While I try not to allow my misconceptions about what a game could potentially be like cloud how I feel about how they actually play, there are times when perhaps some disappointment is still justified. In the old days, box art would often play a part in making you think you were buying one sort of game, only to find that it was completely different, and to some degree it appears that can still happen on the eShop. 

In the case of The Last Hero: Journey to the Unknown, I started out expecting some sort of Zelda-esque adventure, but instead it’s more like a series of challenge rooms where you’ll simply need to hack your way through waves of enemies. While it’s true there are then some more interesting and challenging boss fights to tackle that tend to be a little more engaging, honestly much of the rest of the action simply feels like filler. Going back and even checking the game’s eShop trailer, its focus just on boss battles feels like the developers themselves were trying to avoid the elephant in the room of the generally unsatisfying play between those battles.

The thing is, I suppose if you’re up for an old-school challenge, you’ll at least get a taste of that, but in part that’s tied to how limited your hero’s options are in combat. Armed with what by modern standards is a pretty weak and limited range attack, you’ll be spending a great deal of time just trying to minimize the damage you’re taking while trying to get close to your enemies, and after a while that simply gets tiresome. Throw in some stage hazards that also serve to whittle away your health in pretty cheap ways and it just feels like there’s a whole lot of stick and not nearly enough carrot to incentivize your continued play. I suppose there could be a crowd for it, but there are simply too many great games out there in the eShop to need to settle for this.