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307: Three Amulets Author: Iplaydink Release Date: February 14, 2010
"Yeah, this bomb bag is a open-source project."
REPUTATION NOTE: This D-Mod is one of the select group with a score of 9.0 or better (9.0) on The Dink Network.
This D-Mod is recommended in Dink Smallwood HD.
Dink has one of his rare Baggy Pants Days.
"Three Amulets" is a meaty quest about two hours long. It's notable for creative bosses and puzzles and for having quite a few original graphics. The new graphics created for this D-Mod are in a cartoony 2-D style as opposed to the 3D model-based graphics from the original game (the author would later use Blender to make 3D graphics for Dink, which I used in "Malachi the Jerk"). Of course, flat-looking 2D graphics clash somewhat with the Dink surroundings, but I liked them anyway. They're creative and fun, and they give this D-Mod its own identity. There are enough of them used that they don't end up feeling too out of place in this D-Mod, although I wouldn't try to take them and use them in other D-Mods. The only problem I had with most of these graphics was that their hardboxes were confusing. I failed to hit them when it looked like I should be hitting them, and they hit me when it looked like they weren't doing so. I lost quite a bit of health for this reason that I normally wouldn't lose.
A pack of runty wild Onix appeared!
The story is well-trod ground for the most part. Once again, the goblins are making war on humans, their fire stoked by a charismatic goblin leader. I'm pretty sure this is at least the fifth D-Mod with such a plot. The only twist here is that the goblin leader is female - a jilted admirer of Dink's, it turns out. In order to reach her castle, Dink must recover three amulets, each situated in a themed area (earth, water and forest). This sort of thing is even more standard than the goblin plot, but hey, it works. There's a reason RPGs go back to this sort of plot structure again and again - it's very functional, if not particularly inspired at this point. Some of my favorite games use similar plots.
There were some funny bits here and there. I enjoyed a well that claims it can read your mind and asks you to think of a number. You select a number, and the well repeats it back to you. "That's creepy!" says Dink. I also got a kick out of stone giants dressed in little nurse and Robin Hood outfits.
Dink is unimpressed by windows. You might say he looks upon them with woe.
"Three Amulets" handles levels differently from other D-Mods. At level up, you're given a magic token - actually, I received two upon reaching level 7. You're also given five tokens each time you beat one of the three bosses. You can use the tokens to buy stat increases or spells at a certain shop, and after beating the second boss you can do this anywhere by pressing the H key. A healing spell and a spell called "fire blast" are offered for 3 and 10 tokens, respectively. You should definitely get both of these, but go for healing first. The healing spell is disabled during boss fights (fine, but I would have liked an in-universe explanation for this), but is still incredibly useful. The fire blast spell does good damage to all enemies on screen, and it also ends up being essential.
Dink calls forth a blast of fire.
The reason fire blast is essential is that enemy defense gets ridiculous in the later part of the game. You never get a very good weapon, and you just can't do real damage to the enemies in the last few sections with attacks. The fire blast spell is the way to go. I'd recommend using all of your magic tokens after buying the spells to buy magic points.
There are a few puzzles in "Three Amulets" that I haven't seen in a D-Mod before. On a couple of occasions, you'll find a set of tiles, some of which will kill you when you step on them. The correct path can be found in another room; I imagine you're supposed to write it down, but I just took a screenshot since I'm doing that anyway. There's also a room where you have to push a rock to block the flames a pillar is throwing at you. You have to push the rock a bit at a time instead of it just moving to where it needs to be automatically; I've seen this done once or twice before, but this is the first time I think I've seen it really work in a puzzle. There's also a minigame where you stand on a conveyor belt and shoot targets with a bow. Speaking of bows, your arrows are limited and your bombs are stored in a bag, like in the Zelda games. In practice, this doesn't matter much. The bow is useless as a weapon in this D-Mod, and you can easily buy all the arrows and bombs you want anyway, since there's no other use for gold in most of the game.
The targets are fool's gold; go for the ducks.
The games in this casino are familiar, but the swank digs are without peer.
This D-Mod features an answer to those who like traversing the map quickly but think that the herb boots unbalance combat: you can earn something called shadow mode. In shadow mode (which uses the Dark Dink graphics but has a casting effect that may be new), you run fast, but can't attack or cast magic. This still ended up being useful for at least one battle where I had to dodge attacks while waiting for my magic to recharge.
The real star attraction here is the bosses. Each of them has a unique look and a distinct gameplay style that's completely different from the usual Dink battles.
The first boss is really easy - just get him to run into those boulders. I took no damage.
The second boss has tentacles that shoot at you from all sides. You have to destroy all the tentacles in order to get the eye to open up and deliver a hit.
The third boss is the only place in the game where I got stuck and had to look for help. He blocks your attacks with a wall. I easily figured out how to get rid of the wall, but you've still got to do something strange and unusual to hit him.
After how cool these bosses are, it's kind of disappointing that there isn't a real final boss. Instead, the ending sets up a sequel called "Dink's Revenge" that hasn't materialized yet as of this writing. Still, this is a pretty fun D-Mod with some unique things to offer. If you find something in it called a "truth machine," though, don't trust it.
YOUR MACHINE GENERATES ONLY LIES AND MENDACITIES, SIR.
