The Dink Network

Stone of Balance

June 18th, 2003
v2.14b
Score : 9.8 exceptional
fish.gif
Binirit
Peasant She/Her
 
Sob

Storyline: Dink has to travel to different worlds in other to put together the Stone of Balance which holds the world into balance.

Map and graphics: The map is good. It is not beautifully decorated, but al that you need is on it. Other D-mod authors who do not make any new graphics, have to be inventive to do new things with old graphics, but clearly the author of this D-mod did not need to worry about that since there are many, many new graphics that are outstanding: sprites, backgrounds, weapons and magic. So that is why I think this map is good, but not outstandingly good decorated since there is a difference between making graphics and decorating a map.
I already saw a lot of graphics in screenshots and graphic packs, so perhaps that is why I was most impressed by the simple tumbleweeds. They really give this impression of a desert where the wind is blowing and the way they seem to hesitate a while on the hills before they continue is really very good.

Music: The music is fair to good and suits the different kind of situations, but is not outstanding. Some music started to irritate me after a while, such as in the maze, whereas the music in the desert is not really music you expect in a desert.

Good: The one thing I like most about this D-mod is that you get different reactions or different hints from different characters depending on what part of the story you are in. For example, if you are asked to find a lost girl, you can talk to everybody in that town and they will say something about the lost girl. If you have found the girl and you talk to the people again, they will say how nice it is that you have found her. And that interaction part is worked out throughout the entire game and it is something I like very much. Nothing is so boring to get the same reaction from a character whether you still have to find the girl, looking for a hint or having found her already –that is what some other D-mods lack, but that this D-mod excels in.
Another thing I particularly liked about this D-mod is that everything is worked out so well. If Dink goes on a boat ride, you do not just get warped to next spot, but you actually see him in the boat and you also see the boat actually moving. Things you have to imagine in other D-mods, you get to see in this one.
And the third thing I loved about this D-mod is that it is a very elegant D-mod: everything is correct, in what people say and do and what you see on the map. It just all fits together, just like the different pieces of the 'Stone of Balance' do that Dink has to find.

Not so good: The option 'maximum life' from the genie froze the game. And I could not use the pick on the graves to get the skull.
The emphasis on sex gets a bit boring after a while; it seems that everything can be solved with sex in this game – and the fact that a lot of woman that Dink saves, immediately want to have sex with him is wishful thinking.
You have to walk very, very long distances over and over again between certain spots and that gets tedious very quickly.
It is often not clear what to do as you have to figure out for yourself what to do instead of getting useful hints - and if you do get any hint, a lot of times you can not tell it is a hint since it very vague. This is why you wander and wonder aimlessly in certain places.

Overall: An outstanding D-mod.

Fit for: Everybody who wants to have hours and hours of adventuring!