PlayStation Portable has seen a great number of role-playing games. From strategy and real-time to action and traditional, this handheld has been a must-own machine for anyone who likes RPGs.

Class of Heroes, an anime-flavored RPG from Atlus, is quite different from the normal PSP release. First, the game uses a first-person view for dungeons and battle effects – not an unheard of feature by any means, but it’s not exactly common for this kind of a role-playing game. Second, while exploring the school, Class of Heroes relies solely on still images and point-and-click functions for navigation. Third, rather than the limit of three or four party members that most RPGs employ, Class of Heroes lets you have up to six party members.

Fourth, enemies position themselves in rows; the first row, which consists of the current attackers, changes frequently to provide on-the-fly battle adjustments. With the right weapon or magic, all rows can be retaliated against. Fifth, for a first-person RPG (whose dungeons are 3D and polygonal), the enemy designs and animations are very simple. Think Pokemon with a darker, edgier appeal.

That’s quite a list, and though it tells you a lot about Class of Heroes, it does not quite convey what the game is about. As the students of Particus Academy, you are officially enrolled. In other words, you’re a student, and being a student means doing work. Since this is a game, “work” isn’t necessarily the worst word you could possibly hear. But there is a learning process, and having patience is a must.

Rather than start the game with a leading man or woman who must save the world from evil, Class of Heroes encourages players to create their own party. The game provides a few pre-made characters to get you started, and at first, all of them seem to be stronger than anyone you could create on your own. But no one is impervious. Anyone can die, and if a character doesn’t recover after a serious assault, you may lose him or her forever. Inevitably, this means that you’ll create and lose a few characters, maybe more, before your party becomes strong enough to withstand the first batch of enemies.

Creating a character is as easy as choosing a name (any will do), gender, race, and alignment (good, evil or neutral). There are 10 different races to choose from: Human, Sprite, Elf, Felpier, Dwarf, Drake, Erdgeist, Diablos, Halfling and Celestian. You’re given nine bonus points to apply to your stats – strength, wisdom, faith, vitality, agility and luck. Based on all of these decisions, one of several majors – Warrior, Wizard, Devout, Thief, Cleric, Evoker, Ranger, Alchemist, Psychicer Monk, Samurai, Valkyrie, Paladin, Ninja and Kunoichi – will become available. Your major is very important because it determines how your character performs in battle. (Devout majors use melee attacks, Clerics use magic, Psychicers use ranged attacks, etc.)

As a mission-based RPG, Class of Heroes displays new quests on a bulletin board. You can select any that are available, and then it’s off the labyrinths, a collection of the world’s most mysterious dungeons. It seems they appeared out of nowhere one day and, for the past several decades, have changed the world forever. By delving deep inside them, you’ll come face-to-face with dozens of monsters (brought on with random encounters), an abundance of treasure, and one too many deceptive traps.

Mechanically, the dungeons aren’t too hard to explore. The D-pad controls your movement in a very simple way: push left or right to turn your view in that direction, or push up or down to move forward or backward. Movement is not smooth and consistent like it would be in a normal FPS; each time you push up, your party moves forward one space, which is basically equal to one six-foot square. It’s strange that the game is paced this way, but it does help you keep track of your location (assuming you don’t mind counting steps). Every labyrinth is a mishmash of repetitive imagery – after a while, all of the walls, tiles and passageways begin to look the same. Should you choose to keep track of each step, this can be less of a problem.

With six party members, you’ll go into each battle with a small army. Of course, the enemy has a small army as well. When it’s your turn to move, familiar options like attack, defend, item, equip and run are available. Magic will appear as a selection when applicable, as will any other special skills a character has. These standard, clear-cut actions keep battles quick. But with so many allies and enemies involved in each turn, the game isn’t lightning-fast.

If an ally runs out of HP in battle, he or she is sent to the infirmary. This area, along with the library (records and bulletin board), dormitory (edit party, store items, rest to regain MP or sleep to regain HP), principal’s office (change your good/evil/neutral alignment), campus store (buy items), and laboratory (synthesize items), cannot be accessed while inside a dungeon. Once you’re back at the school, you can visit any of these using the game’s point-and-click navigations.

Characters don’t heal themselves, so you’ll have to shed a little of your hard-earned money to get them back into shape. However, not every character can be healed; if their wounds prove to be too severe, they may not survive regardless of how much money you spend.

This is the cycle of Class of Heroes, a cycle that goes on for many hours and never gives up. Every part of this game, from the battles to the simplistic navigation system, was designed for one kind of player. It won’t dazzle those who got a PSP for its graphic capabilities. It won’t excite those who only like games in the Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest series. It may, however, prove to be a hit with fans of Etrian Odyssey or The Dark Spire for Nintendo DS. If you don’t have a DS or have already been through them and need a game to fill the void left by their conclusion, Class of Heroes is worth a rental. Otherwise, you might want to look elsewhere for your RPG fix.

Gameplay: 5.5
A dungeon crawler for fans of dungeon crawlers.

Graphics: 4
Plain 3D backgrounds, so-so character designs, weak animations, and a severe lack of eye-popping, PSP-worthy moments.

Sound: 6
For an RPG, Class of Heroes' music and sound effects are somewhat generic.

Difficulty: Medium
The first few hours are all but overwhelming. If you don't like the idea of losing characters you put your heart and soul into creating, this isn't the game for you.

Concept: 5
We've seen this one before: create characters, build a party and fight through hundreds of battles that lead to...would you look at that? Another hundred battles.

Overall: 5.5
Class of Heroes won't be the game most RPG fans drool over, but it's worth playing if you love dungeon crawlers, don't mind the repetition or unfair difficulty, and embrace the idea of investing several hours in a game whose experience rarely changes.