Here we are, the results of the contest. I was quite surprised by the entries-- in more ways than one --this time around.
At the time of this writing the user voted winner is a two way tie between Project Moon and Novel Ruins Gaiden, at an even three votes each. This may change in the future, of course, since there was a lot more to play through than expected. Still, we're wrapping up this contest now.
As for the winner as appointed by the judges? The placings are:
First place goes to: Novel Ruins Gaiden! Which scored a total of 49 points.
Second place goes to: Project Moon! Which scored a total of 48 points.
And third place goes to: Lana Again! Which scored a total of 16 points.
Congratulations!
And a big thank you to all of the entrants. I was pretty blown away by the quality of some of these quests to the point where I had to raise my expectations, and as such the ceiling on my scoring.
If you're curious about the actual breakdown of the scores I'll include them below:
Spoiler
If this image breaks you can find the table in the discord server here: Link
As for scores:
Mani gave:
Project Moon: 46
Lana Again: 8
Farming: 0
Novel Ruins Gaiden: 43
Deedee gave:
Lana Again: 18
Farming: 0
Novel Ruins Gaiden: 45
Bonus Points:
Project Moon: 2
Lana Again: 3
Farming: 1
Novel Ruins Gaiden: 5
If this image breaks you can find the table in the discord server here: Link
As for scores:
Mani gave:
Project Moon: 46
Lana Again: 8
Farming: 0
Novel Ruins Gaiden: 43
Deedee gave:
Lana Again: 18
Farming: 0
Novel Ruins Gaiden: 45
Bonus Points:
Project Moon: 2
Lana Again: 3
Farming: 1
Novel Ruins Gaiden: 5
Next up, we have some thoughts from each of the judges on the entries. Obviously Deedee didn't rank her own entry, but each entry that was judged as some thoughts from the respective judge.
Project Moon:
Spoiler
Mani's Thoughts:
If someone told me this was a quest half a year in development I'd believe them. I frankly find it unbelievable that this was made in just shy of four weeks. I was repeatedly blown away by it at every opportunity. I admit, it's quite clear that the contestants were attempting to play to my tastes here; the name itself and plenty of the themes on display here makes no attempt of subtlety. Still, even people who aren't me would be hard pressed to argue that this isn't a well constructed quest.
The amount of creativity and ingenuity on display repeatedly with all of the various puzzles and machinations is bonkers. If you like a more puzzle focused quest with creative puzzles that actually demands that you think things through? Well this one is an obvious recommendation.
My only complaints here really lies in the polish; something which is frankly expected with a contest entry. The various bosses could probably be tweaked to be more accessible, likewise there were the occasional glitches and unintended behaviour. The only bug that really got in the way of me playing the game though was a softlock rather deep into the quest.
All in all, the fact that this quest was entered into the contest kinda threw my rating scales out the window; it's hard to contrast something that just went that far out of scope.
If someone told me this was a quest half a year in development I'd believe them. I frankly find it unbelievable that this was made in just shy of four weeks. I was repeatedly blown away by it at every opportunity. I admit, it's quite clear that the contestants were attempting to play to my tastes here; the name itself and plenty of the themes on display here makes no attempt of subtlety. Still, even people who aren't me would be hard pressed to argue that this isn't a well constructed quest.
The amount of creativity and ingenuity on display repeatedly with all of the various puzzles and machinations is bonkers. If you like a more puzzle focused quest with creative puzzles that actually demands that you think things through? Well this one is an obvious recommendation.
My only complaints here really lies in the polish; something which is frankly expected with a contest entry. The various bosses could probably be tweaked to be more accessible, likewise there were the occasional glitches and unintended behaviour. The only bug that really got in the way of me playing the game though was a softlock rather deep into the quest.
All in all, the fact that this quest was entered into the contest kinda threw my rating scales out the window; it's hard to contrast something that just went that far out of scope.
Lana Again:
Spoiler
Mani's Thoughts:
The scope of this quest is more in line with what I expected for this contest. It's a short romp with a four floor dungeon. I like the ideas on display here, everything from the dungeon you're meant to jump back into while buying upgrades in town between runs, to the bleak but interesting story.
