WTF / Byte Hell Review
|| This review was written when the game was only available in Japan ||
The internet is often home to many cult crazes that are enthusiastically received by rabid gamers. Trivia Robot, Jonny Moseley, Button Mashing, anything Katamari, and any of Jeff's hairstyles to name but a few. However, this latest one was the first to make me go out and part with my hard earned cash. After seeing some gameplay footage "on the spot", I immediately went to eBay to secure myself a copy of Byte Hell. Being a UK resident and speaking zilcho Japanese means importing from Japan has never been my thing.
Including shipping and handling, it cost me £29.98 to get Byte Hell, a PSP game retails in this country at either £34.99 or £39.99, so it was less than full-price.
Byte hell basically has you sent to the fiery pits of hell, but not to be prodded by pitch-forks, or tortured by fire, instead your torture will come in the form of menial and mundane tasks. These "tasks" are infact mini-games that carry feature simple 2-3 button gameplay, a lot of humour, and a lot of repetition.
Watching the gameplay footage of the game, it was clear it was fairly text heavy. Speaking no Japanese, I had doubts as to how I'd be able to get my head around the game. To my surprise, upon opening the game, enclosed was an English translation of the instructions. Although this was about as well translated as your average Korean-made DVD player instructions, it certainly helped with the Wi-Fi aspects of the game, such as game sharing and item trading. (not that you'll find anyone else with this game...ever.)
The individual mini-games must be figured out on a game-by-game basis... but after you've figured out 4 or 5, you generally come around to the developer's way of thinking (that is...insanity) and it becomes easier to figure out what you have to do.
Byte Hell's best characteristic however is it's pickup and play gamestyle. I, like many people, use my PSP mainly for it's media functions. Very rarely having the motivation to load up a game, to be faced with the usual huge loading times, and eye-squinting graphics. However, Byte Hell changes that. With super quick loading times and games that can last from 10 seconds to infinite (pen capping, anyone?) and with the constant contribution of money that can be used to buy more games, even the smallest game session rewards you. This really motivates you to boot up the game more, and when you do boot up the game, the addictive nature of the mini-games prevents you from putting it down. The games also have a habit of passing time quickly... perfect if your waiting for a bus, or on a long journey. (however, I wouldn't recommend chopping logs for an entire long-haul flight from London to Dubai...)
Byte Hell also features several "tools." Whether these were intended as simple jokes from the developers, or they were deluded enough to think people would actually find them useful; is a matter for debate. However, Byte Hell is the kind of game you just store in your PSP, therefore it's toolbox could prove handy. If you take your PSP everywhere for it's MP3 functions, but just happen to keep Byte Hell inside, then the tools are always on you, so in a zany kinda way, the toolbox kind of makes sense. The tools range from horoscopes to the legendary "Ramen Timer" but some, such as the lottery number generator could perhaps be useful.
All in all Byte Hell is a cult craze that just so happens to be backed by some good gameplay. If you find your PSP being used less and less for games, then Byte Hell may be the game that changes that. It remains to be seen if the repetitiveness will cause the game to become a bore, but there's certainly a lot to unlock, and hell... when it's all unlocked... you can kick back and eat some quality ramen!
