The Dink Network

This DMOD completely blew me away. It's definitely the most exciting and satisfying DMOD I've ever played thus far. Although it is supposed to be the sequel to the first Cloud Castle DMOD, it is FAR beyond anything the original had to offer. The story continues from the first Cloud Castle, beginning with the destruction of the castle in the clouds and Dink and Alessa crashing into a desert in the middle of nowhere. Or so it seems. It turns out that they fell right into an ancient prison, and with a group of interfering juveniles (or so it seems) calling themselves the Scarab Club 7 meddling with powers that shouldn't be meddled with, Dink is all set up for yet another grand adventure.

Besides the story connection, though, this DMOD is a totally different experience from the original Cloud Castle. The implementation is at least several orders of magnitude better, and the gameplay is simply on another plane in comparison. The authors have definitely come a very long way since the days of the original Cloud Castle.

The Good:

The story is A+ excellent. Starting with the initial exploration and the eventual discovery of a town in the middle of the desert, Dink tries to get on good terms with the disgruntled inhabitants by performing favors for them, and eventually run across the annoying Scarab Club 7 who just keeps on appearing at the most inopportune moments. But soon, much darker undertones begin to rise, and various seemingly-unrelated events begin to converge in a sinister direction, culminating in a devastating climax (both figuratively and literally). The story development is excellent, and very immersive. There are even multiple endings, depending on what you did or didn't do during the game.

Humor in the style of the original Dink is sprinkled throughout the adventure, with 4th-wall-breaking jokes and many funny references to other DMODs, ducks, and other Dinky things.

Gameplay is also excellent. There is just so much to do and explore, that you'll never tire of it. Dink gets to gradually level up and obtain better and better equipment, which is a refreshing change from the poorly-balanced difficulty in the original Cloud Castle. The boss fights are very well-balanced, just difficult enough to be a challenge, but not to the point it's frustratingly hard or impossible. There are many secrets (I don't think I found anywhere close to all of them) and optional subquests that serve as icing on the cake.

The implementation is also relatively solid, barring a few minor issues that are bound to crop up in a DMOD of this size and ambition. The scripting is A+ excellent, including but not limited to extensive cut-scenes, special effects, new monsters with interesting capabilities, and much, much more. The scripting of traps and the, um, ducky transformations, is simply ingenious, as is the stampede.

The map layout is also excellent, with no wasted space, and designed in such a way as to draw your attention to unexplored areas in order to prod you on. The extensive network of underground tunnels and hidden places make this truly an entire world to be discovered.

You also get the special bonus of being able to travel in a party of up to 3 (although it's limited to 2 for most of the game). The implementation of this is perhaps a bit odd, but in terms of gameplay value, it's extremely cool. The ability of some party members to give you that one emergency healing you need in the middle of a sub-quest is a nice perk.

The Bad:

In any DMOD of this size and ambition, problems are bound to arise; these should not be taken as an indication of poor authorship, but merely the inevitable imperfections and compromises that are taken in a large-scale project.

The one most annoying thing is SCREEN LOCKS!! I'm sure there are good reasons to use screen locks, but the sheer number of them in this DMOD just gets under your skin after a while. Screen locks with **RESPAWNING ENEMIES** is just lame, and a bad design decision. This is especially bad in one place where it can potentially ruin your game: in the cannibals' caves, there is a screen-locked room with a bonca and a blocked tunnel which can be reached from the other side. Unfortunately, if Dink ever comes in through the blocked side of the tunnel after the bonca has respawned, will be practically stuck in there forever, since there is no way to kill the bonca. Besides, why is it so important to screen-lock ONE bonca?? The player really should be given the option to avoid confrontation. I know this sucks when you're the author and your players can simply evade that cool fight you spent so much time to design, but really, they'll like you so much more if you give them that option. Besides, you can always force them to fight without a screen-lock, with appropriate design: e.g., have an enemy carry a key object required to proceed farther into the map. Really, though, there is no reason to screen-lock a room where the player has passed through the fifteenth time just because it has that one respawning monster (like a scarab--why must we kill every single one of those bugs every single time??).

