The Best Wrestling RPG Ever Made! Let's Play Hybrid Heaven.

Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Hug the Mutant.





Hybrid Heaven is one of my favourite RPGs of all time. Coming out only a measly 11 years ago for the N64, it was also notable for being one of the few RPGs for the system at all.

The game is an interesting mix of 3D adventure, RPG, and wrestling.

Exploring the main game world is done in a manner not too much unlike 3D adventure games of the time (Mario 64 et al), but with much... clunkier controls. You don't have anywhere near the same range of motion, so there's not a lot that you need to do. While the game could have had players do things like crazy jumps and other tricks, it didn't really bother (which is just as well, since my controller was dying through the playthrough).

But the heart of the game is the RPG aspects. Meeting an enemy in the main world causes the game to instantly jump into battle mode, using the local area as the battlezone. However, the areas you fight in will invariably be unobstructed hallways or rooms. There will never really be any kind of obstacle (be it a chest, crate, pit, whatever) in the same room, probably because the AI would crash on it. I'll explain the mechanics more in my videos.

And the best part of the battles is that it's one of the best wrestling engines I've had the pleasure of playing. It's ATB in a manner not unlike Secret of Mana/Evermore in that you have a power bar that charges up, and how full the bar is affects the power of your attacks. Over the course of the game, you also gain up to 4 spare charge bars that you can use to chain together attacks into combos, which you can also save to perform again later. The battle controls are fairly solid, though I had some trouble because of a fair bit of lag from my tuner card.

However, that's not to say it doesn't have problems. The game is incredibly badly optimized (which will be obvious in a number of later videos) and more linear then Final Fantasy X. You'll see a minimap in the corner of the screen in my videos, but for the majority of the time it'll just be straight lines.


So, as I was mentioning above, this LP is video-based, and is actually already finished as I was doing it for another site. This means that I'll make some comments here that will not quite jive with what is said in the videos (being up to 6ish months old, a few of them). Also, I plan to be putting out one video a week, probably on the weekends. But maybe more often then that, since I have 32 parts. What does Talking Time suggest?

And speaking of suggesting, if there's anything that I don't quite explain well in the videos and you'd like to know more about, just let me know! And even though I've already recorded the entire main game, there's still some side things that I haven't shown off yet, so keep an eye out for that as well!


So, with no further ado, let's get to the video(s)! I'll post a link to each new video, but I'll also be compiling them all here for easy reference.


Videos

Intro and Bioweapon Storage Facility
Video 1
Video 2
Video 3.1
Video 3.2
Video 4
Video 5

Dr. Bross' Lab
Video 6
Video 7

Clone Storage Facility
Video 8
Video 8 Supplemental
Video 9
Video 9 Supplemental
Video 10
Video 11
Video 12
Video 13

Weapon Factory
Video 14
Video 15
Video 16
Video 17

Underground Shelter Lowest Area
Video 18
Video 19

Bioweapon Factory
Video 20
Video 21
Video 22
Video 23
Video 24

Clone Storage Facility 2
Video 25
Video 26
Video 27

Clone Cultivation Site
Video 28
Video 29
Video 30

Underground Shelter Top Level
Video 31
Video 32

Supplemental Game Information

As things come up in the game, I'll be putting info on them in the update posts, and linking them here. This kind of stuff will include spoilers, so if you don't want to read some stuff before seeing it in the video...! I'll be restricting what I put here to what's shown in the released videos, though.

Updates:

Update 1
Update 2
Update 3
Update 4
Update 5
Update 6
Update 7
Update 8
Update 9
Update 10
Update 11
Update 12
Update 13
Update 14
Update 15
Update 16
Update 17
Update 18
Update 19
Update 20
Update 21
Update 22
Update 23
Update 24
Update 25
Update 26
Update 27
Update 28
Update 29
Update 30


Characters



Diaz is the main character. He seems to be working for some organization that wants to replace the President, but when he meets up with Johnny Slater, he starts hearing voices in his head and shoots Johnny.

Diaz is buff, and thinks he's an Indian.




Johnny Slater is a Secret Service agent who is tasked with protecting the President. He seems to also be part of a plot to kidnap the President and replace him. What a jerk.

Johnny likes going around his apartment naked. He also has a stylin' leather jacket that gets ruined by Diaz.




Holly is Johnny's girlfriend. She is unlucky enough to happen to be in the subway when Diaz shoots Johnny, and he evaporates in front of her. Oddly, though, she gets ignored entirely even though she saw something absolutely bonkers.

You won't see or hear from her again until the end of the game.


