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Dimensions 3 |  |
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By: Cube Games Homepage: http://_cube.homestead.com/main.html Download: 684 KB Reviewed by: Dalaran |
Let's get your attention... Dimensions 3 is the first OHR game with a "job system". Are you listening yet? I was. In this game the main character is a high school student sent on a "secret mission" by his principal. (What kind of high school sends students off on secret missions? That is the stupidest... What? FF8? Just because Final Fantasy does it doesn't mean it makes any sense in another game without any plot support.) The secret mission involves investigating a company which is alleged to be exporting illegal "chemicals" to another country. Several investigations (and an airship) later you learn that the chemicals have nothing to do with the real threat, and the real threat is something else of which you learn "on the spot". The story seems to be dull and loose, but I have a feeling that's due to another problem which I will identify in the third paragraph.
The music in this game is excellent. I can say that for a fact, because most of it was stolen from the Final Fantasy series. The plotscripting is good in the places where there is plotscripting (see paragraph 3), but it needs a bit more error checking. The programmer has also been kind enough to include a couple of puzzles in the dungeons to keep them interesting. (Hint: The guy in red who looks really eager to see you wants to kill you instantly without a battle. Don't say I didn't warn you.) The job system (Yea!) works, but not very well. Each job for a character consists of an entirely different character. For instance, if Bob the "ninja" hamster bites the dust; then you simply switch to Bob the "Black Mage" hamster, and he is instantly revived. Likewise, the day of the week counter might have been good if it had been used for more than "You can't enter now (no explanation of why)! Come back on Wednesday!".
The main problem with this game is that it was programmed as a shell of a game and now the programmer is filling in the holes. This is evidenced by the fact that more than half of what presumably should be dungeons do not contain any enemies, there is only one working town, some of the characters disappear when wounded (weak, dead) in battle, etc. The graphics were acceptable, but not great. (I really hate "stick figure" characters.) The gameplay was tedious, because the enemies required about fifteen (mage) hits each. The only way to gain skills is by gaining levels fighting those enemies. It's just a viscous cycle. In some locations it's even impossible to put up a fight, because there are not any inns to restore your characters.
Scores:
| Graphics: Not everyone is Picasso. This is one of those people who isn't. Could use some shading. | |
| Music: Ripped... 9 points for music, minus 1 for not even trying to repair the chords that were butchered in transition, minus 2 points for stealing. For those of you who don't have moral objections feel free to read that as an 8 | |
| Storyline: Suffers from no support whatsoever. Events and characters come out a little weak. | |
| Gameplay: The difficulty level would be very good; if there were inns and item shops to keep one alive. | |
| Overall (Not an average score): Needs to have it's cavities filled, so to speak. Don't bother with this one... yet. |
Operation: OHR is owned and maintained by Kevin W. (Aethereal)