I wanted to call this post "First Contact First Impressions," but it came off sounding strange. As I'm sure most of you know, the first episode of My Little Pony Online (a little misleading, given that it's currently a single-player download) was released just yesterday. I've played through a part of the game, and found a few amusing glitches along the way. Check out the rundown after the break!
Initial problems with downloading the game have been mostly resolved: I was able to successfully run the installer through the zip file, which their web site currently recommends. Other modes of download can be found here, although the direct download may be unmanageable for those with slower internet connections and the torrent resulted in a crashy installer on my computer.
The crew of MLP: Online has released a handy tutorial here for those new to the game. To their credit, the game interface is intuitive and is easy to master with or without it.
The game opens with a strange explosion, jolting Twilight Sparkle out of her slumber on an otherwise quiet night in Ponyville. Before running outside to investigate, press the 'E' key to highlight nearby objects available for inspection and check out the various books in Twilight's home for some hidden buffs.
After finishing the royal guard cutscene, I came to the conclusion that I might have downloaded a buggy older version of the game. I encountered a few weird texture glitches (see below) and a variety of places where I could warp partially through objects on the screen. I managed to crash the game twice (warning: do not click on dialogue options marked "DEBUG" before saving) and ended up unable to finish the demo.
While I might have simply obtained bad files, I find a twisted pleasure in exploiting terrain glitches. Unfortunately, a review won't be forthcoming until I've gotten to the bottom of the problem - but until then, have some screenshots!
The installer, loading menus and intro sequence are all very professional. Perhaps it has nothing to do with the game's current level of development, but it's a good omen for the future.
Diagonal walking sprites... for everypony!
Unfortunately, you can't actually get up here except by walking behind the scenery and taking advantage of a faulty z-order bug.
Vinyl Scratch is into some quality tunes. She'd fit right in here.
Apple Cobbler's got an impressively well-defined personality in this game. Overall, the dialogue I encountered was very clever and enjoyable.
Suddenly, Discord.
These seem to be all of the dialogue vectors included in the game's resources. At the least, it's a heads up of who we'll get to talk to later in the game.
Things just got worse from here...
Well, what did you think of the game? Tell me in the comments!