Items



The Diffuser is Diaz's sidearm. It doesn't actually fire bullets, but instead it seems to basically be a kind of EMP gun. As a result, it doesn't work in normal battles (even against robot enemies), but it is useful for destroying the various security drones that inhabit the underground.




The Code Key is an integral part of the game. And by that I mean the whole flow of the game revolves around you using the key to get to a new area, then needing to find the key renewal station in order to get to the next area.




Life Chargers are your standard healing item. The S series recovers 25% of your HP, but it will never heal any less then 100. This is actually a really nice feature of Hybrid Heaven's recovery items.


Enemies



Drones are one of the most common "overworld" enemies. They tend to just hover around until they either sense you, or you shoot them. Then they buzz around and shoot back at you. Higher level versions shoot waves of beams to try and trap you. If you crawl, one will never hit you ever.




Sensors are the other common overworld enemy. They are usually stationary, but can also be mobile. If you cross the orange beam, they will fire at you. Most Sensors shoot lasers, but many drop bombs instead.

Hug them mutants! HUG 'EM DOWN, HIPPIE!

...Ahem. With that out of the way, I have to say I'm really glad to see this up and going again. It'll be fun to see the Talking Time community's reaction to the sheer weirdness (and awesomeness) of Hybrid Heaven.

I have this game on N64 cart, but I've never made any real progress in it because I don't have a Controller Pak and my controllers' analog sticks are all stiff and unresponsive feeling now. I'd love for this game to come out on Virtual Console so I could play it with better controls and resolution, but chances of that are nil until Nintendo figures out how the hell to emulate Controller Pak saves, like so many other Konami titles. -.-;

This can't possibly be not-awesome. I rented this game once based off NPs article on it and I just could not wrap my brain around the combat. Somehow managed to play it for a few hours anyway and enjoyed it.

The thing I remember most though is how the art in the article included either a very buff woman or a man with bulging round pecs.

You know, it's interesting. My ancient N64 controller's analog stick is actually really loose now, which was causing me troubles because that means it has a rather large dead zone. You'll watch me snake around a lot during the videos as a result.

Also I was hoping to get Hybrid Heaven on VC to do this LP, but alas it seems like it is not to be.


There's going to be a pretty funny scene in a much later video that is something like this. Watch out for it!

I played this game back when it came out and I didn't understand how it worked at all.

So I just used a GameShark and beat it that way.

I'm definitely interested in seeing how you're actually supposed to play, though, so I'll be watching this LP.
Also, you should do more than 1 update a week, because I don't think I need nearly a year of Hybrid Heaven videos.

I always saw this game for rental at the local video store and never gave it the time of day; maybe here I'll see what I missed out on!

Oh, and the characters have hilariously small faces.

That is a good idea. So, with no further ado!


Video 2


Supplemental Game Information



Spicas are the first enemy in the game. And as such, they're not really much of a threat (though look at those claws!). They primarily attack with punches; specifically, Mid and Upper Hooks. However on Ultimate, they also have High Kick.




Pollux are the second enemy, and contrast Spicas by being based mostly on kicks. They will use Low Kicks, Mid Kicks, Low Side Kick, and Mid Side Kick.

I have so many goozex points racked up I don't really know what to do with them, so what the hell--I'll request a copy of this.

You say there's no point to leveling up each side of your body, but what about disabling limbs to prevent attacks? Are there any cross-body moves that would allow you to hit your opponent's right limbs with your own?

On the other hand, I suppose if you get to the point where you can quickly disable their left limbs and they're forced to attack only with their right, your left limbs will quickly build up a massive defense the enemy will have trouble overcoming...

Last question: Am I thinking too hard about this?

To be honest, I sort of end up contradicting myself later on because I find out how skill leveling works. And I think it applies to limb levels as well.

But as for disabling enemy limbs, I never found it to be worthwhile to intentionally try to do so, other then knocking out the head. And there's really easy ways to do that. As well, Diaz aims forward when attacking, so even if you used a left punch, if you and the enemy are facing each other head-on, you will hit the body instead of their right arm.

Also, you only need to hit the limbs, so you can still position yourself around the enemy to hit them, no matter which limbs you are deciding to focus on.

So, the end of my last video didn't really go as well as I hoped, so please enjoy this remixed version (3.1) before my next actual update (3.2) begins!

Video 3.1
Video 3.2


Supplemental Game Information



Battle Chargers restore both HP and Stamina, and as a result are slightly rarer then both Life and Stamina Chargers. But running out of Stamina is almost never a concern for me, so I just use these for healing.

