So this was really something. I played the newest public database version, so before the Dawn adds but after many, many fixes and upgrades. The amount of work, time and thought that went into this is obvious. It is epic in scope and can easily provide 30+ hours of gameplay. It is quite hard, especially the first half when one only has the green tunic, but never overwhelms. I wouldn't call it a challenge quest. The bosses are mostly well designed and tough but fair. The dungeon layouts are confusing but mostly fun to explore. I can't give something made with this much content, care and feeding any less than five stars.
Having said that I do agree with points made in the reviews that this quest can walk the line between fun and tedium at times. There is a LOT to do. The overworld is big and navigation is a pain until a certain ability is unlocked. Sometimes what needs to be done between levels can take an hour or longer. Some of the fetch quests feel like busy work. I played this over a long period of time (2 months or so) and I would often forget where I had been or forgotten a place where I could later come back and advance once new abilities were gained. I had to make more trips to the help thread than I prefer and even consult a video at times to find that hidden room or lost key or solve a "how do I get THERE?!" mystery. I don't like too much hand-holding but this flirts with the other end of the spectrum. Having said that I was motivated to finish and overall had a lot of fun with this. It's a top-tier quest in the database in terms of both ambition and execution. I suspect this wasn't completely true of earlier versions, but it's true now. Play it if you haven't.
Reviews
Norzan
Posted 11 November 2015 - 03:12 PM
So let me get something straight first: i base mostly a game on how fun and engaging it is, the biggest sin a game can commit to me is being boring and this quest wasn't. I had a blast from start to finish. Now with the review.
Graphics: 5/5 - I'm biased (and don't honestly care) when it comes to the gameboy Zelda games, I love the graphics of those games to death and this quest used those graphics really well to me.
Overworld: 4/5 - I think the overworld has a good design, with each area feeling distinct. The main, not gonna say issue, but slight annoyance is the somewhat high aumont of backtracking. The shortcuts and the warp song did help greatly to alleviate this, so it's not a big deal. I just feel it could use some more minor improvements.
Dungeons: 5/5 - This quest has some really well designed dungeons. They never felt overly complex and convoluted, that's how like my Zelda dungeons. The puzzles were pretty well designed too and their difficulty curve is pretty balanced too. I did get stumped a few times, but it was because i wasn't noticing some obvious stuff.
Boss battles: 5/5 - This quest had some really cool boss battles. They were challenging (they actually posed a threat), had some cool attack patterns and overall fun to fight. The Mecha Zora made me laugh and the level 7 boss was really creative. I honestly never thought a boss comprised of those laughing faces from ALLTP would actually work as a fun boss battle.
Challenge - 5/5 - It had the right aumont of challenge, nothing felt cheap and unfair. Also liked that some items were optimal at killing certain types of enemies, it made me use other items besides the sword (which is an issue i have with some official zelda games).
Music: 5/5 - The choice of music was really good. I specially love Gly'cov Forest song, level 6 Magic Shrine music, level 7 Sacred Sanctum music and level 8 Deepwood Tower music. Overall, it has a solid selection of music.
So yeah, 5/5 from me.
Graphics: 5/5 - I'm biased (and don't honestly care) when it comes to the gameboy Zelda games, I love the graphics of those games to death and this quest used those graphics really well to me.
Overworld: 4/5 - I think the overworld has a good design, with each area feeling distinct. The main, not gonna say issue, but slight annoyance is the somewhat high aumont of backtracking. The shortcuts and the warp song did help greatly to alleviate this, so it's not a big deal. I just feel it could use some more minor improvements.
Dungeons: 5/5 - This quest has some really well designed dungeons. They never felt overly complex and convoluted, that's how like my Zelda dungeons. The puzzles were pretty well designed too and their difficulty curve is pretty balanced too. I did get stumped a few times, but it was because i wasn't noticing some obvious stuff.
Boss battles: 5/5 - This quest had some really cool boss battles. They were challenging (they actually posed a threat), had some cool attack patterns and overall fun to fight. The Mecha Zora made me laugh and the level 7 boss was really creative. I honestly never thought a boss comprised of those laughing faces from ALLTP would actually work as a fun boss battle.