Alright. With that out of the way, the second main niggling problem is that story progression is not controlled enough. While it is nice to be able to do things in any order, it's not so nice when you get responses from people that are a bit incoherent because their dialogue assumes a certain thing has taken place, but the player hasn't gone there yet. This is a difficult problem, because writing dialogue to take into account all the combinations of things that may or may not have happened is tricky at best, and nightmarish at worst (combinatorial explosion, anyone?). Given the sheer size of this game, this is an excusable flaw. The bottom-line is that while a branching storyline is nice, you do have to keep it approximately linear in order to avoid combinatorial explosion, and things happening in an order you didn't anticipate.

Also, the implementation of having multiple characters in your party could be improved. Something like the way the surviving knight follows the player around in Lyna's Story, for example, could work. As it stands, it's visually odd for Alessa or Fabian to just "disappear into" Dink when they join the party. I'm not sure how well this would work in practice, though, since it would be odd for them to only stand back and watch Dink fight everytime, but it's too complex to implement them joining in the fight without risking premature their death due to limited AI capabilities of the Dink engine. It's a novel concept regardless, and one that definitely opens up new possibilities to explore in future DMODs.

There are also other small issues, such as hardness errors and sprite depth in a few isolated places, but one can hardly expect perfection when the DMOD puts so much into a single map.

All in all, this is an excellent DMOD that you will definitely enjoy. What it has to offer far exceed its flaws; there is so much detail, so many interesting events, so many things to do and explore, and just so much all-round fun, that this DMOD has to be one of the best out there. It far exceeds even the original Dink adventure. I'd like to give it a 9.9, but will have to be content with 9.8 in order to fairly account for the flaws I pointed out.

Cloud Castle 2 : Scarab
by Sabre Trout and Arik

This is the best DMod I have played after PQ. I haven't played Cloud castle 1
so I don't know what happened there but in the beginning of the game Dink finds himself in a desert prison Salamak. Dink tries to free the prisoners that were imprisoned unjustly. It takes quite 4 to 5 hours to complete so it is nearly an epic.

Story: Splendid storyline. Dink has been dumped into a colony to sustain an ancient called Jamiel. Seperate from the main story there is S Club 7 that bring some humor into the game.

Gameplay: Clever scripting all around. There is a perfect balance maintained throughout the game. Some new graphics and monsters like the blood spitting bonca and the small pillbugs , "scarabs". The gameplay gets unbalanced by the temple of ancients but probably it was done by intention.

Mapping: One of the most beautiful maps I have seen, each screen is well decorated with weel chosen sprites. The desert rocks. There were a few hardness bugs but never distracted from the game. The desert tiles couldn't have looked better.

Midis: There were some midis from other DMods and were used exactly where they fitted. I likked the title midi and the emergency ones the best. The midis suited the environment of the game.

Graphics: Some new modifies graphics which looked great and were made neatly. Nothing to comment on this too much.

Humor: Sometimes funny, sometimes makes you laugh out aloud and sometimes weird. It was a bonus point to the gameplay.

Overall: 9.9, the best of all.
Fit for: Someone who wants some real fun. Download it now!
Hope there is Cloud Castle 3. Really looking forward for it

SabreTrout and Arik have done an exceptional job with this killer DMOD. It kept me thinking and checking the various dink sites to hear what others were saying.

As you may have read in other reviews, this is the sequel to Cloud Castle. The fairy MonkeyNuts sends Alessa, Dink, and Fabian to a desert prison. Dink spends the DMOD trying to find a way to free the unjustly imprisoned people and fighting the Scarab Club Seven. Overall, the storyline is impressively vivid and spiced up with witty dialogue, making you "lol" if you will.

The graphics and mapping in this game were expertly done. If you are looking for something poorly thrown together, search elsewhere, because the authors of this DMOD went to a lot of trouble to make it beautiful on top of functional. The game is long for a quest, -- it took this player approximately 12 hours the first time through -- but as other reviews have stated, there is only one town so it is just out of reach for an epic. Also, the music was interesting, borrowed from other DMODS and games, but it gave the right amount of character to the adventure.

Other interesting parts to the game: various types of battles, various endings, other characters can join your party, and you never want it to end!

The only problems I encountered were in the cave that Dink follows the evil prophet to in two of the endings, the game would get overloaded and move extremely slowly. This may be due to my aging computer, or to an error in the game. In light of the rest of the worry free gameplay, this is minor because it didn't really mess up the game.

SabreTrout and Arik, I think I am in love with you. Although I could bare both of your children, I think I'll make you fight it out. Seriously though, this pair deserves mucho respect for there wonderful work on this DMOD quest.

