Lands of Twillight, Land of Light [Normal/Hard][Challenge]

So, ehm. Welp. This sure has been a while.

When I first came to these forums I was still a grade schooler, or perhaps I'd just started middle school. I don't even remember, but when cleaning up stuff I realised I still had some leftover levels that.. I could actually still be proud of. This project was made somewhere between 2012 and 2013, and while it was never really finished in my head, I've decided to release it as-is, because I really loved making it and I'm very curious if people would still enjoy this. It's more on the environmental side of things, but there's difficulty in there so I'll just keep it around Normal/Hard I suppose. For the completionists, there's a total of 3 endings, and (if I remember correctly) 2 secrets to be found.

So, ehm, yeah. I'll just leave some screenshots here.

*Aaand apparently I can't leave the level here, so I'll just leave it here in a link. Sorry guys, it's sure been a while.

Level!

Thanks for posting this!  



I do look forward to seeing more from you!

Nice level so far. I dig the design of the various landscapes, but the lack of ambiance is getting to me in many places.

I will conduct a formal review of this level when I am done with it.

Are the cutscenes displaying properly for everyone else? In mine they're just the default intro/ending.

Are the cutscenes displaying properly for everyone else? In mine they're just the default intro/ending.

It's basically an unfinished level. There are no other cutscenes in the level folder.

@Yonowaaru: About that

Woah, sure am happy to get so much response in the first day or two.
Just going to respond to everything where I can.


Anyways, that's enough developer's commentary for this.
Feel free to inform me of any wallswims and voids by the way!

It's going well. There seem to be a lot of places where you can die almost immediately after moving to another screen, but this is very minor as it's not a bug or anything.

I also look forward to more!

After completing this level, I feel like a formal review would be inappropriate. After all, it kind of feels like the level isn't done.

I will say, however, there are many many places where Voids can be accessed. I did manage to find all the endings and secrets, and in many places, the level design is really good, especially in the upper areas. However, the quality is quite mixed, and there are also places that I really didn't like, such as the dark underground areas.

Should you make a level like this again, you should try to make the endings more interesting. Just seeing that 'You Win!' screen is like a slap to the face. 

My expectations were kind of low after the default "Level Start" screen, but your level turned out to be a really great surprise! It felt a bit like a throwback to levels like "The Machine" that made me fall in love with Knytt Stories years ago. I especially enjoyed the beginning - the angular landscape design and your use of water and lava gave those screens a very nice and unique look. Compared to that some of the later areas like the castle in the sky could feel a bit vast and empty at times. I liked how you used background tiles in some of the sky areas to show the player where they were supposed to go - that felt very subtle and natural to me. On the other hand I'm not a big fan of "leaps of faith" as a gameplay mechanic ... as a player you end up climbing every tall structure in the level and jump in every possible direction, which can be a little tiresome. Just like StraightFlame I tricked this toaster and was surprised when there was just a void behind it. I also agree with everyone on here who suggested some intro and outro cutscenes. They would improve your level's narrative structure and atmosphere immensely and would give us players a way bigger sense of accomplishment. I will definitely check out your other levels, great work!