| Hero Must Die | |
|---|---|
 Artwork for the Vita remake. | |
| Developer(s) | Pyramid |
| Publisher(s) | G-Mode (Mobile) Nippon Ichi Software (Vita) |
| Director(s) | Hiroki Sonoda |
| Producer(s) | Kyoko Kawakami Jun Meishi Moto Suganuma (Vita) |
| Designer(s) | Shoji Masuda |
| Artist(s) | Shunya Yamashita Tetsu Kurosawa (Vita) |
| Writer(s) | Shoji Masuda |
| Composer(s) | Kenji Ito |
| Platform(s) | Mobile PlayStation Vita PlayStation 4 Nintendo Switch Microsoft Windows |
| Release | DoCoMO
PlayStation Vita
Microsoft Windows
|
| Genre(s) | Role-playing |
Hero Must Die (Japanese: 勇者死す。, Hepburn: Yūsha Shisu.) is a role-playing video game developed by Pyramid and originally released for the DoCoMO mobile service in December 2007. It was later released for SoftBank and EZweb in 2008, and a "Director's Cut" version was released for DoCoMO in May 2009. A full remake for the PlayStation Vita was released in February 2016. In all versions, players navigate both an overworld and localized environments, with fights using a turn-based battle system. Hero Must Die takes place over five days, and features the last exploits of an unnamed hero after he defeats the Dark Lord Guille at the cost of his life and is given a last chance to explore the world he saved and potentially solve some lingering problems.
The concept of Hero Must Die was developed by its scenario writer and designer Shoji Masuda based on his experiences of watching his father deteriorate from cirrhosis. The characters were designed by Shunya Yamashita, who both had creative freedom and was asked to adjust many of his designs. The music was composed by Kenji Ito, and was his first time working on a mobile game. The mobile version of the game stopped network distribution in 2012. The remake was announced in 2015, and included expanded content, new characters, and redone environments. Reception of both versions of the game has been positive.