Opening Thoughts:Hub based worlds were once the way to go for games, they allowed the player somewhere fun to run around between games and meant you could build relationships with characters who lived in the hub so that when the emotionally jaded developer later decided to make that character do a swan dive off the Empire State Building it would hold some emotional weight. But I think this could be the first minecraft map I've seen to use this sort of hub between puzzles. But looking at how they did it, I can understand why.
Visual:My thoughts othe visual element was an interesting one. During the cold opening when my character turns up in the middle of nowhere I thought that whilst the buildings had a great design, with each different type looking distinct form the other (Prisons look like prisons and the mayors tower was sandstone, setting it ut against the rest) I thought this would soon melt away as we went underground to the same stone and wood normally seen. But something odd happened, I went underground and there wall glass, some of the puzzles had books and greenery,a nd one even had a psychoelic tunnel of dreams, in short the underground puzzle stuff was fun! It was this below ground feel that made me respect the above ground even more becase you never would have seen it coming, the sense of normality never giving away the wierd world below.
[8.5/10]
Challenge:The challenge was pitch perfect here, nothing ever felt too difficult or too simple, but each challenge also gets progressivly harder forcing you to draw on past knowledge to keep moving. Nothing else to say, just that is worked really well.
[4.5/5]
Length:If anything this map felt to short, each set of puzzles (aside from the mayors tower) was minimal at best and once you work out the technique it should be no time at all. I really hope that the creator can go back and expand each of the puzzling areas to make the whole thing feel a bt more full.
[3/5]
Puzzle Variety:Whilst there may not be a whole lot of puzzles here the effort put into them is still on display, and with only the mayors tower working as a jumping puzzle (though a fresh take involving ladders and a cube) we are in for some real inovation. The mazes that link in to one another and the button puzzles were all a blast. The only real issue was that ocassionaly the puzzles did repeat, such as the dawarf maze. Aside from that the variety and build of the puzzles was all solid.
[8.5/10]
Things That Need Improvement:- Map Length
- Some Puzzle Variety
Things That Need No-Improvement:- Town design
- The rest of the puzzle design
Final Thought:This map is fun in all senses of the word, it might not be the best map Ive reviewed but I had alot of fun with it. I'd also say that the hub based world worked really well, it gave an interesting system for running around between missions and gave a clear direction for all the puzzles. I highly reccomend this map, but I still hope the lttle niggles can be fixed up so this map can be even better:
Percentage Score: 82%
Link: http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/709193-advpuz-the-alchemical-portal/
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