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A Game about Running Away from Wolves
aquatorrent- 08/25/2021 03:11 AM
- 932 views
My playtime: 00:54:50
Intro
Amarok's Howl is a short "horror" game where you avoid monsters while saving your friends within the school premises.
Graphics
Despite the game taking place at school premises, the area doesn't look like a school at all. It feels more like a town with buildings that look similar to each other. Moreover, they are unnecessarily large. It might be designed this way due to stealth being the main focus of the game, but they don't look natural at all.
Story
The story is not polished enough. It might also be because of the game's length, but I don't feel anything about it. There are a lot of characters being introduced at the start and I already lost track of who is who right after. The game might introduce some important characters at the beginning, but all that got to my head was the myth that was explained in the prologue. I didn't feel anything towards the ending, and everything that follows afterward feels empty to me as a result. Moreover, the ending can be confusing to those who don't know the myth.
The Game
Gameplay
Amarok's Howl feels more like a stealth game rather than a horror game. This is mostly because the monster that becomes the main horror element looks far from scary - they are just wolf sprites in a shade of blue. However, the music makes up for it. The adrenaline rush that I felt when the chase music turns on gives a sense of urgency to get away from the situation.
As a game that relies on stealth, you are given two options in going through your objectives: walking and running. You might have guessed it, but walking will make it harder for you to get detected by sacrificing your speed, and the opposite works for running. Walking might be a good idea to do at first glance, but the huge area doesn't make it easy for me to traverse the buildings. I ended up running away most of the time, returning back to the previous area whenever I got noticed.
Look, the enemy still moves when you are talking!
Wolves don't seem to let go of you after you're in their sight. I tried to walk, or even stand still whenever a wolf is chasing towards me, right after hiding behind a wall or another room to make it lost my trail. However, they always seem to be able to detect me, forcing me to go to another area to reset their alert. They also run faster than you, so doing this might result in you getting hit in the process.
There is too much information that you need to process at the beginning. You're supposed to find your friends, but there are like 10+ people that you need to find with different locations to search. It might be best to search all areas one by one, but alas, you won't have that chance since running from the wolves are the top priority. Luckily, they are easy to filter since they are sorted by location.
Length and Difficulty
I finished the game in 54 minutes in the easiest difficulty. There are 3 difficulties in the game which affect your HP and endurance whenever you are walking outside in the harsh, winter season. I found the game to be easy on this difficulty, although there were times where I had to figure out how the game really works at the beginning, even after I finished the tutorial. The jumping mechanic is also forgettable. I didn't think of revisiting the controls in the menu either since the game hardly encourages you to open the menu - I only used it to save my progress.
Pros:
- 3 difficulties
Cons:
- You're unlikely to get away from the wolves if they are chasing you
Final Rating: 3/5
Amarok's Howl might not be a scary game, but it still keeps your adrenaline pumped. You can play the game in two ways: stealthily by walking slowly or goes with gun blazing like me by sprinting most of the time. If you did the latter one, you'll surely have to go back and forth between some areas for a while, but you'll enjoy it more due to the chase scene. Despite it being focused on stealth, I found that getting chased by the enemies while trying to get out of the area to be fun, and it helps me to enjoy the game.
The latter part that focuses on you following a certain path also looks clever, especially when you still have to run away from the wolves in the process. It forces you to think fast and find the best route to reach your destination. I'm not sure if this is how the game is supposed to be played, but I found that the game to be more enjoyable because of it.
---
Typo:
- In "The Legend of Sedna: Part I": "If no man is good enough for you, than a dog shall have to do!" should be "If no man is good enough for you, then a dog shall have to do!"
- Still in "The Legend of Sedna: Part I": "Thus, he decided to end this once and for all" should be "Thus, he decided to end this once and for all." (missing dot at the end of the sentence)
- When you are talking to Groundskeeper Parker: "With the tuitition being as is, I'd say it's not free as much as already included." should be "With the tuition being as is, I'd say it's not free as much as already included."
---
Bugs:
- The emoticon bubble is placed behind Amarok.
Intro
Amarok's Howl is a short "horror" game where you avoid monsters while saving your friends within the school premises.
Graphics
Despite the game taking place at school premises, the area doesn't look like a school at all. It feels more like a town with buildings that look similar to each other. Moreover, they are unnecessarily large. It might be designed this way due to stealth being the main focus of the game, but they don't look natural at all.