Where I feel the entry falls apart is in the lack of execution and polish. It's clear the entry wasn't test played at all from a blank slate, what with no proper starting point configured. Likewise, several rooms and obstacles in the game feel like they'd see some adjustments if anyone tested them (the under passages especially comes to mind).
A lot of the screen layouts and enemy encounters are also quite boring, likewise the story and writing don't actually delivers on the premise were well. All in all, I think this quest could be made into something great, but it clearly needed some more time to cook. I played it through till completion, but if I wasn't judging this contest I would have dropped it shortly after the halfway point; I simply wasn't having a very enjoyable time going through it.
Sadly this entry got hit the worst in regards to the raised ceiling by some of the other entries. In a different contest where the submissions were closer to what would be expected out of something made in just shy of a month this would likely have gotten middling scores from me. But in contrast to some of the other entries it falls short.
Deedee's Thoughts:
Okay so, the quest starts you off on the wrong DMap, very good first impressions. Once I've cheated myself to the correct starting screen, I'm greeted by townsfolk with bad grammer and some very dull monochrome GB screens. First impressions aren't great. Entering the dungeon doesn't improve these impressions; the dungeon screens are big, empty and uninteresting, and there's some jank like the crumbling floors. I can't fault you for the Pegasus script being weird, as that's a problem with the tileset. The newbiebosses are cool; definitely more challenging than your usual newbieboss fare.
The main thing with this quest is that it's a tower quest; the whole quest is a dungeon gauntlet where each floor is a dungeon. I think this concept can be cool; To The Top did it pretty okay; but there's no visual variety because of the monochrome look and every screen being the same, maximum size. The passageways on floor 3 are really awkward cause falling is a slow guaranteed death with the platforming taking a few attempts to understand; I'd change them into pits personally. Secrets are odd in that you often have to leave and re-enter the screen in order for the secret to actually happen. Floor 4 has a door that only opens once and never again, which means you have to cheat through it if you die beyond it or don't get the key you need before entering, which you have no way of knowing. The economy also sucks; I can barely afford anything even when I'm at the endgame. Thanks capitalism.
The big thing I want to talk about with this entry though is the vibe. It has a sort of negative energy to it; you know those playground style rumors abotu Wet-Dry world, Mario 64 being personalized type deal? Between the music choices and the monochrome colors, this quest feels like a creepypasta in a way; even the bugs contribute to this, feeling like a quest you *shouldn't* be playing or bad things will happen. I'd compare it to "I will attend the funeral" or "Steveamentus Universe", though those quests are more well put together I think. This gives me very mixed feelings on it. I hate bad vibes; I like some wholesomeness and the way the quest ends off with a bad ending makes it hard to be excited about the quest. On the other hand, the bad vibes are the only thing interesting about this quest, because if you take that away al you're left with is a very bland, not very fun to play quest. It's stuck between a rock and a hard place. I think if the quest had a message and a possibility of a good ending as a light at the end of the tunnel, I'd be a lot more positive on it; and likewise, I think if this quest had more time in the oven, playing through it and seeing if it felt fun to play (rather than "does this work"), I think this could have been a solid entry.
I guess a last note is that I heard this was inspired by In Stars and Time, and I've now bought it with the intention of maybe playing it; so I'll be interested to see what things were inspired from it and how well it handled those ideas. It looks interesting, at least.
Gameplay: 7/20
Poor economy, arrows being annoying to replenish especially considering a big beefy gohma guards the final key of the game, uninteresting gameplay. It's cool seeing less standard ZC tropes in this, but unfortunately a lot of rooms are very forgettable. I'll give some points for creative Newbie Boss usage and decentish enemy balance though.
Aesthetics: 3/10
Big empty screens with no color make this not very interesting to look at. The music also gives an empty feeling that is offputting, but the quest isn't cohesive enough to utilize this.
Construction: 4/10
Grammar issues, very noticeable bugs (including the quest not being playable without cheating or editing the quest; or the door that only opens once); this quest oozes lack of polish. There's also only one map in the quest, so only the first floor has a map. Low score.
Creativity: 2/5
I don't know how intentional the bad vibes are, but you get some creativity for that; other than that, it's not very creative. I guess maybe the crumbling floors might be creative, jank as they are?