Like the Life Charger, the S variant restores 25% of your HP and Stamina, to a minimum of 100 HP. I don't think Stamina recovery has a minimum value.




Seginus rounds out the trinity of initial enemies. With the first two focused on punches and kicks respectively, Seginus is focused on grapple moves. They use Neck Throw, Bodyslam, Brainbuster, Back Suplex, and Soccerball Kick.

So now that I finished catching up, how about we make some real progress in the game?

Video 4

Supplemental Game Information



Life Charger M is the second level of Life Chargers. They restore 50% of your HP, to a minimum of 500.




The Flame Shot is our first attack item. If used in battle, it allows Diaz to fire a bolt of flame at his enemy, which can hit elemental weaknesses for larger damage.

I never use any of these because all the Shots don't actually give you XP.




Clone Men are just the average, unremarkable clone workers that inhabit the underground. They're very weak, and go down in only a few attacks. They can use Mid Uppercut, Upper Uppercut, Upper Hook, Upper Punch, Low Kick, Mid Kick, High Kick, and Mid Side Kick. They can also use Life Chargers. The jerks.




Naos are the prize monsters. They're weak, but every time you knock one down, it drops a Life Charger S that you can pick up after the battle. They can use Mid Hook, Upper Hook, Low Kick, Low Side Kick, and the Boston Crab. They can also use Life Chargers.




Mines are another overworld enemy. They tend to just wander around a room, and if they detect you coming close they try to get close to you and explode. If they don't manage to get close enough within a few seconds, they explode anyway.

Man, I've actually never heard of this game. It looks clunky as fuck, but strangely enjoyable despite that. I'm enjoying this LP so far.

And with this next video, I finally get out of the first zone of the game. Also, a boss fight!

Some people may notice that I picked up a new item somewhere. I lost some recording right before this video, but you guys didn't really miss anything. I'll take a picture of the item and put it's details the next time I see one.

Video 5

Supplemental Game Information



Hunter (left) and Jerry (right) are the 2 most important Hybrids in the game. Hunter is designed to be the Ultimate Hybrid, better then anything else. Jerry is... well, I think he's basically the head administrator, making sure everything works in the bunker. Hunter is dedicated to his work, while Jerry just wants to get above ground.




Poison Shot is another Shot weapon. This one deals minimal damage, but also tries to apply the Poison status which does kind of pathetic damage, really. The odd thing about Poison is that it doesn't seem to scale, so while having it deal, say, 200 damage over the length is pretty hurtful at the start of the game, 200 HP at the end is pretty pathetic.




Procyon is the first boss of the game. He's pretty annoying, but not too difficult, especially since I managed to get my first combo bar before him. He's basically a combination of the 3 trinity enemies, plus the ability to use grapple attacks as a normal attack, and make waves of blue flame that knock you around.

Viddler is saying that's a private video.

So it was. I forgot to change that, but now it is fixed!

So, enough of the storage facility. How about we do some weird science instead?

As a note, for all the items I'm getting for the first time as fight loot, when I find one in a chest I'll be replacing these pictures with that one.

Video 6


Supplemental Game Information



Dr Bross is not really a doctor. I mean, it's unlikely that they give out real PhDs around here! But he is certainly a mad scientist. He was created for, and lives for, experimentation and science. And he loves the idea of using Diaz as a test subject.




Gomeisa is another grapple focused monster, but they also have a few kicks to round out their list. They can use Low Front Kick, Mid Front Kick, High Front Kick, Head Crush, Piledriver, Bridge Suplex, Shoulder Toss, and Choke Sleeper Hold.




Mekbuda is one fat pig. And as an interesting note, the design of his body causes trouble for some of your punches to be able to hit him, since the game uses 2 hitboxes. One hitbox determines where you can walk, and the other determines when an attack actually hits. As a result, a lot of enemies will be immune to certain attacks because of the way they stand.

Mekbuda can use Mid Hook, Upper Hook, Mid Punch, Low Side Kick, Low Kick, Body Slam, Shoulder Buster, Piledriver, Head Butt, Side Throw. They also like to use Offence Enhancers




Ring Erasers are your "Get out of battle free" card. They instantly kill the non-boss enemy you're fighting. But why use them? You don't get any XP out of it!




Defence Enhancers do just like they say. They give a boost to your defence rating for the current battle, based on how full your power bar is.




Opposed to the Enhancers, Offence Drainer reduces the enemy's attack power for the remainder of the battle, based on how full your ATB bar was when you use the item.




Stamina Chargers do for stamina what Life Chargers do for HP. The M will restore 50% of your Stamina, with no minimum.