Story
The story is not polished enough. It might also be because of the game's length, but I don't feel anything about it. There are a lot of characters being introduced at the start and I already lost track of who is who right after. The game might introduce some important characters at the beginning, but all that got to my head was the myth that was explained in the prologue. I didn't feel anything towards the ending, and everything that follows afterward feels empty to me as a result. Moreover, the ending can be confusing to those who don't know the myth.
The Game
Gameplay
Amarok's Howl feels more like a stealth game rather than a horror game. This is mostly because the monster that becomes the main horror element looks far from scary - they are just wolf sprites in a shade of blue. However, the music makes up for it. The adrenaline rush that I felt when the chase music turns on gives a sense of urgency to get away from the situation.
As a game that relies on stealth, you are given two options in going through your objectives: walking and running. You might have guessed it, but walking will make it harder for you to get detected by sacrificing your speed, and the opposite works for running. Walking might be a good idea to do at first glance, but the huge area doesn't make it easy for me to traverse the buildings. I ended up running away most of the time, returning back to the previous area whenever I got noticed.
Look, the enemy still moves when you are talking!
Wolves don't seem to let go of you after you're in their sight. I tried to walk, or even stand still whenever a wolf is chasing towards me, right after hiding behind a wall or another room to make it lost my trail. However, they always seem to be able to detect me, forcing me to go to another area to reset their alert. They also run faster than you, so doing this might result in you getting hit in the process.
There is too much information that you need to process at the beginning. You're supposed to find your friends, but there are like 10+ people that you need to find with different locations to search. It might be best to search all areas one by one, but alas, you won't have that chance since running from the wolves are the top priority. Luckily, they are easy to filter since they are sorted by location.
Length and Difficulty
I finished the game in 54 minutes in the easiest difficulty. There are 3 difficulties in the game which affect your HP and endurance whenever you are walking outside in the harsh, winter season. I found the game to be easy on this difficulty, although there were times where I had to figure out how the game really works at the beginning, even after I finished the tutorial. The jumping mechanic is also forgettable. I didn't think of revisiting the controls in the menu either since the game hardly encourages you to open the menu - I only used it to save my progress.
Pros:
- 3 difficulties
Cons:
- You're unlikely to get away from the wolves if they are chasing you
Final Rating: 3/5
Amarok's Howl might not be a scary game, but it still keeps your adrenaline pumped. You can play the game in two ways: stealthily by walking slowly or goes with gun blazing like me by sprinting most of the time. If you did the latter one, you'll surely have to go back and forth between some areas for a while, but you'll enjoy it more due to the chase scene. Despite it being focused on stealth, I found that getting chased by the enemies while trying to get out of the area to be fun, and it helps me to enjoy the game.
The latter part that focuses on you following a certain path also looks clever, especially when you still have to run away from the wolves in the process. It forces you to think fast and find the best route to reach your destination. I'm not sure if this is how the game is supposed to be played, but I found that the game to be more enjoyable because of it.
---
Typo:
- In "The Legend of Sedna: Part I": "If no man is good enough for you, than a dog shall have to do!" should be "If no man is good enough for you, then a dog shall have to do!"
- Still in "The Legend of Sedna: Part I": "Thus, he decided to end this once and for all" should be "Thus, he decided to end this once and for all." (missing dot at the end of the sentence)
- When you are talking to Groundskeeper Parker: "With the tuitition being as is, I'd say it's not free as much as already included." should be "With the tuition being as is, I'd say it's not free as much as already included."
---
Bugs:
- The emoticon bubble is placed behind Amarok.
Posts 
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1
Beregon
3527
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CloseHello, thanks for your review, I agree with your rating, I'd rate it the same way. It was a Therefore , but I still the experience of making it :)
As for the wolves chasing you, the tutorial at the start explains to you how it works. Basically, when they spot you, an exclamation mark appears above their head for a second or two and after it disappears, they start chasing you. At this point, they move perfectly and you can't shake them off, you either have to reach an exit from the area or just run.
After a few seconds of running, they stop, allowing you to gain distance again and the Frustrated icon appears above their head. After it disappears, they resume the chase, but for a much shorter time and they no longer have pathfinding, meaning you can trap them behind obstacles and walls and such. After this part, they stop again and a question mark appears above their head. When it vanishes, the game checks if they can detect (same as if they are walking around). If they can, chase resumes from the start. If they can't, the chase ends and they resume patroling.
