First of all, I am a huge DROD fan. Seriously. People look at me funny when I talk to them about it, because I’m so excited about the game. Such passion as they have never heard creeps into their auditory canals, and reverberates strangely, as this sentence probably does. So. Here is a review from a major DROD fanboy
This review goes all the way to the end of the game, and a bit beyond. I’m going to do a level by level, so you can read up to the point you’re at if you want, further if you want, but you can also stop if you want.
Overall: 9.8/10, 7 brains.
While not perfect, TCB takes DROD a giant step farther in basically being able to encompass all puzzle genres into itself, while remaining a distinct entity from all of them. It is becoming the unfathomable set of all sets; the puzzle game of all puzzle games. And the best is yet to come—as with Journey to Rooted Hold (JtRH), players will get to make their own holds, further exploring the interaction of the elements of DROD 3.0. Not only this, but Smitemaster’s Selections will have new elements introduced with them, allowing for even more puzzles.
Way back in DROD 1.0, Wesley Chua asked us to calculate the possible orientations of all elements in a 2X2 square. I forget the exact number, but it was something along the lines of quintillions or more. And DROD, recall, is 38X32. While still finite, the pure number of possible rooms in DROD may be larger than Graham’s number. It might be a good master’s thesis. And that’s without the scripting system. I haven’t gone too in depth into that, so I will NOT be reviewing the scripting available in the editor. All else is fair game.
The Infohut. 9/10. 0 brains.
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×The game starts off nicely, with a crazed maniac giving Beethro his main objective for the game. At times, I think Beethro’s a bit gullible. Ask the Infohut! Anyway, Beethro is at his destination after a *year* of traveling The High Path. There’s also the potential to check out the shiny new cutscene function. Not only that, but we also gain the ability to check out the tutorials. However, DROD vets like myself can skip them without any further ado or concern—you know all of that already. Beethro heads on into the city with very little fanfare.
New element: Oremites. You can’t have your sword out on these, because they’ll eat it. Fortunately, Beethro is smart enough to sheathe his sword when he is on these suckers, so the player doesn’t have to remember. More on these on OBG.
The City (part 1) 8/10. 0 brains.
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×A massive bureaucracy, built and inhabited by people who all march to the beat of one drummer, who either has zero or perfect rhythm. Remember IT from A Wrinkle in Time? These are his followers, it seems. That’s my sense anyway. Sure, they all have different jobs (and names according to them), but none of them seem truly happy…except perhaps a gossip or two. Soon enough, with enough exploration, Beethro meets a face he recognizes in the Negotiator. While not quite a friendly face, it’ll have to do. Beethro is sent to the Library to find out more information, with some aid from a Guide.
New element: Briar root. This stuff is only visible here. You get to play with it later. It grows, it kills, and you can only slow its progress. Good luck. More on this in UtL.
New element: Cracked orb. This orb may only be used once. You can find one, but can’t touch it yet. Still, a basic element that needs little or no introduction, really.
Quest for Knowledge. 7/10. 1.5 brains.
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×The first real puzzles come into play here, and they all revolve around the same concept—get roaches or roach queens onto pressure plates. Not too great of a hook into the game, but it seems like it would be pretty smooth for a new player, and a DROD veteran will know that many new possibilities have opened up. It does feel slightly repetitive, as some of the rooms seem to go along the theme of KDD level 6, or A Collection of Constant Room Templates. Still, a good introduction or warmup session for the game.
New Element: Pressure Plates. Essentially a “anybody but wraithwing use” orb. Players will learn to manipulate monsters magnificently, or they’ll die. Pretty simple. There are three types—one use, multiple use, and on/off use. On/off acts when something steps on them, and when all weight is removed. Multiple use works only when something steps on them. One time use only works once, when something steps on them. They seem to be well-received, and certainly add scads of puzzle potential with the already-existing elements. I’m neutral towards them right now, leaning towards liking.
The Uncturage. 8/10. 3 brains.
