REVIEW 00
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The Machine
Made by Nifflas
Released on 28 Aug 2007
Challenge - Easy/Normal
Large
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(NOTE: This is not an official review, hence the title Review 00. I'm doing this partly as an experiment, and also as a benchmark so people know more objectively how I rate things. Take this as you will.)A great deal of time ago, I first found Knytt Stories while I was browsing through suggestions from other game designers. I played a level called 'The Machine', described as a 'save-the-world adventure'. After the Tutorial, I honestly wasn't sure what to expect, but the level itself had hours of world to see, and graphics that, while simple, were mesmerizing. It inspired me to keep playing, even after I was finished with the level. I found expansions, and once I'd cleared my palate of those, I realized that there was a full Editor as well! People had been making levels with it by the bushel-full, many of which would surpass the original Nifflas creations. Over the years, I kind of forgot about these old levels. It's about time I went back to the start and ran through again.
My memory of this level has gotten a bit fuzzy, so hopefully this will be an objective analysis, or, as much as it can be given the impact this game has had on my life. Let's step in to it, shall we?
Trustworthiness: The level icon is a picture of the machine itself, a black squaroid aberration with red and blue lights and tubes coming out. The level is marked as a Large Challenge level, with the choice of either Easy or Normal difficulties. None of this information is false or misleading.
Once you get into the game itself, the difficulty is presented at the start as a switch which you can flip any time you visit it to swap between Easy and Normal. Doing so alters the challenges you'll see, adding or removing hazards, based on which way you switched it. Playing on Easy is, naturally, easier, but it also removes nearly all of the secrets, giving the player good incentive to play on a higher difficulty if they can take it.
Overall, this level's alignment is
Lawful Good.
Design: Each area is designed using a minimalistic pixelated style, and each one is quite distinct in both appearance, ambiance and music. They are almost all connected through multiple pathways, and some can be skipped entirely if the player prefers not to visit them. These lands include a barren desert area, an underwater lab tunnel, many different plains, a dark complex, several cave systems of unique distinction, and a snowy tundra, to name a few. Juni will have to venture through most, if not all of them to find the powerups she needs to track down the source of her problems.
Each powerup is introduced in systematic fashion, and usually after a series of ordeals. Selecting between Easy and Normal will affect the presence or absence of various hazards, and in many places, alter the topography of the land as well. Challenges are lain out in a simple and straightforward fashion, and nothing feels like it's been spammed in. (except for one particular room) Void screens are nonexistent, and there are no inorganic attempts to hide them, in either the Easy or Normal paths.
On the Normal path, there are a number of areas that yield secret passageways that lead to keys, which, while not required to beat the level, are required to find the hidden ending. After beating the level on either difficulty, Juni has the option to return to the main world prior to the end sequence, which, unlike at the start of the game, will automatically place her in the Normal path.
Everything works together quite well, and the difficulty ratings are appropriate. The design overall is
admirable.
Agenda: The story is fairly straightforward, and presents itself as just that. A story. One day, Juni receives a letter from her friend Henna, who explains how her land has become cold and barren, and asks if the same had happened to Juni's land. She urges Juni to come visit her and discuss the details. The adventure begins proper from there.
Henna's house is located in a grey barren forest zone, which cannot be accessed at the start of the level. Juni will have to find enough powerups to allow access. Once she gets there, Henna will tell her that there's a machine inside a cave just to the left of her house which she suspects is responsible for the life draining that has been seen. However, a creature blocks the entrance to that cave, preventing her from getting in.
In order to pass the creature, Juni must find the Hologram powerup, which can only be reached once the Umbrella and other movement-enhancing powerups have been obtained. In the cave itself, past a series of climactic challenges, Juni finds the machine whirring away at the end of the cave. Turning it off is a simple manner of flicking a switch, which immediately restores all the life that had been whisked away prior. From there, all the baddies have disappeared, and Juni returns from the cave to find the land restored to its former glory. Henna thanks Juni for doing this, and the level is finished once she returns to her home. When the credits roll, it is explained that the remaining Knytts celebrated Juni for this heroic deed, and the story was passed down into legend. Yet, more stories are to be told in time.
The hidden ending is only found once all 4 keys are obtained and used. It's a bizarro ending told poorly on purpose which, incidentally is also the only ending in the level that actually returns you to the main screen afterward.
Overall, the agenda is passed
magna cum laude!
Vibe: Each area of the level is lain out in a minimalistic fashion. As such, there is a great deal of open space and not very many creatures. Apart from Henna, nobody talks to you in the level, and there are only a handful of Knytts anyhow. The ambiance and music are all well-picked, and play together to a key. However, I start to feel a little aloof and alone when playing for long enough. Apart from collecting the powerups and seeing the sights, there is not a whole lot to do, and some of the areas seem a little too empty for my taste. Perhaps that was intentional, and perhaps I don't remember how I felt the first time I played anymore. It might have helped if there were more Knytts to talk to in the various zones.
Overall, I feel a bit
somber when I play this level.
Enjoyment: I did enjoy playing this level again, and the challenges and topography are still things I attempt to emulate whenever I try my hand at level design. (not just in Knytt Stories) Playing this again brought back some fond memories. However, I am still more fond of the expansion levels, like 'A Strange Dream' and 'An Underwater Adventure'. Those to me are the true classics of this game.
Still I will probably play this again some time in the future, when it's
no longer fresh in my mind.
Summation: This was an interesting experiment. Given that the songs are and have been overused in so many custom levels since this first step, I am surprised that it still fits so well here in this level. It gives me hope that people will continue to play this game for the forseeable future. A large reason why I chose to resume this review program in the first place was precisely to encourage people to start making levels again.
Carry on, folks! Let's show them that the best is still ahead!