Overall while this DMOD had elements I liked, and a few really excellent touches I still did not enjoy playing it as much as I had hoped. In fact I have had 4 attempts now to finish it - and for the last I had to look into scripts to see how to get the "good" ending.

Story: This is a fairly strong element to the DMOD. There are a number of threads here that diverge and then entwine again. I liked this very much. What I didn't like was the fact that not only was there one evil creature imprisoned in the desert but 2, plus a 3rd guy roaming around who is an underlying of one of the 2 really bad evil dudes, but he is the last one you fight. The Jack and Jill element kinda didn't work - especially as I seemed to have killed her in the last (?) confrontation, just before she opted to leave with Jack. This sort of confrontation, which is interrupted before a resolution comes about, is throughout the DMOD and after a while really started to bug me.

Score 8.5 out of 10

Graphics: Really liked the use of these and the new ones. Ancient was cool - dont remember seeing that before in a DMOD, so I'm guessing it was made for this one.

Score: 9.5 out of 10

Mapping: Pretty good, with some brilliant touches. I loved the Ancient's temple. Had a few depth dot errors with doors (I remember being behind doors in Alessa's mind world with Dink saying "it's shut..." or something. Find that weird.

Score: 9.5 out of 10

Gameplay: This is where the DMOD wasn't working that well for me. I hate it when you have screenlock creatures revived seconds after killing them, especially if it is just part of sub-quest. This happens with the spitting boncas in the first part of the game. I died here a number of times before getting through as I tried back tracking to find barrels with hearts etc. There were also other annoying stuff like going back to areas after you had visited and Dink says "Time to find..." and you've already done that. A weakening of the non-linearity aspect. (i.e. I loaded up a saved game, couldn't remember if I'd been to free the dragon, entered the caves and Dink says "time to find blah blah" so I figure - oh, this was the saved game before I freed that dude - in I go, battle away, only to find I had already freed him) Also this cave was another example of the screenlock Goblins reappearing. I figure once I've killed a stone goblin that's come back to life - it isn't going to be a stone goblin anymore - but nooooo, you have to fight them again, and again, and again.

Which brings me to the next point I found detracting - the amount of fighting to level up. Too much for me. I ended up bumping my stats up to fight Jameil as I got bored with dying, and wanted to see the "good" ending.

I also found that after beating him, the rest of the game seemed less important - especially those Scarab 7 dudes - which while funny at first, really bugged me after a while.

Even so - there are lots of good puzzles and scripting going on here - which help offset the stuff I mentioned above.

Score: 7.5 out of 10

Bonus Material:
Humour - a big plus, and while some of it I found annoying, there were some nice one liners. Plus lots of stuff scripted.
End Boss unlock - this type of stuff I never like - it's too boring for me. Plus you don't have any heal potions, so I stopeed playing after a while - heck I'd already defeated all the bad guys (except Jameil) without bumping up stats - why do it again? But it seems to be well executed, so it's a pretty good bonus if you like that sort of thing.

Score: 9.5 out of 10.

Overall: Not a bad DMOD - but of the two biggies that came out at the same time last year - Initiation has a definite edge of this one.

8.9 out of 10

I haven't played in a while, so I may say stupid things. I shouldn't write this, but the paucity of reviews alarmed me.

This game epitomizes the "stuff theory": the more stuff you put in, the better the result. Furthermore, it has an epic story, and excellent "balance" (in terms of gameplay).

Gameplay:10
Better than PQ. Better than Mayhem. Better than what happens nine months after PQ and mayhem love each other very much.

Let's start with the enemies. There are about five recurring "minibosses", each of whom has his (/her/their) own unique strengths, requiring unique tactics. Plus, there are two "big bosses", one of whom is optional, although neither is particularly interesting. Beyond that, there's a bevy of new enemies. Just to give you a taste:
1.Scarabs: very small pillbugs who can sometimes do a great deal of damage. Found in swarms. Try to get them to pack together, else they'll be tricky to evade.
2.Bane Boncas: black boncas who spit blood, a la "Lyna's Story".
3.Weird Slimes: sometimes they combine, sometimes they split apart. The first type is best handled by killing them before they can get together, the latter type is easily dispatched by water magic, though care must be taken if there are other enemies on the screen.
The enemies in the "Temple of the Ancients" are even cooler.

