February: Hexx: Heresy of the Wizard

[rusty_shackleford]

Month is almost over boy oh boy I sure hope they pick a playable game next month!

It wouldn't be much of an adventure if it were easy, pansy. These games are for the boldest of the bold, only.

Then why did this thread completely die less than a week in?

I think real-time DRPGs are probably the least liked of any subgenre of RPG tbh

[maidenhaver]

Another game forgotten with good reason.

[Tweed]

I don't feel like taking it up again right now, but I can tell that combat is going to be nothing but boring click fests of terror spells all the way through while your guys kill or be killed.

[Lord of Riva]

I just wanted to say that I really love the idea of playing a game as a forum event. Even if I was to late for this one.

If it is a interesting one I will surely participate when I can.

[Tangerine]

Completed. Badge me.

Proof

► Show Spoiler

I think not.

hexx_01.PNG

He was a chump. He went down pretty easily.

hexx_03.PNG

► Show Spoiler

The wizard is not, however, the last boss. This guy is. He runs fast as hell, but I cheesed him by fighting him through a corner.

hexx_04.PNG

Hurrah.

hexx_05.PNG

The team:

hexx_06.PNG

Thoughts and tips

► Show Spoiler

It was ok, but it's hard to recommend as there are better dungeon crawlers out there.

One part of the game I thought was neat was how the magic, vitality (their word for stamina), and eating systems worked together. When you cast a spell, the cost shoots up, preventing you from spamming it. The longer you wait after casting a spell, the cheaper it becomes. A spell also costs vitality, which does not recover at the same rate as your spell costs. The lower your vitality when you cast a spell, the weaker it is. Additionally, buffs are not binary on or off; you cast one on your team and it slowly deteriorates over time. This means if you cast a buff with low vitality, it's going to be weaker to start and won't last as long. The eating system not only increases your vitality recovery, but also the rate at which your spell costs recover. I really liked how all these elements worked together and it's too bad you don't see more games using something like this.

I don't like that the game withholds information from you. I didn't see anything to indicate how strong weapons were relative to one another. I also have no idea what amulets do.

I had two fighters and two wizards. I think two wizards was unnecessary. If I played again, I'd probably do one wizard and an assassin or two rangers instead.

Tips
- Use keys towards the top of doors to avoid "throwing" the key through it. You can still recover the key if you right click right away, but it's possible you might lose it. Save before unlocking doors.
- Speaking of doors, enemies can't open them. Use this to your advantage when you need a breather in combat.
- Early on, circle strafing can be useful when you're fighting melee enemies.
- I started with the Earth Wizard because he has healing magic. It's nice, but not necessary.
- Get Ethblade from the Chaos spell list as soon as you can. It lets your party use a magic weapon in the offhand if nothing is in it.
- Money will be hard to get at first, but by the time you get through the first tower, it shouldn't be an issue. When you get to the shop in the second tower, buy Orc's Vomit and Dragon Ale to increase your HP and SP.
- The first gem tower sucks. When you get a choice between two sets of stairs going up, make sure you take the east set. I did not and it was an awful experience.
- In the third tower, the floor is red and it likes to hide ruby keys in corners where it's hard to see.
- Even if you don't need an item, pick it up. Keys are sometimes hidden under them.
- If you press a switch and you're not sure what it did, open your map. A lot of puzzles in the game are solved by finding out what has changed since you last opened the map.
- Keep an eye on your compass. The game likes to turn you around without warning or audio/visual cue.

[Oyster Sauce]

alas there is no badge yet @J1M
feel free to suggest something that the badge could be based on

[Tangerine]

I recall we talked about using the eye from the box art, but I think the consensus was the AG badges should use pixel art. We could use the Wizard's head/face from the intro as an alternative.

hexx_wizard.png

Or maybe this guy. He shows up a lot in various colors.

hexx_wizard2.png

[Tweed]

Guessing that the warrior, warrior, assassin, assassin, is probably the most effective party then.

[Tangerine]

Guessing that the warrior, warrior, assassin, assassin, is probably the most effective party then.

I don't remember the weapon options being very good for assassins; I think I only found two daggers. To be fair, I wasn't on the lookout for them, so it might be better than I'm letting on. If they can attack from the back row with any weapon, then yes, replace both wizards with assassins. Otherwise, just take one.

