Hey there! I'm Yoshinori Ono, CEO at Lasengle.
Welcome to my blog and thanks for dropping by!
I started this blog back in 2021, without much of a plan, but somehow, I've managed to keep at it, and here I am at double digits with blog No. 10!
Let me give a big shoutout to everyone who's read the blog so far. It's thanks to you that I've kept with it!
I'm having a blast writing these blogs, and it really makes my day whenever someone tells me they've read it. And now that people are bringing it up in interviews, I can finally let out a big sigh of relief--looks like I won't be getting the axe anytime soon (phew!)
I'm going to keep the blog fun and casual--because that's who I am--so feel free to swing by whenever you need a break from the daily grind, and I'll keep posting when the mood strikes.
Every once in a while, I'll share some updates about Lasengle, our great company culture, or introduce new team members--so keep your eyes peeled for that!
And while you're here, why not check out some of our Engineering, Design Studio and Marketing Planning roles on previous blogs.
Speaking of culture, here at Lasengle, I think we've got a pretty awesome setup. Our team gets to pick between two flexible work options: Home Style and Office Style. In other words, they can choose to work from home or come hang at the office.
The same applies to me and, with everything that's been going on lately, I've been mainly working from home. But sometimes, you just can't avoid a trip to the office, and there are still some things that I think are just better done in person.
So, after a super long break, I finally made my way back to the Lasengle office and--surprise!
The entrance got a total makeover!
We've switched from the Delightworks green to the ultra-cool Lasengle orange. It gave the office a fresh, brand new vibe and seeing it in person really made my day.
Know another thing that makes my day? Games. And here's game #10: Hero's Hour.
Know another thing that makes my day? Games. Here's my featured game for blog #10: Hero's Hour.
Hero's Hour was launched on March 2, 2022. Depending on when you're reading this, it might've already gone through some tweaks or rule changes, so take it all with a grain of salt!
Hero's Hour is a turn-based real-time strategy game.
Each turn, you get to explore the world, build up your towns, create units, or organize your army. When it's time to fight, the game switches to real-time auto-battles, where you'll watch anywhere from 20 to 200 teeny units going at it on the battlefield.
You can also use magic, with both defensive and attack spells as options.
The battle scenes in this game are weirdly cute (no, really!). You've got all these miniature units of a hundred or so soldiers slugging it out (more like body slamming than punching!), firing arrows, or casting spells, and the combination of fantasy world setting and the pixel art style made the whole thing kind of...adorable.
You can pick from eleven different factions, each with its unique hero, or Unit Leader. World maps range from the teeny-tiny to the massively huge, with the number of active factions depending on the size and settings you choose.
The player can choose the active factions, but there's no faction-specific scenario modes or storylines. So, if you're story focused or you're new to the genre, you might find the ending a bit basic.
But for you strategy veterans out there, the game lets you tweak things to fit your mood or how much time you've got to spare. Customizations like map size, faction type, and difficulty levels mean you can really sink your teeth into the strategy aspect.
One of the major drawbacks of Hero's Hour is that in its current version, you can't do a whole lot to affect combat once it's started. The outcome depends on how well you've prepared before the battle starts, so there's no chance for dramatic comebacks.
Because of this mechanic, strategy tends to fall into a familiar pattern: pick one hero to explore the world, load them up with your best gear, rack up XP and level them up. Then put all your units under their command, creating a sort of elite army, and use this to attack. It gets the job done but it can get a bit repetitive after a while.
To make things more interesting, they could add some restrictions, like capping how many units a hero can control. Or they could add other achievement goals, like maybe being the first to amass a million gold. This could encourage different strategies that play to each faction's unique strengths, so instead of just going out to annihilate everyone (which is the main goal now), you might choose a defensive approach while you go out trying to increase your gold.
But (and here's the catch!), if you add too much complexity with caps and conditions, then the game might be less accessible and you shrink your audience. Finding that balance is always tricky with strategy games, right?
I played Hero's Hour with my handheld gaming PC, but it was a bit clunky with just the controller. Assigning frequently used commands like "End Turn" (Ctrl+E) to a controller button made life easier (meaning you can quickly end your turn without mashing multiple keys), but in the end I opted for a keyboard-controller combo.
If I'm honest, I'd say games like this, which are designed to be played with mouse and keyboard, are always going to feel a bit forced when you try and play them with just a controller (...or maybe that's because I'm old-school??).
If you're a pro at strategy games, then Hero's Hour might feel a bit basic. But, its simplicity is also its strength. The winning strategy is straight forward: pick a champion, load them up with all your best gear and troops, and charge into enemy lines like an unstoppable miniature juggernaut.
It's a really easy game to get the hang of, and I think the focus on offense over defense makes it a great game for newbies.
You might find you fall into the same pattern of using the elite army approach, but the flip side is that having this sure-win tactic means that, even when you're getting stomped by the NPC army, you'll be shaking your metaphorical fist with a, "Just you wait! I'll show you! Once my hero gets back, we're gonna turn this thing around!", and be wanting to get back in and have a go.
Once you've got the hang of it, you can start switching things up: try out different factions, a new map, up the difficulty level, there's lots of different ways to test out your go-to plan.
Which is pretty much how I ended up getting hooked--there's so many different parameters to play with, and win or lose, I just want to get back in and test my go-to plan out again.
That's my take on Hero's Hour!
Thanks for reading.
The next game is calling my name so gotta go--till next time!
Yoshinori X（Twitter）