"Yeah, this bomb bag is a open-source project."
REPUTATION NOTE: This D-Mod is one of the select group with a score of 9.0 or better (9.0) on The Dink Network.
This D-Mod is recommended in Dink Smallwood HD.
Dink has one of his rare Baggy Pants Days.
"Three Amulets" is a meaty quest about two hours long. It's notable for creative bosses and puzzles and for having quite a few original graphics. The new graphics created for this D-Mod are in a cartoony 2-D style as opposed to the 3D model-based graphics from the original game (the author would later use Blender to make 3D graphics for Dink, which I used in "Malachi the Jerk"). Of course, flat-looking 2D graphics clash somewhat with the Dink surroundings, but I liked them anyway. They're creative and fun, and they give this D-Mod its own identity. There are enough of them used that they don't end up feeling too out of place in this D-Mod, although I wouldn't try to take them and use them in other D-Mods. The only problem I had with most of these graphics was that their hardboxes were confusing. I failed to hit them when it looked like I should be hitting them, and they hit me when it looked like they weren't doing so. I lost quite a bit of health for this reason that I normally wouldn't lose.
A pack of runty wild Onix appeared!
The story is well-trod ground for the most part. Once again, the goblins are making war on humans, their fire stoked by a charismatic goblin leader. I'm pretty sure this is at least the fifth D-Mod with such a plot. The only twist here is that the goblin leader is female - a jilted admirer of Dink's, it turns out. In order to reach her castle, Dink must recover three amulets, each situated in a themed area (earth, water and forest). This sort of thing is even more standard than the goblin plot, but hey, it works. There's a reason RPGs go back to this sort of plot structure again and again - it's very functional, if not particularly inspired at this point. Some of my favorite games use similar plots.
There were some funny bits here and there. I enjoyed a well that claims it can read your mind and asks you to think of a number. You select a number, and the well repeats it back to you. "That's creepy!" says Dink. I also got a kick out of stone giants dressed in little nurse and Robin Hood outfits.
Dink is unimpressed by windows. You might say he looks upon them with woe.
"Three Amulets" handles levels differently from other D-Mods. At level up, you're given a magic token - actually, I received two upon reaching level 7. You're also given five tokens each time you beat one of the three bosses. You can use the tokens to buy stat increases or spells at a certain shop, and after beating the second boss you can do this anywhere by pressing the H key. A healing spell and a spell called "fire blast" are offered for 3 and 10 tokens, respectively. You should definitely get both of these, but go for healing first. The healing spell is disabled during boss fights (fine, but I would have liked an in-universe explanation for this), but is still incredibly useful. The fire blast spell does good damage to all enemies on screen, and it also ends up being essential.
Dink calls forth a blast of fire.
The reason fire blast is essential is that enemy defense gets ridiculous in the later part of the game. You never get a very good weapon, and you just can't do real damage to the enemies in the last few sections with attacks. The fire blast spell is the way to go. I'd recommend using all of your magic tokens after buying the spells to buy magic points.
There are a few puzzles in "Three Amulets" that I haven't seen in a D-Mod before. On a couple of occasions, you'll find a set of tiles, some of which will kill you when you step on them. The correct path can be found in another room; I imagine you're supposed to write it down, but I just took a screenshot since I'm doing that anyway. There's also a room where you have to push a rock to block the flames a pillar is throwing at you. You have to push the rock a bit at a time instead of it just moving to where it needs to be automatically; I've seen this done once or twice before, but this is the first time I think I've seen it really work in a puzzle. There's also a minigame where you stand on a conveyor belt and shoot targets with a bow. Speaking of bows, your arrows are limited and your bombs are stored in a bag, like in the Zelda games. In practice, this doesn't matter much. The bow is useless as a weapon in this D-Mod, and you can easily buy all the arrows and bombs you want anyway, since there's no other use for gold in most of the game.
The targets are fool's gold; go for the ducks.
The games in this casino are familiar, but the swank digs are without peer.
This D-Mod features an answer to those who like traversing the map quickly but think that the herb boots unbalance combat: you can earn something called shadow mode. In shadow mode (which uses the Dark Dink graphics but has a casting effect that may be new), you run fast, but can't attack or cast magic. This still ended up being useful for at least one battle where I had to dodge attacks while waiting for my magic to recharge.
The real star attraction here is the bosses. Each of them has a unique look and a distinct gameplay style that's completely different from the usual Dink battles.
The first boss is really easy - just get him to run into those boulders. I took no damage.
The second boss has tentacles that shoot at you from all sides. You have to destroy all the tentacles in order to get the eye to open up and deliver a hit.
The third boss is the only place in the game where I got stuck and had to look for help. He blocks your attacks with a wall. I easily figured out how to get rid of the wall, but you've still got to do something strange and unusual to hit him.
After how cool these bosses are, it's kind of disappointing that there isn't a real final boss. Instead, the ending sets up a sequel called "Dink's Revenge" that hasn't materialized yet as of this writing. Still, this is a pretty fun D-Mod with some unique things to offer. If you find something in it called a "truth machine," though, don't trust it.
YOUR MACHINE GENERATES ONLY LIES AND MENDACITIES, SIR.
