Tampilkan postingan dengan label Adventure. Tampilkan semua postingan
Tampilkan postingan dengan label Adventure. Tampilkan semua postingan

Selasa, 22 Desember 2015

War of Harmony Platformer Beta


A mechanics experiment by the creator of the War of Harmony series, this game has no plot and is still a bit rough around the edges, but it's worth check out if only to give the creator some feedback. That being said, the creator is currently on hiatus. Either way, nothing to put after the break. Download's up above, creator's tumblr is here.

Also hey look I'm still alive. Hi everyone.

Selasa, 15 Desember 2015

Review: Stroll


I know what you're thinking: "A Pinkie Pie Platformer? I've played hundreds of those. Give it a rest, already." Well, hold your horses, so to speak. Just recently, Silly Mare Games released Stroll, which strives for an artsy, open-world feel rather than following in the hoofsteps of the rest of the genre. Does it find a successful niche, or is it just a bunch of walking around? You know where to click.



In the first few minutes of playing the game, I was struck by two things. First off, the game sounds like something you might play to fall asleep: rather than the customary bouncy electro remixes of pony songs, you're greeted by soft hoofsteps, mellow nature sounds, and the whistling wind. Walking around is a relaxing experience. However, I was initially a little put off by suddenly being dropped into the sandbox - I'm the kind of gamer who purposefully walks through a dungeon picking out the tunnels least likely to be the correct path, so I can make sure I haven't missed anything before continuing. Massive open worlds are intimidating.

After walking along for a few minutes, I began to get bored. I'd already found one of the ponies hidden in the game world, and I wasn't sure what to do next. The scenery was quickly becoming repetitive, and I had already been confronted by a couple of dead ends. If you're a fan of rapid-fire action games, this is probably not your cup of tea. 

Lyra doesn't sleep the way one might expect her to.

Then, after scrambling my way up a mountainside and between several precarious floating platforms, I was rewarded with another hidden pony. At this point, the game's central mechanic became clear: find your way into the game's most secluded spots, and you'll be rewarded with ponies and other secrets. Now that I'd determined my challenge, I was hooked.

There are 11 ponies, and several more easter eggs, hidden around the surprisingly expansive map. Although there's nary a cutscene, the trek from Ponyville through the Everfree forest to the outskirts of Canterlot still feels like a journey. For those of you  who like more low-key adventuring, this game provides a meditative experience: I certainly didn't expect to spend as long with it as I did, although I'm not disclosing the amount of time.

Here's the bottom line: this game doesn't possess universal appeal, and some of you will quickly find you'd rather spend time on something else. However, it's unique among the fan games I've played, and I expect it to win itself many charmed fans. Final verdict: 7/10.


Sabtu, 21 November 2015

Review: Adventure Ponies 2

A gameplay screenshot of Adventure Ponies 2.
Adventure Ponies 2

 Somehow this review ended up getting delayed for nearly three weeks, partially due to a nasty headache on the day it was supposed to be written that caused it to be pushed back further and further until now; so as I sat at my desk and waited for everyone else to wake up, it seemed prudent to finally get this out of the way so I can get on to reviewing other stuff (such as the final version of MegaPony). Fair enough?

Following standard procedure, the review can be found after the break.


 For the most part it's fair to assume that when a video game sequel comes out, it will contain at least some improvements over the original. In this case, however, you'd be wrong. Adventure Ponies 2 is basically a buggier re-skinning of the first game with secondary characters instead of the Mane 6, terrible new levels, and really boring bosses. I almost wish I didn't have to stretch this out to fill an entire review, but since that's what you folks expect of me, here it goes...

 Somewhere along the line, somebody in the Hub's game development team fell in love with the colour brown and married it, not knowing that he was entering a polygamous relationship with the vast majority of generic "real is brown" shooters. He then proceeded to proclaim his love for his new wife by creating a game about her, and slapped ponies onto it so everybody would see it. Gone are the colourful backgrounds of Adventure Ponies, so you'd better get used to wading through stage after stage of boring brown badness. The only "upside" to this is that the objects on the stages stand out against the bland backgrounds, but that doesn't really help things.

