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Illumnis Saga Side Story - Heavenly Dreamers |  |
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By: Judas Wrat Productions
(Arthur Writer) Homepage: http://arthur.digifandub.com Download: 162 KB Reviewed by: Haggard |
Being an OHR game, I expected worse from Heavenly Dreamers. However, if Mr. Writer expects me to play the next release of his game, I expect a lot more.
There are a number of things wrong with this game, from minor bugs to major turn-offs in style and presentation. Regarding minor bugs, I noticed that the rope leading down to Jude's room cannot be accessed, so once you leave his room it's off limits. Not a big thing, but something that should have been caught in a double-checking of door links. Regarding major turn-offs, I'm very uninterested in animal-human hybrid characters. The Breath of Fire games pulled it off, most other games haven't. Playing as a rat person is generally something that would turn me away. However, if you're into that sort of thing it shouldn't affect you.
Another turn-off were the hokey characters, and the fact that they "just happened" upon eachother out of pure coincidence. I suppose you could argue that Bilbo "just happened" upon the Ring in The Hobbit, but then you'd be getting into another argument altogether. Besides, comparing these knee-deep characters to those of a novel would be a disfavor to its author (the novel's author, that is). Regardless of whether or not this is a demo version, I just didn't feel the overall "presence" of these characters. They in no way made an impact.
There are no real battles, as the only enemies (except for a poorly drawn boss-type enemy) are inanimate bags and boxes (inanimate or too slow to have had a turn before I defeated them). Also, some battle items (fire bomb) are far too powerful. I defeated the boss-type enemy with a single bomb and then the demo was over. You need to work with your game length, Mr. Writer. If your game demo is short, don't work to make it shorter by giving the hero an unfair advantage.
It should be noted that my computer, unfortunately, does not support BAM files. Thus, I could not bear witness to the music of Heavenly Dreamers, good, bad or ripped. I could, however, see the graphics quite plainly. That is to say, I saw the plain graphics. Try to work some more detail into your tilemaps, Mr. Writer. Your battle graphics are good for what they are, but there is still work to be done, especially in the case of the boss-type enemy.
The story-line was barely present in this version of the game, but what was there seemed interesting enough. However, you are bogging the player down too much and too soon with your talk of all the different races and languages. Spread these explanations out over time. When it is necessary that the player knows the differences between Common speak (LOTR reference? >:`D) and Wizard speak, make them apparent. Information that is neither needed nor interesting is not easily remembered.
In conclusion, there are games far worse than this one. Yet, there is still much work to be done if this game is to succeed in whatever goals are held for it.
::Haggard::
Scores:
| Graphics: Simple, but not terrible. Work on adding more detail. | |
| Music: I am at a loss when it comes to the music, as my computer does not support BAM files (as was mentioned above). Therefore, I can neither give it a high score or a low score. | |
| Storyline: Not bad, but it doesn't really stand out. A few quirks give it the potential to be interesting, but we shall have to wait and see what lies ahead. | |
| Gameplay: Not very much gameplay in this version. A few stores and a training hall with inanimate enemies. | |
| Overall (Not an average score): Nothing to get excited about, but nothing to turn you away in disgust. Give it a chance, and you may be interested in what's in store for us when the next version of Heavenly dreamers is released. |
Operation: OHR is owned and maintained by Kevin W. (Aethereal)