Enjoyable: 2/5
I didn't have to force myself to finish it, but it still wasn't super fun.
The scope of this quest is more in line with what I expected for this contest. It's a short romp with a four floor dungeon. I like the ideas on display here, everything from the dungeon you're meant to jump back into while buying upgrades in town between runs, to the bleak but interesting story.
Where I feel the entry falls apart is in the lack of execution and polish. It's clear the entry wasn't test played at all from a blank slate, what with no proper starting point configured. Likewise, several rooms and obstacles in the game feel like they'd see some adjustments if anyone tested them (the under passages especially comes to mind).
A lot of the screen layouts and enemy encounters are also quite boring, likewise the story and writing don't actually delivers on the premise were well. All in all, I think this quest could be made into something great, but it clearly needed some more time to cook. I played it through till completion, but if I wasn't judging this contest I would have dropped it shortly after the halfway point; I simply wasn't having a very enjoyable time going through it.
Sadly this entry got hit the worst in regards to the raised ceiling by some of the other entries. In a different contest where the submissions were closer to what would be expected out of something made in just shy of a month this would likely have gotten middling scores from me. But in contrast to some of the other entries it falls short.
Deedee's Thoughts:
Okay so, the quest starts you off on the wrong DMap, very good first impressions. Once I've cheated myself to the correct starting screen, I'm greeted by townsfolk with bad grammer and some very dull monochrome GB screens. First impressions aren't great. Entering the dungeon doesn't improve these impressions; the dungeon screens are big, empty and uninteresting, and there's some jank like the crumbling floors. I can't fault you for the Pegasus script being weird, as that's a problem with the tileset. The newbiebosses are cool; definitely more challenging than your usual newbieboss fare.
The main thing with this quest is that it's a tower quest; the whole quest is a dungeon gauntlet where each floor is a dungeon. I think this concept can be cool; To The Top did it pretty okay; but there's no visual variety because of the monochrome look and every screen being the same, maximum size. The passageways on floor 3 are really awkward cause falling is a slow guaranteed death with the platforming taking a few attempts to understand; I'd change them into pits personally. Secrets are odd in that you often have to leave and re-enter the screen in order for the secret to actually happen. Floor 4 has a door that only opens once and never again, which means you have to cheat through it if you die beyond it or don't get the key you need before entering, which you have no way of knowing. The economy also sucks; I can barely afford anything even when I'm at the endgame. Thanks capitalism.
The big thing I want to talk about with this entry though is the vibe. It has a sort of negative energy to it; you know those playground style rumors abotu Wet-Dry world, Mario 64 being personalized type deal? Between the music choices and the monochrome colors, this quest feels like a creepypasta in a way; even the bugs contribute to this, feeling like a quest you *shouldn't* be playing or bad things will happen. I'd compare it to "I will attend the funeral" or "Steveamentus Universe", though those quests are more well put together I think. This gives me very mixed feelings on it. I hate bad vibes; I like some wholesomeness and the way the quest ends off with a bad ending makes it hard to be excited about the quest. On the other hand, the bad vibes are the only thing interesting about this quest, because if you take that away al you're left with is a very bland, not very fun to play quest. It's stuck between a rock and a hard place. I think if the quest had a message and a possibility of a good ending as a light at the end of the tunnel, I'd be a lot more positive on it; and likewise, I think if this quest had more time in the oven, playing through it and seeing if it felt fun to play (rather than "does this work"), I think this could have been a solid entry.
I guess a last note is that I heard this was inspired by In Stars and Time, and I've now bought it with the intention of maybe playing it; so I'll be interested to see what things were inspired from it and how well it handled those ideas. It looks interesting, at least.
Gameplay: 7/20
Poor economy, arrows being annoying to replenish especially considering a big beefy gohma guards the final key of the game, uninteresting gameplay. It's cool seeing less standard ZC tropes in this, but unfortunately a lot of rooms are very forgettable. I'll give some points for creative Newbie Boss usage and decentish enemy balance though.
Aesthetics: 3/10
Big empty screens with no color make this not very interesting to look at. The music also gives an empty feeling that is offputting, but the quest isn't cohesive enough to utilize this.