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×Don’t ask me what an Uncturage is. I have no idea, similar to Beethro. But it’s got monsters, and a heavy use of force arrows, because we introduce tokens here, specifically arrow rotator tokens. The premise is that instead of mainly manipulating the monsters (still roaches and roach queens only), you manipulate the space around them, and then manipulate them. There is a good collection of puzzles here, and a good variety as well, all revolving around these tokens. A couple of head scratchers, but your brain will remain safely tucked within your ears.
New element: Arrow Rotator Tokens. Step on one to rotate all arrows in the room in the indicated direction. Once you step off, stepping on them again rotates the arrows the other way. The use of trapdoors makes for the most troublesome puzzles yet. Some architect will get it into their head to make a force arrow rotator token maze…which obviously acronyms to FART. Teehee. Colon humor. I see this element as a natural evolution of what Force Arrows are, and where they could go.
Deep Uncturage. 10/10. 3-5 brains.
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×Finally, the first killer new element. And what a fun one at that! These puzzles are all about killing from a distance. It’s still based around monster manipulation, but there are new monsters to manipulate (serpents, rattleserpents, rock golems, evil eyes, seeps) along with our standard 2. Beethro acts as the Pied Piper here, leading monsters everywhere to their dooms, sometimes without even his sword. Yes, this is a fun, very replayable level. 5 brains for newcomers, 3 for veterans. Tons of fun.
New Element: Hot Tiles. Stand on these tiles for more than one turn, and you’re dead. That’s all there is to it. Deadly to you and to monsters, except for tarstuff babies. A new variety of manipulation puzzle is introduced, and it’s just enjoyable to see a line of roaches get fried because they stayed in the same spot. Whee! Love them.
New Element: Disarm Tokens: Step on these to lose your sword. Step on again to get it back. Doesn’t seem to be something Beethro would ever want to do, but there are advantages. Specifically, he won’t drop trapdoors without his sword, and Fegundo movement becomes much easier. More on Fegundo with I:N. I like the diversity that no sword brings to the game.
Under the Library. 9.5/10. 6.5 brains.
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×Run. Just run. Oh crap, there’s stuff to kill? Gah! That was pretty much my thought process throughout this level. Why? Briar root. I told you we’d come back to this stuff. Helps me indeed, nameless goblin from the City. Were you a delver, and you saw this stuff, you’d probably become a cook, or nanny, or something so you wouldn’t have to face it. But Beethro’s no ordinary delver. He rushes through, surviving, sometimes barely, and beats the odds. If this level doesn’t get your adrenaline pumping, you must not have kidneys. Also, the first *really troublesome room* appears in this level, at least the first one I found. I think this would have been an excellent spot for the demo to end, by the way. Somebody mentioned (I can’t find who right now…linky?) that being chased by the Slayer was an excellent way to end the JtRH demo. I didn’t feel that the TCB demo had the urgency to find out what happened next for non-veterans.
New Element: Briars and Briar Root. Yes, we saw it, but we didn’t experience it. This stuff grows and grows. Depending on how many Briar roots there are, the briars go from red to black dependently. Click on the briar to see an ominous countdown to its expansion, and your oncoming doom. Pits are your friends against the briar root, as they slow it down a lot. Briar that has just expanded is red. Once it’s all black, get back, Jack. It’s growing on the next turn. Thank goodness it’s not totally invincible: explosions kill it, doors, walls, and arrows (at least, from growing onto arrows) stop it, and briar is just an obstacle when it doesn’t touch a briar root. Possibly the most fearsome element in the game, I’ll pale when I see it.
New Element: Sister Gates. Basically, goes up when the color qualifications are matched. The opposite of normal gates. Comes in red, black, blue, and green, for all your accessorizing needs. A necessary evolution, and welcome.
Interlude: Negotiations. 10/10. 6 brains.
