Class Of Heroes 2G Anniversary Edition – So Much More Than Just a Follow-Up Game

The Class of Heroes port for the PlayStation 5 includes two games, Class of Heroes and Class of Heroes 2G. While the first game in this bundle scored above average, its follow-up title for the PlayStation 3, Class of Heroes 2G, aced the final exam and improved on many of the flaws of the original CoH. Let’s head into our “sophomore year” and see just how well the developers at Zerodiv improved upon the series.

Introduction – Welcome to Crostini Academy

While Class of Heroes 2G is technically a sequel, it doesn’t follow any specific story correlating to the first CoH. Like its predecessor, CoH2G loosely follows the narrative of being in an academy for people wanting to adventure and take on dungeons and quests. With more characters, weapons, combat options, and improved overall graphics and gameplay, Class of Heroes 2G garners much more respect as a solid RPG title. As a massive fan of the genre, I was extremely pleased with how well the game improved upon some of the flaws from the original Class of Heroes. So, of course, Class of Heroes 2G remastered will also have an improved review score!

The Story – Mostly The Same As The Last, But Much More Entertaining

The story is the only part of Class of Heroes 2G I didn’t fully appreciate. While they did get much more in detail with the overall story and introduced more characters, it’s still primarily irrelevant to the game. Class of Heroes is a dungeon-crawling-specific game still mostly the same for CoH2G. Though there are many more quests, different character creation options, and some new areas to explore, it’s still just a game where you check in periodically after delving into the many dungeons within. That said, the game is still really fun, and some of the characters are much more appealing than the original game, making for a much better delivery.

While the game does perfectly follow its own narrative it simply misses out on being considered a title with a great story. This takes nothing away from the overall experience, in my opinion, but it does, of course, have to affect its final review score. With just enough expansion added on from the original CoH, it does receive a far better score in this department than it’s predecessor, accordingly.

The Gameplay – Went From Great To Exceptional

You’ll probably hear me say it a million times in my reviews, but I am a HUGE fan of RPGs. Especially turned-based anime-esque classics like the Dragon Quest franchise and the Pokémon games. Class of Heroes 2G perfectly embodies the feeling and nature of a really good RPG title. It also improved upon an already easy-to-learn and fun-to-explore game. Classic retro vibes stay strong in the upgraded graphics and environments and carry on into the creatures. Speaking of the creatures, they also go a nice upgrade. With better names, visuals, and diversity, they took the dungeon enemies to an all new height.

As you get further into the game, the difficulty does progress very solidly as well. In the first Class of Heroes you really kept at the exact same pace from dungeon to dungeon and it was relatively easy to grind out and level-up. In CoH2G, you get much more of a challenge, with each dungeon seemingly doubling in difficulty as you dive further into the game. Like the original CoH, its really just a long grind-fest to the top, but this time, at least it has more grit to it. While the controls and mechanics are still extremely easy to learn and get use to, they made it even better by upping the difficulty and increasing the overall charm of this turn-based RPG classic.

The Graphics and The Sounds – One Stayed The Same And The Other Improved Drastically

If you read my review of the first Class of Heroes, then you’ll know that I loved the graphics a lot. In fact the graphics were my highest rating for the entire first game. Move forward to CoH2G and guess what? Yup. I still love the graphics, possibly even more. The obvious anime inspiration and adorable but bad-ass character designs are absolutely flawless. Increasing the overall resolution and details of the game just add to its charm making Class of Heroes 2G on of the most visually appealing dungeon-crawlers I have ever played.

The sound of CoH was a big issue however, and going into CoH2G, I didn’t have my hopes set too high on experiencing anything better. I guess upgrading from a handheld system to a console was all they needed to do to take the sounds up a notch. CoH2G eliminated the issues CoH had when more than one sound would happen at once, making it much smoother and blending better. They also heavily upgraded the soundtrack from simple old-school 32-bit sounds to full-length instrumental loops inspired by different genres of music. Needless to say, this section of the review took a turn for the better compared to the original game.

Replay Value – With More To Do, A Replay Is Much More Likely… I Suppose.

Once again, just like its predecessor, there isn’t a whole lot of want to return to the game. With a lot more quests and an abundance of characters to experiment with, there is more of a reason to return to Class of Heroes 2G, but there isn’t much reward. As stated in my CoH review, hardcore fans of the RPG genre will probably be more likely to start fresh after beating this game, but the average player might not have as much desire to go back to it. There are, however, many new options that make 2G stand out from the original Class of Heroes, so maybe it’s just me who thinks they aren’t worth much more than a handful of play-throughs. This doesn’t take anything away from my experience of Class of Heroes 2G, though, and I still thoroughly enjoyed the game as is.

Conclusion – The Upgrade This Series Needed

Class of Heroes 2G is a great title and a much improved-upon successor to the original Class of Heroes. Keeping the classic dungeon diving vibes and the fantastic graphics in the spotlight was a necessity that the developers knew to expand upon, and they did so exceptionally. With new design options, combat choices, easier-to-explore dungeons, and much better sounds, they took a slightly above-average game and made it a true classic. I give Class of Heroes 2G a respectable lift in rating from the first title and sit it at a high 8 out of 10. This game is a title most RPG fans probably don’t want to miss out on. Seeing as you can get Class of Heroes Anniversary Edition and Class of Heroes 2G Remastered Edition bundled as one on the PlayStation Network, it makes it worth the price with two games in one!