Construction: 4/10
Grammar issues, very noticeable bugs (including the quest not being playable without cheating or editing the quest; or the door that only opens once); this quest oozes lack of polish. There's also only one map in the quest, so only the first floor has a map. Low score.
Creativity: 2/5
I don't know how intentional the bad vibes are, but you get some creativity for that; other than that, it's not very creative. I guess maybe the crumbling floors might be creative, jank as they are?
Enjoyable: 2/5
I didn't have to force myself to finish it, but it still wasn't super fun.
Farming:
Spoiler
Mani's Thoughts:
I'm uncertain as to the purpose of this quest. Had I known the state in which this entry was submitted I might have honestly rejected it and not included it in the original post.
I can't even say it's bad or that the idea(s) are bad because it's impossible to even know what is on display here or what the intent is. I had ZC crash multiple times trying to get this thing to run and get to a playable state before being told you have to launch it in test mode from the editor.
But even that does not offer any clarity. I don't know what would be more kind, D/Qing the entry or actually rating it based on the merits on display. I went with the latter, obviously, but, well, you can see the scores.
Deedee's Thoughts:
Wow it's fucking nothing.
Gameplay: 0/20
I put more effort into this review than you did making this. Not even a funny shitpost or anything, just nothing.
Aesthetics: 0/10
It's just a 4x4 grid of empty solid-color screens surrounded by fences.
Construction: 0/10
Doesn't start you on the right DMap, and even if it did, there's no gameplay to be found anywhere besides digging.
Creativity: 0/5
A farming sim is an interesting idea and might have gotten some points in creativity if there were any gameplay to be found. If I have to imagine how creative your quest could have possibly been if it were finished instead of experiencing creativity first hand, then the points I'd give are imaginary and what you get first hand is 0.
Enjoyable: 0/5
I had to warp to the right DMap to even see what was there, and it expected me to dig a lot and presumably fight an Aquamentus somehow? There's no win condition, it's just "here's a shovel, find your own enjoyment", which... thanks! Very cool. 0 Points.
I'm uncertain as to the purpose of this quest. Had I known the state in which this entry was submitted I might have honestly rejected it and not included it in the original post.
I can't even say it's bad or that the idea(s) are bad because it's impossible to even know what is on display here or what the intent is. I had ZC crash multiple times trying to get this thing to run and get to a playable state before being told you have to launch it in test mode from the editor.
But even that does not offer any clarity. I don't know what would be more kind, D/Qing the entry or actually rating it based on the merits on display. I went with the latter, obviously, but, well, you can see the scores.
Deedee's Thoughts:
Wow it's fucking nothing.
Gameplay: 0/20
I put more effort into this review than you did making this. Not even a funny shitpost or anything, just nothing.
Aesthetics: 0/10
It's just a 4x4 grid of empty solid-color screens surrounded by fences.
Construction: 0/10
Doesn't start you on the right DMap, and even if it did, there's no gameplay to be found anywhere besides digging.
Creativity: 0/5
A farming sim is an interesting idea and might have gotten some points in creativity if there were any gameplay to be found. If I have to imagine how creative your quest could have possibly been if it were finished instead of experiencing creativity first hand, then the points I'd give are imaginary and what you get first hand is 0.
Enjoyable: 0/5
I had to warp to the right DMap to even see what was there, and it expected me to dig a lot and presumably fight an Aquamentus somehow? There's no win condition, it's just "here's a shovel, find your own enjoyment", which... thanks! Very cool. 0 Points.
Novel Ruins Gaiden:
Spoiler
Mani's Thoughts:
I really like this quest. The gameplay has a good rhythm of heading back to town for upgrades to delve ever deeper into the more dangerous areas. The main objective of collecting seven macguffins also works really well here, especially since not all of them are tied to dungeons. You can kinda just tackle things a bit how you feel like it, which I dig.
There was the occasional point in the game where I feel the balance was a bit off, or where some enemies were a bit too obnoxious. Yet I could always find a solution within the game itself. Investing in a few extra quivers early on is a good strategy, for example, since arrow pots are everywhere.
