_A Review/Article of Walthros_

PepsiRanger

But that was two years ago.  The game had since been finished.  The questions and cliffhangers had resolved.  Walthros reached the finish line.  And it was time to see if the game continued to hold some interest.  But I didn't want to rewrite the same thing I wrote back then because something like that would just seem overly redundant.  So hopefully this take on Walthros will feel a little more refreshing than what we're all used to.

Even though the thrill of the suspense sort of faded after all the heroes reunited, and even though the game's story line mellowed into the type of fantasy most players are already accustomed to by the time the White Crystal was recovered, everything kept moving forward.  Loose threads were tied, cliffhangers were resolved, and the plot lines stayed relatively interesting.  It all gave the player a chance to nod his head with satisfaction from an experience worth diving into.  The game kept its substance alive, and the conclusion did a sufficient job in making sense out of the entire story.  All in all I think the author succeeded in creating a game fit for the OHR Hall of Fame.

But I'm not looking to reinvest my thoughts into the inner workings of the game (graphics, music, etc.).  Rather, I'm more interested in discussing the mechanics that I would like to have seen implemented or just plain improved.  Realistically, even a game like Walthros has some serious shortcomings, and I'd like to mention a couple of them in the paragraphs to follow.

Before I go further, I'd like to point out that I'd prefer this review to be considered more as a design article than a commentary, simply because the things I'm suggesting here are things I'd like to see other game creators consider when making their adventures.  I'm not suggesting that this become the letter of the law, and I'm not even suggesting that the author of this particular game change his formula around to compensate for these implements (unless he wants to add them in for the "Hardtype Version").  But I am suggesting that they be considered more often in the planning stages of an RPG game since these are the things that would make a game world feel more inventive and identifiable, and thus giving the player more room to become immersed into the experience.

For starters, a certain level of character consistency needs to be established before creating a given character.  This can be done through memory or through charts, but a common understanding of who and what the character is should be in place before writing the first text box for him or her.  In this case, my opinions of the cast of Walthros zero right in on the one known as Super Walrus Man, a walrus who feels that on a heroic scale, he is all that and a bag of chips.  When his character is introduced, he reveals himself as a gung ho little creature that runs rampant, gets into trouble, and essentially acts like an adolescent hopped up on testosterone and lollipops.  To be honest, I was totally fine by that.  I believed what I was intended to believe-that he was an immature super hero type who was more interested in fighting than in thinking.  No issues born against that entered my mind.  The problem however came when all of a sudden his whole character changed from light to dark in a virtual instant.  When the truth of his existence was revealed, his whole outlook on life transformed.  Yes, I can almost find myself believing this transition from crazy adolescent to overly mature pessimistic sad boy, but "almost" doesn't mean that I think the change worked in the walrus' favor.  The end result of a walrus turned Emily Dickinson really turned my interest in this character from on to off.  To me, the Super Walrus Man merely conformed to the already heavy-handed thought that most of the game's heroes had previously adopted-a thought that people who waged war were fools, and that every despicable thing (real or perceived) demanded an instantaneous "ugh" from our cast of stars.  Frankly, such a transformation from diverse character to conformed character lent to some dried up, uninteresting, non-interactive dialogue in my opinion.  Essentially, if not for the inclusion of other diverse character traits from heroes such as the apathetic antihero rabbit head named Woo, the dimwitted cretin Dinosaur Giant, the overly egotistical power-hungry Dinosaur Super, and the non-communicative uberworm Yuk Deluxe, I'd more than likely write off Walrus and the rest of the cast as just another ideological band of misfits with pretty faces and a fetish for world-saving.  The RPG world has plenty of those already.

I don't want to give off the impression that I thought the characters ruined the story, or watered it down, or anything like that.  After all, these guys have to be among some of the most unique to date in the OHR world.  But I do want to make it clear that the characters are what drives a story from beginning to end, and to transform a character's character overnight really disrupts the flow of the game.  Not to mention, a fast transformation will in a lot of ways diminish the character's stability, as well as the player's opinion of him.  When I first played Walthros two years ago, the Super Walrus Man was one of my favorite heroes.  When I played the full version last month, he became one of my least.  I'm pretty sure this wasn't an accidental shift of opinion.  I just got sick of his whining.  I didn't find him interesting anymore.  To this moment, Yuk Deluxe remains my favorite Walthros character-most likely because he's the only character who doesn't have an opinion, or a reason to change it.  If Walrus' change had been slow and subtle, then I really wouldn't have minded it, and chances are I may not have even noticed it.  But as of now I'd vote for a rewrite.

