8 Bit Quest

8 Bit Quest review

Opening Statement
Amongst my search for some lesser known RPG Maker games, I came across this little gem. I found it to be a pleasant surprise as I delved into this Action Puzzle Adventure. Its strong points lie in the well designed maps, great use of 8 bit sprites and midis, and overall enjoyable gameplay. Conversely, there are some flaws that prevent the game from being better, such as quirky controls, annoying glitches, and leaving me with a feeling of expecting more.

Story: 3.5
The story is seems rather straight forward, and a bit comical, (although some of the comedy seemed a bit forced in some parts). You assume the role of Ragin, a dim-witted prisoner of King Sadras. When his daughter is kidnapped, he cuts a deal with you to get her back. You are then thrust onto an alien spacecraft of pacman style combat (mainly because of Ragin is an idiot) where you must find the princess, the King’s advisor, Alavir, and a researcher, Dr. Silvas. That being the general story, it’s nothing far out of the ordinary, and nothing too exciting. but the biggest pat of the story is the twist at the end. All I will say is that it a actually enhanced the story and definitely added to the overall enjoyment. But the end left me wanting more, as it leads into another scenario, but ends the game. all though it should be mentioned that the game mixes some Sci-Fi and Medieval themes.


Typical Anti-hero

Concept: 3.5
The concept is somewhat unique in the fact that it draws from many seemingly unrelated sources, including X-Tech’s own imagination. Combining Pacman, The Matrix, and Dragon Quest would seem like an abhorrent idea, but in 8BQ, the ideas came together nicely. Mainly because the blend of the three rely solely on the feel of Pacman, while DQ and Matrix are subtly mixed into the fabric of the game. But with a graphical quality of Dragon Quest, gameplay of Pacman, a basic story, and a small concept of the matrix, it actually comes together to create a rather enjoyable experience. I did feel as though something was missing, but I couldn’t really put my finger on it.

Graphics: 4.5
One of the shining points for this game is the great use of 8-bit graphics. There are many modern day 8 bit graphical tributes, but many of them are bad or average, mainly due to the improper use of tiles and /or clashing of graphical types. But given the type of game it is, 8-bit quest makes great use of the tiles and graphics at hand. All of the images seemed to mesh well together, and the map design was well thought out. Even the custom graphics went well with the ripped sprites. The only things that clashed were the sword power ups and the numbers outside of the doors.


One of the many levels in the game, closest to the original Pacman concept of gathering all items, this time with a time limit

Sound: 4
Another thing that I found enjoyable about the game was the use of different music from many diverse sources. From Dragon Quest to Mario to Megaman, again a seemingly bad mix of music, found itself to be well orchestrated, as each song used had a relevance to where and when it was used. You can even choose what song to play in the background of the main room.

Game Play: 3
Now down to the nitty gritty, the game play of this 8BQ is awesome but flawed at the same time. It’s like an Achilles situation. The implementation of the game is challenging, fun and well designed. There are three main types of game play, so there is not a large amount of repetition, although the main concept of most levels remains the same: collect all objects, and occasionally kill a hidden amount of enemies.


One of the 3 objectives possible, Monster Attack, requires that you gather all items and defeat a hidden number of monsters

The biggest flaw in the game was the overabundance of glitches. Twice for some unknown reason the game stopped because of a “floating score” error, forcing me to have to exit the game and reopen to continue. It also froze at the start of a mission before that. Items malfunctioning was another issue, such as the freezer NOT freezing any enemies, the sword not killing any enemies, and the controller seeming useless. Such errors and glitches made the game annoying and frustrating at times. Though almost all of the mentioned glitches fixed themselves after restarting the mission or the game itself, they drastically reduce the game play’s overall charm. I also personally found the controls were a bit quirky as I found my fingers back and forth across the keyboard at inopportune times, making some moments in the game frustrating.


The game was frozen like this, so I had to shut down the game, reopen it and do the challenge over again.

Bottom Line: 4/5

8 Bit Quest is a great game with challenging game play, nice graphic use, good choice of music. Though it had some frustrating flaws and a story that lacked closure, it is still a great game that has gone unnoticed and at least has been under rated. I recommend this to anyone who has an extra couple of minutes that they’d like a challenging retro feeling game. This game is NOT for people in search for a game on a massive scale world with lots of side-quests, real life parallels and allegories.

Scores
Story+++-*
Concept+++-
Graphics ++++-
Sound++++
Gameplay+++
*(a(+) indicates one point, while (-) indicates a half point)