Basically, what you are meant to do if you get detected by one of them is immediatelly run away in the opposite direction (the exclamation mark pause helps you gain some distance), until the question mark appears above their head, then stay still and ideally not in the direction they are facing. Running them around obstacles such as the bookshelves in the library or the desks in the classrooms is particularly effective, but even open spaces allow you to do this and there's some tolerance for mistakes. I nerfed them several times, though it's hard to gauge difficulty on your own when you know everything about how they work.
Their detection is based primarily on sound. It's far from ideal and in hindsight, it would be better to have another behavior where they first go check the area instead of immediatelly starting to chase you. I actually also played it by mostly sprinting everywhere and just outrunning them if they detected me. The game is probably more fun that way.
The tutorial explaining this is basically a text dump, I agree with that. Probably the reason why you didn't understand how exactly the detection and chases work. It could definitely be done better, which I will do in any future games like this.
Yeah, it wasn't meant to be particularly "scary". More like a silly B-movie horror at most. It was basically a way for me to introduce that Sedna myth to the rest of the participants in the Kill the Cutie event (since it seemed like basically the perfect thing for it) and also to try out implementing stealth and chase mechanics on my own (there were no real plugins for that at the time, so I just had to do with event commands and script calls). The result is kind of a mess, but I still think there's enjoyment to be had. It's meant to be more of an "action" game, where you try to outrun the enemy. It's also why I added those dogs that alert the enemy to your location, to have more things going on, though I'm still not sure if that was a good or bad idea.
I still find myself replaying it from time to time, getting chased by the Adlet is surprisingly fun. Frankly, I'm surprised this game turned out as well as it did.
I'm actually thinking of doing a sequel of sorts, but not sure yet if that one will still be in RPG maker or a more suitable engine (probably the latter). Once again, thanks for your review!
As for the wolves chasing you, the tutorial at the start explains to you how it works. Basically, when they spot you, an exclamation mark appears above their head for a second or two and after it disappears, they start chasing you. At this point, they move perfectly and you can't shake them off, you either have to reach an exit from the area or just run.
After a few seconds of running, they stop, allowing you to gain distance again and the Frustrated icon appears above their head. After it disappears, they resume the chase, but for a much shorter time and they no longer have pathfinding, meaning you can trap them behind obstacles and walls and such. After this part, they stop again and a question mark appears above their head. When it vanishes, the game checks if they can detect (same as if they are walking around). If they can, chase resumes from the start. If they can't, the chase ends and they resume patroling.
Basically, what you are meant to do if you get detected by one of them is immediatelly run away in the opposite direction (the exclamation mark pause helps you gain some distance), until the question mark appears above their head, then stay still and ideally not in the direction they are facing. Running them around obstacles such as the bookshelves in the library or the desks in the classrooms is particularly effective, but even open spaces allow you to do this and there's some tolerance for mistakes. I nerfed them several times, though it's hard to gauge difficulty on your own when you know everything about how they work.
Their detection is based primarily on sound. It's far from ideal and in hindsight, it would be better to have another behavior where they first go check the area instead of immediatelly starting to chase you. I actually also played it by mostly sprinting everywhere and just outrunning them if they detected me. The game is probably more fun that way.
The tutorial explaining this is basically a text dump, I agree with that. Probably the reason why you didn't understand how exactly the detection and chases work. It could definitely be done better, which I will do in any future games like this.
Yeah, it wasn't meant to be particularly "scary". More like a silly B-movie horror at most. It was basically a way for me to introduce that Sedna myth to the rest of the participants in the Kill the Cutie event (since it seemed like basically the perfect thing for it) and also to try out implementing stealth and chase mechanics on my own (there were no real plugins for that at the time, so I just had to do with event commands and script calls). The result is kind of a mess, but I still think there's enjoyment to be had. It's meant to be more of an "action" game, where you try to outrun the enemy. It's also why I added those dogs that alert the enemy to your location, to have more things going on, though I'm still not sure if that was a good or bad idea.
I still find myself replaying it from time to time, getting chased by the Adlet is surprisingly fun. Frankly, I'm surprised this game turned out as well as it did.
I'm actually thinking of doing a sequel of sorts, but not sure yet if that one will still be in RPG maker or a more suitable engine (probably the latter). Once again, thanks for your review!
aquatorrent
5697
I think it's almost impossible to last until the next phase without triggering other wolves, which is might be the reason why i didn't know that there is a second phase. I agree that it might be caused by the text dump in the tutorial though.
The stealth mechanic was good, but i'm more used to the ones with vision cones rather than sounds. It might give more addition to the enemy patterns too. I can't remember much about the dog (and the game in general since it's been a while since i played it), but if it is the one that suddenly appears when you step on it, it could be added better. Maybe make them roam around like the wolves somehow. I like the variety though.
