WizardsQuest

Intro

"WizardsQuest" or "WizardQuest" depending on if were talking about the name on the title screen or the title's listed name on RMN is a buggy platformer developed by hollowgamer using Game Maker Studio. A game so buggy that I'm not sure it's even possible to beat the game. In fact, I imagine the bug section will be the longest section of this review since there are more issues here then you can shake a stick at.

Bugs

I suppose I'll start with the worst of the bugs. In this game if you jump and land on a platform just right your character will magically disappear.



Though what constitutes the right way appears to be random. At any rate if this happens to you there is no way to kill your character or pull up the menu in order to return to the game's title screen. As a result your only option is to close down the program entirely and then reinitiate it if you wish to continue playing after this happens.

Another major issue this game is you'll sometimes just fall through the platforms. This can happen either when you land on them or when your running across them.



Though I've definitely had this issue pop up a lot more frequently while running across the top of a platform than when jumping or falling off the edge of a platform. And considering this game is full of deadly spike traps this sort of issue will usually result in an instant death.

Another annoyance in this game is that your character doesn't move with the traveling platforms. Though if this a bug or a result of programming issues is unknown to me, but it definitely feels like something that should go in the bug category. After all, the other option is this was an intentional design decision. And a pretty bad one since your average player isn't going to expect they need to walk with the platform in order to avoid falling off of it.

Another weird bug that will sometimes pop up is your character can't jump if their pressed up against the edge of a platform while standing on top of another platform. As for why this happens. My best educated guess is that your character is considered floating and has taken off the ground from running into the platform. And since this game lacks a double jump feature this causes your character to be unable to move anywhere besides backwards.

Story

I suppose there is a story on the game's summary page about how were a wizard's apprentice that is trying to save our master from an evil witch, but none of this is presented to the player in-game. Instead the player is just thrust right into the action with is both a blessing and curse in my opinion. On one hand it means you don't have to waste a bunch of time on rewatching the same old cut scenes when your forced to relaunch the game because your character phased out of existence. On the other hand it means the game itself feels like it's utterly devoid of a story.

Gameplay

"WizardsQuest" is a platformer where you increase your score while gathering up green dots while trying to avoid dying at the hands of enemy fire or coming into contact with an instant death spike. A task made harder than it needed to be because the game doesn't kick things off with a tutorial stage that explains how the various controls work. While it's pretty easy to figure out your character moves via the arrow keys. It takes a lot more effort to figure out you need to press the a button in order to active a special magical ability like throwing balls at the game's enemies or performing a super jump. Or that you rotate your power wheel using the D and S keys.

I know I sometimes complain about tutorials in RPG Maker games, but most of those game feature the standard control layout. And considering this site is named RPGMaker.net I'm of the opinion that most people know the standard controls for such engines. Though I might be a tad biased since I've played dozens upon dozens of RPG Maker games over the years. At any rate a game like this really need a tutorial.

Graphics and Music

Graphically the game is rather unappealing in my opinion since the background is filled with black clouds that look like they were made with MS Paint. And on the musical side of things the game is different, but plays the same annoying techno track on an endless loop. As a result this game really isn't that pleasant to listen to and becomes unbearable in a short amount of time.

Conclusion

The sheer amount of bugs in this game makes it impossible to give this game a high score in my opinion. After all, your probably going to lose all of your progress to an unavoidable bug like your character magically falling through a moving platform over spikes