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×Why does Beethro have to be the only character? He doesn’t. Here, you play as the Negotiator, on the way to her meeting. Unfortunately, there is an infestation in the building. Fortunately, the Negotiators have a weapon. Fegundo. Basically, this level gets a 10 from me because I NEVER expected to play as anybody other than Beethro, and the surprise was certainly a shock, and one that put a smile on my face. Also, the Fegundo (I think that’ll double as the plural for me) are fun to play with, like a toddler likes to play with fire. Fortunately, in DROD, the stovetop is virtual, and you can commit suicide by Fegundo fire as often as you like.
New Element: Fegundo and Power tokens. The Fegundo fly in the direction you face, and explode upon coming into contact with anything. They are activated by power tokens. When they’re exploded, they are in various stages of piles of ash (where they are vulnerable to swords and explosions—be careful!) After 5 turns, they’re mobile bombs again. Fun! If they explode over pits or water, though, they won’t come back. So be warned. Fun in low quantities, frustrating in high.
Homeward Ascent. 8/10. 5 brains.
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×Remember when I said that DROD was the puzzle game that contains all puzzle games? It’s got Sokoban now. For a long time, pushable elements were…undesired. To say the least. Erik himself seemed to be against them. And here they are…in the game…? Thank goodness they have more to them than just “boxes you push onto pressure plates lolzorz.” This level does a good job showcasing their usefulness as more than just Sokoban fodder. Only one room felt like Sokoban, and that was unique in that it required both sword and body manipulation for the mirrors. And as mirrors, they interact uniquely with evil eyes, and thank goodness they’re breakable. Unique. I’m sad that pushables were let in, but very very happy that DROD spun an old yarn into a good-looking new sweater. I won’t wear sweaters, but I know people who do. And the sweater doubles as a windbreaker, which I would wear. Or something. Stopping…now.
New Element: Mirrors. Push them, pull them, move them with body and sword. Reflect them evil eye beams! Put them on pressure plates! The newest thing that DROD does with pushables is essentially making a pivoting rectangle the pusher, instead of the standard 1-square. It’s no longer hip to be a square. I’m surprised I hadn’t seen this variant before, actually, and it makes for tolerable pushable puzzles. Also, I love DROD, and can’t really fault it for any long period of time.
Midway Outpost. 10/10. 4 brains.
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×There’s a special place in my heart for serpent monsters. And the adders just gobbled it up. This level is just a romp with adders, and it’s very enjoyable, at least it was for me. Even without a serpent clock! (I still want a mod for one, though…and for transparent tar…more on that on HV.) Everything about them seems to be explored. I feel like all puzzles based about adders will be variations of something from this level. Very well done, a very fun new element.
New Element: Adders. They eat and grow, and you chop them in the head. They’ll do in uncuttable tarstuff. They eat rock piles. Pretty much a living garbage disposal…that grows a la Nibbles. These are certainly one of my favorite new elements. I’m looking forward to more adder puzzles. And so aptly named! Caution—they only eat 1X1 monsters (so no serpents…) and they will eat your potioned creations! (Mimics, etc.) I think this may very well be the most fun new element. Love^2 them.
New Element: Conquer Token. As an optimizer, I like it. It makes my movecount less. However, it was only used in ways where the optimal movecount, once reaching the token, was pretty easy to find, anyway. And as a general player, I don’t really see the need for them yet. Maybe some user-made holds will change that opinion.
Echo Chasms. 10/10. 4 brains.
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×They think they’re so special. “We’re wraithwings! We can fly and you can’t! Hahahahaha!” Well, now it’s time to take them on in their own territory. That’s right, with platforms, Beethro can travel over pits. Do what you’ve always wanted: Take out wraithwings wherever the heck you want to do so. How about the power of flight, that do anything for you? It does for me.
New Element: Platforms. They let Beethro move where he normally can’t. Water, air, heck. If there were lava in the game, a platform could go there. The one downside is that they can’t move diagonally around floor or non-flying monsters. But that’s it. You know, for just a guy with a really big sword killing stuff, Beethro has obtained a lot of superpowers. I like ‘em. I think they’re useful…but only to a degree. Optimist’s view: they added something to choosing pit over wall.
The Villa. 9/10. 0 brains.
