Oh boy another Russ quest. This is a mini quest so it'll be a mini review and he reviewed my quest so I figured it'd only be fair for me to review his. I'm a big fan of Russ's (is it Russ's or Russ'?
) work and this quest is just...just prepare for some major gushing here. I'm going to only use the pictures from his thread partially because I'm lazy and partially because I don't want to spoil anything.
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Gameplay:This quest has an interesting gimmick to it (and not the bad kind). It has two overworlds in two dungeons and you can do them in any order you like. This quest sports more scripting than Russ's previous work. I was a little worried at first how he'd implement it. Scripts are something that can improve a good quest if used right and ruin it if used incorrectly. In my opinion, Russ used scripts perfectly. They helped puzzles flow together nicely and at a couple points I almost cried a little at how epic stuff was.
These are authentic switch block doodads, folks!
Not shown, but there's an ability that lets you do a Jesus maneuver here.The overworld gameplay flowed very nicely and Russ managed to incorporate his nifty arsenal of scripts as a means to get secrets. An item from one overworld will help you in the other and vice versa. This is really clever in my opinion and makes the game feel just open ended enough without becoming Metroid on the NES where you're like "Where the heck am I supposed to go?!"
An example of one of those places you can go back to after getting an item/ability.There's a certain item I really want to praise Russ for and that's the heart pieces. You can find half hearts in each overworld and dungeon, but you have to get one from both sides to complete a heart container. Now THAT is a clever idea.
One complain I DO have is the combo cycling which is either broken because of Russ not knowing how to set it up (don't feel bad, I don't either
), Russ using intricate patterns for his cycling I'm not used to, or the most likely option: 2.5 just being 2.5.
One last thing I want to mention is the final boss. No, I'm not going to spoil it. All I'm gonna say is it's the most creatively designed final boss I've ever fought and was very rewarding in the end. Also Russ almost dethoned the fireball king.
But I can't be mad about that
.
You know how I said one last thing? I have one last last thing to say. This quest is difficult. But it's not difficult in the same sense as LotH DX was. It's a more fair sort of difficult were you die and say to yourself "Why did I do that?! I should have walked left!" That alone is a significant improvement over LotH DX (the version I reviewed at least).
This is a red darknut. Not very menacing, huh? Now picture him five times as strong and spewing fireballs everywhere. This is my kind of quest! 
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Story:Russ is really great with stories. I've established this already. This one can't quite compare to LotH DX in my opinion, but it was only a side project and for a side project, Russ did a darn tootin' good job! It had me flying back and forth trying to figure out what was going on and at the end I even got a case of goosebumps. Excellent job as usual, Russ! Too bad there were no strings that could quite live up to "The tree is attack, fight back!"
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Music:You know how I said last time that Russ's music choices felt a bit cliché at times in LotH DX? That's not so this time. They're all very original and fit great! And there's not much else to say...good job!
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Design:Let me tell you guys something. When Russ uses a tileset, he uses it right; no, actually, he uses it BETTER than right! Russ's screen design is amazing as usual. I don't think I've seen a PTUX quest that can beat his overworld shots yet and I doubt I ever will. Dungeons, on the other hand, feel a little bit bland at times. The ice dungeon in particular could use some more spice so it feels less...dead...but overall it's another masterpiece. A Russterpice. Now if you'll excuse me I'll bang my head against a wall for an hour as punishment for saying that there.
That transparent water...THAT TRANSPARENT WATER! DO WANT!
Blue snow? Some call it crazy. I call it creative license.Russ's enemies are much better balanced in this quest than they were in LotH DX. Or maybe it was so short that the really difficult ones never got to me. I did the quest out of order (one area was decisively easier than the other) I'm pretty sure and it was still manageable. The only real visual problems I found was some interference between scripts and layers in the final battle, but that honestly isn't a big deal because...I wish I could explain why but let's just say play it yourself and see.
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Concluding Thoughts:It's very rare that I find a quest that I consider near perfect. I believe it's nigh impossible to get a full 8 dungeon quest to be as near flawless as this mini quest is. Length is never a factor for me, though, so maybe small quests are better. In the end this quest's strengths outweigh its weaknesses significantly enough that I feel it is worthy of a 5/5. It isn't perfect. Nothing is. Rounding just happens to be cool like that sometimes.
Strengths:- Amazing overworld design
- Good use of scripts
- Custom scripted bosses, one of which took my breath away
- Unique music
- Compelling storytelling (forgot this one for LotH DX somehow )
- Innovative puzzles
- Fun (this is always a pretty big plus)
Weaknesses:- Dungeons are a little bland in places
- Combo cycling issues (but at least it's only one room)
Suggestions:- You know how to make creative puzzles using scripts, why not take things a step forward and use them more often?
- A final dungeon, even if small, would have been nice
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Rating: 5/5Russ broke the awesome barrier with this one.
GO PLAY IT NOW OR I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN AND MAKE YOU PLAY IT! Just kidding, but I highly recommend it.
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Also, hey guys, look who's back?
Edited by Moosh, 07 October 2012 - 02:33 PM.