It was a fun romp, and while some dialogue is a bit questionable... for different reasons, I was genuinely surprised when the story decided to go down the path it actually did. Going into themes of moving on from the past feels oddly heavy compared to how silly and over the top everything else is... yet I don't feel like it clashes, it just works. The subtext, and text itself, is very endearing.
The quest plays fairly traditionally, yet when it decides to branch out and do puzzles then I think it does them well. None of them felt like you couldn't solve them as long as you took the time to engage with them, yet they also weren't so easy as to be trivial. Some wording could probably be improved on some of them though, to make it more clear. The desert one comes to mind since it asks you take the longest winding path back to start, not simply avoid the shortest.
So about the only thing I feel this quest needs is a bit more polish, but besides that this one gets a strong recommendation from me.
Deedee's Thoughts:
Novel Ruins Gaiden is a really cool, more straightforward side game/sequel to Novel Ruins. It's not as cryptic as the first game, but it still has some puzzles, one of which stumped me because I hadn't explored the overworld enough. What's here is also pretty impressive; 4 dungeons + a final dungeon + an 8x8 overworld, not bad! The dungeon quality was a bit over the place; I started with the Furnace dungeon first and had high expectations, but the other 3+final dungeons were pretty straightforward and barebones. They also do something interesting where the boss key of sorts is instead a final puzzle that puts the whole dungeon into perspective; a really cool twist, although I wish the final dungeon had a final puzzle that wasn't a repeat of the ice dungeon's puzzle, and maybe the water and desert dungeons could do with a reworded hint since the former stumped me and the latter stumped a friend of mine.
Overworld traversal is unobtrusive, if a bit mindless; this is both to it's credit and against it, as the overworld could have been more interesting to explore but instead feels a bit generic( (with the water area and town being the most interesting I think, along with the dark cave in the mountain), but it's mindlessness also prevents it from getting in the way when you're tracking down some of the game's secrets, being fairly esy to autopilot around (and even having some neat shortcuts with dungeon items to make it more interesting. The Town is a notable exception; something about how the quest starts you off with complete freedom but with cool stuff to find immediately is really enticing, and immediately hooked me into the quest.
Aesthetics wise, I think overall the quest looks really good; the custom art is as usual a joy, and most areas don't look bad! I think some of the dungeons look uninspired and bland as I already alluded to; the furnace and final dungeon aside, they both were pretty cool. Like I said, the aeshetics are pretty dope. Good use of palettes, the town was a joy to explore in part because it look *cool* (hehe),
Difficulty balancing is mostly pretty good, although I do have a few complaints. Firstly, save for the Furnace boss and potentially the Final Boss, the bosses are generally too difficult and hard even with good gear; but inversely become trivial once you start stunning them with the hookshot. Either they're too tough, or they're a joke, and that balance isn't a good one. The other issue is Zoras; this enemy type is overtuned and they don't feel fun to deal with. They're tanky, they hit hard even with max gear, bleh. Not a fan of them, made doing the water dungeon last leave a bit of a sour taste. Besides that though, I think the balancing is pretty good; the rupee economy was simultaneously lenient enough that I never felt starved for money, while still useful enough that finding money was still useful to me even in the endgame; I think the other "currency" could either stand to drop more often or the requirement be toned down but I didn't have too much of a problem with it. Maybe buff the ice dungeon's item to deal some more damage?
The big selling point of this quest is the writing. Lizzy's writing is extremely charming, and almost any time I was talking with someone I had a big doofy smile on my face. The story swaps between light-hearted and heartwarming seemlessly, going from a goofy story about stopping an evil robed guy to a romance story about forgiving yourself for past mistakes and moving on, and it's just kinda great?
Other notes: Boss cutscenes really should be skippable; I'm unsure if a "Start Button" trigger exists but you could have a "skip cutscene" option at the start of the string for repeat viewings or a weird button combination or something to let you skip them (although I think being able to replay them is a good thing if you missed what they said the first time). The flower sidequest was the right level of puzzling but also easy enough to figure out, I enjoyed it. Being able to access the Furnace with clever item usage instead of forcing the candle to enter was clever, props to you for that. One of the heart pieces (the one in the dark cave) is potentially obscure; I don't know if the dark cave shares a map with the dungeons off the top of my head, but I didn't realize it was there at first (though in hindsight it is obvious; maybe an npc hint for it). Alternatively, a heart piece map like in the OG Novel Ruins could be cool? I don't know if there was one or not, if there was I didn't find it.
