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Half a Secret Santa


Was there actually a castle?


Half Castle is a game that was developed for the second swap in the middle event. OzzyTheOne made the first half and kory_toombs completed it. The game has 3 working endings that I could find and probably 1 broken one. Half Castle is an action adventure game inspired by the earlier 2D Zelda games. I imagine it had the Zelda screen scrolling script at some point given that the maps are all screen sized and link up perfectly. The game begins with you deciding to find sailors and leave to sail the seas - which you can do straight away - or you can explore small dungeons each with their own gimmick and reward.


Throwing boulders was quite cool.


Let's start with what the game does well, the dungeon items all work and open up the world in a way that feels intuitive and natural. Where you would find the dungeon treasure mid-dungeon in a Zelda game, you generally get the treasure at the end of the dungeon in Half Castle and then the treasure defines the next dungeon you find. Speaking of the dungeons, they are small and puzzle based, ending in a boss fight, which besides the first boss are puzzle bosses. A few things that would improve the game; a Hud for HP, also I feel the dungeons themselves could have been developed more, the first dungeon's puzzle element (cutting grass) was already covered before you entered the dungeon. Maybe you could have had a second floor and had to cut ropes to drop a bridge down the previous floor or something? Or go the small key route that Zelda games are known for?


Am I missing something?


However like most action rpg maker games this game suffers from the usual hic-cups, tile based movement makes the collision detection awkward with enemies, also the inability to turn without taking a step makes some puzzles more awkward than they need to be, also bugs... Lots of bugs, I've been hit onto rooftops by enemies with no way to get back down, the final boss itself (I'm presuming the enemy pictured above is the final boss) is very buggy, not only can he freeze the game if he touches you mid-hookshot but he also didn't seem to be beatable - unless I'm missing something, at which point I'm more than happy to be corrected. I would describe Half Castle as being one of the better action rpg maker games but unfortunately with the bugs I don't feel that I can't award it higher than 2.5 stars. If the game was updated and the bugs fixed I would happily award three stars.

Posts

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OzzyTheOne
Future Ruler of Gam Mak
4676
Thanks for the feedback Fomar! Yeah, the games has some bugs here and there, but the final boss not being beatable is a new one, all the times I've tried to beat him I was succesful upon hitting all switches. Maybe I need to give them game another go to see what went wrong.

Again, thanks for your feedback!
SunflowerGames
The most beautiful user on RMN!
13323

Thankyou for this review.
I agree with most of what is said here.
Script / Time Constraints lead to some issues likely.

I also never encountered that issue in the final boss.
Getting all 4 boulders on is hard as hell, but that should trigger the end.
That final boss was tough, took me quite a few goes. I'll try and give it another go if I'm the only person to encounter that final boss bug.
OzzyTheOne
Future Ruler of Gam Mak
4676
You might very well be the only one who got that bug, because you're the first person I've of heard that encountered said bug.
SunflowerGames
The most beautiful user on RMN!
13323

Its either a bug or it could be 1 of the boulders not programmed properly.
It's my only guess.
I lack the motivation to actually look.
OzzyTheOne
Future Ruler of Gam Mak
4676
I might look it up tonight, when I'm back from work.
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