Challenge - 5/5 - It had the right aumont of challenge, nothing felt cheap and unfair. Also liked that some items were optimal at killing certain types of enemies, it made me use other items besides the sword (which is an issue i have with some official zelda games).
Music: 5/5 - The choice of music was really good. I specially love Gly'cov Forest song, level 6 Magic Shrine music, level 7 Sacred Sanctum music and level 8 Deepwood Tower music. Overall, it has a solid selection of music.
So yeah, 5/5 from me.
- Obderhode likes this
Mani Kanina
Edited 26 October 2016 - 04:20 PM
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Edit: Staff contacted me an basically told me that I'd have to bump up my rating for all quests I have ever reviewed by one star. Note that this does not reflect my own opinion on the matter, or the quest, but just that it was something I was made required to do.
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I'm on the fence if I should give this quest a rating of 3 or 4. But at the end of the day, I find ratings to be pointless in the first place, if you want my opinion, read my review, not the rating!
So, The Flow of Time. Is it a good quest? Yes. Is it worth playing? Yeah. Certainly, I think it has a few flaws, but you'd be hard pressed to find a quest that does not have flaws.
So what is flow of time? It's a very linear quest that is inspired by the Oracle games. Most dungeon features puzzles mechanics that are unique to it and follows similar logic to the ones found in the oracle games dungeons. Though, the gimmick in level 2 and 3 are very similar, and some dungeons don't have, or don't focus on, these puzzles. Dungeon design is not incredibly streamlined, there is a fair amount of backtracking and running around in circles to progress. Most people probably won't have a huge problem with this though, but it's worth baring in mind that the dungeons are fairly long as a result.
The overworld is not your standard fare either, the majority of it is segregated into sub areas, and connectivity is fairly low. You can still get around quick enough via the games warp system, so it's not an issue per-say. But get from point A to point B (sans warping,) is as roundabout at the end of the game as it is at the start.
Combat wise the quest is now more in-line with a reasonable experience, you get the defence upgrade at a much more realistic time and the difficulty curve scales much better than previous versions of the quest. Magic management has also been made more reasonable, and the candle is a much more viable weapon then it previously was. Some of the scripted bosses come across as a bit unrefined, but they work, and it's certainly more original than just using the standard ZC bosses. The ball and chain guys over flood the final part areas of the game though, so those get a bit dull.
Graphically the quest is what you'd expect out of an Oracle game. And I mean that literally; All overworld palettes are straight up the same as those in the Oracle games and most graphics are just lifted from it. The dungeon palettes are new though, so those spice things up a bit. But generally, graphically you're not going to see anything too original in this quest, but it still looks good. The tilework is a bit hit and miss, nothing stands out as too amazing, and a few places look a bit off. It's not too problematic graphically, but some of the tilework do get in the way of the gameplay.
There is a fair amount of obfuscation in the screen design, which forces you to take long ways around things. This makes travelling around less enjoyable than what I would have wanted it to be. Steps have been taken to minimise the issue with this in later updates of the quest, but certain screens I feel should just have gotten a complete redesign. This is one of those things that people in generally are not going to take notice of, but it still hampers the experience; So I have no doubt that most people won't even notice this when they play the quest.
I may come of as harsh here, but I'm trying to describe what the quest has to offer. And I do genuinely think it's a quest worth playing. But it's worth baring in mind that the quest is very dungeon heavy, and that exploration is very low priority in the experience offered.
---
You can read my old review from a previous version of the quest below. Though bare in mind that a lot has changed since then, so it's not accurate to the quest that you can download here.
Edit: Staff contacted me an basically told me that I'd have to bump up my rating for all quests I have ever reviewed by one star. Note that this does not reflect my own opinion on the matter, or the quest, but just that it was something I was made required to do.
---------
I'm on the fence if I should give this quest a rating of 3 or 4. But at the end of the day, I find ratings to be pointless in the first place, if you want my opinion, read my review, not the rating!
So, The Flow of Time. Is it a good quest? Yes. Is it worth playing? Yeah. Certainly, I think it has a few flaws, but you'd be hard pressed to find a quest that does not have flaws.