Another gameplay screenshot.
Spikes and balloons are not a good combination.
 Meanwhile, the game is glitchier than ever, to the point where many people have been either completely unable to start it up or ended up with a screen displaying assets (??). Occasionally I've managed to get ponies frozen on the spikes and unable to get off, resulting in their death aside from one notable incident where I somehow managed to clip through the floor after hitting a spike. There was also an incident where a teleporter refused to work, and one of our most frequent commenters has mentioned that perfecting a bonus room can result in the camera getting stuck. I haven't been able to test that one out to see if it has been fixed or not, but regardless you should still be prepared for almost anything while playing.


 So are there any improvements over the original? Well...yes, there is at least one that I can think of. The controls, while still rather weird, aren't nearly as aggravatingly slippery as they used to be, resulting in fewer cheap deaths overall. Thing is, the rest of the game is so dull that you probably won't even notice or care that much. Since there are much better fangames out there already, I'd advise that you leave this one alone and play MegaPony or something.

3/10 Gilda Grade

...I was going to write a large paragraph on how the decrease in quality from Adventure Ponies 1 to 2 paralleled that of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic over the same period of time, but I won't bother for now.

Sabtu, 07 November 2015

Adventure Ponies 2

Adventure Ponies 2

 As an extremely pleasant surprise, The Hub has released a sequel to their Adventure Ponies Flash game from 2012. If all goes well I should have a full review for the game up at some point tomorrow (because starting a review at 7 PM would be pushing it a little), but in the meantime I hope you folks enjoy the game!

...Is it just me, or is this the first My Little Pony game ever to feature more male characters than female?

Kamis, 05 November 2015

Super Lesbian Horse RPG Update


 For those of you who don't follow Bobby Schroeder's tumblr, you may be wondering how SLHRPG is coming along, so he created this Youtube video to give you folks some incentive to visit it more often. Most of the progress updates are too short to be posted here (for example, a recent series detailed his work on a particular rock sitting in the forest), but at least Bobby is being fairly open about the development process when compared to most of the other fangames I've seen which get this far, since they tend to be relatively silent for the most part.

So...yeah. You can follow Super Lesbian Horse RPG's development here.



*waits for DialgaBrite to complain about me posting this again*

Sabtu, 31 Oktober 2015

Demo: The Underworld's Cello 2.0


Note: This game contains a few mature themes, as well as some crude gore.

 Are you enjoying Halloween so far? No? Let's do something about that. Octavia in The Underworld's Cello is a point-and-click adventure game made by Herooftime1000 wherein two ponies get lost in an old mansion. Within, you'll find puzzles, alchemy, and even a few card games. The content present is a lot of fun, and the game seems to take inspiration from old LucasArts point-and-clicks in every aspect of presentation.

 Though the game is unfinished, the current content is more than enough for a good evening of fun and jump scares, as long as you make sure to save often. The puzzles present are great fun, and the mechanics help to add a lot of depth to the gameplay, though occasionally an item seemed to vanish upon pickup with a full inventory.

Review: Moonstuck Part 2

The Moonstuck title screen
Moonstuck Part 2

 So...Moonstuck. Quite possibly the fandom's most beloved webcomic, Moonstuck managed to win the hearts of many with its adorable main character and unique art style while it lasted. After it ended on November 4th in 2012, SylrePony decided to adapt the comic into a isometric fangame, the first part of which he released in March. Our reviewer Arctic Lux gave it an 8/10, and all seemed well and good, but now that the second part has been released and he's not around it seems that it is time for my take on the second entry.

Does this unofficial Moonstuck adaption live up to the charm of its namesake? Find out after the break.


 Now, it has always struck me as an extremely strange decision for SylrePony to adapt Moonstuck as a top-down game, given the puzzle-centric nature of the comic. Perhaps he was getting desperate for an excuse to make an isometric game in Flash, and this method would give him the most exposure out of all his available option, but regardless I'm still kind of weirded out.

