Heroes RPG 2

***Heroes RPG 2*** is a role-playing game developed by Round 1 Industries and published by Imaginate.

The game is a sequel to the role-playing game *Heroes RPG* and the final role-playing game. The game follows deceased Roy's sister Reggie as she, along with new friends, must defeat Ironeer (Ironus's wife) and her minions of shadows, darknesses and nightmares to avenge her brother's death. The game takes place after the events of *Heroes RPG*, where the Red Asteroid destroys Roy and friends.

*Heroes RPG 2* takes on a fantasy setting like the classic *Final Fantasy* games.

The game was released worldwide on May 20th, 2020. Upon release, it received universal acclaim and is considered as one of the best RPGs ever made and sold by Imaginate, having up to 1.9 to 2.3 million copies within 3 to 4 months after release. Critics praised for its well-written soft and serious toned fantasy story, the combat, the exploration and puzzle solving, the cast of characters and voices, the locations, the music, the platforming (which is possibly a foreshadow of *Heroes 1*) and the ending/post-credit scene.

## Development

Development began shortly after the release of *Heroes RPG*. Imaginate and Round 1 were thoughting about making a sequel for the game after the post-credit scene of the character Reggie. They want to make her the main character to go through a series of fantasy events like *Final Fantasy*.

## Plot

### **Act I**

Overlooking at the Church of Light where Roy and friends were killed via Red Asteroid, Reggie walks down the ashy hill and sees Roy's dead body and starts crying. 4 days past and she became normal with the help of her friends, as they set up a funeral for Roy. The day after, she went on a walk to the Red Forest until she met a Spark of Light who guides her. The two discovered a shadow, who is willing to eat Reggie. She ran until she found a gold tiara and a sword. Reggie fought and defeated the monster until she encounters Ironeer (Ironus' wife and Negaman's mother), whose plan is to conquer the world with darkness and shadows. Reggie can't let that happen and wants to duel with her. Ironusgirl decline the request and proceeds to leave with a few shadows ambushing Reggie until a girl with a top hat and... a mustache? drops in. After defeating the shadows, the girl was revealed to be name Cynder, who, not only can fight, but can heal others, so it is presumed that she's the medic of the party. As a team, Reggie and Cynder goes on a quest to stop the evil Ironeer before she conquers the world.

### **Act II**

While journeying through the world, Reggie and her teammate fought against a giant and the aggressive hydra. Before they even battle against those two, they met a robot named Iron Knight, who can attack and cast fast/slow enchantments, a somewhat jerky archerer named Victor, and a shy and cowardly magical boy named Petro, who can cast magical elements such as fire and lightning. Later, they eventually met Malina, Reggie's aunt, who seems to suffer from short term memory loss but not much. She can use a sword like Reggie but has different abilities to cast spells to a team member/enemy.

### **Act III**

Together, they travel to Royalopois and went through a magic mirror that leads them in the Temple of Despair. Reggie leaves The Spark of Light, Cynder, Iron Knight, Vector and Petro behind. Reggie and Malina travel together through the mirror and Reggie finds her enemy awaiting her, who is revealed to be Ironeer. Malina tells Reggie that she was forced to bring her into meeting the mad wife of Ironus. Ironeer reveals that she was the one who killed Roy and friends by sending the Red Asteroid for Ironus, expresses her hatred for Roy defeating Ironus and attempts to kill Reggie, but was protected by her aunt from the wicked spells of the mad wife. Since she cannot hurt Reggie, Ironeer locks her, and her allies, in a prison. After a while, a boy who wears red, named Jason, hears a song Reggie played on her electronic keyboard and helps her escape as long as she promises that she will defeat Ironeer. Reggie agrees and rescues The Spark of Light, Cynder, Petro, Vector, Iron Knight, Jason and Malina before they all escape together.

