qrtda235566
02-11-2009, 10:56 PM
Trail of Skill: by PhantasyStarHero (Shining Aquas here on the forms)
We all know Shining Aquas by now for his reviews, but nao I get to review HIS LEVEL! MUAHAHAHAH!
...
Well anyway, the title pretty much explains the level. It's really just a bunch of frustrating tests put together to see if you're an LBP god and so far the only one to finish is Whaaale, so I've begun to wonder if I want to be in that group. And really, I don't think anyone really cares about beating the Trial of Skill if they're having no fun. So obviously I kind of went into this level not expecting to like it, and maybe that's why I DIDN'T like it.
Visually, it's quite boring. For as far as I got it was the same 2 materials over and over again. I mean, it's pretty much only one step up from a dark matter level. Some of the decorations are cool, though, especially the beginning room, covered in all kinds of cool symbols. Again, none of us are those LBP artists, those who can make fantastic designs using a decoration creator worse than MS Paint, so it's forgivable. I can say that none of my levels have been very visually impressive.
The amount of "skill" you need for each little section of the level is inconsistent. Everything up until the dark matter section is a cake walk, and it's possible to walk right behind the spinning blades section. Then all of the sudden you are slapped with a section where you have to jump over dark matter that is constantly poofing up from one spot to another, and some parts really do just take a leap of faith. After my third attempt through the level I lost interest and just left. And when you feel like playing a level is a chore then the level fails and you realize that you're just playing a level to write a review of it.
It's not that I don't like levels that test my skill, either, but the way that this level does it I think is a bit shallow. I played a level called "The hardest level ever" and it obviously wasn't the hardest level ever because I beat it, but it offered a pretty difficult challenge. This challenge, though, is one I actually felt like doing. I had to ride a soccer ball over some fire, and it was pretty fun. Afterwords I had to jump on some little pieces of dark matter over some electrified dark matter and it was challenging enough, the dark matter didn't even move, it's just the way sackboy slides on dark matter and the way sack boy floats when he jumps that made it challenging enough.
The thing that this level doesn't do right is that it isn't fun. It's just difficult, and it's not hard to make a difficult level. Make 50 platforms that last for one minute and you have to make it across before you fall into the fire, then you have your difficult level. And it's not like a challenge is bad, but it offers no reason to beat the level other than to beat it. Perhaps if it offered an actual story, then it would be better. I remember losing on Twysted Tales 2 a couple times but I kept coming back for the fantastic story.
The only point to any game is to beat the game, but if every game's story was "This is a video game. You have a gun. Shoot people so that you beat the game" then every video game would be boring. So instead games mask the fact that all you're really doing is beating a game simply to beat it is by giving that game a story. Not a bad level, I'm not bashing SA as a creator, but it offers no reason to beat it. Sure, I'll be on the leader boards with Whaaale, but if I have to spend an hour practicing this level, then it really isn't worth it. But if I get the chance to ruin or destroy the world at the end, then I'd want to play through more.... :p
The Trial of Skill, I think, is something that should have existed in a level like the challenges in Miglioshin's (I think that's how you spell it) Fantasy Adventure. There it would have been fine, but alone it's really boring and it's a level I didn't really FEEL like playing. There are tons of levels that I could beat while being told a story and having fun. I mean, anyone who's looking to prove their LBP prowess, this is the level for you, but if you just want something simple and fun to play, you should avoid this one.
Now SA, you can review one of my levels, and tear it to shreds.:eek:
This is what happens when you play Trial of Skill:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/64/176533134_e611ef3ea7_o.jpg
We all know Shining Aquas by now for his reviews, but nao I get to review HIS LEVEL! MUAHAHAHAH!
...
Well anyway, the title pretty much explains the level. It's really just a bunch of frustrating tests put together to see if you're an LBP god and so far the only one to finish is Whaaale, so I've begun to wonder if I want to be in that group. And really, I don't think anyone really cares about beating the Trial of Skill if they're having no fun. So obviously I kind of went into this level not expecting to like it, and maybe that's why I DIDN'T like it.
Visually, it's quite boring. For as far as I got it was the same 2 materials over and over again. I mean, it's pretty much only one step up from a dark matter level. Some of the decorations are cool, though, especially the beginning room, covered in all kinds of cool symbols. Again, none of us are those LBP artists, those who can make fantastic designs using a decoration creator worse than MS Paint, so it's forgivable. I can say that none of my levels have been very visually impressive.
The amount of "skill" you need for each little section of the level is inconsistent. Everything up until the dark matter section is a cake walk, and it's possible to walk right behind the spinning blades section. Then all of the sudden you are slapped with a section where you have to jump over dark matter that is constantly poofing up from one spot to another, and some parts really do just take a leap of faith. After my third attempt through the level I lost interest and just left. And when you feel like playing a level is a chore then the level fails and you realize that you're just playing a level to write a review of it.
It's not that I don't like levels that test my skill, either, but the way that this level does it I think is a bit shallow. I played a level called "The hardest level ever" and it obviously wasn't the hardest level ever because I beat it, but it offered a pretty difficult challenge. This challenge, though, is one I actually felt like doing. I had to ride a soccer ball over some fire, and it was pretty fun. Afterwords I had to jump on some little pieces of dark matter over some electrified dark matter and it was challenging enough, the dark matter didn't even move, it's just the way sackboy slides on dark matter and the way sack boy floats when he jumps that made it challenging enough.
The thing that this level doesn't do right is that it isn't fun. It's just difficult, and it's not hard to make a difficult level. Make 50 platforms that last for one minute and you have to make it across before you fall into the fire, then you have your difficult level. And it's not like a challenge is bad, but it offers no reason to beat the level other than to beat it. Perhaps if it offered an actual story, then it would be better. I remember losing on Twysted Tales 2 a couple times but I kept coming back for the fantastic story.
The only point to any game is to beat the game, but if every game's story was "This is a video game. You have a gun. Shoot people so that you beat the game" then every video game would be boring. So instead games mask the fact that all you're really doing is beating a game simply to beat it is by giving that game a story. Not a bad level, I'm not bashing SA as a creator, but it offers no reason to beat it. Sure, I'll be on the leader boards with Whaaale, but if I have to spend an hour practicing this level, then it really isn't worth it. But if I get the chance to ruin or destroy the world at the end, then I'd want to play through more.... :p
The Trial of Skill, I think, is something that should have existed in a level like the challenges in Miglioshin's (I think that's how you spell it) Fantasy Adventure. There it would have been fine, but alone it's really boring and it's a level I didn't really FEEL like playing. There are tons of levels that I could beat while being told a story and having fun. I mean, anyone who's looking to prove their LBP prowess, this is the level for you, but if you just want something simple and fun to play, you should avoid this one.
Now SA, you can review one of my levels, and tear it to shreds.:eek:
This is what happens when you play Trial of Skill:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/64/176533134_e611ef3ea7_o.jpg