It feels pretty wrong to be giving this such a low score, because this quest obviously has a lot of effort put into it and more competency than a lot of the others, but I'm not an objective reviewer so I will score by how I feel after my experience playing it all the way up to the good-end final boss, getting all the items and heart containers.
Really, I just wanted to see the ending, the story wasn't particularly great but it still grabbed me just enough to keep me playing (though I still think that Link talking is pretty weird).
The dungeons... overall, they're serviceable? But, there were way too many standout occasions where a part was just downright infuriating.
The wobbly wavy filter and thick fog covering everything and forcing me to squint made me actually queasy. The last dungeon has a similar issue with that super thick nighttime snow, and the parts where you have to ride dark brick platforms against a dark night sky with that snow making things even worse, and the midboss that's almost impossible to make out among the snow and swarm of monsters he summons, augh...
The magnet item is a cool idea, but is so awkward to control and hard to use, and almost all of the puzzles made for it are a real struggle.
The sliding ice block puzzles... you know, I don't think I even have to say any more about those, do I?
Speaking of the final dungeon. It looks cool, it's got a great central gimmick, the layout is good enough... but every time the vanilla-endgame enemies tore me apart with their full no-blue-mail damage I had to backtrack through 10-15 rooms. That's just too much for me. I beat it over the course of 3 days, because between that and the finicky wand puzzles it was so frustrating that I had to keep putting it down for the day.
My drive to keep going despite the frustrations lasted until the last boss. It's a harder, rehashed version of an earlier boss, twice, with a wall of unskippable dialog between.
Straw that broke the camel's back: I got softlocked once (don't know what happened, he just got deleted by my first swing and left me standing there in an empty arena), then misclicked and didn't save so I had to redo a chunk of the last dungeon and that battle again. Now I don't even have a potion, and would have to grind a hundred arrows to buy another one.
Trust me, if I had the time to kill I'd get back into it and maybe boost my rating by a star or two, but I don't, and I won't. I just had to look up a video of the ending from an old version so I at least sort of know how the story concluded...
I will still give the sequel a shot, and do so with an open mind. If it's better than this, then I'll be stoked!
Light of the Heavens 3.0
Overview
Feature Quest
Creator: Russ Genre: Story-driven Added: 28 Dec 2014 Updated: 04 Feb 2015 ZC Version: 2.50 Downloads: 1699 Rating[?]: |
Download Quest (5.02 MB) |
Information
A remake of my first quest, Light of the Heavens 3.0 offers a story-driven adventure, filled with mind-bending puzzles, challenging foes, and otherworldly locations.
About Reviews Comments Forum Topics
Description
Light of the Heavens 3.0 is a complete overhaul of my first "true" quest, Light of the Heavens DX. The overworld has been revamped, dungeons have been completely redone from scratch, the story has been altered, and plenty of new items, enemies, and challenges have been added. It's essentially a completely different game now. So what can you expect from this quest?
- An exciting story, told via scripted cutscenes that integrate seamlessly with the gameplay.
- Three main dungeons and two optional dungeons, all of which contain scripted puzzles and gameplay mechanics.
- New scripted items such as the Magnet Shot, which allow for never-before-seen puzzles and enemies.
- A lovingly crafted overworld that changes as the quest progresses.
- Three different endings, depending on what choices you've made and secrets you've found.
- Completely scripted bosses.
- And more!
Changelog
Story
After the ship he's traveling on meets an unfortunate end, Link washes ashore on the sands of Palm Island. There, he finds a horrifying sight awaiting him. A mysterious villain offers the inhabitants of the island an ultimatum: Be gone in 24 hours, or be destroyed. Determined to stop the man at any costs, Link teams up with Rose, a young woman with a troubled past, and together the two of them comb the island for anything that might help them survive. Confronted with the ruins of an ancient race, the two of them search for the answers that might save their lives. Who were the Aletians? What became of them? Who is the man threatening the island with death? How is he tied to the island? And perhaps most importantly, is there anything that can stop him? With three different endings and multiple plot twists, Light of the Heavens offers a thrilling story from start to finish.
Tips & Cheats
Explore! Palm Island is home to many secrets, and health and sword upgrades are available to those who seek them out.
A strong shield and potions can be purchased in Palm Village. The game was balanced around the player not having these items, but if you find parts of the game to be too challenging, they're there to make the game easier and more accessible to you.
If you want the best ending, make sure you find and befriend Rose before entering the Tidal Sanctum.
And again, explore! You won't find the best ending if you just make a beeline from dungeon to dungeon.
A strong shield and potions can be purchased in Palm Village. The game was balanced around the player not having these items, but if you find parts of the game to be too challenging, they're there to make the game easier and more accessible to you.
If you want the best ending, make sure you find and befriend Rose before entering the Tidal Sanctum.
And again, explore! You won't find the best ending if you just make a beeline from dungeon to dungeon.
Credits
This quest wouldn't have been possible if not for these people
SpacemanDan, for starting the two week contest years ago that led to ideas that eventually transformed into this quest.
Moosh, Evan, Aevin, and DaviAwesome, who spent hours beta testing and offering up suggestions. They also served as a source of inspiration and (in some cases) scripting advice.
Jamian, TeamUDF, and Pineconn, for additional inspiration.
Radien, for compiling the DoR tileset.
Jupiter, Mariomario, Aevin, Revfan9, and (from the Spriter's Resource) CrimsonPenguin, SmithyGCN, and Freedom Fighter, for their custom tiles and/or tile rips/edits.
VGMusic, JohnStacy, Purplemandown, Dan Furst, Espilan, and Jormungand for music.
Eppy, whose upcoming pain and suffering while streaming this quest was a constant motivator for me.
All the members of the Underneath the Armos Skype group for support and suggestions.
Too many people from the forum to name, for their support and interest in this project.
Demonlink and The Satellite, for finding bugs post-release.
Thank you, all of you! This wouldn't have been possible if not for your work!
If you deserve a spot on this list and I forgot to mention you, please contact me ASAP so I can give you the credit you deserve.
SpacemanDan, for starting the two week contest years ago that led to ideas that eventually transformed into this quest.
Moosh, Evan, Aevin, and DaviAwesome, who spent hours beta testing and offering up suggestions. They also served as a source of inspiration and (in some cases) scripting advice.
Jamian, TeamUDF, and Pineconn, for additional inspiration.
Radien, for compiling the DoR tileset.
Jupiter, Mariomario, Aevin, Revfan9, and (from the Spriter's Resource) CrimsonPenguin, SmithyGCN, and Freedom Fighter, for their custom tiles and/or tile rips/edits.
VGMusic, JohnStacy, Purplemandown, Dan Furst, Espilan, and Jormungand for music.
Eppy, whose upcoming pain and suffering while streaming this quest was a constant motivator for me.
All the members of the Underneath the Armos Skype group for support and suggestions.
Too many people from the forum to name, for their support and interest in this project.
Demonlink and The Satellite, for finding bugs post-release.
Thank you, all of you! This wouldn't have been possible if not for your work!
If you deserve a spot on this list and I forgot to mention you, please contact me ASAP so I can give you the credit you deserve.