"What is this 'Temple of the Ancients'", you ask? An optional dungeon, and IMHO the coolest in Dink history. Basically, its filled with all manner of weird enemies, puzzles, and traps. And there's a cool-but-easy boss at the end, upon whose death you recieve some very nice goodies.

The fighting is not as well balanced as PQ--it's easier--but it still never gets boring. (Of course, the "death star" rather unbalanced the gameplay in PQ, but so do the rewards from beating the Temple of the Ancients in CC2.)

Besides of the fighting, the gameplay is almost flawless. I spent a lot of time wandering around at certain junctures, but with a little bit of thinking, combined with talking to people, nothing is too hard to figure out. The minigame(s?) were quite entertaining, same for the dungeons, puzzles etc etc.

Style:10
A lot of, er, "British" humor. There's a tremendous amount of dialogue, most of it quite witty. Also, the map has been decorated well. I don't remember the music. Ultimately, the mood of the game is pleasantly light-hearted.

Story:9
Yes, it's a good story. You fall from Cloud Castle into this penal colony. The colony was created to contain some Jamiel dude (the TOA boss), by using the psychic energy of its inmates. Completely seperate, there are some annoying punks, the Scarab Club 7, who are just trying to act cool and wreak mayhem. Although they lend a lot to the gameplay (as minibosses), they make very little sense (to me) in the greater context of the story.

Overall: 9.8
IMHO, CC2 is a little better than LOT and FIAT. It takes some time, and borders on epic size--with a walkthrough it's probably much faster--but is well worth it. Of course it doesn't have the feel of an epic, as there is really only one town, but that is besides the point.

The point being, unless you hate good, wholesome fun, and prefer to hurt little children or something, you should give this game a shot!

Ahh yes, finally, the sequal of Cloud Castle!

Story:
You land in the middle of a dessert together with alessa. You must find a way to get out of this dessert prison.

Yes, yes! A great story it is! Though it seems a bit easy I must say that the story is very detailed and that it's worked out perfectly! There are many things you can do beside the main quest. There are some funny sidequests that makes the game even more pleasureable to play. I give the story a 9.5!

Graphics: Yes, the dessert tiles! Hehe, they keep looking great every time you see them.. Then, the modified creatures such as the bonca's and the slimeys. But I have to say, that Jameil is the greatest! It looks very cool! It's very detailed and I think it's one of the better graphics seen in a dmod. And ofcourse the new spells such as blood and mega hellfire. (don't know if that's graphics or gameplay though )9.0

Gameplay: Well, I never really got bored during the game. You had to walk from north to south, from south to north, from east to... you get what I mean. Also, the ability to have someone with you is of great fun. Having fabian or Alessa at your side to heal you in times you need to be healed is a nice way to improve the gameplay. New spells to play with is also something that makes the game more interesting. I can't say more, it just was great!: 9,0

Midi's: Yes, there were midi's from other dmods, but in totall you guys choose the right midi's at the right time giving the right feeling to the player. A dmod with wrong midi's isn't a good dmod, but this dmod had the right one's. This is, atleast I think it is, one of the important things during a dmod. And sometimes I just stayed at a certain area to listen to the nice midi's : 9,5

Humor: Ah yes! I laughed a lot of times, there was a lot of humor in it, though the game was on a serious base. But stewing a girl etc. Just so funny Enough to keep you entertained! (I suggest buying a ticket to go to the basement at the inn/hotel) 8,5.

Now, let me just note some other things I liked:
I liked the several endings after beating the final boss. I thought I completed the game but it said I should get a better ending... (after asking here sabre told me how to get it) Well, I think that the difficulty you guys set was a perfect one. The game wasn't easy, but it's not impossible to do. The temple of the ancients(ff7? ) was the only place of which I think was very difficult. I had to try like 12times before getting through. Ah, let me note, that the temple is my most enjoyable place. The traps were brilliant Just brilliant! Oh, and the lion king part was also great

Some things I disliked:
In the basement where all those purple soldiers are you can walk on the rocks, but if you move a bit smart you can get to places where you shouldn't come. So some hardness errors were irritating me. Also, I had like 3 or 4times that the game freezes. Two times at the Inn when trying to leave and one time at the guy talking to you after you saved some hunters. (it seems he talked to me but I talked too soon to him and then the game froze) Last irritating point(sorry I hate to do this but I think it's better to be honest right? ) is that when you're entering the last erm cave(the dark one) I came to like 3spots where the screen is being locked but I can't see enemies. They're probarly on the other side of the screen as I couldn't find them.

