is a role-playing video game dungeon crawler for the PlayStation Portable developed by Zero Div and published by Acquire in Japan and Atlus in North America. In Japan, the game was released on August 26, 2008; in North America, the game was released on June 9, 2009 by Atlus. In the game, players progress by navigating dungeons as hordes of enemies appear and attack in turn-based combat. Class of Heroes received mixed reviews from critics, with some appreciating the creative take on dungeon-crawling and others disliking the game's graphics and grind-based leveling system.
An enhanced remake called Ken to Mahō to Gakuenmono Anniversary Edition was released for the Nintendo Switch in Japan on April 26, 2018.
Gameplay
Players begin the game by selecting characters for their party, choosing each individual's race, gender, stats, alignment, and major. Both race and gender are permanent, but a character's alignment and major can be changed when visiting a school. There are ten playable races in the game: Human, Elf, Dwarf, Erdgeist, Halfling, Sprite, Felpier, Drake, Diablon, and Celestian. Each race has different attitudes towards the others requiring a balance of compatibility to be struck. Each race is imbued with different strengths; e.g. Halflings are clever thieves and Drakes are able warriors. The party starts at Particus Academy which serves as a home base where players can regenerate Magic points, purchase equipment, start quests in the labyrinths, and practice alchemy on items obtained in mazes. Once a dungeon quest is started, enemies may be encountered randomly as players navigate the maze of corridors. The turn-based combat system during battles uses a row-based character line-up, where characters in the back rows with short-range weapons are unable to attack distant enemies. As players progress through the dungeon, a tension gauge accumulates after each battle allowing the party to use gambits during future engagements.
Within each dungeon is a magic lock which when opened allows future trips to the dungeon to be bypassed. Players are able to save their game at any time outside of combat and are also able to easily escape a dungeon when needed. Traps exist within the mazes, and an entire party can be taken out if accidentally sprung. When a party falls while journeying in a dungeon, players are revived back at their school. When a student falls the revival process can fail, and after two consecutive failures the student is deleted from the party.
Development
Atlus announced Class of Heroes in a press release on January 20, 2009, with a prospective release date of April 7. On March 30, Atlus wrote in a press release that a critical bug was discovered in the game a few days before manufacturing began, and that the game would be delayed until June 9 to allow time to resolve the bug.
Reception
Class of Heroes received mixed reviews from critics, ranging from 30 to 83 on Metacritic with an overall rating of 61. IGN reviewer Ryan Clements panned the game for its choice of retro style mechanics, forcing players to grind for levels by dungeon crawling. Clements concedes that level-grinding can be satisfying, but only when coupled with good graphics, animations, battle mechanics, and storytelling, none of which, Clements writes, this game has. On the other hand, RPGamer Glenn Wilson wrote that while typical first-person dungeon crawlers would only appeal to the most hardcore gamers, Class of Heroes "may well be the first playable, enjoyable, approachable, and universally fun game ever to grace this oft-maligned subgenre." Wilson praised the game's originality, balance, monster artwork, and creative dungeon design: "Class of Heroes succeeds at being a solid, well-balanced first person dungeon crawler."