*2020 HAKAWARDS* I'm Also Looking to Play and Record Your Maps 2 *CLOSED*

[HAK3180]

Table of Contents

 

@Zylinderkatze

 

Doomworld forum topic

 

I will not be playing any more of these. It looks like a lot of work went into these layouts and some atmospheric storytelling, but it did not at all translate to fun for me. E1M1 had me pistoling waaaaaaaaay too many monsters in tight spaces and I never figured out what I was doing. There’s a switch every three feet, and I probably don’t know what half of them did. M2 was at least a little more spaced out, but I still just felt overwhelmed by little objectives that I never could really sense and monsters after me that I was ill-equipped to handle. This seems more like an exhibit to look at than an actual interactive experience. Do I think this is bad? No, I can't really say that. But it seems to be a genre that I do not have the patience for.

 

Bottom line: totally overwhelming, not in a good way

Edited February 5, 2021 by HAK3180

[HAK3180]

@MAN_WITH_GUN

 

download the .zip

 

It is complete and polished. The progression and layout are basic, but they work. The visuals are rather good; I would not have had time to work on anything else. There are some parts where a little time could have created some nuance to set apart a few gameplay moments, but it succeeds for what it is

 

Bottom line: not a bad two-hour effort at all

[HAK3180]

@elderdragonbrasil

 

Doomworld forum topic

 

Simple maps bit fairly effective. Much of this wad feels like an allusion to Doom 2, both in appearance and in gameplay style. I thought Map 05 was outside the comfort zone of this wad, with meaningless boss fights and arenas. This wad was casual fun with lots of incidental combat and exploration.

 

Bottom line: I hope this mapper does more and starts trying new things

[HAK3180]

@BrassKnight

 

Doomworld forum topic

 

No need to say anything about this

 

[HAK3180]

@Snark

 

Doomworld forum topic

 

Well, I’ve been calling for a different weapon progression for several maps, and now we get something very different. I like how this one was kept short since there’s not a lot of weapon variety. Actually, as much as I don’t line up to play Tyson maps, I would have liked to see this one never give up anything else and see what kind of finale Snark could have come up with. Visually and architecturally, it’s the usual safe, somewhat stock elegance, but it didn’t feel like one texture dominated as much this time, even though the dark marble did. Maybe I just like it.

 

Bottom line: not a bad entry level Tyson practice map, I would guess

 

^{*"Fist of Fury," sure. I did not remember that word meaning that.}

[purist]

@HAK3180

Glad you like it. I am satisfied the light switch for the RL is obvious enough but the other two (the one near the PR lights up the area down the lift and the one in the arch vile bunker lights up the red key area) are not very clear, doesnt help that they are repeatable in vanilla. As you say, I'd like to think people will work it out but I have a few ideas to make it clearer. I've also made notes to make it obvious you can't get out of that area you dropped into and will make the red key fight more challenging.

 

The green armour secret you missed is just a case of finding the right wall. There is a slight visual hint but hard to notice in the dark. The computer map makes it obvious if you find it. That can be found by backtracking near the end of the level so you would have got it if you didn't give up :-)

[elderdragonbrasil]

On 2/5/2021 at 2:08 AM, HAK3180 said:

@elderdragonbrasil

 

Doomworld forum topic

 

Simple maps bit fairly effective. Much of this wad feels like an allusion to Doom 2, both in appearance and in gameplay style. I thought Map 05 was outside the comfort zone of this wad, with meaningless boss fights and arenas. This wad was casual fun with lots of incidental combat and exploration.

 

Bottom line: I hope this mapper does more and starts trying new things

Be sure I am. Yeah, my WAD flirts with vanilla all the time, and actually, this first five maps are a demo. Today I am already start to work in Map 11. I also stream the mapping of my Megawad :)

https://www.twitch.tv/elderdragonbrasil

 

Music I will only add after I am done with the maps. I will watch your playthrough :)

[elderdragonbrasil]

Well, after watching your playthrough, I did some changes in HMP. It was much more easy that should be, so I already make some modifications in the balance of the maps. Also fixed the Red Door in Map 05. Now HMP will be much more challenger.

[Horus]

Well I mentioned in my PM submission but I'll mention it here as well, thanks a lot for all you have done for the community, I've always found your videos incredibly helpful. A well-earned break for sure, as you've made a way through a whole lot of content through the years! I'm looking forward to seeing your megawad when the time comes

[HAK3180]

I've been having issues with Doomworld, so I've released 5 videos on YouTube. I'll dump them here the normal way whenever I can.

