Paladin Dream

[ZuluKat]

ZuluKat - The Skeleton key is

Spoiler: show

in the basement of the cult temple. Climb down the ladder (on the same floor where you save the girl), and it's in a treasure chest. There's 2 pit trap tiles in the room though, so be careful.

To get into the temple

Spoiler: show

you need to buy the Skull And Bones from the black magic shop.

There are 3 hints from NPCs around the city.

Please let me know if this helps.

Thanks ever so much! Got it finally!!!

[ZuluKat]

Finished...at a little under 4.5 hrs. I must say the single character play was a good change, level 15 max surprised me but it was still a decent game. The story line was unique and enjoyable! It was very fair for the price. Maybe future games a little longer. I really liked the dream sequence towards the ending, you caught the loneliness of his life well. The ending comments were sweet. I'd like to see more games from the first one. Or a future generation perhaps. It's sad that it's over now...and if this was your first game cool can't wait to see what you come up with next!!!

[Lady JJ]

The demo link isn't working.

[Indinera]

Updated, if you'd like to give it a try now.

[Lady JJ]

Thanks. Made it to the end of the demo and I've just now bought the game.

Edit-
Is there something else I need to do before being allowed entrance to the temple, because I bought a Skull and Bones and I'm still being told to leave.

I have the Oligarch's Ring and I've cleaned out the prison chests, though I was never captured and sent to prison. Not sure what else I can be doing?

Edit again-
Looks like I had the wrong pendant equipped. I'm in now.

Final Thoughts
Game Time - 5 1/2 hrs, admittedly I did a lot of grinding in the city
I would share the same thoughts expressed by others that if this is your first game, then it was a really good attempt. The later maps and gameplay were much improved over the beginning. I wish there had been more interactions with the maps. I learned early on it makes no sense to click on anything because nothing was going to happen. The lack of those interactions makes this game more of a hack'n'slash game. Not a bad thing if that was the intent, but not exactly my cup of tea. I agree with Kimo that the game battles lacked balance. By the time I left the city, I was level 12 and it didn't take me long to cap at level 15. I was dealing quite a bit of damage to those guard dogs and that mugger w/friends in the Underbelly and receiving either a miss or a 0 in return. Since I was OP'd, I didn't fault that. But then, I made it back to the Abbey, still practically one-shotting each enemy and ended up in the dungeon below the Abbey. I couldn't touch those enemies (Epiphany and I don't remember the others). To go from swatting everyone and everything like a mosquito to suddenly having to run from battle to stay alive for the last showdown seemed rather extreme. The final boss battle, though, took 3 rounds and I was a hero with barely a scratch. But then there was the epilogue and I think that was probably one of the best segments in the game. I can't comment on the music because I always play with the sound off.
I would definitely look into playing another game developed by you just because of how good the later segments were. One suggestion I would make is in regards to those treasure chests in the final dungeon (below the abbey, not in the epilogue meadow): Why put equipment in there the hero has already obtained? I mean, it's not like he can equip 2 reflective shields or 2 shadow cloaks? Maybe some grander healing items (like the chalice) or even a more powerful pendant or other accessory? I did like your choice of plugins that gave that shaking 'miss' effect in battle and those random 'dying' effects rather than just fading.

[hitheryon]

Lady JJ - Thanks so much for playing the game, and for this critique. I'll try to respond to your comments, and maybe there are things I can do better!

Map interactions - What did you have in mind? I didn't really want to say things that are obvious like "this is an ordinary tree". Can you give me an example of something you think is more interesting?

Balance - I'm surprised that you got all the way to level 12 before leaving Nazarfang. I don't know of anyone who did that in testing, but I can understand how that would make the later battles very easy. I usually leave the city at around level 7 when I play through. Later in the catacombs, if you equip the demon religion items (stiletto, cursed shield, etc.) then you can damage the angels. The combat system is loosely based on the 3 religions and how they relate to each other. The paladin and demon religions don't like each other, and the nature religion is neutral. If you have suggestions on how I could do more with this concept then I'm open to it!

Music - Too bad. It's all original music that's custom-made for the game, including some vocal hymns. There is a Bandcamp page with the music if you're curious.
https://leetmusic.bandcamp.com/album/pa ... soundtrack

This is indeed my first big(ish) game and my first RPG as a developer, and I learned so much and enjoyed the process. I hope that there will be an opportunity for me to make another game eventually.

[hitheryon]

+::YAY Finished...at a little under 4.5 hrs. I must say the single character play was a good change, level 15 max surprised me but it was still a decent game. The story line was unique and enjoyable! It was very fair for the price. Maybe future games a little longer. I really liked the dream sequence towards the ending, you caught the loneliness of his life well. The ending comments were sweet. I'd like to see more games from the first one. Or a future generation perhaps. It's sad that it's over now...and if this was your first game cool can't wait to see what you come up with next!!!

Thanks for this really sweet review, and thank for playing the game! I worked really hard on the story, and I'd love to expand it like you're describing.

[jincyk]

Killed the dragon. Can go nowhere. What am I missing? The only "exit" is the cave to the dragon...

[hitheryon]

Killed the dragon. Can go nowhere. What am I missing? The only "exit" is the cave to the dragon...

Find the grass tiles forming a cross (it's to the northwest of the dragon cave). If you have the demon war suit, you will teleport to the next area.

I fixed a logic bug where if the demon war suit is equipped then the teleport doesn't happen. I uploaded a new .exe installer to take care of this, if you want to replace the files. Unfortunately this bug was missed in testing.

[hitheryon]

Added a bunch of updates to the game (mostly little polish things and very minor bug fixes), and created a strategy guide which is now available for demo and purchase! There will also be new expanded content available later this summer!

If anyone is interested, the music for this game is 100% all original custom too.

Thanks so much to everyone who has played the game so far and offered their feedback here. I'm excited to keep building on it in the upcoming few months with additional side quests, and look forward to getting more comments.

[hitheryon]

The game now has new, expanded content!

- 1 new dungeon area
- 4 expanded maps
- 4 new items
- 2 new mini-games
- 4 new enemies
- 1 new music

The update is totally free for both new and old owners of Paladin Dream. This is just more of the game to enjoy. Have fun!

[briony]

where do i find those manticores

[hitheryon]

There are Manticores in the Starcross Peak cave (3rd floor), and in the outside (snowy) area after leaving the cave.

[briony]

could some one please tell me why i cannot access the magic spells - Heaven"s wrath, holy flame and channel almighty - I have on sword of light reflection shield orphan;s ring plate armor and clover