 Moonstuck Part 2 begins with a dream sequence inside the observatory, in which the player can either go through a tutorial or a weird "dev" area. The inclusion of the latter is somewhat amusing, but probably not a very good idea since it means the player can skip the tutorial section and thus miss out on a very useful spell that will make your life much easier. After setting sail on an odd-looking boat, you wake up from your nap and things start go to downhill quite rapidly.
A gameplay screenshot for Moonstuck Part 2 involving fake bubbles.
Dumb...rocks? Moon bubbles?
 You see, Moonstuck's gameplay consists mostly of wandering around rather bare environments with little idea as to where you are going or what is happening in relation to the plot. On rare occasions you are given a "break" from this monotony by tedious rock smashing and sphere-pushing sessions, which doesn't really help very much at all. Did I mention that in certain puzzles, messing up means walking a long ways back to the previous room, waiting for it to load, then going back and starting all over again? It transforms would-be simple problems into long, drawn-out affairs that quickly get on the player's nerves.


...There isn't much more to say, really, because there isn't much to praise or criticize Moonstuck part 2 for. It's just dull monotony for the entire ride, like taking a road trip during a drought in Saskatchewan, with nothing but dry, flat ground for hundreds of miles. The project's only saving grace is the engine, which looks fairly promising and doubtless could be used for far more interesting projects.

3/10 Gilda Grade

 To be honest, I feel kind of bad for SylrePony. He's a pretty talented person, but everybody slips up once in a while. Perhaps he'll fix up the game's issues in a future update, and then it should be well-worth revisiting.

Jumat, 30 Oktober 2015

Octavia in the Underworld's Cello

The Underworld's Cello (fixed)

 So I knew that I was going to be posting about at least one adventure game today, but to be quite honest with you I was rather surprised when I opened up my deviantART notifications and found a demo for a first-person point & click adventure game right before my eyes. It stars Octavia (duh) and Vinyl, as they venture into a dilapidated mansion after following some poorly-written directions to a Nightmare Night party, and yes, it does run splendidly in Wine once you install dsound. Thing is, it is quite a bit darker than your average pony adventure game, although the fact that it's being released so close to Halloween probably explains that.

Heh heh heh...



...this should be fun to review once it comes out.

Kamis, 29 Oktober 2015

Moonstuck the Game Part 2

A gameplay screenshot of Moonstuck the Game Part 2


 Two days ago SylrePony finally released a sequel to his Moonstuck game project from March 2013. It probably look so long because he's been working on Drifter alongside several other folks, but now that it's been released he probably has more time to make games and whatnot, which is kind of nice because as we've mentioned before, there's been a severe lack of My Little Pony fangames this year. Ah well, at least things seem to be picking up a little bit again, right?

Dun worry, I'll review this tomorrow after I've had some sleep. Goodnight!


Senin, 26 Oktober 2015

Review: Doomsday Ascending Part 1

Doomsday Ascending Part 1
Doomsday Ascending Part 1 (NSFW!)
Warning: the game contains Rule 34 imagery, although viewing them is optional.

 Videogame adaptions of fan fiction is quite rare, and for a good reason. As can be discovered by simply picking up a story at random from FIMFiction the vast majority of them are quite lousy, and Doomsday Ascending was no exception. It has no redeeming qualities, and unfortunately falls more on the mediocre side of the scale which means that it isn't quite as amusing to read as, say Winnie the Pooh Assimilated by the Borg. The author, Jerry "Bhaalspawn" Peet, was apparently so full of himself that he decided to create an RPG based off of his cliche storm of a fanfic, and claimed that it used a "heavily modified" version of the RPG Maker VX Ace engine.

  If you have been paying attention you've probably realized by now that this game is going to suck, but just how bad is Doomsday Ascending? The only way to find out other then playing it is to read our review, and you can do so by continuing on after the break.


  In Doomsday Ascending the player will switch between controlling two main characters: Twilight Sparkle and the original character Ascentia Kortai who is a humanoid alien that destroys worlds. Apparently the twin Princesses have gained their power by draining Equestria's magic dry, and Ascentia figures that the most convenient way to solve this is by mucking about and killing everypony. Basically the entire game is just wandering around aimlessly, talking to ponies and deciding whether to "embody" (spare) them or "break" them, the latter of which involves either mind-controlling them or destroying them utterly and unlocking some Rule 34 of that character. In my opinion the only part of Doomsday Ascending that can remotely be called "gameplay" is the two turn-based combat sequences, but both instances were just as uninspired and dull as the rest of the game.