### **Act IV**

Much later to the game and after recruiting Giselle, the final team ally of the group who can give out special abilities, Reggie confronts Lucy, a girl in black made by Ironeer who is eager to permanently kill her. Reggie can't let that happen and must evade the fight. Afterwards, the Spark of Light has been charmed up and is ready to give Reggie a super form. Overwatching the battle, Ironeer traps Reggie, snapped, and electrocutes her. Ironeer now kicks a half-dead Reggie to a pool of lust, which will lead her to her death. Eventually, the Spark of Light is revealed to be Roy, as a spirit, and he comes down to bring Reggie to the Church of Light, resurrecting her in her new super form; the Sunshine form.

### **Act V**

Upon resurrected, Reggie's allies spills news about Ironeer taking over Royalopolis with destruction and darkness. Reggie snaps and dashly flies to Royalopolis to end Ironeer's reign of terror once and for all. After defeating Ironeer, she fades into black ash and has finally set the world free. Everyone now lives in peace, Roy finally rest in peace, Jason goes on his own adventures and making new friends (which is the start of the *Heroes* franchise) and Reggie lives her own life and begins to do gardening, ending the game with a FIN.

### **Post-Credit**

In a post-credit scene, taking place in *Heroes Kingdoms*, it displays Roy trying to stop the Red Asteroid from falling and killing the residents of Redtorium. Unexpectedly, a teleportation barrier traps and teleports Roy into the present future where the older Jason and Liberty lives in. Roy then goes to Reggie's house, delighting Reggie.

## Gameplay

The game featured a unique, 2.5D world created with the Unity engine, therefore traversing will include a variety of platforming elements and puzzles. The game features traditional turn-based combat with expansive skill trees to upgrading skills and attacks for Reggie and friends.

## Reception

Upon release, it received universal acclaim by critics and fans. IGN gave it a 10/10 and says "*Heroes RPG 2* is most likely your fresh orange juice next to your Lucky Charms because this RPG game is nothing but a golden charm". Metacritic scores the game a 97/100 on both the Dreamlock and Neo Reo versions of the game. Destructoid gave it a 9/10 for praising its presentation, the combat, the platforming, the music, the characters and the atmosphere. GameSpot gave the game a 8/10 and states that the game is for those who come across "loss", "sadness" and "despair". Huneykune scores *Heroes RPG 2* a perfect score of 50/50 and says that the game "could be meant for those who are suffering from personal problems". GalacticGamer gave the game 10/10 ⭐s and praised it for the combat, visuals, platforming, beautiful moments, music and characters. SurferReviewer gave *Heroes RPG 2* 9/10 dots (•) and calls the game a "lucky gem that can fit in the gallery of any, ANY RPGs".

Because of the high praise for this game, *Heroes RPG 2* received a Best Dream award from Imaginate and is now part of the line of Best Dream games of the Dreamlock.

 Metacritic
 Destructoid
 GameSpot
 EGM
 Huneykune
 GalacticGamer
 SurferReviewer

## Legacy

Reggie's transformations Red and Sunshine Reggie appears as a bonus character and a DLC character in the fighting game *Heroes K.O*.

## Trivia

* The platforming elements may be a foreshadow of the first *Heroes* game *Heroes 1*.
* *Heroes RPG 2* is presumably the final role-playing game of the *Heroes* franchise.
* The game is considered as the '0th' *Heroes* game, while *Heroes RPG* is the -1st. It is meant to be a play on the numeral mainline canon games whatsoever.
* *Heroes RPG 2* marks Reggie's true debut, despite making her debut in *Heroes Kingdoms* and *K.O*.
* The game is listed in the compilation bundle of *Heroes: The Cataclysmic Chapters*, alongside other games such as *Heroes RPG*, *Heroes 2*, *Heroes Unlimit*, *Heroes Battlefortress* and *Heroes Warriors*.
* *Heroes RPG 2* is one of the best selling games of the *Heroes* franchise by Imaginate, which eventually won a "Best Dream" award.
* The game was inspired by classic *Final Fantasy* games from IV to VI and *Super Mario RPG: Legend of The 7 Stars*.