Very fun and challenging game! Loved the diverse enemies and zones. The weapons got increasingly cooler and better. Just wish that there were different types of bombs. Other than that, good job (that parkour though)!
Reviews for "Land of Enki 2"
TheEnkian responds:
Thanks very much! Funnily enough, I'd initially planned "Big Bombs" to use with a bigger blast radius, but they didn't make it into the final game :P
I can only give you a 3 since i am at level 3-2, and can't jump the long pit. I can't see the rest if I can't jump the pit.
TheEnkian responds:
Just as you're about to fall press the jump key. If you're still stuck, PM me.
charming game, but some things about it just felt off.
the stiff animation detracted a lot. i think you could fix that fairly easily.
the art was quite nice though.
music was also reasonably fitting.
sound fx were pretty bad.
text was hard to read since it had no background. just overlayed on the scenery.
TheEnkian responds:
The animation seems to be one of the bigger complaints because of it's simplicity. Entirely fair point, it's something I'm working on improving :)
Tried it for a while, its okay. Very laggy and the controls are very unresponsive. Fix those problems and the game would have been quite enjoyable. The second level (the village) was almost completely pointless, however I love the bomb concept. Keep up the work.
TheEnkian responds:
The second level has more than one purpose, the main one is that it's just to set the story without a wall of text at the start like in the first game.
You've made some improvements. The addition of a jumping strike really does help to smooth out the gameplay. I'd still like to see a crouch feature, as that's my first instinct when I see fireballs and darts coming at my head.
Difficulty is about the same. The nastiest parts of the this game are those damned thunderclouds (and the gas cloud in the swamp), and a few really horrible jumps. Nothing too frustrating. The bosses are all easy once you figure out how to defeat them, even if Merody was slightly harder.
I quite like the bosses, though. They're all intriguing.
You've fixed the problem of not enough money, but almost to err the other way. There may be too MUCH money in this game. I bought a lot of potions and bombs, but I still often had nothing to spend my cash on. On the other hand, I missed three life upgrades, so maybe those were for sale?
Some graphical updates would be nice. These still do the trick, but it felt like I was playing the first game again. The character and monster designs are consistently interesting, but some more detail would make them come to life.
There seems to be less story this time around, which isn't necessarily a problem since the game is all about the platforming goodness, but I recall a few plot in the first game that I wanted to see expanded upon. Maybe get back that some day?
Lastly, the music is, once against the game's best feature. All the tracks are lush and exciting. They fit the environmental concepts, and some backgrounds with more detail and color might really go well with them. The track that plays while Kon is ascending the mountain is amazing. It's mystical and wintry, but just intense enough to capture that fell of a slow ascension into danger.
I'd like to see chests yield more than just gems, and a few more options in the store. Maybe some more ranged weapons, some magic attacks, other healing items, some special artifacts.
All in all, another solid effort. I enjoyed opening all the medal (actually, I missed a few chests and health upgrades) and seeing what was coming next. Enki is fine as it is, but I still think you have the blueprint for something greater.
And don't think I didn't notice the Baldur's Gate reference! I gave you another half-star for that one.
TheEnkian responds:
Thanks for taking the time to write such a long review. Glad to see that you thought it was an improvement.
It's kind of hard to strike a balance with the money. The solution is probably a bigger stock of items. The crystals were a step in the right direction I feel, but maybe incorporating a couple of characters with their own weapons to buy would be a good call?
It's uncertain whether there'll be a third one at the minute. That really depends on how this one does, but it's only been a day and it's been positive so far. There'd definitely be a graphical overhaul, no reused assets again. I already have more detailed sprites and animations in the works just in case.
With regards to the story, it's still there. I just didn't want to bombard people with walls of text so I tried to use dialogue. The plot point of Kon trying to cure his curse is addressed by the elder and he shares the same goal as Merody, just different methods of reaching it. If there's a third one, it'll go into more detail about what his curse is, how he chose it and what other cursed Enkians are out there aside from just Merody.
I'm currently working on an overhead Enki game that's in it's own continuity, if you have a few minutes you can check out my blog post on my profile page.
Haha, I wondered whether anybody would get the BG reference. One of my favourite games for sure :)
Anyway, thanks again for all of the feedback!