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It's a fun game to go through, but the translation is bugged! When I used a revival item in battle the game messed up, eventually crashed and corrupted my save data...

This JRPG is a departure from the standard swords-and-sorcery fare. Though gameplay is very similar to Dragon Quest and other contemporaries (go around and talk to NPCs to trigger the next story beat, equip items to improve attack and defense, front-facing turn-based battles, an overworld with random battles), it distinguishes itself through its trappings. It's set on a high school island. Swords are replaced by bats and letter-openers; beasts and villains are replaced by renegade students, teachers, and . . . ghost trains? The game also tries its hand at humor. It packs some absurd elements, a bit of slapstick, and some pretty typical anime-set-in-a-high-school-style humor.

This game is really going to be a matter of taste. It all felt pretty standard to me. The humor didn't really do it for me, and the gameplay, like most JRPGs, is nothing to write home about. The story and characters were pretty average, in my opinion. I would say, if you're interested in a JRPG set in current day, give it a try. I'm warning you though, EarthBound it's not; I'd sooner recommend you G.O.D. Mezameyo to Yobu Koe ga Kikoe, which is another JRPG set in present day.

The Adventure of Hourai High School is, at its core, a great parody of the classic JRPG. It shares many similarities with the Mother series in its presentation and battle system. Although a very different storyline than the Mother games, it shares the same sense of humor with many laugh-out-loud moments. Of course, Aeon Genesis tackled this game, and as usual they provided a very strong English translation with only a few grammatical errors.

AoHHS is about a new student attending the school and the crazy adventures that he and his friends from an underground school newspaper go through. There are shady going-ons within the staff of the school and they are attempting to unravel the mysteries.

The game plays much like a mixture of Dragon Quest, Mother, and Final Fantasy. The world is based on an island with a huge campus centered in the middle. The battle interface is very much like DQ with Mother-like enemy drawings. As well, there is a class system similar to that of Final Fantasy 3 or 5. You learn new skills from simply gaining exp. It's simple but a lot of fun.

Again, Aeon Genesis, who brought us the translations for Chaos World, Clock Tower, Shin Megami Tensei, and many many others, did the great translation, bringing the script to great life. It's great to just walk about and talk to the NPC's and see what hilarious things they have to say. Particularly from the "school patrol". I think even one of them says something about if you get out of line that he was going to eat you. I was cracking up numerous times from the great translation. My only issue was from a proofreaders point of view. There were plenty of times where an "s" was used where a "z" should be. That was pretty much it though. It definitely doesn't take away from the game in any way and the translation is solid otherwise.

The game is definitely worth checking into. Especially if you are into JRPG's. Everything about this game is fun and addicting.