A battle scene.
"Hey guise look at me I'm defeating goddesses lol"
  While the graphics and music are not the most important parts of the game they still do play a part, and by the looks of it Bhaalspawn didn't really put much work into it at all, instead choosing to rip all his assets from other games/artists without even bothering to credit them in the files. The tileset is one of the default RPG Maker VX Ace tilesets included in the box, as are all of the non-pony character sprites. He even somehow managed to end up giving his main character a portrait that looks nothing at all like her field sprite! As the MST3K cast would say, "They just didn't care!". The game is filled with stuff like this. Backtracking in certain areas can cause cutscenes to loop, towns are filled with inaccessible buildings with open doors, unclear quests, human clothes in pony shops, etc. The list goes on and on, and if I pointed out every little detail where the team messed up this review would be longer then In the Beginning was the Command Line.

  This game was bad enough already, but adding pony porn was the last straw. This is yet another sad example of the mentality that "mature stuff is better" where people throw in adult content in hopes of somehow magically making their product better and attracting more players. There are other, more potent ways of rewarding evil deeds ingame, but just slapping Celestia's butt on the screen after the player kills her just makes the creator of this trainwreck look childish and immature. Besides, how would Ascentia even access the R34 anyhow? It's not like Applejack carries around smutty images of herself...right?

"KILL HER AND STEAL HER PORN!!!"

 In conclusion, Doomsday Ascending was a terrible, boring mess of a game and I do not recommend playing it. Bhaalspawn claims he "takes weird or unrealistic ideas, blow them entirely out of proportion, and demand that fun times be had without any thought towards sense". Unfortunately for him neither his stories or his games are remotely enjoyable, and he writes characters that are flatter then a board. My advice to him? Turn off his computer and find something else to do that doesn't involve wasting other people's time, like getting a job. At least his game could have been so bad that it became a fun experience, but he flunked again there too and created what is without the doubt the dullest and least interesting fangame I have ever found.

2/10

What's that? He made another fangame too? It can't possible be worse then this...right?

Kamis, 22 Oktober 2015

Colors Of Time


Hang on, Discord's stopped time. That's rarely, if ever, a good thing. Right now, JCity's Colors of Time is a fairly short, basic platformer - however, its mechanics are nicely polished and the art very pretty for a 48-hour game jam. He's hinted that he may continue the project in the future - I, for one, would love to see it blossom into something unique. Link to the MLGJ page above!

Rabu, 21 Oktober 2015

Corruption


You guys never cease to amaze me. Complete with custom animation, creepy musical styling, and some slightly mind-bending visuals, The Oddwarg's Corruption is certainly one of the most colorful games to come out of My Little Game Jam. It's a little shorter than what I'd normally review, and borders on creepypasta, so I held off from grading it. Find the rundown after the break!


To be honest, the level styling of Corruption reminds me a lot of the Luna Games, which I'm a huge fan of. Using keyboard controls to move while controlling a magically levitated lantern with the mouse, the player attempts to guide Twilight through a shadowy underground maze. 

The unique art style and enveloping nature of the game mask the fact that there's not a lot of discernible story. There are a few clues - Discord smirks at you before the game launches, and Celestia greets you with Smarty Pants after the game's conclusion, but overall, the plot is indecipherable. 

However, I can't really fault a chaos-themed game for confusing me. I won't spoil the penultimate scene with a screenshot - rather, I'll leave you with the knowledge that I found it awesome and that it borders on creepypasta. 

Lots of insanity, and then... this. Well, that was anti-climactic - perhaps there's a secret ending?

The game might have begun to bore me had it dragged on longer - however, it was short enough that the mechanics remained fun. Aside from using your lantern to prevent Twilight from falling into numerous pits, variety was found in moving glowing balls and platforms to solve puzzles within the cave.

Overall, I think this game could go far if expanded - there's certainly a lot of unique potential here. Or maybe I'm just a sucker for creepypasta. Either way, it's quick and certainly worth playing!

Xtux's note: despite the author's claims you can run this game on Mac OS X by downloading the latest version of Java from http://java.com/en/download/mac_download.jsp and not through the Software Update utility.

Senin, 12 Oktober 2015

Cutie Mark Crusade Demo Release


                                                    Download Here! 
Hi everypony!

