Tue Apr 16, 2013 6:49 am
Team Charsac: NPC-Life
1/5
I was expecting a really good show from everyone's favorite bronies. Instead, I got a really good disappointment. Almost all of the jokes were the standard RPG NPC jokes that 1,300 pages of 8-Bit Theater and all of its knockoffs have already worn thin.
It's going to sound hypocritical coming from me, but I wasn't a big fan of the constant profanity. I'm not against profanity, but it works best as a little spice, the exclamation point at the end of a good set-up that can catch you off guard and make the joke funnier. When you're dropping the Big F every other sentence, it's not catching anyone off guard and it becomes abrasive. As a result, I never had any sympathy for the.. hero? NPC? What would you call him, anyway?
The game mostly misses on what it's trying to do. It's not a bad concept, I just don't like the way Charbile and Misac went after it. Maybe I put Charbile on too high a pedestal and maybe some of this is just disappointment that it's not a "My Little Gahn" or a "Sleepover" with crazy plotscript effects to pop out of every nook and cranny, but this was my least favorite entry. Sorry, dudes.
Team BMRski: The Dungeon of Koh Lab
3/5
There's a lot of stuff in this game I really like. The lighting and random maps are pretty cool and the dual wielding is neatly put together and an interesting tangent. The battles are unfortunately the least balanced in the contest, and it took me like 4 tries before I realized the "Treasure" I was picking up was actually equipment and not some kind of points. That could've been expressed more clearly.
I absolutely hate the sound design. Without any background music the noises just pop out of nowhere and they all have a kind of hum at the start that lets you know they're coming before the sound actually plays. Would've preferred silence here.
Games that don't let you skip the intro always annoy me, and especially games that expect you to play them multiple times. It's a short intro, and a younger player might not have problems skipping it but I'm old and grouchy and impatient. I also would've liked some kind of a graveyard file, or high score list, just to let you compare one run to the next, and give you a sense of progress.
It's a good start at a roguelike, but it's still missing some of the feelings that really make you like a rogue-like. But considering the time constraints and the team dynamic this is a valiant effort and absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. Good work, gentlemen.
Team Shizpish: Undeadliest
4/5
This was a cool entry. Shiz brings a certain flavor to every project he works on and that flavor really shines through here. I love the music choices, even the isometric style which I usually think is weird in OHR games works great for Undeadliest.
There are some minor quibbles. The ending is kind of a let down, ammo conservation isn't a big issue (though it doesn't feel like it needs to be) and the town is a little bit big for my tastes, but Shiz's flavor and some really smart choices keep those from dragging the whole game down.
The character designs are great. Even without dialogue, the art gives them each a distinct feel which makes finding a new one a treat, even though they're all (seemingly) identical in terms of stats. The battles are a cool simulation of how you'd imagine an actual gunfight with zombies would work. The goofy little jokes that pop up around certain buildings make exploration feel worth your effort.
It's a great demo, and a concept I'd love to see expanded. I'd kind of like to see food expanded too, maybe a system where each variety of food changes a certain stat, and you have to decide if you want to spread your food out for maximum energy or go on an eating spree and hulk the fuck out but risk going hungry later. Of course, that might just be left over King of Gourmet type delusions about wanting to see a man eat a million pounds of Borscht and then turn into an unstoppable zombie-killing machine.
Kinda curious what Sheepish contributed, to be honest. Great work!
The boss battle music might be the catchiest thing I've ever heard. Oh, and... hehehe... P. Juice
Team Master Kawk: Time And Time Again
5/5
I keep bouncing back and forth on whether this is a 4 or a 5. Is it better to shoot for something great and miss, or aim for something attainable like Undeadliest and hit? Time And Time Again is technically impressive but somewhat lacks personality and soul. I feel like this isn't the first time I've described a Hawk game that way.
The Majora's Mask style NPCs are amazing, something I never would've thought possible in an OHR Game. But where Majora's Mask had a very clear threat in the constantly looming moon, Time and Time Again's threat is much vaguer. Where Majora's Mask's NPCs were personable, these guys are bland. There IS a plot to find and it's an okay one. The NPCs do harbor some neat secrets, but getting to the point where you find them and from there to where you give a damn can be somewhat tedious.
Starting the game with the clock ticking puts a lot of pressure on you right off the bat, and it takes a little bit of time to figure out just what the game expects of you, and that it's okay to take a few loops through the story. It also takes a little bit of time to figure out that people are actually in different places at different times of the day and that this will be the key to your success. The battles can be a little unforgiving early on, and give you no way to heal, which can make you feel really stressed out if you don't know that it's okay to loop around a million times.
It's cold and impersonal, but it's an impressive game for two jackasses from the internet to have put together in their first week as a couple. It would've been interesting if Shizuma or RMSephy, someone with a stronger sense of character had landed on this team and helped them liven up the town a little. Still, it did keep my attention through 7 or 8 loops, and I guess unlike the other games it did have a definite start, middle and ending, so I guess I'll give it the 5. I forget what I predicted for you two at the start, but this definitely deserves to win. Complete package, and feels like it took all week to get right.
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