LBPHiddenMoon: July 2013

KATO's Level Reviews - Fantasy Adventure

Fantasy Adventure
by ALPHA-OMEGA81
Link: http://lbp.me/v/ssweyv

For those who don’t know me, I have a very unfortunate mental infection; I play the Sims 3 a lot. A LOT. It’s not a game it’s a disease. A disease where you pay Dr. EA to get even sicker with their ridiculous transactions. And yet despite me knowing it’s a bad thing, a TERIBLE THING, every time they release a new town, or a cow plant, I always find myself plonking around with Sims 3 to test the new kit.

There is a reason I’m starting a review talking about my bad habits. It’s because the best thing about Sims, if you’re a person like me, it’s that it lets you create stories about people’s lives. And I am nothing if not a storyteller. So as I started Fantasy Adventure, I fell victim to creating a story of my own, and vanished from the word processor for longer than I intended. So! Fantasy Adventure then.

I think there are two terms which best describe Fantasy Adventure, and I again want you to know that I prefer reviews to be honest. These two words are ‘Enjoyable’ and ‘Inconsistent’. Out of the seven levels there were parts that were cleverly arranged, fun, and looked very nice, and parts that did not. There were cutscenes with action and clever programming, and scenes where everybody just stood in one place with the camera zoomed way far out so you really didn’t know what was going on. I felt that this trend continued on a downhill slide throughout the level series as by I reached the Final Boss, I felt that you, as a creator, were getting tired of it all. I mean let’s face it, after Level 2 in the forest, there’s really not much beyond that quite as keen.

Don’t mistake my words as harsh though. There is that first word “enjoyable”, and there is quite a lot to enjoy here. You’ve got a pretty funny story that combines both LBP tongue-in-cheek references and fantasy adventures. There are things I think can be improved, yes, but that’s all levels. I do send my appreciation out to you for creating a continuous story I can follow, and for having good navigation.

That said, here are my biggest complaints. One, checkpoints. Double or infinite please. And more of them. One after every big obstacle. Several of the levels towards the end, starting with the desert, the platforming got a little hard and I had to repeat the level every time trying to bypass the obstacles. I’m not saying they were impossible, but as they say practice makes perfect, and unless they’re as easy as LBP1 obstacles (They’re not) you need at least a double at every turn. If there’s one thing I’ve found players not liking it’s re-treading after dying. If there’s not a checkpoint past the slew of electrified ceiling grabs, and they have to repeat the same obstacle again and again, then there’s no sense of forward progress. You lose that momentum, you lose the interest.

My second biggest complaint is the design. Some of the design work is great. (See the forest.) Some of it is disappointing. (See the final boss.) This goes back to that inconsistency though. But I can’t rightly judge this in that though, and I’ll tell you why.

When I play Fantasy Adventure, what I see is potential. Without wanting to toot my own horn, it’s exactly how I feel playing my original Crystal Crisis 1 levels. With Fantasy Adventure you can see there’s been a lot of work involved, a lot of feeling around in the dark, a lot of testing the waters, and a lot of learning how to do things. I don’t think it’s bad. It’s actually quite good! But it’s around the middle point of good, and there’s plenty of room for improvement. My suggestion is to be proud of what you’ve done, consider making a Fantasy Adventure 2, and then after that go back and play FA1 and see for yourself. You’ll find the best way to learn is to try, and by the time you go back later you’ll probably see your own good ideas, bad ideas, and anything else. So don’t be disheartened. I give FA a recommendation.

TLDR:

Navigation – Only a few points where the paths were unclear, but I enjoyed the free roam of the second level the most. A lack of checkpoints, and an unforgiving checkpoint system coupled with some difficult obstacles in the later acts makes it a bit hard on the player.

Visual – Good visual design, but I felt the sets were too big. (I do that too. XD) You can accomplish a lot by tightening up the landscape. Less distance to walk is not going to ruin it.

Sound – Music worked, with some unusual but effective choices.

Gadgetry – Fun but simple gadgetry. Most impressive was the leading sequence of events with cutscenes which was neat.

Glitches - No major glitches I noticed.

Story – Story was good. A little bit ‘generic fantasy’ but the title alone tells you that.

Notes – In Edenia Griever flew away on a box. I was elated to see it return in the next level once, and disappointed it was never seen again. D: Griever X Box = OTP. THEIR LOVE IS PURE!!!!

Kato's Level Reviews - The Happening World

Kalawishis's The Happening World (Funny Film) (By Kalawisis)
by Kalawishis (and Kalawisis who apparently did all the work.)
Link: http://lbp.me/v/me118c

I should've taken pictures, but I didn't. I guess I'm fired. *explodes*. I am no stranger to internet lingo. I know LOL means laugh out loud, ROFL is rolling on floor laughing, and TROLOLOL means there's lol's with trolling involved. I'm not certain of the origin of the Troll, only that I believe it comes from the word CONtrol, or possibly PAtrol. I'm not sure. I do know that the iconic Trollface originated from somebody poorly copying an image from Mighty Mouse. The modern internet age is a time of Lolcats, Roflopes, Memes, and Trollfaces, but then there's the lower key, more intelligent variety with dry wit and classical treatments. It brings back memories of Fawlty Towers, and Black Adder, and other good british comedies.

The Happening World teeters on the edge of both, never quite falling in with either crowd. It's presented as sort of a Monty Python meets Encyclopedia Dramatica crossover, only set in a LBP world. The skits flow nicely into each other, with non-sensical situations being a highlight. Watching this, it's easy to find favorite parts, or select favorite skits. Some I felt were really good and triddle dee dee, while others just sort of meh'd on by. The film had a particularly strong opening, which cut itself short very quickly, and got quite a few laughs out of me. It was the unexpected event which made the scene, as is the case with much of the skits.

Obviously from the description, some scenes are 13+. In fact most of them are. In fact quite a few of them have questionable content, so It's not a film for everyone. I personally am not offended by anything in it, as I'm casual enough to shrug at most things. I take the Avenue Q approach to life; aware that it sucks, but you can still get by. However, not everyone shares that philosophy to that should be kept in mind. In particular the Obama in Venice segment, while hilarious, is most likely going to upset some folks.

There's not much else I can offer. As this is a movie I can't really comment on controls or navigation. The stories are funny, with some fun lines and quirky humor. I would recommend it, but not to everyone.

TLDR:

Navigation – N/A

Visual – Cute designs. Characters were easily distinguishable, as were the different set locations. I didn't get that the lady was in an outhouse at first, but this is due to a trim on the wood material.

Sound – Music worked. It was a bit uncanny for the button to have voice acting out of nowhere. I think it would be best to make it all-or-nothing. Either get voice acting for everyone, or no one. Personally I found no complaint with the default voices. They all seemed to fit. Lol @ Obama in Venice. Oh-bama....

Gadgetry – Good sackbot acting. The movements were nice and fluid and the events were well timed.

Glitches - N/A

Story – The Board of Directors scene was my favorite. The biggest jerks often make the best comedy in my book. WHICH COULD BE WHY YASSEN WAS MY FAVORITE SACDROID CHARACTER. XD

Notes – In the Happening World 2 you need to make of of TV reporters. XD