Stone of Balance
This is my review of worlds 1-4. The review for the rest of the game, with some notes on the game as a whole, would be right below, but there is a 2500-character limit for a review. The score reflects my evaluation of the game as a whole, including scores of 6.5 for World 5, 5.0 for World 6, and 9.5 for World 7.
I'll break this down by world.
World 1--This is the best part of the DMOD. It has LOTS of secrets, rhyming text, and a very original plotline. The only significant negative was that, if you missed certain secrets, then you were screwed for the rest of the game. 9.7.
World 2--This, on the other hand, was pretty much total crap. There were minimal secrets (an obvious genie, a useless map, hard-to-get and necessary magic) and way too much running in circles. The most infuriating part was the exorbitant cost of healing. The were also a bunch of bugs in this world, but Simon K. fixed these in patch 10. 3.5.
World 3--This board was really fun, with great and original music, some new items, and excellent humor. I loved the way that the enemies on some screens changed as the board went on--this kept it from becoming repetitive. Negatives included a bunch of walking around and the fact that the board was rather easy. 9.0.
World 4--This board was sadistically difficult. I still have no clue how to get the fourth stone without exploiting a bug that I found. And, oh Lord, there were WAY TOO MANY of those. Simon Klaebe says that he will fix them in patch 11, which is a must if you don't want to spend half of your time walking on water, teleporting to other worlds, or skipping parts of the plot. I missed the herb boots, which made the board annoying because I was so stuck at the end. This board is the last good chance to level up--I gained level 16 here, which is a good idea for the rest of the game. The social satire was wicked, the puzzles were mostly satisfying to solve, and the music was again very good. 8.0.
I'll break this down by world.
World 1--This is the best part of the DMOD. It has LOTS of secrets, rhyming text, and a very original plotline. The only significant negative was that, if you missed certain secrets, then you were screwed for the rest of the game. 9.7.
World 2--This, on the other hand, was pretty much total crap. There were minimal secrets (an obvious genie, a useless map, hard-to-get and necessary magic) and way too much running in circles. The most infuriating part was the exorbitant cost of healing. The were also a bunch of bugs in this world, but Simon K. fixed these in patch 10. 3.5.
World 3--This board was really fun, with great and original music, some new items, and excellent humor. I loved the way that the enemies on some screens changed as the board went on--this kept it from becoming repetitive. Negatives included a bunch of walking around and the fact that the board was rather easy. 9.0.
World 4--This board was sadistically difficult. I still have no clue how to get the fourth stone without exploiting a bug that I found. And, oh Lord, there were WAY TOO MANY of those. Simon Klaebe says that he will fix them in patch 11, which is a must if you don't want to spend half of your time walking on water, teleporting to other worlds, or skipping parts of the plot. I missed the herb boots, which made the board annoying because I was so stuck at the end. This board is the last good chance to level up--I gained level 16 here, which is a good idea for the rest of the game. The social satire was wicked, the puzzles were mostly satisfying to solve, and the music was again very good. 8.0.