Anyway, I think this is one of the greatest dmods around, I enjoyed it a lot and I think this is either a huge quest or a small epic. Took me 5/6 hours I believe. Anyway, great work, and I hope to see more work of you two like this (jalous look on my face)

Overall:

I do not know exactly why I have'nt written a review for this game yet. It is, however, my favourite D-MOD of all time, and it deserves a review.
--STORY--

The story to this game was massive and in-depth compared to any other D-MOD I have seen thus far, and I continuely play it over and over again without getting bored. Dink lands in the prison of Salamak, a desert built to hold a powerful ancient named Jameil. After the events of Cloud Castle 1, a piece of Cloud Castle is destroyed and lands in Salamak. A group of weirdos names the S Club 7, are planning of harvesting the desert's energy in order to escape Salamak and eventually rule it entirely. The plot holes were very few, such as the Scarab Man and his 'destiny' of releasing his master, Jameil. So far that would be the only plot hole I've seen.
STORY: 10/10

--GRAPHICS--

I did see quite a few new graphics, which I will list from the appearance in which I saw them: The Pillbugs have been signifacantly shrunk in order to create Scarabs, the boncas are modified in order to create 'Bane Boncas', and the pillbugs have also been modified to create brown ones. There are a variet of diffents slimers in the game ranging from there original color to something more refreshing such as the light purple ones. Jameil was a nice 3-D graphic of two skulls and a face bulging out of a wall.
GRAPHICS: 10/10

--GAMEPLAY--

The gameplay kept me playing. There were two stories built into this MOD; one was the S Club 7, and the other one was releasing Jameil. There were also two mini-games built into this game, which included an extended version of the stamped called Stampede Forever, and another one you get by completing the game 100%, called Boss Mode, where you fight almost every boss over again with your stats each at 10. I have'nt unlocked Boss Mode yet, because I suck, but I have unlocked Stampede Forever.
GAMEPLAY: 10/10
--SOUND--
The sound was incredible and each song fit the moment almost every time. There were many new MIDIs to listen to. And well...nothing more to say about it...
SOUND: 10/10

GAME OVERALL SCORE: 9.9/10 since I cant select 10.

This AWESOME continue of Cloud Castle 1 kept me on this game for HOURS. There's at least 10-14 hours of game play, the graphics were new, and well done.
Story: You crashed into the middle of a desert with Aleesa, and you have to find a way out.

Story:This game might have looked short, easy, and not the best. But I guarantee you if you play this game then you'll LOVE dink smallwood...
The game makes you think it is all about some freaks but then pops out a different story. 9.5/10.
Graphics:The graphics were new like Jamiel and the boncas and slimes.
Jamiel was the most ADVANCED new graphics, I suggest using him if you want to have a big head in the wall, as a boss.10/10
Gameplay:The gameplay was certainly new, and extremely good. You could have someone with you, have to go long ways like N-S W-E the healing was also helpful, and resourceful.. not always having to go back and forth buying elixers or wasting money.9.7/10
Midi:As for the Midis.. I would've just made up my own music, rather than taking others. The music was at the right time.. but still making your own music would have given you a more customized game feeling.8.5/10
Good things: The endings, the bosses, and also the difficulty. It wasn't easy but it wasn't hard. It was kind of in the middle. The Temple of The Ancients, (TTA) was BRILLIANT if I may add..the traps got me good. like the part with the 99 dmg spears.. got me good. took me like a million times to figure it out.
Bad things: Bugs like Alessa's dream, I had to restart the WHOLE game cause I didn't make a back up saved game. I didn't see the pig and there was the mushroom bug. Also some freezing like at the Inn and also in the bonca cave.
Overall: I think this game was VERY good and the graphics, gameplay, and the story were all good. The Midis disappointed me. I like to see people create their own selection of songs. Overall:9.2

Excellent game, with lots of bosses. I actually wondered how long this dmod took to finished! I like how they designed Jameil, I meant he has 3 heads! Also completing certain parts of the game unlock special bonuses like- Stampede and Boss mode.
Overall- Very detailed and nice but since monkeynuts the fairy and the dragon was not defeated in Cloud Castle 2, I think the creators of this dmod plans to make Cloud Castle 3 so that we can finally defeat monkeynuts and the dragon.