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×Plot development.
Dugandy. 4/10. .5 brains.
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×Not too much here…except a disguise. And a few guards.
King Dugan’s New Dungeon. 8/10. 6 brains.
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×Wouldn’t DROD be a lot easier if monsters didn’t know you were there? Not necessarily. At least, not if they wake up once you start killing them. Yes, with his new disguise, Beethro has the ability of Solid Snake to sneak up on an enemy and make them dead before they realize. However, like MGS, others will know, and come for him. So basically, this level is all about the setup. And then the execution just comes…naturally. No real new elements—the disguise is a role-play, like the negotiator was. Only this time you’ve got a sword instead of a fegundo!
Castle Dugan. 4/10. 5 brains.
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×I never liked the gimmick of “There’s no time! I can’t go there!” to basically say “this room does not exist.” I still don’t. Also, the plot doesn’t seem to advance, but rather stagnate, as much of what the player could deduce is retold to them. We do find out that the king is an idiot, and it’s kind of funny, but I would have preferred a king that I believed could hold his throne for more than two years. I didn’t buy this. It’s a fun challenge to try to kill the guards, but I felt that this section needed some reworking. No new elements.
Dugandy again. 7/10. 1-10 brains.
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×Can you beat all the guards? I can’t. But they sure make for a great chase scene.
River Dugan. 7/10. 6 brains.
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×I think that this is where some of the multi-step rooms started coming in. There were definitely rooms where I saw a solution immediately, and then found out that I needed to find another solution. Even with perfect information, I was still thinking after I thought I had solved it. That’s what DROD is all about to me—the thinking. And that’s good. I didn’t really like the new elements in this level. Any of the three.
New Element: Water skipper. A seep on the water. Pretty easy, and pretty much in for aesthetic purposes, as far as I can tell.
New Element: Water skipper nest. A water skipper generator—one every 10 turns. Immobile. Not too much fun.
New Element: Bridge. I would have preferred that these be multi-square trapdoors, rather than drop once all trapdoors have been removed. That is, drop once Beethro steps off. While it’s really fun to see many monsters drown at once, it didn’t really strike me as anything that added to current gameplay, nor did the other two.
Holding Vats. 9/10. 4-6 brains.
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×Tar. Mud. Lots of both. I’ve never been too big a fan of the gunky stuff, but I know that it adds much to gameplay, and appreciated the band-aid that is the vision token. Especially for that one room. However, the dynamic of mud and tar (and other, to be discussed in RA) has shifted. Now, we can change one form to another. Oh yeah, oh yeah, this is cool. There is a lot of puzzle potential with this new element—I’m just surprised it wasn’t in every room. Then again, there were adders, and we discovered that if Beethro can’t cut it, adders can eat it. And there was much rejoicing. Yay. Also, a very creepy section awaits you here. The Empire is picking up in oddities, indeed.
New Element: Vision Token. An in-game device that changes opaque tarstuff to transparent. Also shows evil eye gazes and spiders (though that last one isn’t shown in TCB at all.) While the EE and spider effects are nice, I still want my transparent tar mod for TCB, for all of the currently released rooms that don’t have the vision token…and for rooms to come in TCB with vision tokens far out of the way. They work, and they’re good to have ingame, but I still feel like it’s sort of a weak political throw-in, with some nice addendum. Looking forward to permanent transparent tarstuff—it’s a very nice thing to have.
New Element: Tar/Mud/”G” Switcher Token. In the shape of a Yin-Yang, stepping on this token will change tarstuff from the left color to the right color, and vice versa. I love this functionality, and expect to see some great usage of it in upcoming holds.
The City (Part 2). 10/10. 4 brains.
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×Best. Cutscene. Ever. Period. That is, if you’re a JtRH delver. If you haven’t beaten JtRH, you might just get confused. But that’s alright, because for those of us in the know, it is freaking amazingly hilarious. Beethro delves deeper into the Empire, and even gets a job! Funny how paper pushing defeats itself, no? Anyway, Beethro runs around for a while, exploring the portion of the society where people are better off, because they have names and jobs, as well as getting to know his fellow coworkers.
