Once a Hero
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- Author(s): SabreTrout
- Categories: D-Mod, Demo
- Downloads: 1416
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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?!?!
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?!?!
The first thing I thought when playing this demo was: Friends beyond 3? SabreTrout already mentioned that the DMOD was a bit of a 'Legend of Tenjin rip-off', and he’s right. This is seen best in the starting village where you start out pretty much the same way as you did in FB3: Being a simple boy, doing chores for your mother and spending time together with a good friend. But while FB3 was capable to create a gripping story right from the start, this DMOD wasn't. It had a good story, but it simply didn't have the same atmosphere. This was down to two different things. First of all the DMOD didn't have the same pace, this means you where less sucked into the story by continuous development of the story. The second was that the whole thing felt less... mysterious... Discovering the ancient books felt way too... normal. In my opinion the opening village of this DMOD should be made much more mystical, (slightly different use of speech would help) this could be just me though. 
Don't let this part of the review stop you from playing this DMOD though. Soon after Dink leaves his home village the atmosphere of this DMOD improves greatly. You travel the world and start to visit new villages. You start getting quests, you get the option to choose a specific class, and then... THE END. This makes this DMOD less good as a DMOD, but it makes it a great teaser.
One of the great teasing elements was the statistics menu. It displays your class and the languages you speak. This sounds like a great idea, you just can't see any of this at work in this DMOD. But it still makes me want to play the full version.
The mapping looked very good as well, and the map seems to have exactly the right size. This provides a very good mix of exploring and questing. The new graphics looked well in place as well(some where slightly too colorful in my opinion, but still). There was a deer that looked good (good death graphics as well, just a pity it's only one sequence). And there’re some spiders (same thing about the death sequences). The new statusbar looked excellent, the contrast with the rest of the screen was a bit too strong, but still it looked well.
The music was fairly good. The only problem was that some of the music in the starting village wasn't quite able to create the great atmosphere that FB3 did have. (Even though I think one of the midis is the same as in FB3.)
There where bugs in this version of the DMOD, I'm sure they will be fixed for the final version, but still it reduces it's playability as a DMOD. There's one serious hardness bug (near the end) that I can remember. I also encountered one freeze bug, and one crashbug (when talking in the bar).
-- Final verdict --
So, when we add things up it's a good teaser with a few shortcomings. I think that it has potential to become a great DMOD. In my opinion the starting village should have a more dramatic feel to it. If the DMOD's novel class system will work out (something you can't properly see in the DMOD) I will be waiting for the final version with high expectation.
Don't let this part of the review stop you from playing this DMOD though. Soon after Dink leaves his home village the atmosphere of this DMOD improves greatly. You travel the world and start to visit new villages. You start getting quests, you get the option to choose a specific class, and then... THE END. This makes this DMOD less good as a DMOD, but it makes it a great teaser.
One of the great teasing elements was the statistics menu. It displays your class and the languages you speak. This sounds like a great idea, you just can't see any of this at work in this DMOD. But it still makes me want to play the full version.
The mapping looked very good as well, and the map seems to have exactly the right size. This provides a very good mix of exploring and questing. The new graphics looked well in place as well(some where slightly too colorful in my opinion, but still). There was a deer that looked good (good death graphics as well, just a pity it's only one sequence). And there’re some spiders (same thing about the death sequences). The new statusbar looked excellent, the contrast with the rest of the screen was a bit too strong, but still it looked well.
The music was fairly good. The only problem was that some of the music in the starting village wasn't quite able to create the great atmosphere that FB3 did have. (Even though I think one of the midis is the same as in FB3.)
There where bugs in this version of the DMOD, I'm sure they will be fixed for the final version, but still it reduces it's playability as a DMOD. There's one serious hardness bug (near the end) that I can remember. I also encountered one freeze bug, and one crashbug (when talking in the bar).
-- Final verdict --
So, when we add things up it's a good teaser with a few shortcomings. I think that it has potential to become a great DMOD. In my opinion the starting village should have a more dramatic feel to it. If the DMOD's novel class system will work out (something you can't properly see in the DMOD) I will be waiting for the final version with high expectation.
Once upon a Hero (Demo) by SabreTrout
The Good: An excellent dmod (as dmods go). This Dink lives in a world where magic and monsters don’t exist (no cable either) and it isn’t until his friend (the bookworm) discovers the secret. The usual monsters appear, and not all in a big rush, with Dink wondering what they are. (I thought that was funny). Later on , while on a mission, he discovers the “spiders” and I thought they were the best monsters of them all.. The scenery was lush and the village people had something to say. The status button (S) was helpful, though I am not sure for what. Since this is only the demo, the author has promised us much more to come, and I can hardly wait!
The Bad: Hardness errors in the first village. My computer crashed or froze, depending on whom I was talking to, after “Dink’s Mother” went for a walk. Took me awhile, to find out, there was only one place to go, and after that everything went smoother. I could still walk on walls (mountain) and walk on water for abit (something I always like to try, just to see if I can)and got stuck on rocks. Lucky I save alot. Not alot of money to be found, so I was stuck with a regular sword, maybe when the game is made into the epic, more things will happen. Couldn’t hear if there was any music, as I am still using the old computer. (until the new one arrives!!)
Overall: A nice dmod demo, and I really hope this one gets finished, as the author promised. (hopefully before the year 2010 ) I have always enjoyed playing his other dmods, and am looking forward to the full version of this one.
The Good: An excellent dmod (as dmods go). This Dink lives in a world where magic and monsters don’t exist (no cable either) and it isn’t until his friend (the bookworm) discovers the secret. The usual monsters appear, and not all in a big rush, with Dink wondering what they are. (I thought that was funny). Later on , while on a mission, he discovers the “spiders” and I thought they were the best monsters of them all.. The scenery was lush and the village people had something to say. The status button (S) was helpful, though I am not sure for what. Since this is only the demo, the author has promised us much more to come, and I can hardly wait!
The Bad: Hardness errors in the first village. My computer crashed or froze, depending on whom I was talking to, after “Dink’s Mother” went for a walk. Took me awhile, to find out, there was only one place to go, and after that everything went smoother. I could still walk on walls (mountain) and walk on water for abit (something I always like to try, just to see if I can)and got stuck on rocks. Lucky I save alot. Not alot of money to be found, so I was stuck with a regular sword, maybe when the game is made into the epic, more things will happen. Couldn’t hear if there was any music, as I am still using the old computer. (until the new one arrives!!)
Overall: A nice dmod demo, and I really hope this one gets finished, as the author promised. (hopefully before the year 2010
) I have always enjoyed playing his other dmods, and am looking forward to the full version of this one.
Very cool demo. I really like the new graphics and creatures. I just hope this doesn't end up like most of the other demos by staying a demo and never becoming a full game. I had 1 freeze up but besides that found I found no errors. Loved the Star Wars bar music that played as you entered the bar. Now make it into a complete game!