 

I can't even tag people, so these videos are maps by purist, Snark, and Sanicstudios.

 

My channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHJUb02rWk0Mx1n3nYj5a7Q

[sanicstudios]

I've left my response underneath the YouTube video since Doomworld is running really slow today.

In summary: thanks for playing the maps and I'm happy with your comments.

[elderdragonbrasil]

2 hours ago, HAK3180 said:

I've been having issues with Doomworld, so I've released 5 videos on YouTube. I'll dump them here the normal way whenever I can.

 

I can't even tag people, so these videos are maps by purist, Snark, and Sanicstudios.

 

My channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHJUb02rWk0Mx1n3nYj5a7Q

I also leave a lot of comments in your videos :)

[Kyukon]

Here's a short ZDoom / GZDoom map, which runs with Doom 2 IWAD.

It's an attempt at trying to make something classic and punchy in far less time than any of my Lunar Outpost levels have taken.

[purist]

@HAK3180

I watched the last two VOH maps you played through late last night. Thanks as usual, it was fun to watch with some feedback I will definitely put to use. I'm pleased you liked the project overall and it was cool seeing your play and comments change as you became accustomed to my style.

 

14

My biggest takeaway from your playthrough is there is way too many cells (at least on HMP). I will need to rebalance this a bit. You did do well managing ammo with infighting etc and you're right that it doesn't really hurt pistol starters but I still think I overestimated what is needed for the cybs, probably because I balanced that area assuming the player gets there with no cells left.

 

A couple of other things I will look at is making that first cybruiser fight tougher (I am thinking about having something teleport on the upper area to snipe), making slight differences to the secret clues and making it hard to skip or cheese that final cyberdemon fight. Some control sectors to hide too :-)

 

This level had a weird build process. I made most the layout and the three key setpiece fights but not the start/end, incidental combat, texturing/details/lighting or any clear idea of map progression. Then I came back to it about a year later and I had forgotten entirely what my plan was so it felt like finishing someone else's map. As a consequence it feels a bit thrown together and haphazard to me but I do like the atmosphere and how it is quite different to a lot of the other levels in the WAD.

 

The secret you missed is a real gimme. It is hard to find with the automap but only because you can plainly see into the area so it doesn't show up as grey. Once you know where it is it is just about finding which wall opens it and it is quite clearly marked too. It gives some health and yet more cells so it didn't contain anything you needed!

 

15

The main thing here is I need to re-design that PE area. I could tell you thought there was something else to that area as I don't typically swarm an area full of mid/high HP mosters that you have to shoot down a corridor. I was actually worried you might quit the level at that point but you did well to beat it without using the intended strategy - good thing this wasn't MAP01! OK, so the way this is supposed to go down is maybe too meta and could cause source port issues as it exploits the lost soul limit. Those lost souls in the cubbies are not meant to be killed, at least by the player. As long as they stay alive the pain elementals are effectively harmless and you can safely take them out with the rocket launcher as long as you avoid splash damage as they close in on you (this is why the area is full of rockets). The catch is that as soon as you go into the area a high crusher starts and will crush all the lost souls in around 20 seconds, at which point you will have to deal with however many PE's you failed to kill.

 

I cursed when you saved after killing all the lost souls in that corridor as I knew you had locked yourself into a scenario where you would not be able to work out the purpose. Someone unfamiliar to the limit or not playing with stright vanilla compatability is going to run in to the same issue. My idea is that this area will only work if the player sees the pain elementals unable to spawn lost souls so realises the limit is in play so they need to see this before killing the lost souls is an option. An obvious solution is using crystal sectors to stop the player being able to kill the souls. Doing it this way I could ditch the block monster lines and the crushers if I can work out a vanilla way to have them release on delay as this effectively creates the same race against time dynamic and would also solve the annoying crusher noises.

 

Everything else seemed to play OK. I will change the position of that teleport location so it does not put you in direct sight of the evil eye. It's placement and the nukeage is there because otherwise you can camp there to fight everything from the red key door onwards at long range. It does make finding on of the secrets very difficult if you don't get it before the Eye is there because it is triggered on one of the platforms you run across and you won't have time to stick around and check if you have the flames to contend with.