Super Restorers cure all status effects and also restore a little bit of HP.

Hey, who likes giant killer monsters?! Diaz and Bross sure do!

Video 7


Supplemental Game Information



I probably should have had this one in the last update. Bross' Monster (because I don't know if an official name for it has been stated) is the king of monsters. Diaz cannot harm the monster in any way, and it loves to charge into Diaz.




Kitalphas look like they're already dead! It's almost like the Hybrids were working on something and forgot to finish it halfway. They can use Low Kick, Mid Kick, Mid Punch, Upper Punch, Head Butt, Brainbuster, Arm Bar, Piledriver, and Toe and Neck Lock.




Beids start off strong, but don't scale as well as the game progresses. Also it looks like their brains are showing. They can use Mid Punch, Upper Punch, Mid Uppercut, High Kick, High Side Kick, High Front Kick, Headbutt, Head Crush, Back Head Crush, Neck Throw, Arm Bar, and Arm Crucifix Hold.




The Garguantians are a peaceful race of aliens who came to Earth years ago to study it. Or so they thought, but it turned out that a traitor caused them to remain in cold sleep for longer then expected. Now they're all enslaved by the Hybrids.




And now, let us have a TVIST. Turns out that Diaz was actually Johnny Slater in a costume, brainwashed to think he was Diaz. So once Johnny-Diaz manages to escape into one of the Garguantian hideouts, they offer to return his form and memories to him. He also has some swank body armour.

Johnny Slater is a badass.

I haven't checked out the videos yet, but I picked up the game, played through the first level (that is, I reached 2-1), and wow...this game is kind of awesome, metal corridorness notwithstanding.

I also am surprised that the game doesn't look and sound nearly as awful as I expected for an N64 game (expansion pack probably helps?). The control for jumping is really weird, though. Holding the stupid controller claw-style with the analog stick really screws with your perception of how to aim straight forward when running/jumping.

Does the game make a habit of blocking off access to your save stations? It did it in 1-1, didn't in 1-2, but just having it available made me run back to it in 1-2 when I was grinding on the respawning enemy square. I'll be a bit less obsessive about saving if it doesn't keep cutting me off like in 1-1.

The game's actually pretty good about having save points close to respawn points. In fact, it's pretty good about save points in general; I generally did each of my updates as going from one save point to the next, and it hardly ever was more then 20 minutes in between.

Probably the furthest you'll have to go from one save point to an enemy spawner is about a minute through non-hostile terrain. Or through 3 other spawners, but you'll be clearing those other ones first anyway!

I just watched 3.1 and everything prior.

LOL, that's exactly what I did!

What's the music from the 3.1 video? I think I've heard it before but can't put my finger on it.

I haven't really gotten the hang of Step yet. Am I supposed to know what body part they're trying to attack with and dodge opposite/same direction? I haven't quite sussed it out.

EDIT: Watching the 4th vid. BTW, that room where you're seemingly ambushed by the laser 3/4 of the way through the 4th video? Yeah, you wouldn't think it, but if you jump immediately as you gain control you'll avoid it. In general, the jump is good for avoiding both the mines that travel along the ground as well.

Of course, it's BS that it happens as soon as you open the door to the new room, but if you see lasers ahead of you, it often isn't a bad idea to jump for the hell of it. It seems to take about a moment to recognize you.

EDIT 2: Also, that item suspended on a platform near the end of video 4? Yeah, to get to it, you needed to have not destroyed that box to get back on the platform to shimmy across. It takes you to the same room only near the top of it, and you have to do some platforming to get to it. I think it's just a life charger S, though.

Area 2: Bah, so close to the save point. I got destroyed by the big fat pig dude (Mekbuda). Offense enhancers + cheap grab moves were my undoing on him.

BTW, a note for you on Mekbuda: he also has a Backbreaker that he used on me, and I didn't see in your move list for him.

The music from 3.1 is Pressing Pursuit ~ Cornered, [Edit for awful lies] Examination ~ Allegro 2001 from Magical Trick Society's remix album of the first Phoenix Wright soundtrack.

Step is generally only worthwhile if you're already a short distance from the enemy. I start to use this in a FAR later video, but a good strategy is to take a large step (double-press in a direction) just as you see the monster finish their attack "tell" animation. You'll usually long-step out of the way, and can then use the Step reaction to move the rest in case they have steps as part of their attack animation (which some monsters do).


Also thanks for the heads up. I noticed on another monster that the guide I'm using to list the battle moves seems to be missing a few moves itself; notably, I think it skipped a lot of the moves used on grounded targets. In a lot of cases, even if the monster HAS a ground grapple move, the AI seems to have difficulty selecting it as an option.

