Difference between revisions of "Forgotten Fortress"

Oh wow. Um. Wow. This is pretty awful. There is one absolutely massive flaw in this level in that it has literally no idea what it's doing. Virtually every gimmick in the engine appears at some point (or at least it feels like it), and the level is so insanely unfocused that I don't even know what to think of it besides 'it's really messy'. None of the gimmicks are ever focused on or used well, and they constantly just fly in and out of existence. Nonsensical design is everywhere, like an excruciatingly long autoscroll with a black background and almost no enemies (but plenty of Knight Man bouncers), a random section where there's a block train that seems to want to crush you but you can blow past it before it gets close to you, and asinine amounts of split paths. The latter is what utterly kills the level for me. Everything sprawl everywhere in every direction you can think of and it makes it completely impossible to have a sense of where you are at all, and this is amplified by the utter lack of focus. It took me over an hour to slog through the entire thing and get the energy element and all four noble nickels, and it was an incredibly unpleasent and absolutely boring experience. And on top of that there's a bajillion weird secrets too, like some room with a ton of NPCs and a bonus fight with a strangely drawn Crash Man with actually a kind of creative arena but not really. This level is just a giant mess and I did not enjoy it in the slightest.

I really enjoyed the nice platforming challenges this level provided. There were so many different gimmicks used in this stage, and they were all used so well! The best part for me was the Force Beam section, because there were clear outlines showing where the force beams were. THIS is how you make a challenging level without having it be exceedingly difficult. My main issue was that the level lagged. A lot. It wasn't game-breaking, but it did make some parts the stage pretty annoying. Also, the Crash Man fight...what even was that?

I tried my best to like this level, but unfortunately, the heavy lag I had when playing through it made this pretty much impossible. Couple that with the maze-like structure of the level and playing it felt more like a chore than a fun experience. Which is a shame. This level has ideas that it proposes and it has a lot to offer. Maybe even to the point where it becomes too much. The confusing layout of the level made me lose all sense of direction and even after several playthroughs I wasn't able to build a cognitive map of the level. When I got to the ending room the first time I picked up the key and completely missed the exit. Heading back to the door I thought the level only just now got started, and while somewhat scared I was also excited to look through the level in order to find Crash Man, who I assumed would hold the Energy Element. Sadly, Crash Man's room is a mess and getting to him didn't feel very rewarding. I eventually found the energy element on my third visit to the end room. On a more general note, the level doesn't do a very good job at ramping up its difficulty or maintaining any kind of consistency. This level has everything, but doesn't really play around with anything, which is a shame.

This is a complicated one to review. Generally, it's good; the level design is mostly solid and it's pretty fun to play through the first time. However, this level splits into so many paths it becomes hard to even replay the stage without feeling annoyed at repeating the same section again. This is especially a problem if you're trying to get the Noble Nickels, which are scattered around the whole level, so getting them is a pain. Otherwise, it's a good stage. Ideas are interesting and the level's graphics and music are good.

There comes a point... where you need to stop. This was a slog. I had so little fun playing this stage I wanted to quit part way through.

So, I'm going to get the positive out of the way first: Your original assets are well drawn (although the colour scheme is absolutely garish), and your opening area was great! Good conveyance, good design, really well thought out. And then I got to the second area. And the third. And the fourth and then... Why. I know there is a lot in the dev kit but you didn't need to use... Every. Single. Sodding. Gimmick. Later on in the stage, you seemed to stop thinking and did the bare minimum required to implement a segment. In all fairness, there is nothing wrong with any of these rooms aside from how easy they are (this is actually to your stage's benefit believe me.), and a lot of these areas, introduce themselves well.

Pick a gimmick, pick a second gimmick, maybe a third, and stick to them. Start doing clever stuff with them and maybe this would work. Everything in the dev kit though? Blerugh. You have the makings of a good designer - just scale back next time! This, wasn't fun. Finally: Poor Crash Man. I'm not sure what good making him so gangly was, but it didn't help matters.