The Dink Network

Dinky Dimensions 1: FIAT

A scene from the minigame The temple of air. From the COTPATD project. Dinkemon minigame. From the COTPATD project.
August 9th, 2002
v0.99j
Score : 8.3 good
death.gif
Okay, after hacking through this DMOD a couple times, finding all the secrets (painfully) and loving and detesting it at the same time, I thought "hmm...maybe I should write a review", so I will. First, I'll start out with what's good about it, and there's quite a bit...

For one, all the secrets and minigames in the mod added a degree of fun to it. (Exterminator is great) Searching for, and beating them all added a lot of replay value to the game, and made it more worthwhile. The new graphics were for the most part excellent, though some of them were just line drawings done in Paint, but that's alright, there weren't too many like that. The thing that really makes it stand out is the mass of new features and tweaks to the game that this introduces. I loved the buttstomp ability, although this also comes up as part of a major downpoint of the game. I also really liked the new spells, and the addition of elemental weapons. The bouncing airball one was my favorite. Of course, the sheer size of the mod is great, and it should take up a good number of hours to beat, especially if you're not using a walkthough. Okay, now on to the not-so-great parts of the mod.

Okay, I'll start out with the thing that annoys me the most about this mod: the sheer amount of run-across the whole world map to get this or that, then run back and do it again type puzzles. What I'm getting at is that the puzzles in this game can get horribly repetative (especially in the later elemental dungeons, most notably the fire and stone ones). Even though I've come to expect this breed of puzzle from Redink after the bomb puzzle in Lost in Dink (I believe), I still can't say I much care for them. The plot, on the whole, is not terribly interesting (it's been done before, yada yada), but the game itself makes up for that with some good humor. The other major problem with this is how the game is very unbalanced difficulty-wise. The buttstomp ability, although it's really funny, wreaks havok on enemies in the early parts of the game (swords, pah) and when you get the really powerful fists, it does again. So, basically, the first half of the game is ludicrously easy, due to the ease of defeating the enemies, and the fact that the first dungeon basically sets you up for the entire game gold-wise. The bosses, well, the first one is definitely appropriately hard, but all of the other knigts are a joke, and can be beaten when half asleep without taking any damage. Another minor complaint is the fact that there are a number of game-crashing bugs that appear here and there for some reason when you equip/use the new items and spells. It only happens occasionally, and if you save often, you should be fine.

So, overall, is it a good dmod? Definitely. Is it worth downloading? Very much so. Is it a GREAT dmod? No, fraid not. Of course, considering what else there is, FIAT is definitely one of the best things out there, despite some genuinely frustrating parts. So, therefore, despite all the negative points I made in the review, I must say 'Great Job' to Dan Walma for making this mod. It's very professionally done, if not professionally designed.

Grade:: B- to B