I played through this game when it first came out, got it for Christmas that year. I remember being really shocked by the ending since out of nowhere the game gets voice acting for the ending scene

So, last time I escaped from a giant monster. What's in store for Johnny Slater this time? Let's find out, in the Clone Storage Facility.

The Supplemental video is a fast-forwarded video of me grinding through the monster generator in the first area. I only do one more such video (which will be in the next update), and then do any further grinding off-camera.


Video 8
Video 8 Supplemental


Supplemental Game Information



Murphrids are annoying. They're very tough when you first face them, and scale fairly well. And they're on a lot of the monster generators. They can use Low Front Kick, Mid Front Kick, High Front Kick, Upper Uppercut, Mid Uppercut, Side Throw, Bridge Suplex, Arm Bar, Head Crush, and Arm & Neck Lock.



The Poison Restorer does what the name suggests: Removes Poison. I'll use a few of these in the early game when poison is actually dangerous, but by the end of the game poison does so little damage that I don't even bother spending the power.

After many failed attempts, I finally got to the 2nd save point in level 2! After that, it wasn't too hard to finish the stage. Now I'm on 3, and have control of Slater.

So, after wasting a bunch of time at the monster generators in this area, I actually make some progress! Also, another fast-forward supplemental video, but this will be the last time I do one. After this point, all subsequent grinding sessions are done off-camera.

Also there were a few new things in the supplemental, but I'll talk about them more in a later update, since they'll show up again.

Video 9
Video 9 Supplemental


Supplemental Game Information



Men in Black are kind of annoying. They're not really that much stronger then a Clone Man, but if you're too far away they shoot you with a Flame Shot. Besides that, they can also use Mid Punch, Low Kick, Mid Kick, Upper Backblow, Bridge Suplex, Back Suplex, Armlock Throw, Arm Bar, and Arm Crucifix Hold.




Speed Enhancers do just what they say: increase your Speed a bit for the current battle. Speed affects how fast you can move in battle by a little bit, so this item lets you move around quicker.




Battle Charger L is just like the other Battle Chargers, except it restores 75% HP/Stamina to a minimum of 1000 HP.

So, how about some more wondering in the Clone Storage Facility? I think I'd like that. Maybe we'll see some plot development.


Video 10


Supplemental Game Information



Kevin Young is Johnny's boss in the Secret Service, and overall responsible for the security of the President. He's also a Hybrid, which means he's overall responsible for the kidnapping of the President. Whoops!




Offence Drainers are another item that does what they say: they reduce the Offence rating of the enemy you use them on for the remainder of the battle. The amount drained is larger the higher your power bar is when you use it.




Stamina Boosters increase the rate that you recharge Stamina. This... is mostly useless.




Ice Shot is another shot weapon. This one does ice-based damage, and can freeze the enemy in place allowing your next attack to do massive damage.




Hurrican Shot does wind damage, and knocks the enemy back. Still not gonna use it!

So, Johnny's found out that his boss is a clone, and they want to kidnap the President. He's not going to just sit down and take this, is he?! Let's find out!

Video 11


Supplemental Game Information



Now, you've probably seen this guy already in a fast-forward video. Dubhe is another monster that's really annoying when first encountered, but gradually becomes more of a nuisance over time. They can use Low Kick, Mid Kick, High Kick, Back Spin Kick, Low Side Kick, Low Front Kick, Mid Front Kick, High Front Kick, Pendulum Flip, Knee Kick, and the most annoying attack of the list: Poison Shot. Yes, if you are too far away from one of these guys, they will spit poison at you.




Miras are annoying like Dubhes, but for the opposite reason! Like Dubhes, Miras spit poison. Except they spit it as a close range AoE cloud. This means that you want to stay away while charging, and then dash in quickly to attack. Miras can also use Upper Hook, Low Front Kick, Mid Front Kick and Low Side Kick in addition to their poison breath.




Stamina Charger L is more of the same. 75% Stamina recovery.




The Offence Enhancer is much like the Defence one; it increases your Offence rating for the remainder of the battle based on how full your power bar is.




Hm, I thought we saw Battle Charger Ms already, but I guess not! They're the same as other Chargers; 50% HP and Stamina recovery, to a minimum of 500 HP.




Speed Drainers are much like the other Drainers. They reduce the enemy's speed for the remainder of the battle based on your power bar. This means they will move slightly slower.




Like the rest of the Chargers, Life Charger L restores HP. 75% of your HP, to a minimum of 1000.