Castle Paradox

[Rya.Reisender]

I like Kirby a lot.

[Newbie_Power]

[Jack]

[The Drizzle]

I don't think this game is as brutally bad as everyone is making it out to be. Personally, I thought that the idea behind it was pretty good and it doesn't matter to me at all that there wasn't a story to it. There are plenty of games out there without an explicit story and if you're more into gameplay than story, then who cares? Some people care about stories, but what about games like centipede or space invaders with no real explicit story? Centipede is about an attacking centipede, space invaders is about invaders from space, and this game is about a guy trying to escape from a maze. I don't understand what the hubbub is about.

And although I said I like the idea, I think the problem is in its execution. I played through the first level and lost interest. There simply aren't enough enemies and moves to make battles interesting. There should've been AT LEAST twice as many more enemies and moves, and each battle should be about discovering a way to win, which didn't seem to be the case. The battle mechanics are really more gimmicky rather than innovative. Something more could've been done to make them interesting.

There are so many tools available within the engine that could make for some very, very interesting battles using the idea you started with. Think about all the things that could be done if you'd used elemental attacks and enemy types, and made hundreds of attacks. The possibilities for battles would be almost limitless since the hero would have hundreds of moves, unlike typical rpgs. Basically, I think there are plenty of little changes that could be made to make this a better game. I agree with Newbie's prognosis that this seems to be more of a prototype battle system than a finished one.
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My name is...
The shake-zula, the mic rulah, the old schoola, you wanna trip? I'll bring it to yah...

[Rya.Reisender]

I still think the fighting is very tactical. Not as much as in Darkmoor Dungeon, but more than in most other OHRRPGCE RPGs. And you can't run from the last some battles. If you run too often on early battles you won't have enough exp and items to beat the game at the end.

Also you can switch off the music if you don't like it, they are just some of my favorite musics and apparently I should have added more but oh well. ^^'

I already stated the reason why I released it so I won't reply to it again.

Also the second floor has 4 more different enemies. =)

[Moogle1]

Gameplay is not entirely subjective, like graphics and music. Looking at a game, you can say that the graphics are objectively good or bad. Listening to it, you can assess whether the music is good or bad. Playing it, you can tell if the gameplay is good or bad.

It's a cop-out to say that something is subjective. Relativity just means nothing has a definition and therefore nothing is worth anything. You can't honestly say that there are no absolutes, because that is an absolute statement.

Your game is good or it is bad. I don't know; I haven't played it yet. Whether you or anyone else likes it doesn't make it good or bad. The reverse is true.

People evaluate games on different criteria. Several of your players here value story highly, and those people dislike your game because your game's story is bad. Some people value variety in battles, and those people dislike that your game has bad battle variety. Some players value new and interesting gameplay styles, and those players like the good innovations in your game. Their values are relative, but the quality of your game is not.
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Slime Salad :: Independent Game Design

[RedMaverickZero]

So are you're basically telling me that your general audience is yourself. Yet, you're going to release these games made to please you on the internet.

I mean that would explain why this game sucks. Sure it's got some neat little things going for it, but not enough to call it a good game. And saying a game doesn't need a story is a bunch of crap. Even games like NES Mario and Metroid didn't explain the plot in the game, but it probally mentioned things on the back of the box, not just, play the levels.

If you don't even at least leave something in a readme or something similar it won't add as much depth to your game, like the player will likely want.

And I'm assuming almost all the maptiles are ripped, since you already explained you have no graphical talent beyond drawing blobs of color and calling them creatures.

You set a bar really high for yourself when you came here and preached about how "great" you were and how much you knew about game design and so forth. I must admit, it was rather hilarious to see you fall way below the bar you set.

Good job.

Now go fuck yourself.
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---------------Projects----
Mr.Triangle's Maze: 70%
Takoyaki Surprise: 70%

[Newbie_Power]

[RedMaverickZero]

[The Drizzle]

[Moogle1]

[The Drizzle]

[Newbie_Power]

[Moogle1]

Played the game. Got to the last boss and died. Will retry later.

It's not bad. I'm not sure why people are saying they hate it because it's better than most OHR releases. The battle system is interesting and it's not long enough to be boring.

There are a few aspects about it that definitely are bad, though. First, mazes. Mazes are uninteresting dungeon design. No one likes mazes. I understand the necessity of a dungeon to wander around in and dungeons are inherently mazelike, but there are a million things you could do to make the wandering more interesting.

Second, the music. There's nothing wrong with the songs you chose, but there are two things wrong with the music generally: first, all the song files have a significant pause before they start up. This is really bad. I can get into fights and run away from them fast enough that I won't hear anything for a good twenty seconds. Second, not enough variety. I would've liked to hear a different track for each floor. This is a relatively minor complaint.

Enemy variety isn't bad but it could be better. I understand the necessity of limiting the enemy types if you want to have a different item per enemy, but one thing you could do to work around that is to include palette-swaps. For example, slimes drop the Power item. You could make more powerful red slimes that also drop the Power item. Really, the only point where enemy variety is bad is at the beginning of the game, but it's a bad way to start things out.

Difficulty is good, starting out easy but getting progressively harder. Making the Robot inescapable was a good move, if a little frustrating. The last boss seems way too hard, but I might have just gotten unlucky with sleep.

A full-blown story is unnecessary, but it'd be interesting to see some explanation as to how he can steal enemies' powers or why he's in the maze to begin with.

Graphics are generally good. The enemy graphics vary most. The Magician is ugly. Few of the enemies resemble what they're supposed to be.

Overall, the game wasn't perfect, but I enjoyed it.
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Slime Salad :: Independent Game Design

[Rya.Reisender]