Oh, and one last note I wrote down, let me see here... "I think this is the likely winner of the contest"? Yeah, that tracks. I said I had a big doofy smile on whenever people were talking, but that's a lie; I had one on for most of the quest. It may have been mindless at times, but it was really good when it wasn't, and even when it was I would describe it more as "autopiloted fun" and not at all bad? Dope quest, would recommend.
Gameplay: 17/20
Boss difficulty, Zoras, and some uninspired dungeon layouts (mainly Ice, Desert, and Final) bring this down a few points, but overall I'd still rank this pretty highly in terms of gameplay.
Aesthetics: 10/10
I guess the pre-final area looks ugly and some areas look a bit uninspired, but everything else in the quest more than makes up for it. Debated between giving this a 10 or a 9, but I think the good outweighs the bad here.
Construction: 9/10
I'm not going to dock too hard for one of the items being unobtainable as I wouldn't have known it existed without being told, but boss cutscenes not being skippable and some weird continue points bring this down a point.
Creativity: 4/5
It's not as "novel" as the first, but some of the puzzles here are clever, the items are pretty cool, and the quest had a few surprises in store. Overall high marks.
Enjoyable: 5/5
No notes, it's just a fun quest.
Overall: 45/50
Although I'd round that up to 5 stars instead of 4 because I had a lot of fun with it.
I really like this quest. The gameplay has a good rhythm of heading back to town for upgrades to delve ever deeper into the more dangerous areas. The main objective of collecting seven macguffins also works really well here, especially since not all of them are tied to dungeons. You can kinda just tackle things a bit how you feel like it, which I dig.
There was the occasional point in the game where I feel the balance was a bit off, or where some enemies were a bit too obnoxious. Yet I could always find a solution within the game itself. Investing in a few extra quivers early on is a good strategy, for example, since arrow pots are everywhere.
It was a fun romp, and while some dialogue is a bit questionable... for different reasons, I was genuinely surprised when the story decided to go down the path it actually did. Going into themes of moving on from the past feels oddly heavy compared to how silly and over the top everything else is... yet I don't feel like it clashes, it just works. The subtext, and text itself, is very endearing.
The quest plays fairly traditionally, yet when it decides to branch out and do puzzles then I think it does them well. None of them felt like you couldn't solve them as long as you took the time to engage with them, yet they also weren't so easy as to be trivial. Some wording could probably be improved on some of them though, to make it more clear. The desert one comes to mind since it asks you take the longest winding path back to start, not simply avoid the shortest.
So about the only thing I feel this quest needs is a bit more polish, but besides that this one gets a strong recommendation from me.
Deedee's Thoughts:
Novel Ruins Gaiden is a really cool, more straightforward side game/sequel to Novel Ruins. It's not as cryptic as the first game, but it still has some puzzles, one of which stumped me because I hadn't explored the overworld enough. What's here is also pretty impressive; 4 dungeons + a final dungeon + an 8x8 overworld, not bad! The dungeon quality was a bit over the place; I started with the Furnace dungeon first and had high expectations, but the other 3+final dungeons were pretty straightforward and barebones. They also do something interesting where the boss key of sorts is instead a final puzzle that puts the whole dungeon into perspective; a really cool twist, although I wish the final dungeon had a final puzzle that wasn't a repeat of the ice dungeon's puzzle, and maybe the water and desert dungeons could do with a reworded hint since the former stumped me and the latter stumped a friend of mine.
Overworld traversal is unobtrusive, if a bit mindless; this is both to it's credit and against it, as the overworld could have been more interesting to explore but instead feels a bit generic( (with the water area and town being the most interesting I think, along with the dark cave in the mountain), but it's mindlessness also prevents it from getting in the way when you're tracking down some of the game's secrets, being fairly esy to autopilot around (and even having some neat shortcuts with dungeon items to make it more interesting. The Town is a notable exception; something about how the quest starts you off with complete freedom but with cool stuff to find immediately is really enticing, and immediately hooked me into the quest.
