Heroes of Incredible Tales

HIT Review

By, Herman Y.

HIT (Heroes of Incredible Tales) is a free-to-play, 3D hack-and-slash action RPG developed and published by Nexon, the popular game developers behind Pocket Maplestory and Fantasy War Tactics. HIT was first released on November 18, 2015 in Korea, and not only did it reach 1 million downloads within a week, it was the #1 trending game on Google Play one day after its release and made it into Korea’s Google Play Games of the Year 2015 two days after its release. What is so special about HIT you might ask? HIT doesn’t really offer anything new to the table; it is your typical Korean stage-based action RPG, except it is extremely polished. In fact, HIT is so polished and improved upon that it is currently at the top of its class (of mobile action RPGs). It features next-gen graphics with the Unreal 4 engine, extremely fluid action combat, strategic combat strategies such as blocking, dodging, and counterattacking not seen in many similar games, a voice-acted story, and lots of content that overshadows the generic-ness of the game.

Character Creation and Classes
When players begin, they can choose between one of four characters classes which include: Anika (Scythe), Lucas (Dual Swords), Kiki (Magical Staff), or Hugo (Greatsword). Players can switch between these classes at any time but will have to level each individually, and only the first two are free. Anika is an acrobatic and seductive two-handed Scythe-wielding fighter with wide attack range, Lucas is a deadly and swift dual blade-wielding swordsman with super-fast attack speed, Kiki is a powerful elven girl with devastating AOE attacks and ranged elemental spells, and Hugo is a slow but hard-hitting warrior armed with a large two-handed greatsword. Each class has unique attack styles, skills, and stats, and feels very different to play. Generally, every class has similar attack and defense with the exception of Kiki, who has much more attack than defense, and all classes can block (which negates all damage) and dodge in similar ways. The different classes add variety to the game and the fact that players can switch between their different characters also add a lot of replayability.

Stage-Based Progression
Like most mobile action RPGs, the world is divided up into many stages across multiple Areas (10 stages in each Area). Each stage consists of running through a fairly short map and fighting through waves of monsters with a boss battle at the end of each stage. Stages can be completed in about 1-5 minutes (with later stages taking longer to complete) which is great for casual players, and while the stages may feel short for more hardcore players, it does help to tone down the repetitiveness. Each stage gives gold, experience, and a chance of obtaining rare equipment, which creates a reason to farm and replay stages. The stages gradually become more difficult as time goes by, and farming previous stages for better equipment or for equipment to sacrifice (for enhancement) becomes a large part of the game. Each stage also has a recommended equipment score which indicates its difficulty and suggests whether or not players need to upgrade their equipment. In addition, there is also a voice-acted story that appears every 5 stages that is well-written but not entirely captivating since it is fairly generic and doesn’t really have any memorable characters or player interaction. Overall, the stages are fairly short and standard of mobile action RPGs, but still provide a lot of action and content.

“Unreal” Graphics
HIT currently has the best 3D graphics seen in any mobile action RPG. The game was made with the Unreal 4 engine, a relatively new game engine that is currently in use for many next-gen games. The character models and animations are very realistic and the environments look detailed and varied. The attack effects and skills are flashy and the combat feels extremely fluid with many frames of animation in both movement and attacking. The knock back of monsters when attacked makes it feel even smoother. The game also has spectacular lighting effects in each level, creating realistic shadows as well as light reflection on equipment and weapons which looks especially impressive. Each class has many collectable equipment such as tops, bottoms, boots, and weapons that all vary in appearance and are well designed with a medieval-fantasy look. In terms of appearance and gameplay, HIT resembles a more realistic-looking version of Kritika: The White Knights, which is still a really great looking game today. The one downside is that the game may not run smoothly on many medium and lower-end devices.

Fast-Paced, Action Combat
HIT features a very fluid hack-and-slash combat system that is both simple to use and skill-oriented at the same time. Players can move their characters with a virtual joystick and can attack by tapping or holding the attack button, block by holding the block button, and dodge by holding the block button and then pressing a direction. Players can also use skills by pressing the respective skill buttons. While the combat seems fairly standard, the block option for every class is actually a unique feature not seen in many games and adds a strategy aspect to the combat. Blocking negates all damage and blocking right when the enemy is about to strike deals a powerful counterattack. As the level difficulty increases, being able to block, counterattack, and dodge efficiently can greatly help in tougher battles and can make up for not-so-good equipment. Some skills can also be combined into special finisher attacks if players attack right after using the skill (the finisher attacks have cooldowns so they cannot be spammed).

