As the Nintendo Switch continues to expand its game library with ports and remastered versions of older games, Moero Chronicle is one I was not expecting, but seems obvious. With the dungeon crawling RPG from Compile Heart getting released on the PlayStation Vita as an Asian English deal and an official English release on PC via Steam, one more console never hurts. With everyone that was looking to play it already having done so, Moero Chronicle H or Moero Chronicle Hyper would have to be the most definitive edition for any hold outs that might be left rather than those that have already partook in this mischievous misadventure.
Information
Title: Moero Chronicle Hyper
Genre: Dungeon RPG
Developer: Idea Factory, Compile Heart
System: Nintendo Switch (also on PC, PlayStation Vita)
Length: 35-45 hours (not including postgame content)
Review
For the unaware, Moero Chronicle follows the story of a young man named Io with the inability to speak with women due to his overwrought desires. After being sought out (more like coerced) by the mayor of his hometown to investigate the reason why “Monster Girls” are suddenly going on a rampage and endangering humans, Io along with his only female friend and monster gal pal Lilia set off for Monstopia to find answers. Goofy, sloppy pacing, and sometimes just plain dull, the overall story won’t be winning any narrative awards, but works pushing the player forward and to the real main attraction. And by real attraction, aside from getting a 35-40 hour main story, it will be a 35-40 hour main story with fanservice strewn about. Not like that is a bad thing, but if you are picking this up for any other reason, I highly doubt anything worthwhile or particular to note will manifest.
Of course, not knocking the core gameplay, Moero Chronicle Hyper does have a solid, albeit uninteresting turn-based battle system. Able to have up 5 characters in your party at any given time, you can use an array of spells and attacks to defeat foes. Instead of creating characters, Io has to recruit the rampaging monster girls in battle and purify them. The purification or the “Bumping Scratch” system is the main draw of the game, after defeating the girls in battle by removing their clothes, a mini-game will prompt where you have to rub the girls using the touchscreen or joy-cons in certain areas to fill up a bar before the time expires. If successful, you have a new party member that can help out and going into town after adventures, have the chance to bond with them, give them new items to change their battle class, provide them generic monster companions to boost their abilities even further, or have them make items for you based off raw materials in dungeon. And with over 50 girls to recruit (some locked to after beating the game), it does add a fair amount of variety. With all that sounding appealing, again, the game doesn’t really peg itself as difficult (despite having 5 adjustable levels). Most likely, the Bump Scratch system and the underlying fanservice associated with it will be the primary reason for many to continue onward.
Even though there is some tedium involved, the Nintendo Switch getting this upgraded version includes a few quality of life features to make the journey significantly more bearable for newcomers and those that decide to go at it one more time. With the option to instantly travel to any point you have visited on the map, controls to adjust the map details, quicker auto-battle, and even a few new items to boost characters stats even higher, these new improvements and additions help greatly with backtracking, especially if you missed recruiting certain characters or wanted to grab items you might have forgotten about. For those with an eye on the titillation aspect: cleaner visuals, HD artwork, and smooth framerate for both the docked and handheld is a great boon by itself. Having remember the agony involved with the Bump Scratch system for the PC version, the joy-con and touchscreen options for either – more so the touchscreen for handheld mode makes it so much more palatable.
Happy getting more remakes and remasters on the Nintendo Switch, even if no one asked for it, Moero Chronicle Hyper represents changes for the better and changes that will help add some shelf life to an already aged product. Seeing how the Switch itself is opening the door wide to a bunch of unexpected titles, hopefully, it might be something of an incentive to bring over Moero Crystal. Not holding my breath to make it happen, but never say die, especially to title like this making it so far.
Pros: Upgraded visuals, controls for docked and handheld mode are easy to use, new features eliminates some of the tedium to exploration and battle.
Cons: Nothing new added to the postgame, unbalanced encounter rate.
Final Verdict: Coming with a host of improvements and new features, Moero Chronicle Hyper certainly can be considered the definitive edition and best way to play. Still having some minor issues attached, they pale in comparison to the additions and make this perfect for any newcomers left. It is also won’t be for everyone, yet for players that don’t mind the simplicity and a gratuitous heaping of fanservice, it should be an okay fit.
Otaku Alcove 