 

You missed a lot secrets on this map, three of which was just a case of going back into areas you had already been in, one was on the aforementioned platform, one was the soulsphere, which is triggered nearby but best done whilst you have the rad suit and the other that has the floating blood as a clue and is opened nearby. The latter two also account for the last few monsters and most of them have keens that open the optional secret.

 

 

As you saw the level ends with the secret level exit trigger, which is so I can have some end of episode text. The next level playing linearly will be MAP31, then MAP16 - MAP20, which, along with a genuine secret MAP32 level designed by my son, will comprise the final episode of VOH. The secret exit in MAP15 is the normal exit and so serves as a means to skip a level (if this tests poorly I will just remove the keens/secret exit).

 

I have one map pretty much done in the final episode and as there are six + one secret, I like the idea of ending on a rush of brief but chaotic maps like Scythe. Hopefully, by the time they are done you will be back doing videos again because it has been a pleasure to watch you play. I'm sure I'll revisit the videos when I get into my bug-fixing.

[HAK3180]

@purist (for the record, my writeups are always done right after playing)

 

Doomworld forum topic

 

Once again I found myself just wanting to find all the content. That happens through good secret hints, connected layouts, goals laid out obviously, and just solid gameplay. It’s not that any fight here was outstanding or any scene or room breathtaking, but the whole package of making your way through this mysterious space keeps you engaged.

 

Bottom line: Another brilliant layout full of intrigue

 

[HAK3180]

@purist

 

Doomworld forum topic

 

 

I did not come close to all the secrets this time, but I didn’t mind this as the ender. It’s bossy, but not a boring arena or custom final monster. There’s still some intriguing exploration. The pain elemental area is  not something I enjoyed, but I would guess there’s some aha way to handle that.

 

Bottom line: a welcome somewhat conventional finale

 

Addendum: Okay, yeah, I usually don't think of that particular limit. "Doom (Strict)" would have done it for me, but I'm not sure Crispy even has that option. Probably worth stating a little more strongly that vanilla gameplay is "required," but it is strange that Crispy removes that possibility altogether (yeah, I just checked).

[HAK3180]

@Snark

 

Doomworld forum topic

 

Once again, this could be the setting for something like Sunder, as that’s what the scale reminds you of, but the monster count is nowhere near that in face value or in density. As a result, you just hoard plasma and rockets, waiting for when you need them, but you never really do. The big guns speed up the cleanup, but you’re never in much real danger. So again, although the grand architecture is nice, the monster composition could stay the same in a map half the size without it being close to cramped.

 

Bottom line: big, grand, and empty

[HAK3180]

@Snark

 

Doomworld forum topic

 

This is a series of setpieces, most of which are simple and easy. All the action takes place on a flat surface, and most of it involves spamming the latest weapon you picked up. There’s no real challenge element. Even if there was, I don’t think there’s much character here, but again, because the square footage is so disproportionate to the monster count, it just ends up being fifteen minutes of cleanup. Cleanup can be a bit satisfying with heavy artillery, so it’s not like it’s totally boring, but it’s just not very interesting.

 

Bottom line: very casual slaughter, I guess

[HAK3180]

@sanicstudios

 

Doomworld forum topic

 

The monster stat changes are subtle enough to be annoying to me, though it might be an interesting concept if that's the only difference in the difficulty levels. Beyond that, the maps are very basic in presentation, layout, and combat. A lot of the areas are too big, causing a feeling of emptiness in appearance and action. I think the main thing to work on is giving the space a more interesting structure, both in terms of geometry (2d space) and in terms varying "terrain" (3d space). Most of what you have here is flat and fairly choppy.

 

Bottom line: laudable efforts but some leveling up before continuing the project might be beneficial

[sanicstudios]

@HAK3180

After watching your playthrough of this I immediately made some changes. I completely removed the health and damage buff to the monsters. The only stat change I kept in was a very slight decrease in healing rate (95%) - even then I'm having second thoughts about this.

 

The comments about uninteresting gameplay has directly inspired my efforts in some of my Episode 2 maps that I've been working on. As I said on YouTube, a lot of the design of these maps are taken directly from the original versions being the first few maps I worked on. MAP01's layout is practically identical to the original version with some major visual upgrades. MAP02 and MAP03 were rebuilt but share the same basic gameplay loop.

 

Visual appeal is one of my greatest struggles I feel. I only incorporated the new textures as a way to make things seem a little more interesting. For context, the original versions of MAP01 and MAP02 used ROCK and MARBLE textures for every room in each map respectively.