So what is flow of time? It's a very linear quest that is inspired by the Oracle games. Most dungeon features puzzles mechanics that are unique to it and follows similar logic to the ones found in the oracle games dungeons. Though, the gimmick in level 2 and 3 are very similar, and some dungeons don't have, or don't focus on, these puzzles. Dungeon design is not incredibly streamlined, there is a fair amount of backtracking and running around in circles to progress. Most people probably won't have a huge problem with this though, but it's worth baring in mind that the dungeons are fairly long as a result.
The overworld is not your standard fare either, the majority of it is segregated into sub areas, and connectivity is fairly low. You can still get around quick enough via the games warp system, so it's not an issue per-say. But get from point A to point B (sans warping,) is as roundabout at the end of the game as it is at the start.
Combat wise the quest is now more in-line with a reasonable experience, you get the defence upgrade at a much more realistic time and the difficulty curve scales much better than previous versions of the quest. Magic management has also been made more reasonable, and the candle is a much more viable weapon then it previously was. Some of the scripted bosses come across as a bit unrefined, but they work, and it's certainly more original than just using the standard ZC bosses. The ball and chain guys over flood the final part areas of the game though, so those get a bit dull.
Graphically the quest is what you'd expect out of an Oracle game. And I mean that literally; All overworld palettes are straight up the same as those in the Oracle games and most graphics are just lifted from it. The dungeon palettes are new though, so those spice things up a bit. But generally, graphically you're not going to see anything too original in this quest, but it still looks good. The tilework is a bit hit and miss, nothing stands out as too amazing, and a few places look a bit off. It's not too problematic graphically, but some of the tilework do get in the way of the gameplay.
There is a fair amount of obfuscation in the screen design, which forces you to take long ways around things. This makes travelling around less enjoyable than what I would have wanted it to be. Steps have been taken to minimise the issue with this in later updates of the quest, but certain screens I feel should just have gotten a complete redesign. This is one of those things that people in generally are not going to take notice of, but it still hampers the experience; So I have no doubt that most people won't even notice this when they play the quest.
I may come of as harsh here, but I'm trying to describe what the quest has to offer. And I do genuinely think it's a quest worth playing. But it's worth baring in mind that the quest is very dungeon heavy, and that exploration is very low priority in the experience offered.
---
You can read my old review from a previous version of the quest below. Though bare in mind that a lot has changed since then, so it's not accurate to the quest that you can download here.
Old Review
Soma C.
Edited 16 March 2015 - 10:02 PM
Finally finished this amazing quest. Level 9 was a toughie, and the final boss had me on the edge of my seat with tension (don't die, don't die, I kept telling myself!).
Okay, this quest easily is my second-favorite after Isle of Rebirth for 2.5 quests I've played so far. That and the nostalgic feel of the Oracle games/Link's Awakening (all of which I absolutely adore) made it all the more fascinating. Obderhode outdid himself with the polishing it seems. With the scripting and such this game truly feels like a worthy successor to the Oracle games. The Oracle of Ages feel of time travel was done superbly and there were MANY things to find, secrets to unveil, and challenging, unique dungeons to explore. Each one has its own special gimmick, and said gimmicks appear later on, both in the overworld and in the final level, so you need to remember what you've done to succeed. The soundtrack is amazing (my personal favorites are the Swamp theme, the Dungeon of Trials 2 and the second-to-last boss fight in the game.) As previously stated, the gameboy tileset is used to nostalgic effect, mimicking that of the Oracle games and Link's Awakening, and has the feel of all of those games rolled into one. The portals that appear after a miniboss is slain in a dungeon is another aspect I loved, as they also appear in the handheld titles on the GB. The quest IS tough, though, so be prepared to die quite a bit if you aren't careful, especially in the early game. In total, I died 59 times, which overall I don't consider too bad, as the quest is quite brutal at some points. As it goes along though, you will get stronger, finding better items and weapons to use against the deadly enemies you encounter. Speaking of the enemies, alot of them have a special weakness you cannot exploit with just the sword, you must find another way, using another item. That is another cool thing. Travel around the world is slow-going at first, but eventually you learn a way to travel around the overworld more easily, and that's good. The bosses are all custom and done very well, some a bit on the difficult side (I'm looking at you, level 8 boss...), and until you find the right items to use, they can wreck you over and over again. But they're still very enjoyable to fight.
