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A fierce rivalry indeed...
Darkstar1- 09/30/2015 11:00 PM
- 1256 views
The game Rivalry is about as good as one would expect from looking at it, but it doesn't approach dungeon-faring in an entirely straightforward way, preventing it from blending into the crowd of decent (but not excellent) RTP games.
Graphics:
With the exception of a few characters made with the character generator, the entire game is RTP. This isn't necessarily a problem since the maps look fine and have plenty of detail. The character generator portraits have multiple expressions.
Music:
With the exception of one track, all of the music is RTP. Music was used appropriately, and the fact that it was mostly RTP didn't didn't detract from the game.
Design:
The entire game takes place in one large dungeon, with distinct including separated areas for different trials. The game uses touch encounters, but even if you fight almost everything it doesn't really bog you down all that much. There are three 'trial' areas (trials of strength, wit, and dexterity) which each have different objectives. The trial of strength is fairly straightforward and requires you to beat a couple of bosses. The trial of wit involves solving three puzzles under a time limit. You won't fail if you go over, but you will receive a greater reward at the end of it if you complete it in time. The first two puzzles are okay, but the third is incredibly difficult and will almost certainly consume whatever time you have left. After completing one of those two you will need to complete the trial of dexterity, which involves running through an obstacle course. While the course is well designed, it is plagued by the inherent format of the maker, leading to many, many retries as you struggle to accurately dash your way through tight corridors with dangerous walls and boulders constantly chasing you, sometimes from multiple directions at once.
How hard could it be? Famous last words. The red orbs are stationary, but you can't touch them, either.
Being hit won't kill you, though, it will send you back to your last checkpoint. Still, if you opt to play a harder version of the course (for bonus rewards) you are going to have problems. I tried the hardest version of the course and ended up exploiting a programming oversight (the fact that boulders don't reset if you touch them, potentially changing the timing of their movements relative to other nearby boulders) in order to get through.
There are also a couple of secrets to keep an eye out for; be wary of large holes in the walls.
Battle Mechanics:
The mechanics here don't try to do anything too special, and they work out mostly okay. Some fights can be significant difficulty spikes (I played on 'original' difficulty), so be sure to save often and check the shop occasionally for new gear. On the normal difficulty most fights seemed okay (after a few tries) except for the last fight with Gustav and the final boss (though the latter was manageable after I got some special items from beating Radaghast). It doesn't help that some bosses can poison and/or blind you with their normal attacks while still removing in upwards of half your health with every move. During some battles I would find myself being killed even when I had most of my health remaining. Sometimes this was just bad luck, whereas other times it was because a boss had used their strongest attack and I hadn't seen it coming. Most bosses actually have to charge up their ultimate moves, but because these charges have no animation the text is only displayed for a split second, making them easy to miss.
Plot:
The story revolves around Lielle, who is trying to retrieve a magic orb in order to find a cure for her sister's ailment, and Gustav, her rival who also wants the orb for his own (initially unexplained) reasons. Gustav shows up multiple times throughout the game to try to stop you from getting the orb first, and you learn a bit more about their backstories each time. Because the game is scarcely an hour long, there isn't much more I can say about the plot without spoiling anything.
Overall:
The RTP is used competently here, and the dungeon progression flows fairly well, but a few awkward areas and a couple unusually vicious bosses made the experience occasionally frustrating.
At the very least, it was easily worth the time it took to play it.
Graphics:
With the exception of a few characters made with the character generator, the entire game is RTP. This isn't necessarily a problem since the maps look fine and have plenty of detail. The character generator portraits have multiple expressions.
Music:
With the exception of one track, all of the music is RTP. Music was used appropriately, and the fact that it was mostly RTP didn't didn't detract from the game.
Design:
The entire game takes place in one large dungeon, with distinct including separated areas for different trials. The game uses touch encounters, but even if you fight almost everything it doesn't really bog you down all that much. There are three 'trial' areas (trials of strength, wit, and dexterity) which each have different objectives. The trial of strength is fairly straightforward and requires you to beat a couple of bosses. The trial of wit involves solving three puzzles under a time limit. You won't fail if you go over, but you will receive a greater reward at the end of it if you complete it in time. The first two puzzles are okay, but the third is incredibly difficult and will almost certainly consume whatever time you have left. After completing one of those two you will need to complete the trial of dexterity, which involves running through an obstacle course. While the course is well designed, it is plagued by the inherent format of the maker, leading to many, many retries as you struggle to accurately dash your way through tight corridors with dangerous walls and boulders constantly chasing you, sometimes from multiple directions at once.
How hard could it be? Famous last words. The red orbs are stationary, but you can't touch them, either.
Being hit won't kill you, though, it will send you back to your last checkpoint. Still, if you opt to play a harder version of the course (for bonus rewards) you are going to have problems. I tried the hardest version of the course and ended up exploiting a programming oversight (the fact that boulders don't reset if you touch them, potentially changing the timing of their movements relative to other nearby boulders) in order to get through.
There are also a couple of secrets to keep an eye out for; be wary of large holes in the walls.
Battle Mechanics:
The mechanics here don't try to do anything too special, and they work out mostly okay. Some fights can be significant difficulty spikes (I played on 'original' difficulty), so be sure to save often and check the shop occasionally for new gear. On the normal difficulty most fights seemed okay (after a few tries) except for the last fight with Gustav and the final boss (though the latter was manageable after I got some special items from beating Radaghast). It doesn't help that some bosses can poison and/or blind you with their normal attacks while still removing in upwards of half your health with every move. During some battles I would find myself being killed even when I had most of my health remaining. Sometimes this was just bad luck, whereas other times it was because a boss had used their strongest attack and I hadn't seen it coming. Most bosses actually have to charge up their ultimate moves, but because these charges have no animation the text is only displayed for a split second, making them easy to miss.
Plot:
The story revolves around Lielle, who is trying to retrieve a magic orb in order to find a cure for her sister's ailment, and Gustav, her rival who also wants the orb for his own (initially unexplained) reasons. Gustav shows up multiple times throughout the game to try to stop you from getting the orb first, and you learn a bit more about their backstories each time. Because the game is scarcely an hour long, there isn't much more I can say about the plot without spoiling anything.
Overall:
The RTP is used competently here, and the dungeon progression flows fairly well, but a few awkward areas and a couple unusually vicious bosses made the experience occasionally frustrating.
At the very least, it was easily worth the time it took to play it.
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Marston
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CloseThanks for the review, just saw it now. One tiny thing to point out:
After finishing one of the three trials, you don't have to do the next one counter clockwise. So you can skip the Trial of Dexterity completely if you start with the Trial of Wit. But that aside, again thanks for the review. :0
After finishing one of the three trials, you don't have to do the next one counter clockwise. So you can skip the Trial of Dexterity completely if you start with the Trial of Wit. But that aside, again thanks for the review. :0
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