 

I still feel that MAP06 is some of my more interesting work in Episode 1 compared to the other maps.

 

Thanks for the critical feedback on the first half

[Noiser]

Hi @HAK3180, I send you a PM :-)

Edited February 8, 2021 by Noiser

[Jacek Bourne]

This is a new WIP map that is technically unfinished however I'd like some feedback on some of the first fights.

Thank you and don't critique it's visuals. I know their terrible and if you remember my previous maps you'll know I can do far better however this is WIP so the visuals aren't implemented yet. 

It is the newest post in the thread.

Inspirations: Sunder map03/16, SWTW map02

[Snark]

On 2/7/2021 at 9:31 PM, HAK3180 said:

 

Dude, you rock. Thanks for going through everything, even when you seemed kinda bored or underwhelmed. I think my idea of  difficulty comes from my dungeonmaster days, where my goal was to create situations where a certain amount of threat existed but you'd only die if you got stupid. Have corrected the soflocks and glitches, as well as implemented difficulty levels, easy being even easier than what you played, HMP slightly spiced up and UV biting much harder in the big fights (well, hard enough to leave a mark, but probably not enough to bleed). Anyways, you've gained a subscriber on YT.

 

Godspeed, and good luck on your wad.

[HAK3180]

@Jacek Bourne, your request is noted, but you can still make updates, as I won't get to it until probably next week. Let me know if anything changes.

[HAK3180]

@sanicstudios

 

Doomworld forum topic

 

The only identity of these maps is the slightly modified enemy attributes. I feel like any enemy changes should be less subtle. Do it as a legitimate conversion project with new sprites and sounds and stuff or don’t do it at all, because when people shoot a demon a third time, it’s dead. End of story. And you expect to survive an arch-vile blast with 100 health. Other than that wrinkle, which apparently is being removed, it’s flat, choppy maps without much visual appeal and a lot of simplistic , gameplay. Don't underestimate a dynamic, or at least interesting layout's ability to positively shape gameplay.

 

Bottom line: Just entry level Doom mapping with an annoying (but already rethought) twist

[sanicstudios]

@HAK3180

 

MAP06-

That secret with the super shotgun was activated by the switch that opened in the central area after you raised the platform with the zombiemen. I was considering removing the death pits already as I realised it was kinda unfair to just suddenly introduced the death pits. I've also been considering adding more enemies to the final fight with the revenant and mancubus, given the amount of resources the player has at that point. The missing secret was behind the alcove before the final fight. It was not a plasma gun, it was a medikit.

 

MAP07-

I'm probably going to end up adding a new path back to the yellow key in order to avoid the huge backtrack. Might even do the same thing to MAP06. Now that I've heard your comments, I've also gone back and started to add some divergent paths to certain areas. This train of thought has directly affected the layout of one of the EP2 maps that I'm working on. That path at the end opened through the yellow key. I'll admit the choice of textures makes it quite hard to notice.

 

MAP08-

Personally I think this is my weakest work out of the bunch. The blood pit was not death, in fact there was a beserk down there. That's why I wanted to also change the water to nukage in MAP06. I didn't actually intend for it to be a city. Just wanted it to be an outdoor area of the base.

 

MAP09-

I'll probably remove the backpack, reduce the cell count and disallow the player from returning to the starting area to account for the removal of the buffed enemies. 

 

OVERALL-

Thanks for playing through it. It's been really insightful to finally hear an opinion other than my own on this. I haven't had many comments on my thread about it and the only ones that have commented are from when these maps looked much much different. General changes I'm going to make are removal of the stat changes, better texture work and detailing, vastly improved lighting, maybe some balance changes here and there, more divergent paths and choices to make, removal of some of the door combat in order to make things a bit more interesting. For example, one of the changes I've already gone back and done is to remove the first door you have to go through in MAP05 by just completely knocking down the wall.

 

Again, thanks for playing.

And good luck with the megawad!

[HAK3180]

@Steve D

 

download the .wad

 

The layout is pretty strong, featuring organic connections and good contrast of gameplay styles, all within a very simple tech aesthetic of orthogonality. What I didn’t like about the map was the pacing for much of it. Regardless of the setting, I often found myself camping corners or grinding more enemies than I felt were necessary to accomplish the goal. E.g. six imps on a turret is hardly different in practice from three. The difference between revealing 8 lost souls in a large area and revealing 4 will often amount to length of cleanup. Maybe I was too reluctant to use rockets, but I felt most of the combat was forcing me into boring strategies. Unfortunately, what is probably the most fun part was partially ruined for me by an awful savelock that meant I basically could not take any hits.