I hope to all those reading this that there is some sense registering here.  I'm not looking to attack the individual characters of this game.  I still liked most of the major players and a few of the minor ones.  The suggestion I'm making is stick to the personality that's introduced from text box #1.  Don't change somebody halfway through just to meet a plot line requirement.  If Walrus (or any of them for that matter) is going to be pessimistic by the end, either bring it slow, or start him off that way.  Think of your characters like a psychologist would think of your characters.  Don't ever force anything, even if the force is justified.  All it does is loses resolution.

That in a sense was my only major issue of this final version.  I thought the dialogue fell apart in many places, but that was due primarily to the boredom I felt toward some of the more "preachy" characters (those who would talk about the foolishness of war over and over-in a sense leaving me to read the words "blah blah blah" from the text boxes).  Keeping the characters diverse and interesting would've likely kept the dialogue more interesting.  Of course there are no guarantees in this game designing world, but it's at least a step in the right direction.

In retrospect, I think character consistency, and boring dialogue were the big snores of Walthros Full, but the second element that I would have liked to have seen present (and this goes for any RPG, not just this) is a sense of history to the world.  Sure there are plenty of expositions about how the world began, why the fish float, and so on and so forth, but that's not what I'm talking about.  What I would like to see in an RPG game plain and simple is an element of time that allows the player to revisit a town that he has long since helped (or passed through), and rewrite the townies in such a way that their responses to the hero reflect the passing of time.  Hopefully I don't need to clarify this concept, but in case I do, picture this scenario:

Bob Surlaw sets off for the Red Shrine from the port town of Beta City.  Now this port town is a bit of a melting pot of all the races of Walthros-kind of like America, and has no major issue weighing it down like the other towns do.  Bob the Traveler talks to a few people, and they talk about the stuff that went on in other towns that drove them to this free port city.  It's all candy here.  Then he goes on about his merry way, fighting woodland creatures, recovering crystals, and recruiting new misfits for his party.  But then he gets the brilliant idea to go back to Beta City to see how things are going (five game hours later).  And lo and behold, the townsfolk of Beta City are saying all the same stuff that they said back when he first came to town.  Sure the world just went to hell, but good old Beta City is still as friendly as ever.  What I would rather see is the cast of citizens of this town showing the reflection of change that the world has been introducing through the events of time.  Maybe one of the major leaders heard a rumor about there being a huge invasion eminent on the port town in short time.  I know that a couple of the characters talk about a war that Bob won't see first hand until about ten game hours later, so why not bring this war to Beta City too?  It doesn't have to be a part of the linear story line, but it could take place to keep the freedom of adventure and the effects it brings into the light.  But if this is too cliché, then how about doing something else interesting?  Maybe a major celebrity of Walthros can show up and cause a huge stir among the residents.  And what about the other towns?  Maybe Bob can revisit the small town on Dinosaur Island to find it burning to the ground.  This of course would beg the question, "Who in the world burnt down the small town on Dinosaur Island?" and thus a new subplot can begin (nonlinearly of course).  The concept isn't too difficult to pull off, and would totally add to the great experience that already exists.

Ignoring the second design strategy does not necessarily take anything away from the game (at least not until the players think about this review/article).  But in my opinion it makes a game feel more adventurous and otherwise satisfying.  Although I don't expect either technique I mentioned to be pulled off for the Hardtype Version, it is something that I hope other game designers will consider for the future of their games.

I realize that this probably isn't the kind of review that most readers out there were expecting, but let's be realistic, why should any of you want to read something you already read?  Do you honestly want to read a review that says that Walthros' graphics are better than they were at first, but still not outstanding…again?  Do you want to read comments about how the music is nice for the most part, but the boss themes don't seem to fit…again?  Do you insist on knowing that the story line is one of the most intelligently written quest plots to be brought into digital form in quite awhile (on the OHR at least), but could still benefit from some dialogue readjustment…again?  Fine then reread this paragraph…again and be happy.  Just know that sometimes there are more interesting things to consider including into a review than just the same old categories.  I don't know if these areas struck any particular chords with anyone in the game designing world (or the designer of this game), but for those of you who insist on reading details about Walthros' pixilation abilities, I'm sure there are other reviews out there more geared toward your interests. 

But one last note for PHC (the game's creator) and all the players out there: this game is still something special no matter how you shake it.  I don't need to go over the typical categories again to relate the level of intelligence put into this game.  Player feedback on the message boards and in other reviews should cover the general mindset this game has generated.  It does have its dull moments (mostly in the areas that I did happen to get into), but even nice drives through the country run the occasional risks of rainfall, so it's nothing to cry about.  All in all I think we could all learn something about game design from this title.