All in all, this is a fabulous quest, Obderhode and I cannot wait to see what you unveil next. Please tell me you are going to do another quest at some point, because your design ideas are quite excellent.
Solid 5 with this one. Challenging, yet very enjoyable, and the nostalgic effect of the GB titles makes it all the more entertaining! Excellent job!
Okay, this quest easily is my second-favorite after Isle of Rebirth for 2.5 quests I've played so far. That and the nostalgic feel of the Oracle games/Link's Awakening (all of which I absolutely adore) made it all the more fascinating. Obderhode outdid himself with the polishing it seems. With the scripting and such this game truly feels like a worthy successor to the Oracle games. The Oracle of Ages feel of time travel was done superbly and there were MANY things to find, secrets to unveil, and challenging, unique dungeons to explore. Each one has its own special gimmick, and said gimmicks appear later on, both in the overworld and in the final level, so you need to remember what you've done to succeed. The soundtrack is amazing (my personal favorites are the Swamp theme, the Dungeon of Trials 2 and the second-to-last boss fight in the game.) As previously stated, the gameboy tileset is used to nostalgic effect, mimicking that of the Oracle games and Link's Awakening, and has the feel of all of those games rolled into one. The portals that appear after a miniboss is slain in a dungeon is another aspect I loved, as they also appear in the handheld titles on the GB. The quest IS tough, though, so be prepared to die quite a bit if you aren't careful, especially in the early game. In total, I died 59 times, which overall I don't consider too bad, as the quest is quite brutal at some points. As it goes along though, you will get stronger, finding better items and weapons to use against the deadly enemies you encounter. Speaking of the enemies, alot of them have a special weakness you cannot exploit with just the sword, you must find another way, using another item. That is another cool thing. Travel around the world is slow-going at first, but eventually you learn a way to travel around the overworld more easily, and that's good. The bosses are all custom and done very well, some a bit on the difficult side (I'm looking at you, level 8 boss...), and until you find the right items to use, they can wreck you over and over again. But they're still very enjoyable to fight.
All in all, this is a fabulous quest, Obderhode and I cannot wait to see what you unveil next. Please tell me you are going to do another quest at some point, because your design ideas are quite excellent.
Solid 5 with this one. Challenging, yet very enjoyable, and the nostalgic effect of the GB titles makes it all the more entertaining! Excellent job!
- Jared , SyrianBallaS , Joki and 1 other like this
Naru
Posted 29 December 2014 - 08:05 PM
A really large world... to few save points (especially after time warp, if you die and start from a spot you cannot get back where you were without warping around). Also a lot running arround, To activate the owls by sword instead of after finishing a boss would help a lot. Coudn't find out what to do next after getting the two pair of boots and the magic meter was soo annoying.
BTW, i completly failed already cause the mountain level (Nr. 2 i think, too big) in the older version, but I loved it already back then.
BTW, i completly failed already cause the mountain level (Nr. 2 i think, too big) in the older version, but I loved it already back then.
Nice!
SyrianBallaS
Posted 03 October 2014 - 02:03 PM
After playing this on and off, restarting the quest multiple times, I have finally 100% this quest. 141 deaths in 32:13:44. Man this quest was amazing overall.
Gameplay:
Above average, some physics were real time, meaning like if you jumped you actually went up a layer instead of a tile (I always hated that in some quests). Every single enemy has a weakness, and for those who rely on bait to kill enemies, don't, the only enemy it works on to my knowledge is lynels and you don't get it till very late in the game. The worst thing about this quest is tediousness, but it's ok because if there isn't some tediousness, you will get bored really fast. It's really hard to balance the tedious factor but you did well for the most part. Every dungeon item has use after it's dungeon. The best thing of all was blend of puzzles and combat.
