Black Flame Review by TyGuy
Gameplay:9 The game was a blast, from the very start! I was not
expecting an Oitu right in the beginning, and certainly not that my
characters could beat it! I actually quite like infinite food supplies,
and teleporters for shortcuts backwards.
Originality: 9 The style and most of the puzzles were new. I think
the Patience is a Virtue and Cast your Influence/Might puzzles were
same old. But I like how later on you expanded that last puzzle. I also
liked how some puzzles couldn't be solved - they just had an alternate
solution.
Difficulty: 9 Perfect monster difficulty. I never found a monster I
couldn't beat, but they weren't too easy either. With 4 characters.
Puzzles: 10 My favorite part of this dungeon. I had an especially
hard time with some of the more hidden and difficult to follow puzzles,
like the secret wall in the mines. Those footprints didn't help,
exactly. And I was really frustrated with Armageddon sometimes. Oh, did
you know that the Vortex instantly kills any monster that steps on it?
Size: 5 I think I'm a less patient type, and I would like custom
dungeons to be about 2/3 the size. I'm not sure about this.
Replayability: 8 I actually think I might go through it again. By
the time I finished the game, I forgot much of the beginning. And I
sometimes like to know the answers before I get to the questions,
anyway.
Craft: 9 Though the dungeon was long, it never repeated itself. I
liked having those twisted Catacombs thrown in there. Needing to map
out something on a rare occasion is fun. My only problem was that some
puzzles were not clear enough. That teleporter right before Armageddon
was difficult to use. (with the Oitu generator after it) I still don't
get it. Also, excellent use of below-pit areas.
Game Ending: 8 I've never seen any game endings besides the 2 DM
ones, so it was good. It was cool how the *ire**lls changed into Z*
sp***s. Don't want to give it away, you know. I started the ending and
ran to watch it, but I fell in a pit! I got out just in time to see it.
Nice timing. Also, I would've liked some scrolls about how, "the Black
Flame is fed by fire," or, "only the powerful item can convert the
Flame's power source to good," or something.
Atmosphere: 10 There wasn't too much wall writing, and it was all
in "character" of the DM. It was pretty hot down in the Cracks of Doom!
My eyes were kind of bugged when I look at the screen. I guess that's
the point. I loved the monster and door graphics. It looked
professionally done, my Dad agreed.
Overall: 8.5 Thank you for that great time! I could tell that you
put huge amounts of time and effort into it. It's like a whole new
game!
Best part: Fighting Dragons and Demons*or Balrogs (why
did you make them look almost alike?) and winning. I also liked the
beginning a lot.
Worst part: Armageddon. The atmosphere was nice, but I didn't like
the puzzles. I don't know why I was so annoyed at this part. Perhaps I
just don't like spending so much time dodging lightning. And I got fed
up with the water elementals in the Cellar.