Patchwork Heroes only $9.99 + free comics!

Patchwork Heroes is available on PSN for a ludicrously low price, and I also bring to you the unnoffocially English translated Patchwork Heroes comic strips - they are awesome..

So, Hyakumanton no Bara Bara / Patchwork Heroes is now available on PSN for the impulse purchase price of only $9.99. It's an awesome game which plays a bit like Qix, but with bells on, plus a cool story and a bunch of awesome features. What I like most is the art style - the world can criticise Japan and claim its game industry is dying all they want, but when Japan produces a game like this, I'm reminded of why I'm proud to say: I prefer games of Japanese origin.

YOUTUBE VIDEO

In the game you control little dudes crawling over a giant patchwork airship, and by holding down a button you can cut through it, with the intention of chipping away and destroying it. You can also place bombs to make the job easier. If one of your crew is touched by an enemy they die and you get a little RIP box pop up. You can also rescue further comrades, use a shield, and content with a number of obstacles such as enemies which repair the ship and some sections of metal which are impervious to chomping. Watching the video should give an idea of the gameplay - like I said, Qix but more advanced.

I actually downloaded the Japanese version to test it, with the intention of buying the US release on UMD and ripping it to work on my Custom Firmware. Seems to be digital download only now...


Thing is, I really want the creators of this to have my money, since it's filled with charm and creativity, and I absolutely adore the art style (brainless idiots on the Sony blog be damned by their criticisms of the visuals). It reminds me of random sketches you find in people's notebooks, when they're bored, and seemingly random lines eventually come together to form giant structures.

I may have to buy it, but then download a pirate version to play, as stupid as that sounds. I refuse to give up my CFW (and it seems no one cares about updating it anymore).



Lovely interview here with cool artwork.

Also, Diebussy of Eastern Mind has translated the 4-panel comics that go with it.

As he explains: The following is a series of Yonkoma (or four cell manga) presenting a number of hilarious situations involving the characters from the game. Because these were meant to remain in Japanese for all eternity, me and my good friend (and superlative translator!) Sorrel Tilley have come up with another translation. These originally consisted of a series of yonkoma strips to be published by Sony at the game’s official website but we’ve decided to turn them into a little book with a cover and instructions, designed for easy reading. We sincerely hope you enjoy reading these brief strips as much as we enjoyed putting them together. Two final notes: please read the first page warning if you’re not used to reading manga; and use the cursor keys in full-screen mode for optimum reading.

The comics are adorable and well worth reading.