G – THE ENCHANTED CAVE
Back in my early days on Deadwhale and
Kongregate, I found this game in their RPG/Adventure sections. I
almost passed over it, too. I didn't know what I was looking at,
being unused to terms like “Rogue-Like”, and the idea of learning
a new play-style just for a game I was sure I'd play for 40 minutes
while waiting for my shift babysitting the university computer room
to end and then forget about forever. I clicked the link and a
hideous dark olive-drab colored screen popped up with an adorable
little pixel-knight hacking away at an adorable little red
pixel-slime to distract from the loading bar. I haven't stopped
playing it since, much like Bunni.
One final note – I'm not really happy
with how my graded reviews came out, so I'm just not gonna grade this
one. Besides: I already gave it a score on Kongregate. See if you
can guess by the end how many stars this puppy got.
TITLE: The
Enchanted Cave
DEVELOPERS: Dustin
Auxier (with music by Alonso Rojas), sponsored by Bored.com
LOCATIONS:
Kongregate, Deadwhale, Bored.com, Android, and iOS
DESCRIPTIONS:
Dungeon, RPG, Adventure, Fantasy, Rogue-Like
INTERFACE: Keyboard
(arrow keys only), mouse (click and drag items)
STORY:
There's not really
a story in this game. You are a tiny blue-suited man with a sword.
There is a 100 floor dungeon ahead of you and you cannot go
backwards. Go forth and slay everything with your trusty blade.
There is a twist, however, at the end. I refuse to spoil this
for anyone who wants to play it. Just know that when I got to the
end and faced the final boss, there was a sudden moment of Dungeon
Master's jealousy. I wish I had thought of this idea in some of the
games I've run.
ART:
This game was
entirely created by one man: Dustin Auxier. I don't know this man.
I have only ever seen him in his Kickstarter video for the sequel
(funded!). All I know about him is that he is a pixel-art genius.
This game has some of the nicest simple pixel-art I've ever seen, and
to know that one person apparently did all of the hard work to
make this game blows my mind. I've seen games created by
professional game companies that looked much, much worse. The
backgrounds are usually believable shades of earth tones or aqua-gray
that give a sense of depth to the randomly-selected dungeon floors,
the enemies look different from one another with only a couple of
pallet-swaps (skeletons and bloody bones, wizards and druids, zombies
and rotting corpses, etc).
Every single item
looks like what it is. The gauntlets look like gauntlets, the boots
are boots, and the necklaces look like pendants on chains. I
especially appreciate the time it must have taken to make the Eyes
(special items acquired throughout the game) each look different.
All in all, I love the art and think that Mr. Auxier did a
fan-freaking-tastic job.
MUSIC:
I don't know who
Alonso Rojas is, really. I can't find much about him, so unless he's
a DJ or a football player, I don't know who he is. All I can tell
you is this: he's talented. Like whoa. From the first keened notes
of what sounds like a synthesized oboe and clarinets backed by an
electric orchestra, you can feel the adventure and mystery in the
soundtrack for this game (downloadable at
http://dustinauxier.com/download-music).
It's simple, enjoyable, and it doesn't get too grating when it
loops. It's just long enough that every loop doesn't sink into the
last as it plays over and over. And every piece will replay.
A lot. There are only a few tracks – the one for outside the cave,
the one for the shops, and one every couple dozen levels (floors 40+
remind me of the first Star Trek episode with Khan). Whenever
the background changes, the music changes, and the last level has its
own theme, if I remember correctly. Also: Dig the shit outta his use
of creative percussion.
GAMEPLAY:
You move by
pressing the arrow keys (or WASD), and you equip, sell, or use items
and spells by clicking and dragging items around. This can be
annoying on a touchpad. Enemies are fought by running into them,
which engages your character in inescapable combat. Make sure to use
potions and healing spells, which are found in chests. Potions and
Ether can be purchased every ten levels in the stores, which also
sell weapons, armor, and other equipment. You can sell things you've
found there, too.
Regular items and
spells are found in red chests, gold is found in sacks, and golden
chests contain relics or legendary items which are more powerful than
other items. Escape Wings, which act like an Escape Rope in Pokémon,
are also found in red chests, but only after level 5. Occasionally,
instead of a bag of coins or a chest of either color, a gem will
appear. These gems will permanently raise the stats of your
character – red for health, orange for attack, dark blue for
defense, light blue for intellect, and white for agility (I'm not
sure about the last two, I may have that reversed).
That's about all
there is to gameplay, really. Simple, simple game.
DIFFICULTY:
Nonexistant. The
trick is paying attention to your HP as you ram full-speed into
enemies and auto-combat them. There are health and mana potions to
buy or find, and as soon as you beat the game once, it becomes
ridiculously easy. You can one-hit-kill most enemies up until about
the 70th floor, and then you run a real risk of dying in
floors 80+.
LENGTH:
Depending on your
luck and dedication, this may not be a very long game for you. There
are 100 randomly selected floors, each stocked with random monsters,
chests, and coin bags in specific places. Sometimes it takes longer
because there are more of a specific type of enemy or you're just
having bad items come out of the chests. That being said, you still
have to walk through 100 different dungeons before the end (well, 89
or so when you subtract the stores). It can take anywhere from 1 hour
to 100 hours to complete this game.
REPLAYABILITY:
Super-high. As you
delve into levels again and again, the game gives you different
items. You keep your relics – high-powered weapons and items that
are only found in golden chests – every time you use the “Escape
Wings” to leave the dungeon. All non-relics are lost forever.
Some goals for after you've beaten the 100th floor, is to
have all the achievements (viewable in the title screen by clicking
on the chalice on the rocks), all of the gold-chest items, and to be
able to take down the final boss in a single hit. I have only
achieved one of these goals. I'm working on the last two.
SEQUEL!
There is a sequel
in the works for The Enchanted Cave, and it's something
special. Instead of just being a 100 floor dungeon that you just
sort of appear in, there's an actual story, there's a town, and
there's a crafting system! Just as exciting as the obvious and
amazing leap in Mr. Auxier's spriting (or pixel art) skills is the
news regarding a new composer. As amazing as Alonso Rojas is, the
idea that Grant Kirkhope (BAFTA nominated composer of Perfect
Dark, Goldeneye, and Donkey Kong 64, among many others)
will be composing the music sends me into swirls of joy and aural
ecstasy. Seriously – This guy is freaking amazing, and the idea
that I'll be getting the album (I was a backer on the Kickstarter),
is exciting. Auxier himself has a blog at http://dustinauxier.com/
I can't wait to see
what else this awesome fellow comes up with.
That's all I have
to say on this matter, so go enjoy something!
– FC
The Enchanted Cave is
(c) Dustin Auxier. Play it here:
http://www.kongregate.com/games/DustinAux/the-enchanted-cave
Seriously!
