A Hint of a Tint

Introduction

A Hint of Tint was primarily created by Robert Goodwin, also known as flowerthief. The game is comprised of two modes which are story and survival. The story mode is a lite rogue-like RPG while the survival mode is a true rogue-like. Though, to access the survival mode you'll need to complete the story mode first.

Story

Unlike many rogue-likes A Hint of Tint does place a lot of emphasis on its story and manages to have a plot that is both interesting, simplistic, and convoluted all at the same time. And, yes I realize two of the descriptors are a bit contradictory, but allow me a chance to explain my position. The basic gist of the story is comparable to the Epic of Gilgamesh or the story of Noah from the Bible if you want a more commonly known flood myth. At the same time the story feels convoluted because at the heart of the story is time travel. Which means if you think too much about what is going on you'll probably begin to go cross-eyed.

This gets even worse when you think about the vampires since all of the creatures of the tail or those that possess fangs, wings, or claws in this game can only survive by drinking pink water. Even, if you want to argue that vampires feed on blood. It wouldn't save the game from this plot point considering human blood is roughly 90 percent water by volume. And, since humans can only survive on blue water our blood should be useless to the vampires. And, if that wasn't the case it would raise even more questions since you would have a race that had evolved to feed on a species that didn't even exist yet. Though, I guess you could argue the game has all kinds of nonsense going on considering all of the monsters in the game are female and can successful breed with human males. And, at this point I'm nitpicking more then I'm reviewing.

Regardless, the game saves itself from these story issues by having a well-thought out cast of characters that have clear goals and motivations. And, I'd even go so far as to say that many of the characters undergo some level of character development. Even some of the morals within the game while evil on the surface are rather reflective of real life once you look at them more carefully.

Gameplay

As I said before the game is a rogue-like RPG. So, be prepared for scavenging for items and figuring out how to use them effectively in order to defeat or outwit your opponents while suffering the least amount of damage. Though, I wouldn't be afraid to experiment around in story mode since the only punishment for dying is being respawned at the entry point of the room you most recently entered. Albeit, it can really suck if an enemy spawned in a bad location when you first entered a room.

About the only real negative I can see with the game is that its controls take a bit of getting used to, but you'll adjust in time. And the game is nice enough to give the player tutorials as they become relevant.

Graphics

In terms of visuals A Hint of Tint is rather pleasant on the eye. The various character models are obviously custom and are well designed and show that some time and effort was put into them. I'll go on to say that the dungeon tilesets are rather nice as well even if the designs within the dungeon don't match some of the darker aspects of the story, but considering the nature of the ending this may have been for the best.

Music

The sound track for this game is rather appropriate even if it isn't particularly memorable.

Conclusion

A Hint of Tint is well put together game that is easy to recommend to others. Even as someone that doesn't particularly like rogue-likes this game was highly enjoyable.