Game Freak developed Little Town Hero is no longer a Switch exclusive and will be making its way to PlayStation 4 consoles later this spring. It originally launched for the Nintendo handheld hybrid in October 2019, but will now be expanding its reach when it heads to Japanese PS4s on April 23, 2020. A Western release hasn’t yet been announced. This marks one of the few instances of the studio developing a game for a Sony platform, since most of its games have been exclusive to Nintendo, with a handful of exceptions. The company is best known for its long-running Pokémon RPG series.
Little Town Hero is described as a turn-based RPG, much like the beloved Pokémon RPG games, but ditches the grind of collecting monsters across an expansive land. Instead, it focuses on boss fights and emphasizes strategic gameplay, much like a tabletop card/board game. According to Nintendo, it features “compact story progression designed with the busy gamer in mind.” The game takes place from the perspective of a young boy, who is tasked with battling monsters to protect his “little town” (hence the name).
The PS4 version of Little Town Hero will be published by Rainy Frog, and will release in physical and digital formats. There’s no word on whether or not the game will launch for PS4 in the West, so you might have to import a copy from Japan (or get the Switch version) if you plan on playing.
Developer Game Freak has primarily focused on its long-running Pokémon series, which started on the Game Boy in 1996. Since then, we’ve seen over a dozen entries in the series, spanning multiple generations of Nintendo platforms with millions of copies sold worldwide. Little Town Hero is significant as one of the developer’s first games of major consequence to release outside of the Pokémon series. Unfortunately, the game didn’t make much of a splash from a critical standpoint, receiving mixed reviews across various outlets. Though, it did garner praise for its unique battle system and music composed by Undertale developer Toby Fox.
What do you think of Game Freak’s Little Town Hero heading to PS4?
[Source: Gematsu]