Recent Reviews

1. Buddy Jumps

   8/5,

   Box Rippin and I played this yesterday.
   
   It started off really well with a certain Myst vibe [Most likely, you're familiar with this classic puzzle series]. It wouldn't surprise me, if you got inspired by it for this particular puzzle, as the level is designed quite similiar: A lot of initial space for the player to explore and venture through with unique distinct locations offering puzzles and locked doors.
   
   We really liked the different riddles/minigames, three of them were classics remade in Halo 5, if I remember correctly. The scripting for this to be possible is amazing, we saw you guys worked with the number script, which only a few people in Halo 5 understand and make scripts with. More than impressive.
   
   Now, what could need some improvement is the storytelling. When we asked ourselves what we just played and "lived through", it was a bunch of individual puzzles on an island barely connected to each other with no real payoff/ending. Contradicting our expectations for a small climax like a robot fight or an actual conclusion to the "Overtimes" we found, it was very anticlimatic to see the green "W" and "1" left after finding sooo many powerups. It basically didn't make sense along the rest of the map, which is unfortunate and leaves a bitter taste after needing so long to complete it.
   
   Furthermore, the geometry of the terrain could need some work and make it more natural and coherent. The lighting leaves a lot of room for improvement, almost only limited to the lighting of the canvas.
   All these things decrease the immersion of your level, however what I didn't understand at all was the architecture. There's no information about the island through gameplay or your description, so as it stands, robots building human like houses or not altering them to their taste was pretty weird. These are all thoughts than came to our mind when playing it.
   
   So overally a good puzzle map with amazing scripting work as the main selling point. Unfortunately, this level could have been excellent with better storytelling, less comical visuals and more connected puzzles for such a non linear design. For your next map, I'd recommend you take more time defining the story with a senseful, rounded-up ending and improving the visuals more.

   Jun 10, 2020