 

Bottom line: good, old school layout, a little too slow for me

[Steve D]

@HAK3180 Thank you so much for the playthrough. Too bad it wasn't to your taste.

 

This is perhaps the trickiest map in the set, based on a '90sism I decided to leave in. Players who love '90s maps adore these design quirks, while other players despise them. In this case, the '90sism presents players with a fork in the road, and the path they take, based on my viewing of playthroughs, including of the original version, leads to predictable results. In your case, it meant that basically everything went pear-shaped. 

 

So here is that fork in the road;

 

 

Here you have two paths: on the right is a narrow ledge; on the left is a pressure plate in the nukage. Players who take the ledge have a 90% chance of getting everything the room can offer them. Players who jump on the pressure plate have at best a 10% chance of getting all the goodies. Why is that? After watching your playthrough, and thinking of all the other playthroughs, I believe it comes down to a matter of psychology based on how the fights unfold on the two paths. What happened to you is thus a sequence-break. The proper sequence is to take the ledge and fight everything on that end of the room before you attack the guardhouse itself. When watching your playthrough, I never saw or heard evidence that you realized the ledge was even there. You always jumped on the pressure plate. In the original map, the pressure plate was flush with the nukage and thus a less inviting target, and the ledge was also narrower. After watching your playthrough, I ultimately decided that this is a design flaw, because it makes the map less fun for players who do the sequence-break. However, I want to retain that '90sism. The reason for the ledge is to keep the monsters on the other side from coming to attack you right away. I wanted to keep them there, waiting for you, so players would encounter resistance, and be distracted by ground clutter while the sniping chaingunners opened up on them. Also, that narrow ledge introduces the possibility of falling into the nukage, a bigger danger back in the day than now, when players have better directional control, on average.

 

So what happens when players attack the guardhouse first that puts them at a disadvantage? Typically, they get killed or wounded by the shotgunners up there on their first go. Then they decide to fight that fight, and they heal their wounds by grabbing the Medikit up there, which opens the door that releases a PE and a couple Cacos. At that point, players seem to become determined to reach that door as expeditiously as possible, and as a result, when they finally go to the other side of the nukage moat, they don't explore it, instead running up the stairs and going directly for the door. Along the way, you triggered that full-wall hitscanner trap, and called it "weak". You also looked back at some Cacos that came after you, and talked about grind and clean-up. Well, in the context of the sequence-break, you were right. But if the proper sequence is followed, the Cacos can give you hell because they are timed to appear when you are up on the Chaingunner tower, perhaps being simultaneously attacked by a bunch of Lost Souls and with hitscanners sniping you from the guardhouse. They can also appear when you are coming back from an outside area either before or after you fight a couple Revvies released from a different closet. As for the full-wall hitscanner trap, I've seen people leap off that platform in raw panic when it opens up. Why? Because that was the last thing they wanted to see while being riddled by shotgunners, chaingunners, and an Archie in the guardhouse. ;D That room is a lot nastier if you follow the intended sequence, but it sets you up better for the rest of the map. You get a Backpack and a lot more ammo, and you might also get the secret Megasphere in the guardhouse. How does all that happen? Well, you just ride this lift up the Chaingunner Tower, find the switch, and press it;

 

 

You might be face-palming right now. Trust me, you aren't the first to miss this lift. I saw you looking right at it, but maybe it didn't register because the Support3 blended too much with the Metal. So if you were to say that Support2 would make it more obvious, I'd agree. But this is like the 3rd or 4th map I ever worked on, and I was into "cheap difficulty." Not only did I make this lift Support3 and put it on a side where it could be missed, but I even had a mandatory secret door where the first Yellow door is now. It was clearly signaled by a huge texture offset, but nonetheless, a fair number of players never figured it out. Indeed, this whole RoIC project started after the Megawad Club let me have it over that stupid secret door. I wanted to atone for my sins. ;D 

 

Still, I was really surprised that you never wondered if there was a way up there. After all, there were dead chaingunners with their dropped ammo to be collected. I'm guessing that your need to get through a huge number of maps in a short amount of time may have something to do with it, but again, I've seen players -- usually the ones who jump on the pressure plate -- do the exact same thing. Going up the Chaingunner Tower unleashes a whole bunch of hell on you, but when you get the Backpack and Megasphere, you can attack the rest of the map more aggressively. You can also enjoy my work with the sky-height trick in this non-secret outdoor area that opens up when you press the switch in the Chaingunner Tower;

 

 

All the outdoor areas are completely new, and they can all be explored. There's even a secret Plasma Gun out there somewhere.

