I quite liked this. It was small enough to play in one sitting and felt just the right size for the complexity of its ideas. In particular:
- The character switching is neat, and I like that each brother has a particular niche.
- The screen design is beautiful.
- Dungeons feel pretty solid.. I especially loved the puzzles in the first dungeon and was a bit bummed the other dungeons didn't have similarly neat ideas.
- The enemies are also simple but creative. Special mention to the Ghini/Stalfos pairs.
- The story is simple but pretty cool. The writing did a good job characterizing the protagonists in limited space. There was a single instance in the scene at the end of the first dungeon that felt slightly spell-it-out-ish, but I think the writing worked well overall.
As far as the death mechanics go, I... don't actually hate them? I think quests with lost progress on death can be very tricky to balance, but this one turned out okay. There were one or two spots that felt a bit save-point starved, and I do wish HP drops were a bit more frequent, but it felt alright overall and kept the tension just high enough.
There are a few things that stood out as areas for improvement, so I figured I'd list those out.
- The biggest thing for me was the enemy density. Like Ether mentioned, the rooms do feel pretty crowded. I liked that overall, it combined well with the death mechanics and forced you to pay attention, but some screens felt downright jam-packed in a way that was a bit unreasonable to navigate.
- Nita's arsenal is simultaneously fun and limiting. The candle is super satisfying, but the flames hurting you contributes even further to a sense of severe claustrophobia.
- The balance on weapon damage feels a bit off sometimes. I certainly see the challenge in trying to make each brother feel equally useful, but despite the possibility for Nita's arsenal to be super busted, he often felt really limited. Especially after Ito gets the bow.
- I do wish there were a third boss. I know it was a contest limitation, but the quest really suffers without it, and especially given that you didn't make the contest anyways, I'd have pushed strongly for including one.
- It'd also be great if collecting HP when your health is full applied it to the brother's health instead.
- Not necessarily a bad thing, but the design of the town (going left to the town meeting, further left for the candle) natural leads you towards L2 and L3, away from L1. As a result, I ended up just exploring most of the overworld before arriving in L1.
Overall it was pretty enjoyable. Would recommend.
Twin Traditions
Overview
Feature Quest
| Creator: Bagel Meister Genre: Miniquest Added: 29 Jan 2023 Updated: 23 Mar 2023 ZC Version: 2.55 Downloads: 98 Rating[?]: |
Download Quest (7.06 MB) |
Information
This quest was last developed for ZC 2.55 Alpha 111. Later versions will probably work, but don't use any earlier than this!
Orignally created for the 1 + 1 = 2 contest last year, but I spent far too long working on it.
A 3-dungeon heavily scripted quest where you play as two characters with different movesets!
Orignally created for the 1 + 1 = 2 contest last year, but I spent far too long working on it.
A 3-dungeon heavily scripted quest where you play as two characters with different movesets!
About Reviews Comments Forum Topics
Description
In line with most of the original contest rules, this quest is designed around the number 2:
- 2 playable characters, who can be switched between at any time.
- 2 maps of space, split across 3 dungeons, an 8x8 overworld, and various caves.
- 2 usable items unique to each character, for a total of 4 items.
- 2 combo attacks which use 1 item from each character at once.
- 2 boss fights to overcome!
When playing, make sure all the music (.spc files) are in the same folder as the quest itself. The scripts folder doesn't need to be anywhere though, that's just for looking at if you're interested.
Updates:
[31/01/23]:
- Fixed graphical errors caused by leaving dungeon map open for a while.
- Game saves after beating each dungeon.
- Minor rebalancing of dungeon layouts.
[04/02/23]:
- Collecting health at full health gives it to other brother.
- Increased stamina cost of the bow.
- Decreased charge animation time on combo attacks.
- More minor dungeon changes.
[22/03/2023]:
- More minor rebalancing.
- Some bug fixes on the 2nd boss.
- 2 playable characters, who can be switched between at any time.
- 2 maps of space, split across 3 dungeons, an 8x8 overworld, and various caves.
- 2 usable items unique to each character, for a total of 4 items.
- 2 combo attacks which use 1 item from each character at once.
- 2 boss fights to overcome!
When playing, make sure all the music (.spc files) are in the same folder as the quest itself. The scripts folder doesn't need to be anywhere though, that's just for looking at if you're interested.
Updates:
[31/01/23]:
- Fixed graphical errors caused by leaving dungeon map open for a while.
- Game saves after beating each dungeon.
- Minor rebalancing of dungeon layouts.
[04/02/23]:
- Collecting health at full health gives it to other brother.
- Increased stamina cost of the bow.
- Decreased charge animation time on combo attacks.
- More minor dungeon changes.
[22/03/2023]:
- More minor rebalancing.
- Some bug fixes on the 2nd boss.
Story
On a chain of islands off in the ocean, a small community lives by the coast. They live comfortably, but they owe their survival to Murasi, a powerful spirit who created the islands and protects the inhabitants from harm. Every year, the people of this land show their gratitude to Murasi by collecting three powerful items and delivering them to him as gifts. However as time has gone on, the people have grown older and tire of this tradition...
This year, twin brothers Ito and Nita have agreed to take up the search. Despite their ages and inexperience, the elders allow them to leave the village. Now, the brothers must explore three dangerous dungeons and claim the treasures within!
This year, twin brothers Ito and Nita have agreed to take up the search. Despite their ages and inexperience, the elders allow them to leave the village. Now, the brothers must explore three dangerous dungeons and claim the treasures within!
Tips & Cheats
- Don't forget to save at save stones frequently, or you'll lose progress when you die!
- Each brother has their own health pool, so don't be afraid to try the other one if you get low on health.
- Collecting hearts or fairies while you have full health will send any leftover health to the other brother.
- There are 3 keys you can find on the overworld that unlock any door. Use these to skip difficult parts of dungeons, if you want.
- The whole overworld opens up for you once you get Nita, so you can always search around for Heart Pieces and Stamina Containers if you're struggling.
- Each brother has their own health pool, so don't be afraid to try the other one if you get low on health.
- Collecting hearts or fairies while you have full health will send any leftover health to the other brother.
- There are 3 keys you can find on the overworld that unlock any door. Use these to skip difficult parts of dungeons, if you want.
- The whole overworld opens up for you once you get Nita, so you can always search around for Heart Pieces and Stamina Containers if you're struggling.
Credits
Credits are included in the download, as well as at the end of the quest.
