A recent update at the Hero 30 official site offered a look a couple of new elements of Hero 30.

First up, the Queen 30 mode. I already detailed this mode of play here based off Famitsu.com info, but now managed to get a few additional pieces of media that were distributed to the Japanese press earlier in the week by Marvelous:

[end_p text="More on Hero 30 after the jump" /]

The shot at the bottom apparently shows what happens when you don't make it back to the castle before the 30 second time limit runs out. The Queen (who actually looks more like a princess) wails, "Mom, open the door!" Or something to that effect.

You won't necessarily have to end up like the Queen in that bottom shot, as the game provides you with a method of increasing your available time. As part of the "Goddess Prayer System," if you should run out of time before completing your goal, you can pray to the Time Goddess (artwork shown below) and return the clock to 30 seconds.

Rather than "praying," you're actually "paying" the goddess, so this should probably be called the Goddess Pay System. In the left screenshot, the goddess says "You give me money, and I'll turn back the clock. Give and take is the first step in human relationships." Or something to that effect.

I'm not sure what's going on in the shot to the right, but the text suggests that you can "pray" through the triangle button.

There appear to be a few more interesting points to the game's time system, as detailed at this part of the official site. First off, there's actual time progression -- at least in the overhead RPG Hero 30 mode. The in-game "world" progresses through a day night cycle with 30 seconds accounting for half a day. As the time on your 30 second clock winds down, night will fall and your surroundings will darken. Pay the goddess, and you'll find yourself back under daylight and with a full 30 second clock.

Also, the site states that the 30 second clock doesn't always run. When in a town, the timer stops, apparently a freebie from the time Goddess. However, the site hints that the freebie could come to an end under some circumstances.

Also at the official site is announcement of an upcoming press conference. Set to be held somewhere in Tokyo on March 2, the press conference will include a talk event with such sound creators as Yuzo Koshiro (holy crap I was totally listening to my Streets of Rage mix when I saw this!) and Motoi Sakuraba. The Yuusha blog promises a full report on the press conference.

On the note of the blog, the latest post offers a first look at the game's packaging. Check it out:

The writer of the blog, a Mr. Yamagishi of the game's promotional staff (past posts have suggested that he may be the sole member of this staff), hints that he'd been hoping for a flying Time Goddess in the artwork.

Also revealed at the blog post, the game's commercial campaign will kick off in March. You can get a glimpse of the commercial shoot in this blog post.

Those hoping for more play time with Hero 30 following the demo version of the Hero 30 mode from earlier this month will have to wait a bit. A demo of Queen 30 won't be offered until the end of March. You'll recall that Marvelous has four demos planned leading up to the May release.