Minor bugs/glitches I still spotted:
When you use the hurricane spin near those electric enemies (buzzblobs and those jellyfish things) even if your sword doesn't hit them you still get damaged
Some boss fights seemed out of sync with it's programming, the only one I could notice was the boss in deepwood tower
Sometimes when you use reversion rondo, you are totally invincable until you go to to a new area
There are two glitched tiles I noticed
These are minor things and most people will not notice them
Music:
Overall great, loved the dragon quest music, you should check out the dai no daibouken version of the music you put in gly'cov swamp
Recommendations to new players:
This quest will be challenging if you never played or ask for help, but it actually isn't that difficult. In my opinion this is like 2nd quest difficulty with puzzles.
If things are too fast paced for you, use the subscreen instead of L/R, trust me
Do not tank ever, even if you have every single power up
If you think something is impossible (meaning you tried every possibility with your current items) then it probably is
If you don't have any paitence then this isn't for you
I am almost certain this quest will be as famous as lost isle (I know Isle of Rebirth is good but Lost Isle is talked about on almost every zelda fan site)
Good luck in your future endeavors
Gameplay:
Above average, some physics were real time, meaning like if you jumped you actually went up a layer instead of a tile (I always hated that in some quests). Every single enemy has a weakness, and for those who rely on bait to kill enemies, don't, the only enemy it works on to my knowledge is lynels and you don't get it till very late in the game. The worst thing about this quest is tediousness, but it's ok because if there isn't some tediousness, you will get bored really fast. It's really hard to balance the tedious factor but you did well for the most part. Every dungeon item has use after it's dungeon. The best thing of all was blend of puzzles and combat.
Minor bugs/glitches I still spotted:
When you use the hurricane spin near those electric enemies (buzzblobs and those jellyfish things) even if your sword doesn't hit them you still get damaged
Some boss fights seemed out of sync with it's programming, the only one I could notice was the boss in deepwood tower
Sometimes when you use reversion rondo, you are totally invincable until you go to to a new area
There are two glitched tiles I noticed
These are minor things and most people will not notice them
Music:
Overall great, loved the dragon quest music, you should check out the dai no daibouken version of the music you put in gly'cov swamp
Recommendations to new players:
This quest will be challenging if you never played or ask for help, but it actually isn't that difficult. In my opinion this is like 2nd quest difficulty with puzzles.
If things are too fast paced for you, use the subscreen instead of L/R, trust me
Do not tank ever, even if you have every single power up
If you think something is impossible (meaning you tried every possibility with your current items) then it probably is
If you don't have any paitence then this isn't for you
I am almost certain this quest will be as famous as lost isle (I know Isle of Rebirth is good but Lost Isle is talked about on almost every zelda fan site)
Good luck in your future endeavors
- Obderhode likes this
Kyubey
Edited 19 September 2014 - 02:13 PM
This is the first custom quest I've played, and I must say I had a great time with it.
Visually, the game is appealing. It's made in the style of the Oracle games and Link's Awakening, which I like since these were some of my favorite Zelda games.
The game uses music from various different sources, including Zelda, Mega Man, Metroid, and a few others. This was a bit odd at first but over time I got used to it, and have to say it fits most of them fairly well.
Gameplay-wise, there are some good points and some bad points. We'll start with the good.
As stated before, the game follows the style of the Oracle series and Link's Awakening, not just graphically, but also in terms of gameplay. Your quest to recover the Aurora Stones will take you through 8 different dungeons, all of which are fairly massive and contain a variety of unique puzzles and gimmicks. Along the way, you will traverse a massive overworld not only in the present, but also in the past. Similar to Oracle of Ages, the game has you jumping between past and present in order to solve puzzles and make progress. The differences between the past and present world are fairly vast, with some caves and dungeons existing only in one time period, and the geography of many areas differs as well. The game also has a lot of optional content to persue, including many hidden upgrades and 3 optional dungeons. I was impressed with just how much stuff was hidden all over that you could only find after getting certain items and clearing certain dungeons. There's a ton of stuff to seek out, and it's highly recommended that you do so (especially the optional dungeons, trust me on this) as the game's difficulty is quite high, and you will need all the help you can get. The game is not exactly like Oracle in every way, despite having the look and overall feel it still has some gameplay limitations of the original Zelda, being unable to lift objects or throw bombs. I do not consider this a negative though, and I am not even sure if it's possible to impliment this in Zelda Classic. The boss fights are also quite good and creative despite the aforementioned limitations. Most of them have invulnerability phases and you must strike them at a specific time to hurt them. Some bosses can be hurt with your sword, while others require you to use a specific item, though not always the item acquired in that dungeon like in the usual Zelda tradition.