Development team Manestream Games has unveiled the demo to their new game Cutie Mark Crusade: A Dash of Adventure.  This is a point-and-click game starring-who else-the Cutie Mark Crusaders.  The art style is very detailed and accurate to the show, and the gameplay shows a lot of promise, even at this early stage.  However, this is just a concept demo so it's far from the final product.  If you enjoy it and want to support the team, follow them on Facebook or Twitter.  If you have any critiques, Manestream encourages you to let them know, so post on either of those or send them an email at info@manestreamgames.com.  Check it out now!


Jumat, 02 Oktober 2015

Luna's Quest Help Needed!

Luna's Quest
Surprisingly enough adventure games are a rarity in this fandom, and until recently the only existing MLP adventure game was the stunning Cutie Mark Crusade: A Dash of Adventure (which has sadly been put on hold). Thankfully this one bloke and his sister decided to do something about it and created an adventure game titled Luna's Quest with the Adventure Game Studio engine. Together they managed to complete a decent portion of the game along with some rather impressive pixel art for the cutscenes, but it turns out that the workload is too great and apparently they could use a couple pixel artists to help with the level backgrounds and field sprites. If you are interested in helping then send  them an email over at mariobud@gmail.com.

Part of me wanted to include this in the last Lyra's List, but then I realized that it was far enough into development to warrant its own post. Have an outdated gameplay video after the break!



The very first ingame room. Note the changes in the character sprite from the most recent version.

Senin, 14 September 2015

Questria


Questria

The vast majority of our fandom's fangames are in 2D, and for good reason. Ponies in general look much better when drawn in two dimensions then in three unless some performance-taxing cell shaders are applied. Even then they don't look quite as good as some would hope, but alas, some game types are nigh impossible to create without 3D graphics. Is Questria one of these games? No. Many a hack 'n slash RPG has been made with hand-drawn sprites but this game refuses to use anything but 3D. Does it work? As you can see from the above trailer...not really. The ponies look rather unconvincing up close but thankfully the game's top-down perspective hides this most of the time. Questria still needs a lot of work, but if all goes well it shall hopefully develop into a wonderful little multiplayer RPG to play with your friends.

We saved the actual gameplay video for the space after the break to scam more pageviews out of you. Aren't we mean?



No, we are not being mean. We just wish to reduce the absurd amount of scrolling that one would have to do if there was no pagebreak. Good day!

Kamis, 10 September 2015

Twilight Sparkle RPG (Working title) Video Demo and Public Alpha 1.0


This video is the third in the series chronicling the development of Fluttershy77's sandbox pony rpg. Although a ways from publication, the project shows promise - future development plans include a fully playable map of Equestria! Hit up the video above, and give the alpha a play to get a feel for the project. Then, if you're interested, give him a shout - he's on the lookout for spriters. 

Minggu, 30 Agustus 2015

Text Adventures: My Little Time Killer/Welcome to Dream Valley


Text adventures? Why not? It's been a lazy week so far - two today to stave off the August blues.

My Little Time Killer takes place aboard a space station (see, the header image is at least tangentially relevant) and the goal is to fill time and stave off boredom between the station's many conveniences. Fortunately, between the holodeck, simulated combat system, growing crops, and chatting up your fellow astronauts, there's plenty to do. (Caution: Shipping and a little T-rated humor.)

Welcome to Dream Valley is currently abandoned, but like its sibling features a full combat system and is significantly more complicated than your run-of-the-mill text adventure. Playing as a Unicorn, Pegasus, Earth Pony, or Unicorn, hone your skills while exploring Dream Valley!

Rabu, 26 Agustus 2015

MLP: Rise of Vicis Demo

Download it Here!
Demos, demos everywhere. Speaking of demos, here's the demo for MLP: Rise of Vicis by Negation Squared Productions, which was released some time ago to give us a sense of how the game will work. Rise of Vicis is an expansive adventure/platformer game currently in the works, and in this demo, you get a chance to play as each of the Mane 6, each with their own unique mechanics, on their way to a picnic thrown by Pinkie Pie.

This game, made in GameMaker 8, definitely has promise. The plan for Rise of Vicis is very expansive, spanning eight worlds as the Mane 6 seek to regain their cutie marks and defeat the titular villain, Vicis. All in all, it's a nice demo, but the real meat of the game is still to come. You can check out a bit more about the project in development on their Facebook page.