New Element: Citizens. Here, and not earlier, because they were NPCs earlier. Now, they move around! And they’re multicolored! Trippy.
New Element: Relay Station: The reason the Citizens are running around like mice in a maze with replenishable cheese. They love them their relay stations. They determine the color of the Citizen.
New Element: Persistent Citizen Movement Tokens. These blare “Don’t Turn Around”, popularized by Ace of Base in the mid-90’s. And the citizens listen. They move one way, and one way only when these tokens are in the room. All together, it feels like Beethro entered a Nascar race. I hate Nascar, but thank goodness it’s over quickly. I didn’t have too much fun with this element.
Archival Catacombs. 10/10. 6 brains.
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×Have you ever wanted to be two places at once? Well, now you essentially can be! This level goes crazy with split personality everywhere. Sometimes more than just once. A fun exploration of what it’d be like to trade consciousnesses with an inanimate object wielding a sword. Definitely some challenging rooms as well, especially with this new 2-part room mechanic involved. Frustrating whilst going through, for sure, but looking back it’s rather fun and inspired.
New Element: Clone potion. Place a clone.
New Element: Clone. Immobile, until you tab over to it. Monsters won’t attack it. I’m not sure about all of the serpentine interactions with them, but I’m sure we’ll discover that quickly. I know adders CAN eat them. And if they die, you die. When you swap over, you attract the monsters, and can get them away from the other clone. You know what, words can’t describe this. Go play AC again, if you want to learn more about clones. Just know that they’re a fun new element who plays very well with others. It earns the Paper Plate Award for best Kindergartener, in that respect. And it plays well with me. A very welcome addition to the DROD family.
Slaymaster’s Hall. 9/10. 0 brains.
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×Ominous!
Torture Chambers. 8/10. 6 brains.
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×I feel like there’s a room in the Prince of Persia series which approaches what this must look like to Beethro. Spinning mimics, stabbing mimics, basically a collection of rooms of Mimics Gone Wild. Lots of swordy death awaits the unprepared. The biggest game of dodgesword that Beethro has ever played in an official hold, as far as I recall. No new elements here. I found that sort of surprising, given the quantity of new elements in the game.
The Rooted Hub. n/a. 0 brains.
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×It’s the Castle in Super Mario 64. It’s where the Empire can access anywhere. It’s a bunch of staircases, and most of them are closed off.
Oremite Breeding Grounds.
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×You thought it was tough when you couldn’t wield your sword before. Now, there are rooms with ONE spot where you can do the stabby, and plenty of monsters to surround you. Tons of oremite. Pretty much the only consolation you have is that when stepping off of oremite, your sword goes in that direction. Thank goodness for Oneiromancer’s red X of glorious bloodletting.
Newish Element: Oremite. No sword when you’re on these guys. Stepping off, say S, will cause your sword to face S. Same with all other directions. You *can* turn…but why would you? Better to head for the places where your sword is wieldable. Be glad that these guys don’t grow like tarstuff. Again, I like the diversity that no sword brings, but I shiver when I see it in such large quantity.
Estengard. 8/10. 0 brains.
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×Finally. Somebody with some sense. Plot only.
Rasarus Archipelago. 9/10. 8 brains.
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×I think this level is the one I’ve seen the most people complaining about in the chats. That’s how you know it’s good and challenging. Gelstuff is weird, when you first meet up with it. And it’s introduced very politely, for the monstrous gunk that it is. Soon enough though, you are ruing your existence and wishing for it to end…and then you stab that gel mother right in the eye, saying “Take that! Ha!” And it’s all better. It’s a good “get used to this stuff” level. Pretty much the only elements are gelstuff and tar-swap tokens.
New Element: Gel baby. Moves like a golem, doesn’t leave a death marker like one.
New Element: Gel mother. Only grows gel which it is attached to. Thank the lord. This stuff is hard to manipulate anyway. Standard gel growth would be very formidable.
