The Dink Network

Once a Hero

This Dink has never seen a bonca before. From the COTPATD project.
April 13th, 2006
Demo
Score : 9.4 exceptional
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Once A Hero (DEMO) by SabreTrout.

What I liked:
The story is a classical fantasy-like development; a simple boy spending time with his friend, running errands for various people, explores an old and familiar cave with his friend. After trying for years all of a sudden they are able to move a rock, thereby revealing a secret passage. Then they find, after some fairly easy fighting, some ancient tomes containing unknown spells. After sleeping, Dink discovers that everyone has disappeared, and he sets out to discover the world.

The map is great. I like a lot of treasures - which there weren't - and a lot of places to go - which there are. A nice mix of different landscapes and stuff.

Monsters were great, especially the spiders. Very nice! I wonder what effect the Fireball would have had (scorching - hint hint!)?

Nice talking to all the different characters. They always know that you've talked to them before.

What I didn't like:
I missed the magic! In a fantastic setting like this I really 'needed' the Fireball spell to burn down all these trees, not to speak of all the monsters that needed cooking!

I REALLY would have like for the story to continue when Dink's stepped out to take a walk and tells him that he cannot come. Great moment of suspense!

The story is a bit linear for my taste; you need to talk to specific characters and do specific things in a certain order, otherwise the story doesn't really go anywhere.

The 'spider-counter' (if there is such a thing) doesn't work flawlessly. I cleared a few screens of spiders, saving in between. Then I died a couple of times and decided I needed more strength, so I walked away to fight some more. When later I returned to the farm, the spiders were back in the screens I already cleared and after killing these again, I got the message that the farm was free of spiders. But I'm sure there were some left, in particular around the farmhouse.

Overall:
A real teaser! I cannot wait for the complete (Epic?) game. This all promises a lot. Please, SabreTrout, could you and would you?!?!