[maidenhaver]

Was this fun?

[Tangerine]

Was this fun?

I'd be hard-pressed to recommend this. It's not bad, but it's not terribly interesting either. If you want to give it a chance, try the first three floors. If you aren't feeling it, don't feel bad for passing on it because it doesn't change much after that.

[J1M]

What about that skull candlestick?

[Tangerine]

What about that skull candlestick?

That could work. An alternative, the banner in the first screenshot represents the four magic domains/gods, but I don't know if that'd translate well to a badge. Whatever you think would work, I can grab a screenshot of what you need.

[J1M]

What about that skull candlestick?

That could work. An alternative, the banner in the first screenshot represents the four magic domains/gods, but I don't know if that'd translate well to a badge. Whatever you think would work, I can grab a screenshot of what you need.

You may be the only person who ever obtains this badge so feel free to list your preference.

[Kalarion]

I don't like that the game withholds information from you. I didn't see anything to indicate how strong weapons were relative to one another. I also have no idea what amulets do.

I can't recall regarding amulets for sure, but weapons and armor can be inspected to see their stats. I can't remember how off the top of my head, but I do remember figuring it out while playing. I quit after getting filtered hard by the wererats and struggling with the UI (I threw multiple keys through doors, holy **** that made me screech).

[Tangerine]

I threw this together based on the banner I was talking about. Let me know what you think @J1M, or if you need the base assets to change it for consistency.

hexx_badge_small.png

[Tangerine]

I don't like that the game withholds information from you. I didn't see anything to indicate how strong weapons were relative to one another. I also have no idea what amulets do.

I can't recall regarding amulets for sure, but weapons and armor can be inspected to see their stats. I can't remember how off the top of my head, but I do remember figuring it out while playing. I quit after getting filtered hard by the wererats and struggling with the UI (I threw multiple keys through doors, holy **** that made me screech).

I could find where AC was affected by armor, but must have missed it for weapons.

[J1M]

I threw this together based on the banner I was talking about. Let me know what you think @J1M, or if you need the base assets to change it for consistency.

I like that it is visually distinct from the other badges. I can take this idea and create a version that has transparency around the corners and such so it can be made official.

[J1M]

@rusty_shackleford

Badge for @Tangerine

[J1M]

Got stuck on level 5 of the first tower (green walls). There are a couple of doors (crystal key, ruby key) I have access to but no keys in sight. Checked under other items and such. Somewhat concerned I locked myself by sequence breaking or something since there's only a few types of keys and it seemed like I was flying down a linear path until now.

Couple of thoughts: rangers are not fit for the front line unlike what the manual says. Restarted my party before I hit level 2 because he kept dying. Can confirm Ethblade is amazing. Even more amazing if you unequip all of your weapons and cast it twice. Not sure if assassin's stated ability to see illusory walls is helping me or not but that's why I picked one over a second wizard.

I don't really understand why they put combat in these games. There's not really any difficulty or player input involved in it here.

[Tangerine]

Got stuck on level 5 of the first tower (green walls). There are a couple of doors (crystal key, ruby key) I have access to but no keys in sight. Checked under other items and such. Somewhat concerned I locked myself by sequence breaking or something since there's only a few types of keys and it seemed like I was flying down a linear path until now.

Couple of thoughts: rangers are not fit for the front line unlike what the manual says. Restarted my party before I hit level 2 because he kept dying. Can confirm Ethblade is amazing. Even more amazing if you unequip all of your weapons and cast it twice. Not sure if assassin's stated ability to see illusory walls is helping me or not but that's why I picked one over a second wizard.

I don't really understand why they put combat in these games. There's not really any difficulty or player input involved in it here.

- The first gem tower sucks. When you get a choice between two sets of stairs going up, make sure you take the east set. I did not and it was an awful experience.

I made this note after my playthrough. This path branch should be in the first or second room of that tower. I remember having to run in circles for a while to figure out where to go, so I don't think you're soft-locked, but you know how it is. Can't remember for sure, but I don't think illusory walls show up until the second tower.

[J1M]

Got stuck on level 5 of the first tower (green walls). There are a couple of doors (crystal key, ruby key) I have access to but no keys in sight. Checked under other items and such. Somewhat concerned I locked myself by sequence breaking or something since there's only a few types of keys and it seemed like I was flying down a linear path until now.