On the negative side, the game's difficulty feels unbalanced in many areas. Believe me when I say: This game is not for the newbies. Even if you are an expert with 2D Zelda games, you are going to die, a lot. A high difficulty is not a bad thing in and of itself, but I feel the first few dungeons of the game could have been a bit easier. In fact, I had less trouble with some of the later dungeons than I did the first few dungeons. Whether this is simply because I adjusted to the difficulty, or because they were, in fact, easier, I do not know, but be prepared for unbalanced difficulty curves nonetheless. There is also a large amount of lengthy backtracking due to the massive overworld, which can be come tedious at some points, especially around the midway point of the game. You can eventually learn a song that lets you teleport between certain stone statues, which does help to speed things up, but even with that there is still quite a bit of running around, especially since certain statues can only be warped from, and not to. (To my knowledge at least, 2 new ones open up every time you gain an Aurora Stone but by the end of the game there were still several I could not go to.)
All in all, I had a lot of fun with this game. If you can look past the occasional tedious backtracking segments and and the wacky difficulty curve towards the start, then you will have a great time with this one, especially if you were a fan of the Oracle series or Link's Awakening!
Visually, the game is appealing. It's made in the style of the Oracle games and Link's Awakening, which I like since these were some of my favorite Zelda games.
The game uses music from various different sources, including Zelda, Mega Man, Metroid, and a few others. This was a bit odd at first but over time I got used to it, and have to say it fits most of them fairly well.
Gameplay-wise, there are some good points and some bad points. We'll start with the good.
As stated before, the game follows the style of the Oracle series and Link's Awakening, not just graphically, but also in terms of gameplay. Your quest to recover the Aurora Stones will take you through 8 different dungeons, all of which are fairly massive and contain a variety of unique puzzles and gimmicks. Along the way, you will traverse a massive overworld not only in the present, but also in the past. Similar to Oracle of Ages, the game has you jumping between past and present in order to solve puzzles and make progress. The differences between the past and present world are fairly vast, with some caves and dungeons existing only in one time period, and the geography of many areas differs as well. The game also has a lot of optional content to persue, including many hidden upgrades and 3 optional dungeons. I was impressed with just how much stuff was hidden all over that you could only find after getting certain items and clearing certain dungeons. There's a ton of stuff to seek out, and it's highly recommended that you do so (especially the optional dungeons, trust me on this) as the game's difficulty is quite high, and you will need all the help you can get. The game is not exactly like Oracle in every way, despite having the look and overall feel it still has some gameplay limitations of the original Zelda, being unable to lift objects or throw bombs. I do not consider this a negative though, and I am not even sure if it's possible to impliment this in Zelda Classic. The boss fights are also quite good and creative despite the aforementioned limitations. Most of them have invulnerability phases and you must strike them at a specific time to hurt them. Some bosses can be hurt with your sword, while others require you to use a specific item, though not always the item acquired in that dungeon like in the usual Zelda tradition.
On the negative side, the game's difficulty feels unbalanced in many areas. Believe me when I say: This game is not for the newbies. Even if you are an expert with 2D Zelda games, you are going to die, a lot. A high difficulty is not a bad thing in and of itself, but I feel the first few dungeons of the game could have been a bit easier. In fact, I had less trouble with some of the later dungeons than I did the first few dungeons. Whether this is simply because I adjusted to the difficulty, or because they were, in fact, easier, I do not know, but be prepared for unbalanced difficulty curves nonetheless. There is also a large amount of lengthy backtracking due to the massive overworld, which can be come tedious at some points, especially around the midway point of the game. You can eventually learn a song that lets you teleport between certain stone statues, which does help to speed things up, but even with that there is still quite a bit of running around, especially since certain statues can only be warped from, and not to. (To my knowledge at least, 2 new ones open up every time you gain an Aurora Stone but by the end of the game there were still several I could not go to.)