New Element: Gel. You can only cut it on the internal corners. Concave corners, if you will. It’s forbidden in the Empire, and we can see why. Nobody wants to deal with it. But you’ve got to, and soon enough you too will be developing strategies for it. I like the stuff, personally...when used without mothers. I think it’s got a lot of potential waiting to be tapped.
Pirate Hideout. 10/10. 7 brains.
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×Oh, you know you wanted to be Denfry of Fulce. So bad. Moving twice as fast.
Granted.
Of course, the puzzles require such speed as befits Justin Gatlin. No doubt about that. Still, it’s a whole lot of fun to slay oncoming hordes of roaches…in three lines. Take that, Gunthro!
New Element: Speed Potion. Makes you twice as fast. A second one returns you to normal speed, which seems odd, but mandatory for gameplay at the same time. Heh. Goblins think they’re safe when two squares away from your sword. Not anymore. They also allow you to turn on hot tiles, and step into view of Evil Eyes without them waking up, so long as you don’t spend a full turn with either. Introduces a second level to everything. Excellent element.
The Asking Chamber. 10/10. 0 brains.
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×Did I already give out the best cutscene ever award? I did? Uh…runner-up? Plot only.
Interlude: A Goblin’s Eye View.
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×Goblins. You’ve learned to hate them when they’ve got you cornered (like coppro’s current avatar.) You’ve also learned how to take them on in 3-wide corridors (right? Do it now if you haven’t.) But you haven’t experienced what it’s like to be a goblin, have you? Well, now you do. Not only that, but your goblin is up against some of the toughest monsters in the game. The Aumtlich. Fortunately, Gristy isn’t the type of goblin to go and wet his britches because of a few stun-gazing zombie-types. A bit weird, but fun nonetheless.
New Element. The Aumtlich. These guys will try to stun you, and then kill you. As a goblin, you don’t have much protection at all. But once you get your sword, it can stop their medusa-like gaze, and you can take them out. One’s easy. Two…not so easy. More…very not so easy. You can still turn, fortunately, but you can’t move. Good luck. I think these guys may be a bit too strong. It’s hard to tell right now. Mirrors are their weakness, as well as sword perpendicular to their gaze. So at least they have a weakness. But still…man.
Fortress Ruins. 9/10. 8 brains.
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×Aumtlich and swords. ‘nuff said. No new elements, unless you count Aumtlich and swords as a separate element from Aumtlich without swords.
Frozen Depths. 7/10. 8 brains.
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×The first few rooms contain more gel. I like gel. And there are a lot of black doors too, requiring killing all of the gel, which I find soothing. But after a bit, we meet up with the Stalwarts…who did not wake up on the correct side of the intelligence spectrum. Their rooms both kick up the brains, and kick down the fun.
New Element. Stalwart. Basically, they’re guards who are on your side, seemingly dumb, and you have to force them to survive. There seem to be bits and pieces of randomness when dealing with Stalwarts. And that’s bad. Plus, if they’re unfit to be a delver, they shouldn’t be soldiers. I’m not surprised that they got taken out by that one Slayer. They’re dumb. It was probably something like 104th Slayer, too. I hope some good user-mades come out with Stalwarts. Right now, I feel like they’re more hindrance than help. Little kids who want to help bake the cookies, but only end up trying to lick the batter from the bowl, and getting their tongues stuck in the eggbeater…while it’s running.
Rocky Hollow. 9/10. 8 brains.
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×Ah golems. How much I love how dumb you are. It’s kind of sad how you don’t know how to deal with walls…or with swords without falling apart. And while you attempt to contemplate your HOLY COW THAT’S HUGE!!! Yes, we get to deal with bigger golems now. More manipulation puzzles, including some that are quite tedious. I think I made more moves that led to nowhere in this level than in any other. Also, it’s fun to smash 1 into 4 different piles. There was some good other element usage as well. Hot plates leap to mind.