Couple of thoughts: rangers are not fit for the front line unlike what the manual says. Restarted my party before I hit level 2 because he kept dying. Can confirm Ethblade is amazing. Even more amazing if you unequip all of your weapons and cast it twice. Not sure if assassin's stated ability to see illusory walls is helping me or not but that's why I picked one over a second wizard.

I don't really understand why they put combat in these games. There's not really any difficulty or player input involved in it here.

- The first gem tower sucks. When you get a choice between two sets of stairs going up, make sure you take the east set. I did not and it was an awful experience.

I made this note after my playthrough. This path branch should be in the first or second room of that tower. I remember having to run in circles for a while to figure out where to go, so I don't think you're soft-locked, but you know how it is. Can't remember for sure, but I don't think illusory walls show up until the second tower.

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately, it appears I did take the path east first. I can't go back the other way now, a door closed sealing the choice.

[J1M]

@Tangerine do you leave the fire gem in the slot on the wall next to the text that says to put it there to progress? It seemed like all that did was take me to an isolated room with a bed in it, so I used it to return and kept the gem because I assumed they were teaching me how to use it, not activating an object somewhere else with it.

EDIT: I found a serpent key in the temple on level 3 so I am probably okay now.

[Tangerine]

@Tangerine do you leave the fire gem in the slot on the wall next to the text that says to put it there to progress? It seemed like all that did was take me to an isolated room with a bed in it, so I used it to return and kept the gem because I assumed they were teaching me how to use it, not activating an object somewhere else with it.

EDIT: I found a serpent key in the temple on level 3 so I am probably okay now.

Take it with you. You'll need it later.

[J1M]

Apparently there is a malformed data file that DOS gracefully handled but the emulator is less tolerant of. So I was experiencing a crash for the cutscene that plays when you get the green gem. There is a fix posted here that worked.

Seems like the second tower has some illusion walls and they disappear when I get somewhat close to them so I'm assuming that ability is working.

Found an item that is vastly stronger than anything else because it saves a dozen clicks each time you use it. It applies every buff in the game to your party. Only has 7 charges, so access to the recharge spell is something that would be nice. Probably won't be able to get to it until max level with my current choices. Maybe I can buy some recharge scrolls.

Assassin does about half the damage of a warrior each swing, unless he hits from behind, in which case it is about 3x. Probably not doing as much as the warriors overall, since he doesn't wait until enemies turn around and the warriors are dual wielding.

Interesting that levitate was required to progress in the second tower.

[J1M]

Tips and thoughts:

-Game has too many interface modes that are almost the same. Some of these should have been cut.
-The automap in this game is really good. The markings are sometimes subtle, but clear once you know what they are.
-In general, damage spells seemed weak due to the mana system, but CC effects and buffs were strong.
-Torch spell is better than Wizeye because it doesn't go out when you cross an anitmagic barrier.
-Recharge proved to be lame because it doesn't restore the full number of charges to an item.
-It might make sense to take healing on all of your characters? Not for combat, just to reduce downtime.
-If I played this again I would probably take Night Warrior and Chaos Wizard again. A lot of people take Earth Wizard for the heal spell at level 1, but a wizard casting heal seems like a waste compared to being able to toss out several Terror or other offensive spells. I also didn't see a lot of useful Night spells.
-If the Assassin is really like having the see invisible walls passive on all the time, one is probably worth it for that alone. There was earlier discussion about it being a top damage dealer, but it's too hard to guarantee back attacks for that to be true. The Death Blade also appears to be an assassin weapon not mentioned in the manual. Levels seemed to make the Assassin shoot arrows faster. Like 2 per second or something at max level. Was good at killing the wizard, but not something that you could do all the time, even if you went and tediously bought arrows from the store.
-I don't know why the cutscenes and manual make a big deal about the 4 gems giving you powers. I did not notice them at all.
-I somewhat like the equipment being a linear upgrade path and all characters being able to wear all items.
-Putting Spelltap (removes all your buffs and drains all your mana in one hit) on nearly every enemy in the last tower was a real **** you to the player. Would love to talk to the designer to know why they thought that was a good plan.
-Couldn't get a shot of my party before the game closed. Was Dragon Warrior, Night Warrior, Earth Assassin, Chaos Wizard.



@Oyster Sauce