 

When it comes to gameplay, all these maps have most of their original gameplay, but this one and Map03 are probably the most like the originals. You really didn't see any new monsters until you reached the area where the 9 Lost Souls teleported in. That whole area is new, and since you said it was the most fun part, I guess that's an endorsement of my current combat design. I also stand by my Insta-popping Mancs. You're actually supposed to run past them. Don't worry, they'll follow you, and you'll have so many enemies up ahead that they will catch you and . . . they took you out a few times. ;) But they can also help you by killing some of the Cacos, Revvies and HKs that draw down your ammo. It will be interesting to see how you fare with the other maps, which typically feature fewer campable spots.

 

As for this map, even though I want to kill the player as often as possible, I also want to make the experience fun and fair. Because your playthrough convinced me to change the design flaw that put 2 pathways right next to each other, I moved the pressure plate over to where the Arachnotron is in the nukage. This will force most players to find the ledge and cross it. I also turned 2 more structures on the Chaingunner Tower into Support3 lifts, and players will be looking right at them as they cross the ledge. I'll also use only 3 Imps in that one space down in the nukage to reduce the grind. They didn't score a kill on you, after all. However, I'll keep my 9 Lost Souls. They took you out 3 times. :) 

 

Once again, thanks for your playthrough and commentary. 

 

[HAK3180]

4 hours ago, Steve D said:

You might be face-palming right now. Trust me, you aren't the first to miss this lift. I saw you looking right at it, but maybe it didn't register because the Support3 blended too much with the Metal.

Yeah, even in hindsight, that doesn't really signal lift to me. I would expect something like that to be a secret on the easier side of the scale or to be criticized as not obvious enough for mandatory progression. But truth be told, I never even noticed the narrow ledge. Knowing me, I would have tried that first. 

 

4 hours ago, Steve D said:

Still, I was really surprised that you never wondered if there was a way up there. After all, there were dead chaingunners with their dropped ammo to be collected.

This means nothing to me. Years and years ago, I expected dropped ammo to be accessible. Then I discovered what actually counts toward the item total. In any case, this particular part of the map had a pretty nonlinear feel, so not accessing that area at that moment is not necessarily giving up on the possibility that it's possible.

 

4 hours ago, Steve D said:

I also stand by my Insta-popping Mancs. You're actually supposed to run past them.

That wasn't my issue. My issue is that they are cheaply implemented in that a lot of accessible space (96x96?) is suddenly inaccessible before you have a chance to react to it being inaccessible. Basically, the trigger line is too close to the sector. Think of it this way: if they teleported instead of instapopped, there's a decent chance I could get telefragged (or rather, they'd fail to teleport because I'd be in their way). That's essentially my litmus test of whether instapop is tolerable or egregiously annoying.

 

4 hours ago, Steve D said:

I'll keep my 9 Lost Souls. They took you out 3 times.

I've used the phrase "literally bored to death" in videos before. To me, that's the difference between 9 lost souls here and fewer. I don't remember my ammo count exactly then, but I assume I could have just killed them all as they were released, especially since you get an impassable midtexture fence to deal with them. I'd much rather see them spread out in that and subsequent area, maybe activating at the same time but being placed as progressive nondeafs. 

 

Maybe I will get some secrets in the next map.

[HAK3180]

@Kain D.

 

Doomworld forum topic

 

I had more fun with this than the last. The approach is quite linear, but there are still some puzzle elements and a clear sense of progress through objectives. Visually, it’s distinct and looks pretty good most of the time with the occasional moment of textures clashing somewhat awkwardly. The fighting itself is pretty minimal and mostly pretty rote, but there are a few interesting setups, and it’s good to see this map not packed with 200+ monsters. So, while the combat is not the most exciting, it is never overly annoying.

 

Bottom line: a good bridge between conventional and some of the weirder Kain D. stuff out there

Edited February 17, 2021 by HAK3180