Scarab is an excellent choise, if you want a good game. And first of all, I DO have played Cloud Castle 1 through.

Story: After you fell off the Cloud Castle, with Alessa and Fabian, the evil fairy, Monkeynuts, took the control.
As you find out, that you fell to Dester Prison named Salamak, you'll soon find out, that there's an evil croup of baddies, which are together The Scarab Club Seven forever! The Goblins are preparing to attack, and rule the Salamak once again. And finally, when the Goblins have died, you need to kill the Ancient Jameil, so you can get out.
9.5.

Mapping: The mapping rules! Just like in CC1. Only thing is, that this map is far more huge, than the map of the first part.
9.7.

Gameplay: As if FIAT didn't have already enough side-quests and secrests for you, I'm sure, that Scarab has. Many new Monsters, and mini-quests in this exciting Epic. Alessa, Dertin, or Fabian have joined your party, you can talk to them. Too cool to tell. You HAVE to play it yourself.
Also there's The Temple of the Ancients, which has almost the BEST, and biggest areas ever in the history of D-Mods!
And the boss-mode made it perfect!
9.9

Good: Everything I said above!
9.9

Bad: I don't know, what to say!
9.9

Overal: I'm a huge fan of Scarab (and all Cloud Castles) myself, so it IS truly worth of 9.9 points! I can't resist it! This D-Mod is a good one, Sabre, and I'm looking foward for the part 3.

Fit for: For everyone. You can't be disapointed!

YOU DID IT!!

This game is in one word amazing!

Story: Great story here. Dink lands in the desert prison of Salamak and has to find a way to get out. Along his way he finds that some crazy club called the Scarab club 7 is trying to take over the world. Lot's of things get added to it when you talk to people and find things out. Can't tell you more you've got to see it for yourself!
9.5/10

Gameplay: Nearly perfect! Little tricky in the beginning but when you take it all on well you can make it easier for yourself witch is very nice. There are also some new creatures including bane bonca’s witch spit acid and little numerous bugs called scarabs. Also you can find some extra things to do were you will gain experience when you do it well.
10/10

Map: Brilliantly done! You can do exploring whenever you like and find many great things. The Temple of the Ancients is absolutely great it has traps and you have to think to get through without dying.
10/10

Graphics: The bane bonca and the scarab are made from the original bonca and the original pillbug but look very good. You wouldn't simply notice oh the editor just did this and that and poof a new graphic no these look just that better witch makes you feel like you're fighting brand new creatures. Jamiel is looking the best of all you have to see it for yourself a great boss with many capabilities. There's also a good looking new purple knight and some other things like a glowing staircase and new coloured walls.
10/10

Music: The music is splendid and fits perfectly. You wont even hear it you'll feel it just along with the situation.
10/10

Humour: This is one thing that will keep you going. I loved the humour. If you talk enough you can find it nearly everywhere and it didn't annoy me at all. The game just keeps serious and you'll laugh a lot while you play it.
9.8/10

Bad: A few minor bugs including scarabs

Overall: 9.9 You really should play this game all good things about it come together in a fantastic D-Mod you don't want to stop playing! The makers also must have spent a lot of time and effort into Cloud Castle 2 especially to script all the things that the people say, I respect this. You may just miss a lot when you play through it once so look everywhere and play things over because it keeps on being fun! Also this game has six endings three bad ones and three good ones so keep your eyes open and keep some old saves. There are also two extra things you can discover stampede forever and boss mode both very nice to play with your friends to see who's the best.

Conclusion: Don't just hang there START PLAYING!

This was a wonderful mod, I must say. It's definitely fitting for my first review... for the major categories:

Gameplay: 10/10. With new gameplay options such as companions (though not terribly involved), and the stampede scenario, as well as flawless incorporations of present scripts (and newer graphics), the game is put together about as well as can be.

Graphics: 10/10. The scarabs are perfectly drawn from the original pillbug. The black boncas are also wonderfully based off the original sprites. All the tiles fit seamlessly, and I noticed nary a hiccup in the entire game.

Sound: 10/10. Perfect use of sounds and very fitting music.