New Element: Bigger Golems. They’re the first 2X2 monsters that we’ve got. They break down into smaller golems when you hit them. And they seem to manage corners much more easily than normal golems…maybe because their eyes can see in two columns. Who knows? Their weakness is their size, and that’s about it. Tough to call a mountain of talking rock weak. There were some diabolical puzzles in this level. I’m sure there are more on the way. As a first “big monster”, I like them, and killing them makes sense.
Abyssian Fortress. 10/10. 9 brains.
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×I’m glad the difficulty level kicks up with gameplay. That’s how a game should be done. And there are no new elements in this level either—it showcases tarstuff (Tar, Mud, Gel) and throws in some fresh elements as well. Most of the rooms are very frustrating, but manageable with the right idea (and seeing everything available to Beethro to use.) No new elements.
Upper Lowest. 7/10. 8 brains.
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×We’re nearing Lowest point, we must be nearing the end of the game. And so we are. So of course the Empire throws the one person in our way who might be able to stop us. Of course, he can’t though, and we move beyond him and his trickeries. His friends though…ugh. For what they do, these rooms are pretty okay. And they fit extremely well with regards to plot. With regards to gameplay…
New Element: Builders. Random. That’s pretty much the way they behave, especially in large numbers. The difference between a Q and a W in these rooms is the difference between imminent death and clearing the room in 50 moves. They are fractal, and it feels like they destroy the premise of perfect information that DROD is keen upon. Sure, I can click on them to see what they’ll do, but in rooms with a large quantity of them? Who do something approximately every 10 turns? No thank you. Call me an apathy team, I don’t care about or for this element. At least you can see what their ultimate goal is…just not their interactive results. Thumbs down on these guys from me.
Lowest Proper. 4/10. 4-9 brains.
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×Depending on your actions here, you can make rooms really easy or really hard. Unfortunately, you don’t know which action is which. Judging by some demo scores, I made a couple of rooms really easy on myself, and a couple really hard. It was a melting pot level, with builders, who I can’t stand. Most of the rooms were tedious, and would have been easy if these random wreakers wouldn’t have been there. Two rooms were fine because I could pretty much make them do what I wanted them to do. Otherwise, I felt powerless. I feel that they took away from the experience, rather than adding to it. I played through, because it’s TCB and it’s DROD, but to any of you architects who want to use this element in your holds, I don’t want to play them. I can tell you that now. Maybe, and it’s a tiny one, maybe they’ll grow on me, but right now I think they’re the worst element in DROD, because they seem to go against everything it stands for. No new elements.
Lowest Point. 8/10. 0 brains.
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×I didn’t really get the ending from Beethro’s perspective. I got it from a canonical perspective, but I didn’t see why Beethro thought what he did.
Credits. N/a. 1 brain.
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×The secret’s a bit confusing, especially if English is not your native tongue. But it’s manageable. I’m looking forward to The Second Sky, yes I am.
Other Features/Elements I haven’t yet discussed:
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×Lighting. Excellent. First class. Really adds mood and motif to the whole game, and the variety works well too.
Weather/Effects. Same as above.
Editor. Glorious, as expected, and always.
Complaints.
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×1. I felt a bit overwhelmed at times. This may be because I “rushed” through the hold in a bit more than 2 days, but I didn’t feel that any of the elements really had time to settle in before I was meeting the next one.
2. There are still bugs in the hold and game. I didn’t expect it to be perfect, but it is a complaint that could be raised, and validly.
3. I hate builders.
4. Too few cutscenes/dialogue bits. I realize there were plenty, but they were all so well done that I wanted even more. I guess I’m just greedy.
Overall (again)
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×4 complaints about a game this size (and one of those complaints a pessimistic outlook on something that’s amazing about the game) is pretty darn good. It isn’t perfect, but it’s close. All of the elements interact well (including builders, I just don’t like the way they interact.) All of the effects heighten the realism of this world. The puzzle game to end all puzzle games. Not for the weak of mind.
My passage has been made.
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×
First Delver! (I was the first non-tester/dev
to conquer TCB.)
d
/dy