All in all, I had a lot of fun with this game. If you can look past the occasional tedious backtracking segments and and the wacky difficulty curve towards the start, then you will have a great time with this one, especially if you were a fan of the Oracle series or Link's Awakening!
- Obderhode likes this
Joki
Edited 21 April 2015 - 05:34 AM
UPDATED APRIL 2015
At this point, Ive decided to submit my review:
Level 1:
Upon first playing this level, I was really impressed. One of the few levels in the game I actually enjoyed as I understood all the mechanics used to build it. The only tricky part was the boss. Hard given the fact you only have 3 hearts. But a good level none the less.
Level 2:
I was surprised by the ancient cave. The puzzles were tough, and figuring out stuff was intense. Good points: The multi floor aspect. The mazes were do-able, and once you collected the power bracelet, the level was practically done. Bad points: Was tricky figuring out how to buy super bombs for the first time, finding the last key for 1F (even though you'd been past it loads of times earlier in the level, and the boss hp was too high (but I understand this has since been lowered).
Level 3:
I died a ton of times here. Finding all the keys I needed to get the hookshot was a pain, but pleased when I got it. The ladders were tricky to navigate at times, and the boss was truly a pain. (again addressed earlier in this spoiler)
DOT1: Very clever design, and couldn't help but feel I deserved the white sword earlier.
Level 4: This was a good level. I enjoyed the time travel aspect of it given the fact it mirrored one of the levels in OoA. Tricky making progress, but when you've got the boots, the level just opens up. The boss wasn't too tough either, just have to dodge him. Well done OB!
Turtle rock: I appreciate what you were trying to do here… I just found the multiple entrances to be frustrating, particularly when you trek halfway across the world, and then die in the entrance you've just made it to. All the more satisfying tho when you actually beat it, and shut off the source of the storms! Difficult to stay on the moving platforms with out being bullied off by the bats. But Kudos to you OB for the awesome maps you've uploaded and the help you've given to me and all the forumers.
Level 5: This place was a mind f***. i found all the keys in the first entrance, and made it to the second entrance only to be stuck as I didn't know how to kill the eyegores. But once, you got the ember seeds, this level opened up, and it wasn't too tough. Even the boss wasn't too hard for me. Just keep him in the middle and pelt him with penetrating ammo and using potion where necessary. Another inventive idea to have 4 entrances to one level, just a shame that the entrances didn't tally with where a bouts in the level you appeared. For instance, the west shrine entrance put you on the eastern side of the dungeon map.
Level 6: I enjoyed the intro to this level. Getting the boots from farore's pyramid was a nice idea, and a clever idea getting the player to climb to the top. The magic cave in the present however was perhaps one of the toughest levels Ive ever seen in a ZC quest, perhaps not as tough as the sunken basin in Isle of Rebirth due to the backtracking not being as roundabout, but still challenging. The idea of having the eyes lie to you in the maze was a bastard, but really cool when you figure out whet you have to do. The toughest part I though was going back round for the mirror shield. But then the level fell in to place… Just a quick visit to the DoT2 to get the level 3 sword and blue tunic and the boss took a beating...
Level 7: I really enjoyed this level. I totally understood everything I had to do, and it just fell into place. The old ethos of going the wrong way through walls worked a charm here.
The only thing that tripped me up here was the room with no floor. Had to jump over it to get an essential key. Wasn't easily apparent that you could jump it tho… The boss key room alarm system was another good idea… didn't see it until i accidentally found the map in another side of the level.
Level 8: Deepwood Tower
To be honest, after level 7, this wasn't that challenging. There was a little backtracking, but compared to the other levels, this on was less imaginative than the others, thus should be fairly easy to clear. Not a bad level, but I wouldn't shout home about it being my favourite.
