruel King and the Great Herooffers a lot to unlock, and it is all great.
5Worst: Yuu Moves Slowly
There is one way that the game could have made the random battles less annoying. Yuu moves at a snail’s pace while exploring the world if she is in an area where she is under-leveled. The game then essentially forces players to grind so that they can move faster.
Once they reach a certain level, they can finally run. When players do, monsters won’t attack them as much. It is not the best idea for an RPG, but it is easy to see where the mentality of the developers was coming from.
4Best: The Music
The graphics and design of everything in this game should bring a smile to the faces of gamers everywhere.The Cruel King and the Great Herois a jolly RPG that is accompanied by bright and bouncy music. The battle music, for example, brings out thatPaper Mariovibe even more.
It may not be the best RPG soundtrack of 2022, but it helps tie the world together. It accomplishes that in spades even if players may not want to listen to it outside of the game.Plenty of soundtracksare like that, as they are best listened to inside their native environments.
3Worst: No Auto-Battle
There is another concept concerning combat thatThe Cruel King and the Great Herois missing. There are no auto-battle or fast-forwarding options. Again, the game seems stuck in the past fromRPGs of the 90s.
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It’s true that classics likeChrono Triggerand the variousFinal Fantasytitles didn’t have these options and are still brilliant games without them. It’s just that players expect to see these newer features in modern turn-based RPGs like this.
2Best: Saving Options
There is one small quality of life feature that this game nails, even above bigger RPGs than itself. There are 32 save slots that players can take advantage of. They can do so at any point in the game, as long as they are not in battle.
This ishow all RPGsshould be made. Let players save anywhere, at any time, and give them a lot of extra files to work with. It can be fun to return to past chapters of an RPG. The load times should also be praised, especially for a Switch game.
1Worst: Not Much For Options
The amount of saving options in the game is great. The MonsterDex and Collection options are also fun menu features. However,The Cruel King and the Great Herolacks a lot of the more common options gamers expect to see nowadays.
For example, there are no difficulty levels. There arealso no assist modesto counterbalance that lack of difficulty modes. This game can be quite challenging if players don’t grind, which goes against the jolly vibes of the story, art, and music.
The Cruel King and the Great Herowas released on Jul 04, 2025, and is available onSwitchandPS4.
