Spud's Quest

I've been looking forward to play this game for a long time, and the first hours of play do not disappoint. It mixes a lot of stuff I like in games, such as:

- Freedom to explore, but not so much that it becomes overwhelming;
- A game world whose locations are distinct enough to be interesting to travel around;
- Several game mechanics that I like, such as 2D platforming, real-time combat, exploration and puzzle-solving;

So, I guess I will keep enjoying it, up to the point where I will get permanently blocked by some frustrating puzzle.

I started playing the game in a Netbook, and it was VERY slow there (maybe 40% of the original speed?) for no apparent reason. This is unfortunate, it seems I will have to play it on a "proper" computer.


Update 2017-08-29

Just arrived at the third temple (out of four). I am pleasantly surprised by the game, and did not expect to get this far.

The gameplay alternates between two distinct phases: exploring the overworld and beating the temples (i.e., the dungeons of this game). While on the overworld, we talk and exchange items with NPCs, and look for the next temple and the key to enter it. Since in the temples do not require items from the overworld, they are indeed a separate phase of the game. Although this makes the temples feel a bit disconnected from the rest of the game, I understand this decision, and when we get stuck, it allows the player to concentrate on beating the dungeon, instead of always wondering if there is something that should have been done in the overworld.

I liked the temples so far, and I feel that they are somewhat better "designed" than similar stuff I have played in recent games (including Zelda games). I think the difference has to do with having more choices. Recent games have transformed these kinds of dungeons in more-or-less linear affairs, even when there is some back-and-forth, it is usually clear what path we should follow. So it was refreshing to enter the first temple and realize there where at least three paths that I could explore immediately. And "explore" is the keyword, the temples in Spud's Quest provide a sense of exploration I have been missing from other games. However, this is a tricky act to balance; provide too much freedom, and you risk having a dungeon where people feel lost and frustrated.


Something I absolutely did not like about this game was the presence of useless (red herring) items. I never liked them, and I still can't support them. Also, the problem is compounded by a design choice where you are only allowed to carry 4 items at a time. In a game where you quickly obtain double or triple that amount of items, it becomes almost unplayable to me.

When I discovered this game had red herrings, I immediately used a FAQ to keep track of them and safely dropped them near teleport points. As a side-effect, up until now it seems that at any given time, you do not need more than 4 (useful) items, so limited inventory space stopped being a problem. With these two problems cancelled out, I felt the game became much more enjoyable.