Level 9: Melkthir's Castle
Fairly straight forward when you see whats going on. The real twist was with the boss... Awesome!!! I don't want to spoil the surprise, but this boss is worth going through the game and dying a shit ton of times for.
Hands down the 2nd best quest on the data base. It's going to take some doing for a quest to knock Isle of Rebirth off the top spot, so congrats Obderhode for making something awesome!
At this point, Ive decided to submit my review:
Level 1:
Upon first playing this level, I was really impressed. One of the few levels in the game I actually enjoyed as I understood all the mechanics used to build it. The only tricky part was the boss. Hard given the fact you only have 3 hearts. But a good level none the less.
Level 2:
I was surprised by the ancient cave. The puzzles were tough, and figuring out stuff was intense. Good points: The multi floor aspect. The mazes were do-able, and once you collected the power bracelet, the level was practically done. Bad points: Was tricky figuring out how to buy super bombs for the first time, finding the last key for 1F (even though you'd been past it loads of times earlier in the level, and the boss hp was too high (but I understand this has since been lowered).
Level 3:
I died a ton of times here. Finding all the keys I needed to get the hookshot was a pain, but pleased when I got it. The ladders were tricky to navigate at times, and the boss was truly a pain. (again addressed earlier in this spoiler)
DOT1: Very clever design, and couldn't help but feel I deserved the white sword earlier.
Level 4: This was a good level. I enjoyed the time travel aspect of it given the fact it mirrored one of the levels in OoA. Tricky making progress, but when you've got the boots, the level just opens up. The boss wasn't too tough either, just have to dodge him. Well done OB!
Turtle rock: I appreciate what you were trying to do here… I just found the multiple entrances to be frustrating, particularly when you trek halfway across the world, and then die in the entrance you've just made it to. All the more satisfying tho when you actually beat it, and shut off the source of the storms! Difficult to stay on the moving platforms with out being bullied off by the bats. But Kudos to you OB for the awesome maps you've uploaded and the help you've given to me and all the forumers.
Level 5: This place was a mind f***. i found all the keys in the first entrance, and made it to the second entrance only to be stuck as I didn't know how to kill the eyegores. But once, you got the ember seeds, this level opened up, and it wasn't too tough. Even the boss wasn't too hard for me. Just keep him in the middle and pelt him with penetrating ammo and using potion where necessary. Another inventive idea to have 4 entrances to one level, just a shame that the entrances didn't tally with where a bouts in the level you appeared. For instance, the west shrine entrance put you on the eastern side of the dungeon map.
Level 6: I enjoyed the intro to this level. Getting the boots from farore's pyramid was a nice idea, and a clever idea getting the player to climb to the top. The magic cave in the present however was perhaps one of the toughest levels Ive ever seen in a ZC quest, perhaps not as tough as the sunken basin in Isle of Rebirth due to the backtracking not being as roundabout, but still challenging. The idea of having the eyes lie to you in the maze was a bastard, but really cool when you figure out whet you have to do. The toughest part I though was going back round for the mirror shield. But then the level fell in to place… Just a quick visit to the DoT2 to get the level 3 sword and blue tunic and the boss took a beating...
Level 7: I really enjoyed this level. I totally understood everything I had to do, and it just fell into place. The old ethos of going the wrong way through walls worked a charm here.
The only thing that tripped me up here was the room with no floor. Had to jump over it to get an essential key. Wasn't easily apparent that you could jump it tho… The boss key room alarm system was another good idea… didn't see it until i accidentally found the map in another side of the level.
Level 8: Deepwood Tower
To be honest, after level 7, this wasn't that challenging. There was a little backtracking, but compared to the other levels, this on was less imaginative than the others, thus should be fairly easy to clear. Not a bad level, but I wouldn't shout home about it being my favourite.
Level 9: Melkthir's Castle
Fairly straight forward when you see whats going on. The real twist was with the boss... Awesome!!! I don't want to spoil the surprise, but this boss is worth going through the game and dying a shit ton of times for.
Hands down the 2nd best quest on the data base. It's going to take some doing for a quest to knock Isle of Rebirth off the top spot, so congrats Obderhode for making something awesome!
- Obderhode likes this
