Fuse looking at you, kid?
A strange battle perhaps, but one which I could grasp quite cleanly on an emotional level.
And that’s because now, my enemies weren’t in front of me but were instead above me.
I was at the bottom of the screen and all my enemy’s attacks were like daggers hanging overhead.
And there’s a truth to this.
This is often a game about violence, suspended.
And it’s beautiful twice over.
Puzzle-RPG is such an ugly term.
This is a game with the lightness and steeliness of verse.
I’ve lost the last few days in the newish download version of what was once a DS classic.
I’ve been stirred by this game.
That’s quite a cocktail.
Three green cloak guys?
Two green bears and one green cloak guy?
Two green cloak guys and one yellow cloak guy?
Get out of here.
In a way, the game plays a classic puzzle-game trick very early on.
It would make the game too quick, too forgiving, and too imprecise.
You could do great things without meaning to, which is fun for a while but ultimately slightly infantilising.
It’s more than a wish.
It’s a proper desire.
In terms of offensive strategies then, Clash of Heroes is a bit like the New York Subway.
All of this is important and a huge part of the reason why this game is a classic.
But we’ll get to that.
And that’s because I first want to talk about walls.
Anyway: thinking about defence as well as offence is just good business.
It indicates a tidy head and a clear heart.
It’s not a cheat, but it is a jerk, and all the better for that.
And walls are a way into this understanding.
That’s because walls are actually a right pain.
God, what is this game trying to say?
Reader, for a long time I thought that was the decision that I was left with.
you’re gonna wanna wash the fruit before you slice it.
If you have a wall already, you’ve got the option to actually kill it off yourself.
THIS is what Clash of Heroes wants you to do.
This is the level it wants you to play at.
It’s not even a secret.
But the game is a jerk because you’re doing it all wrong.
Don’t build for the sake of building.
And, equally, and oppositely, don’t always think big.
Why wouldn’t you forget?
These big units are completely rad!
But there is a danger in only going big.
you’re able to lose by being so focused on fusing you forget to attack in width.
But people who leave tight little knots for you to untangle are mean, remember.
Brilliant, frequently, but mean.
They’re there to focus my attacks and I shouldn’t bother with muddling with them myself.
I need to get rid of my enemy’s biggies before they get rid of me.
I need to get through them.
I know that this is a sub-optimal way to play: it’s defensive and back-foot.
But what can I say?
I’ve been using this recently to set up combos of movements.
I know this feeling!
I get it by editing my own sentences, but I only get it very, very rarely.
One word snipped out and a whole rush of new possibilities slides into place.
That’s once the game has taught you, of course.
And it teaches you by being a jerk.
The overworld with its neat nodes leading you forward on the adventure or off on a side-quest.
I could talk for hours about the richness in this game in even the simplest of its elements.
I want you to challenge Clash of Heroes' inner jerk.
I want you to experience all this doom, suspended.
