The title ?Flower of Light? will be considered ?cheesy? by many, but insofar as the motive behind it can be discerned, I don?t really have a problem with this name. The game itself is quit boring. You must go to ?Fairyland? and find a flower that will cure the blindness of your king. Yawn.
Although the plot preamble is charming, it is unfortunately debased with the impurities of nonsense. It seems that the author had a fairly good idea for the plot, but rushed its conception. And ultimately the viewer is left confused as to whether it deserves full acclaim.
When I finished the game, I was left somewhat disappointed because it seems that the author put a lot of effort into the atmosphere of the game, but rushed the narrative and plot elements. I enjoy games that can offer a unique atmosphere; like the wistful feelings of decay in DPLobster?s ?Daymare?, the cold and breezy evocation of Herc?s ?A Community X-mas?, and the seriously retro-eighties feel of Well?s ?ESP?. But these outstanding atmospheres require a firm plot-base to uphold them; and it is vital that the author of a game has good literary skills. Unfortunately this requirement wasn?t met in ?Flower of Light?.
The graphics in ?Flower of Light? don?t remain at the original level of superiority. By the time you get halfway through the game, the boards appear rushed at best. The puzzles in the game are far too easy to solve. Does anyone remember those puzzles in ?Town of ZZT?? Now that?s what I want to see in these modern ZZT games.
Gameplay wasn?t very appreciable. You would expect uniqueness in monsters in a modern ZZT game, not prefab enemies. And you get given too much health and ammo. The rpg battles are just copied from the original pioneering battles of other games. The author of this game hasn?t done anything to make them original, or even challenging. Boring.
The ending in this game is awful, and it was so quick too. A quick ?You bring teh magik flower to da king and cure his eyes and stuff and the princess is saved and stuff. The End?. Sigh. I wanted something that would bring a tear to my eye. And you would expect that from a game with a title like ?Flower of Light?, wouldn?t you? Yes, you would.
(My new method of awarding stars is to divide the maximum possible 5 stars between the five major aspects of a game. Action, Atmosphere, Graphics, Originality, and Plot. I will award a complete star if the aspect shows to be pioneering in some way, half a star if it is merely passable, and otherwise no star will be awarded. If the final score is not an integer, I just round it up.)
Action: too much ammo, boring unoriginal monsters, puzzles too easy, no enough ?hands on? action; 0.5
Atmosphere: not too bad, but was hindered by rubbish plot and uneasy design; 0.5
Graphics: not too bad, but waned as the game went on, and was terrible as the game came to a close; 0.5
Originality: clichéd and barely evolved plot; RPG battles were uninviting; 0.5
Plot: uninspired; cheesy title ?Flower of Light?; 0.5
Stars: 2.5 rounded to 3