Difficulty: 9/10. Most of it was fair, though there were some points that I found myself lost and wandering. The neverending goblin battles were a real downer, because I lost quite a bit of playing time when I accidentally ran into one.

Dialogue/Humor: 10/10. I was laughing out loud at the humor in this mod. Poor, poor Lord Duckington...

Overall: You see the score. I recommend this as a worthy alternative to the original game, even if you haven't played the original.

This quest is more an epic, because it needs at least 4 hours to complete.

Story: 10
After the adventures of Cloud Castle I, Dink, Alessa and Fabian lands in a prison-desert, where they face many dangers. I especially liked the Scarab 7 Club. They are funny and they cause a lot of troubles to Dink&co.
The Temple of the Ancients is for advanced players, that want an extra-adventure. The difficult part is not finding the entrance, but surviving and finding Jameil.

Gameplay: 10
In this game, there is some new monsters like Bane Boncas and Scarabs. The fight is a bit harder than in other DMODs, and, of course, in the Temple of the Ancients it's very hard to survive(but after you kill Jameil, you recive a great sword, and some bottles that makes the gameplay easier).

Music:9.5
The music is good, fits the situations, but it's not outstanding.

Map: 10
The desert map looks like a maze, but in a few hours, you get used to it. It's well-decorated with desert graphics, and has a lot of secrets. I didn't find any hardness errors.

Style: 10
Most objects are scripted(even the beds and shelves), the conversations are funny, and people talks about different things in different situations. Instead of burning trees, we have bombing rocks. The entire map(and especially the Temple of The Ancients) is full of puzzles, and there are some traps too. The friends are transported by the inventory, they don't follow you, and this is good, because they don't stay in your way.

Overall: 9.9(out of 10)
This is an outstanding quest, a bit difficult for beginers, but still, you don't need a walktrough to beat it. Arik and SabreTrout made an excellent job.

Pretty good, I just wish there was a walk through available to help make logical progression through the sequel. It took me much longer to finish this dmod then it did to finish Stone Of Balance, all in all I thought this was a great game. I was a bit shocked at the first ending. I tried beating the Boss, but finally gave up, it was tough. I spent 31 hours playing this dmod! Great job SabreTrout and Arik! I hope theres a Cloud Castle 3 in the works

This is easily one of the best D-Mods you'll ever play. It does everything right a D-Mod should and has plenty of new surprises in the programming.

Story-Exceptional. The story is not only unique and well-done, but actively involves MANY other characters...perhaps more than any D-Mod to date. The ability to have a party and also have multiple groups of enemies makes the story not follow a course, but zig-zag through many different situations. Nothing seems done over and whoever wrote the script thought of countless funny things both in and out of story.

Music-Great choices for every part.

Combat-Just right. Challenging, but not impossible.

New-Character party system is just too awesome to explain. Though less groundbreaking there are new weapons and magic too. Mini-games even!

Thank you Sabretrout.

Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller

The best d-mod I've played in a long time. I've been a little busy so I played it over a week or so, which wasn't ideal, but still found the plot entertaining. The gameplay was excellent, as was the humor. The villains were probably the coolest ever. This was the first d-mod I can recall where you had a follower for a large part of the adventure. And it a very nice, "Dinky" feel to it.

The only part I thought was a little weak was the ending. This is one of those d-mods with "good" and "bad" endings. I've never been a big fan of this. Possible because I'm not good at finding the better ones. But all in all it was very enjoyable.

I had a BLAST playing this game.
Things I liked:
I liked the stampeding boncas,people being able to join you,
the cactuses burning ,the music was 'bouncy' and there was
a perfect balance of talking and fighting.The bonca races
and the black bonca spitting stomach acid were cool.I liked
the story of them being stuck in a desert prison and how psychic
energies played a part.I liked how there was a description of the person
you were talking too,it made them more interesting.I also liked
the bookshelves having books I could read,especially the ones on how
to be evil and take over the world.hehe.
Things I didn't like:
The desert paths kinda looked like pink vomit *ugh* and the black boncas
didn't look that good.Though the music was good,it was a lot for my computer
to handle and I occasionaly had a slow motion/slow sound thing happen.
A LOT of the bad guys were really hard and it took me about a week of steady
playing,much more than 5 hours,to get an ending.
And I still say she wouldn't have jumped!

Overall:This game rocked and everybody should check it out.