Aesthetics wise, I think overall the quest looks really good; the custom art is as usual a joy, and most areas don't look bad! I think some of the dungeons look uninspired and bland as I already alluded to; the furnace and final dungeon aside, they both were pretty cool. Like I said, the aeshetics are pretty dope. Good use of palettes, the town was a joy to explore in part because it look *cool* (hehe),
Difficulty balancing is mostly pretty good, although I do have a few complaints. Firstly, save for the Furnace boss and potentially the Final Boss, the bosses are generally too difficult and hard even with good gear; but inversely become trivial once you start stunning them with the hookshot. Either they're too tough, or they're a joke, and that balance isn't a good one. The other issue is Zoras; this enemy type is overtuned and they don't feel fun to deal with. They're tanky, they hit hard even with max gear, bleh. Not a fan of them, made doing the water dungeon last leave a bit of a sour taste. Besides that though, I think the balancing is pretty good; the rupee economy was simultaneously lenient enough that I never felt starved for money, while still useful enough that finding money was still useful to me even in the endgame; I think the other "currency" could either stand to drop more often or the requirement be toned down but I didn't have too much of a problem with it. Maybe buff the ice dungeon's item to deal some more damage?
The big selling point of this quest is the writing. Lizzy's writing is extremely charming, and almost any time I was talking with someone I had a big doofy smile on my face. The story swaps between light-hearted and heartwarming seemlessly, going from a goofy story about stopping an evil robed guy to a romance story about forgiving yourself for past mistakes and moving on, and it's just kinda great?
Other notes: Boss cutscenes really should be skippable; I'm unsure if a "Start Button" trigger exists but you could have a "skip cutscene" option at the start of the string for repeat viewings or a weird button combination or something to let you skip them (although I think being able to replay them is a good thing if you missed what they said the first time). The flower sidequest was the right level of puzzling but also easy enough to figure out, I enjoyed it. Being able to access the Furnace with clever item usage instead of forcing the candle to enter was clever, props to you for that. One of the heart pieces (the one in the dark cave) is potentially obscure; I don't know if the dark cave shares a map with the dungeons off the top of my head, but I didn't realize it was there at first (though in hindsight it is obvious; maybe an npc hint for it). Alternatively, a heart piece map like in the OG Novel Ruins could be cool? I don't know if there was one or not, if there was I didn't find it.
Oh, and one last note I wrote down, let me see here... "I think this is the likely winner of the contest"? Yeah, that tracks. I said I had a big doofy smile on whenever people were talking, but that's a lie; I had one on for most of the quest. It may have been mindless at times, but it was really good when it wasn't, and even when it was I would describe it more as "autopiloted fun" and not at all bad? Dope quest, would recommend.
Gameplay: 17/20
Boss difficulty, Zoras, and some uninspired dungeon layouts (mainly Ice, Desert, and Final) bring this down a few points, but overall I'd still rank this pretty highly in terms of gameplay.
Aesthetics: 10/10
I guess the pre-final area looks ugly and some areas look a bit uninspired, but everything else in the quest more than makes up for it. Debated between giving this a 10 or a 9, but I think the good outweighs the bad here.
Construction: 9/10
I'm not going to dock too hard for one of the items being unobtainable as I wouldn't have known it existed without being told, but boss cutscenes not being skippable and some weird continue points bring this down a point.
Creativity: 4/5
It's not as "novel" as the first, but some of the puzzles here are clever, the items are pretty cool, and the quest had a few surprises in store. Overall high marks.
Enjoyable: 5/5
No notes, it's just a fun quest.
Overall: 45/50
Although I'd round that up to 5 stars instead of 4 because I had a lot of fun with it.
And that's it folks! I want to give a final thank you to everyone who entered the contest. I personally feel that new quests are the life blood of this community; it's what causes people to stick around, what gives people something to talk about. And while plenty of people have big quest projects several years in the making, these contests allow people to take a step back and make something smaller, something more agile that people can bond over. It's also much easier to find the time to play shorter quests in our ever busier lives.
So thanks to all the creators, but also thanks to all the people taking the time to play them.
Edited by Mani Kanina, 08 September 2024 - 08:45 AM.