That sounds nice. Thanks for making the game as well. Wish you a good luck in making the sequel!
The stealth mechanic was good, but i'm more used to the ones with vision cones rather than sounds. It might give more addition to the enemy patterns too. I can't remember much about the dog (and the game in general since it's been a while since i played it), but if it is the one that suddenly appears when you step on it, it could be added better. Maybe make them roam around like the wolves somehow. I like the variety though.
That sounds nice. Thanks for making the game as well. Wish you a good luck in making the sequel!
Beregon
3527
author=aquatorrent
I think it's almost impossible to last until the next phase without triggering other wolves, which is might be the reason why i didn't know that there is a second phase. I agree that it might be caused by the text dump in the tutorial though.
The stealth mechanic was good, but i'm more used to the ones with vision cones rather than sounds. It might give more addition to the enemy patterns too. I can't remember much about the dog (and the game in general since it's been a while since i played it), but if it is the one that suddenly appears when you step on it, it could be added better. Maybe make them roam around like the wolves somehow. I like the variety though.
That sounds nice. Thanks for making the game as well. Wish you a good luck in making the sequel!
You are probably right. And after watching two playthroughs of this, I think that a part of the problem is that right at the start, you figure out that simply leaving the map is enough to get them off you and with the possible second adlet or maybe a keelut, you don't try anything different, since just fleeing the area works well enough and thus you don't discover that you can otrun them without leaving the map (and it's actually not very hard, especially in the classroom and library). The tutorial spells it out, but people tend to miss things like that. Though finding the nearest exit and leaving the map is certainly a valid strategy, depending on when they detect you and how many mistakes you made, it could be the only way to avoid damage.
Tbh, they do have "vision cones", they detect you more easily if they are looking in your direction, but I had made the distance dependent on your movement, since I couldn't really figure out how to make them unable to detect you behind walls (or atleast reduce the distance if you are behind walls). Hopefully that won't be an issue in a sequel.
As for the picture in the review, yeah, they move while you talk. There's no easy way to do it otherwise in RPG maker I don't think, atleast with the way I've made them. I've placed the NPC spawn locations to spots where they don't normally wander and they shouldn't detect you while you are talking with them since their detection range doesn't go that far (there was one spot where it wasn't the case, but I've fixed it). Due to the way they work, it's actually possible to get away from them while talking with an NPC without damage. Simply dismiss the text box right when they get the question mark above their head and you will be able to get good amount of distance between them and yourself before they start chasing you. They can't actually hurt you while a text box is on the screen.
For the black dogs (keeluts), there's only ever one on a map at a time, they stay in one place for about 15 seconds, then appear somewhere else. They alert the adlet to your location if you get too close to them. Having them move on their own is a good idea, I'm actually thinking about having them appear only when you are below a certain health percentage in the sequel (since they are supposed to be an omen of impending death and prey upon the dying).
No problem, hope you've enjoyed the game (from your review it seems that you've atleast enjoyed the chases and maybe even the "stealth" somewhat). Thanks for the review!
aquatorrent
5697
yeah, i also think that leaving the map is enough since that's the strategy that works for the first time so i didn't bother to try other strategy. besides, i don't want to risk running away to places that i haven't discovered yet in case i run to other wolves (and run out of stamina as a result).
by vision cones i actually mean the visible one, hahah. i didn't know that they have vision cones though.
don't worry, i enjoyed the game, especially on the last part. your idea for showing the keelut when the health is low in the sequel is also a nice idea.
by vision cones i actually mean the visible one, hahah. i didn't know that they have vision cones though.
don't worry, i enjoyed the game, especially on the last part. your idea for showing the keelut when the health is low in the sequel is also a nice idea.
Beregon
3527
author=aquatorrent
yeah, i also think that leaving the map is enough since that's the strategy that works for the first time so i didn't bother to try other strategy. besides, i don't want to risk running away to places that i haven't discovered yet in case i run to other wolves (and run out of stamina as a result).
by vision cones i actually mean the visible one, hahah. i didn't know that they have vision cones though.
don't worry, i enjoyed the game, especially on the last part. your idea for showing the keelut when the health is low in the sequel is also a nice idea.
Yeah, I get that, though Endurance only ever goes down in the one outdoor map and regenerates inside. I understand the wolf thing though it's very much possible to outrun both, though it gets pretty hectic :D Glad you like the last part, even though it didn't actually have Amarok physically chasing you. We'll see next time :)
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