Minggu, 23 Agustus 2015

Review: Drifter



Silly Mare Games, SylrePony and others have joined forces, attempting to synthesize the best elements from several of their previous games. Drifter's a spiritual successor to Stroll and Derpy Buddy, among others, and comes from some of the same folks currently working on the Nightfall project.

Derpy Hooves must travel to the ends of the earth, and if you want to find out why, you'll have to lead her there. Find the review after the break!



If you're familiar with Drifter's precursors, you'll know not to expect points, combo multipliers, or other forms of rapid gratification from this game. However, while Drifter's certainly centered on artsy ambiance, it swings a little more toward the goal-driven side of things. Character maintenance is relatively important: Derpy's health, happiness, and energy levels must be maintained by eating food, meeting ponies, and taking regular naps. However, these stats generally don't warrant attention, as Derpy eats when she stops moving and sleeps when her energy bar falls to zero (although you'll take a small happiness penalty.)

As in Stroll, the goal of the game is to discover the various ponies hidden throughout the landscape. However, when you come upon them, they don't just sit there - instead, they'll disappear into the night after giving you a unique perk. Although the game doesn't tell you directly how Derpy's skill set has improved, names like "Double Food Perk" and "Half Fatigue Perk" are fairly self-explanatory.

Rather than controlling Derpy directly, the player must lead her around by moving the camera and waiting for her to follow. Although this can be cumbersome early in the game, once mastered it's an efficient way of moving her around - and it prevents Derpy from falling off a cliff by accident. After loading the game, make sure to locate the dot of tinted pixels in the center of your screen. That's the center of the camera, and it can't phase through walls any more than Derpy can. If the camera won't move, the central dot is usually stuck against an obstacle.


Twilight spends many a peaceful afternoon reading in the bowels of hell.

The game would be nothing without the eerie, meditative ambiance which sold me on Stroll - and fortunately, it's there in spades. It's impossible to tell whether the game's atmosphere comes from the music, the misty graphics and particle effects, or some combination of the two. My only artistic complaint is the ground texturing near the surface, which transitions awkwardly between several patterns.

The game becomes truly creepy when Derpy approaches the lair of a hunter, a mysterious creature that inhabits the game world deep underground. When you've ticked one off, the music is saturated by heavy, ominous bass beats while shafts of glaring red light herald the beast's pursuit. Fortunately, your progress is autosaved and discovered ponies serve as respawn points.

I played Drifter expecting to fault it for a confusingly large map, incoherent story-line, and repetitive gameplay, but was happily surprised. If you need an exploration aid, it's fairly easy to locate yourself by means of the included world map (at least, until you slip past the first hunters into uncharted territory.) While the game sometimes spreads itself thinly between a variety of mysteries, there were more than enough poignant moments along the way to keep my interest.

Overall, the game continuously impressed, and takes a solid place among my personal favorites. After a lengthy debate with myself, I decided on a score that, while debatable, reflects my impressions.

Sabtu, 08 Agustus 2015

Ponified Tabletopping: Ponies for Pathfinder/D2 Gaming System

http://elosande.deviantart.com/

If you've never ventured farther into the gaming fandom than ponified video games, what better time than today to check out the tabletop side of things? While Roleplaying is Magic still takes the cake for length and comprehensiveness, we've got two other pen and paper RPG adaptations today. Find them below the break!

Reminder: The Ponies for Pathfinder Kickstarter ends Saturday 8/24 at 9:24 PM UTC!


Unlike the original Ponies for Pathfinder book, which introduced ponies into a traditional fantasy world, the Ponies for Pathfinder book promises the resources to create a pony-only world, with multiple sub-races and three stages of pony civilization fleshed out.

While the book is built for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, it will also include a full stat block for inserting ponies into D&D 4e. With the kickstarter already well past its funding goal, it looks like the project will become a reality soon!

Check out a sample page here!



Even experienced tabletoppers may not have heard of the D2 Gaming System. Rather than focusing on dice-rolling and combat mechanics, D2 is designed  for character and storyline-intensive gaming, and thus lends itself easily to the world of Equestria. This module includes character modifications for several four-legged races and introduces the mechanic of moral (as opposed to physical) combat.