Each class has many skills and each skill can be upgraded by spending skill points onto the 4 possible upgrades: Offense (skill damage), Wisdom (reduces cooldown), Concentration (critical chance), and Fatality (critical damage). There are also attack, defense, and counterattack-related passive skills. Each class can also equip weapons, armor, and accessories that increase stats and these equipment can be enhanced and leveled up by sacrificing other equipment and then promoted with Jewels to further strengthen them once they are max level (level 20). Like most Korean mobile games, there is also an “Auto” feature that allows characters to automatically move and attack in battles, which allows for AFK farming, but isn’t as effective as manually controlling characters because characters do not use skills or block/dodge/counteract in Auto mode. Overall, the combat system is easy to use but also involves some in-depth combat strategies such as blocking, dodging, and counterattacking, and ultimately feels very fluid and a little more in-depth than other mobile action RPGs.

Real-Time Co-op and PVP
In addition to the main stage-based Story mode, HIT features real-time Co-op, PVP, and additional single player modes. First, the game has a fun Co-op Boss Raid mode where players can party with up to 4 other players in real-time and take on a powerful boss. The “Auto” feature is disabled in this mode and players will have to work together and strategically defeat bosses which is very exciting and rewarding. Unlike a lot of mobile RPGs, the PVP is also in real-time. Players are randomly matched up against other players of similar ranks and then battle it out in intense real-time battles that involve a lot of dodging, timing, and strategy. Unfortunately, the PVP is mostly pay-to-win because players who spend money generally have better equipment and the match-making is not always balanced. Finally, there are some additional single player modes such as the Tower of Trials where players must climb floors of a tower defeating enemies, which gives great rewards such as Gems and equipment summons, and Sanctuary which is a similar survival mode that players can team up with AI companions, that give Jewels for promoting equipment. Overall, HIT has a lot of content and variety with fun, real-time multiplayer modes as well as single player modes.

Cash Shop/In-App Purchases (IAP)
HIT has the common Gacha-style in-app purchases that provide advantages to paying players. With Gems (premium currency), players can summon random weapons, armor, and accessories between the ranks Rare-Legendary (Guaranteed Heroic item if players summon 10 at once), purchase in-game gold (for equipment enhancement), and refill energy for stages. The biggest advantage is the equipment summoning because paying players can obtain really good equipment, although it is random, while non-paying players can only summon Normal-Rare equipment with friend points. Players do, however, get five free Normal-Rare summons a day and one free Rare-Legendary summon every couple of days, as well as Rare & Heroic summons from login rewards so it is possible to obtain premium summons without paying. Players can also use Gems to revive themselves if they die during stages, which is a large advantage in the Story mode progression. Overall, spending money is not completely necessary if players are willing to repeat stages to obtain better equipment, but spending money offers convenience and many advantages such as better equipment and more energy.

Final Verdict – Great
HIT is an incredibly polished mobile action RPG with beautiful graphics, smooth, skill-oriented action combat, and lots of content including real-time PVP, co-op, and many additional modes. Although the game requires a lot of farming and repetition due to steep rises in difficulty, has pay-to-win PVP, and is fairly generic in gameplay, it is currently the best in its class in the mobile action RPG genre and is a game all RPG fans should try out.

HIT Screenshots

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HIT Videos

HIT Links

HIT Official Site
HIT Google Play
HIT iOS (KR)
HIT Official Facebook (KR)

HIT System Requirements

Minimum Requirements:

Android 4.1 and up / iOS 8.0 or later

HIT Music & Soundtrack

HIT Additional Information

Developer: NEXON
Publisher: NEXON
Platforms: Android, iOS
Release Date: November 18, 2015 (KR)

Shut Down: May 9, 2019

HIT (Heroes of Incredible Tales) was developed and published by Nexon, the popular mobile game publishers behind games such as Pocket Maplestory and Legion of Heroes. HIT was first released in Korea on November 18, 2015 and obtained over 1 million downloads within one week of its release. It became the #1 trending game on Google Play one day after its release and was placed into Korea’s Google Play Games of the Year 2015 two days after its release. Unlike many Korean games, HIT was released with both a Korean and English language, meaning it was already translated upon release even though it was initially region-locked. Nexon is also the publishers of the popular mobile games, Fantasy War Tactics and Mabinogi Duel.