Glad to see that this level finally got finished. Kind of ironic that the day I decide to check in the forums again after a long absence is the day this gets released. Now, in proper me fashion, I will conduct a review, as I have just completed the level. For my metric, I will be using the classic T-DAVE subjective rating system. For those unfamiliar, check out
this old review thread.Now, just a quick disclaimer before I get started. Some might consider it to be a conflict of interest for me to be reviewing a level that I myself took part in designing. However, since I completed my section nearly five years ago, I think enough time has passed that I can look back at my own work more objectively, and I do not plan on going easy on my own design choices wherever there are issues to be raised.
Trustworthiness: This level is described as a large challenge-based adventure, with the forum post including the unofficial designation of "scenic" (which from what I remember is used to denote that a lot of emphasis was placed on visual effects and/or tileset work without specifically using the "environmental" category). I think these designations are apt, as it will take a couple hours at least for your typical player to get through this level the first time, and a lot of work was indeed put into visual effects, mainly in the form of unique locales and cut-scenes.
While the preview and forum description give a good idea of what the story and scenario of the level will be about, it is not quite mentioned that this level is a largely linear affair, with relatively little backtracking. In addition, the level itself is listed as Normal difficulty, but I personally would have listed it as Hard instead. Keep in mind that I try to keep my metric based on the idea that Nifflas' original level The Machine is the benchmark for Normal (or Easy) difficulty, and this level is definitely harder than The Machine.
Overall, I judge this level's character to be
Neutral Good.
Design: Given that this level was built by several different people with their own design philosophies, one cannot necessarily expect a seamless experience throughout. In order to help sell this notion of disjointed level design to the player, the level makes use of shifts through various dream sequences in order to connect the disparate areas together. Due to the inherent difficulty in making a level like this coherent and smooth, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the level actually does manage to flow smoothly from stage to stage, with the difficulty curve being very consistent as well. None of the stages veer too far away from the central challenge-focused gameplay of dodging enemies and obstacles, and the power-ups build upon each-other very organically from stage to stage. The unique designs of each stage also help to diversify the types of obstacles that LPChip will be traversing, keeping gameplay fresh.
Now, I wasn't necessarily looking for errors this time around, as I was just in for a casual playthrough. That said, I never got stuck in a wall nor accessed any voids, so from my perspective, the level is pretty rock-solid in design.
There are a few nit-picks I would make in places however when concerning platform and enemy placement. There are a good deal of areas that require leaps of faith off the edge of the screen in order to reach new platforms. This is not necessarily a fatal flaw, but it does become a minor source of frustration when working with limited access to powerups near the beginning of the level, creating a need for trial and error to get around some environmental hazards. A few areas also suffer from somewhat haphazard enemy placement, which makes it more luck-based to get past than I would like, which can sometimes be aggravated by a dearth of save points. Lastly, there are many places, particularly in the Dreamworld section, where ghostly enemies can blindside you in areas where they are hard to see coming.
One screen that really got my goat was x1099y1062. The ninjas there always seemed to be able to hit me no matter where I tried to stand. Perhaps it's just me, but I would have modified that screen in particular to make it more forgiving, or added more save points.
Although the level is mostly straightforward, there are a few secrets that can be discovered here and there with a little determination. A lot of these I did not personally find until I peeked into the editor after I finished my playthrough.
In particular, when I played through, I completely missed the conversation with BloxMaster, which made me kind of sad that I did not find it naturally.
Despite these little blips, I think the level does a really good job design-wise, and I never really thought any challenge was unfair, nor did I really get stuck anywhere. Overall, I think the level design is
superb.
Agenda: This level is very heavily story-driven for a Knytt Stories level, with much of the game giving way to lengthy and often humorous dialogue exchanges between LPChip (our protagonist) and the various inhabitants of the world he traverses (whether they be based on other Nifforum users or not).
The story can be essentially broken down as follows. One starry evening, LPChip looks through his telescope and discovers his "100th star". To commemorate this achievement, he runs off to tell as many people as possible about his discovery (against Mi's wishes) and ends up in a heap of trouble as he trespasses into several dangerous realms.
While traveling through each area, LPChip gradually gains more powerups as the scenarios he runs into become increasingly absurd. Upon reaching Vegetal Gibber's peanut butter desert, LPChip actually ends up collecting his 100th star, which he proceeds to use as a substitute for the Umbrella powerup. Throughout the journey, there are several references to other levels (and other aspects of the community) thrown into the mix, including one particular cheeky reference to the Corrupt-a-wish forum game and a (much appreciated by me) scene involving Juni Jones - Ace Attorney.
Near the end, LPChip realizes that he does not have the time or the willpower to tell literally everyone on Earth about his discovery (as was apparently his original goal) so he decides to end his journey by climbing a tall mountain and telling sergiocornaga about his discovery. Upon entering sergio's observatory, however, LPChip gets captured as sergio demands LP hand over the star he collected. Many of the other people LP met then barge in demanding the star for themselves, but they are all interrupted when Egomassive shows up and berates everyone for being so obsessed with collecting and showing off stars. Egomassive then (hypocritically, but true to his username) proceeds to take the star for himself as everyone else chases after him, leaving LPChip behind.
From there, it is revealed that the entire adventure had been a dream sequence meant to teach LPChip humility, but this turns out to have failed miserably.
The story does a good job of justifying the nature of the level's design and is packed full of humorous moments and references to the community at large. It also feels appropriately celebratory (even if it came several years late
).
Overall, the agenda is met
summa cum laude!Vibe: Each area of this level has a distinctive look, art-style, and set of music, though a lot of the tracks you will hear come from LPChip's own repertoire of songs. (Speaking personally, if I had known about that particular factoid in advance, I would probably have used an LPChip song for the Dreamworld area as well.) As such, the vibe changes drastically from one area to the next, though given how the story operates, this is not really an issue. The credits of the level further enforce the patchwork nature of this level, by giving separate credits for each section.
Due to this design, it becomes easy to form opinions on your favorite areas. For me personally, I'd have to pick Vegetal Gibber's peanut butter desert as my favorite section.
The vibe overall feels like a
box of assorted sweets.
Enjoyability: Due to the good design and the humorous nature of the story and dialogue, I found myself enjoying this level quite a lot. Its linear nature does make it a largely one-and-done experience, however, unless you want to go back and look for secrets you may have missed, or if it has been a while since your last playthrough.
Overall, it was
quite entertaining.
Summation: After a while, I had resigned myself to the realistic possibility that this level would never see the light of day. After all, Knytt Stories is over 13 years old now, and it's rare for a community to remain engaged with relatively small games like this for an extended period of time, not to mention the now sluggish pace of the forums compared to how they once were. But it goes to show that, even if it takes much longer than initially promised, things like this can still be done. I suppose that's one thing I resonate with in particular, since I also have a long-standing promise to fulfill in this community that I intend to keep. (let's just say someone here's either gonna get a level or 20 dollars at some point in the future).
To see that not only was this level actually completed, but that it's also really good is a light of hope for me in these trying times. I'd like to give my thanks to everyone who contributed, and to Talps in particular for not letting this dream die. And of course, here's to LPChip and his 100th star, and any others in the future.