I’m in the Aqua Temple. I’ve been playing this level for over an hour, struggling to make my way through. I get to a point where all that is left is behind one more locked door before the boss. When I get to the door, it won’t open. Somewhere along the way, I missed a key and have no idea where. Crap.
I hit the IGN FAQ and realize that I was missing a lot more than that. Turns out, along the way to the temple, I missed an upgrade to the Wire Rod (which is extremely helpful in this dungeon) and a ring I could have bought to reduce damage intake. Had I known what that ring did, I would have bought that instead of the sword from the random guy in the corner. On top of this, I’ve run out of key supplies during my first run-through of the dungeon, which can’t be replenished inside, such as potions, lamps and candles.
With this knowledge now in hand, I realize that in order for me to progress through this temple, I would have to spend upwards of 2 hours backtracking to get back to that one room in the dungeon with the proper equipment. If I really wanted to, I could play this along with an FAQ to make things right, but forget it.
I’ve enjoyed playing 3D Dot Game Heroes thus far, and I still think that it’s worth looking into if you want a game that is reminiscent of the original Legend of Zelda or A Link to the Past. If you’re looking for this to be on par with those games, I have to say that it isn’t. With that said, I would still be playing this game to the end if a few nagging issues and this one major stumble didn’t crop up.
Before I reached this point, there were a couple of things irking me. In the dungeons, the camera angle is positioned in a way that obscured the bottom part of the room. This made it difficult to see enemies or doors in those areas. It’s awful to be in a position where you run out of supplies and the only thing you can do is exit the dungeon completely to resupply at a far-away shop. The controls aren’t the most precise, either. This became really frustrating when the game required me to run very specific routes in a limited time-frame, but I would constantly walk out of line or get caught on corners.
Now add to the fact that I’ve apparently been playing the game wrong for the past few hours, and I’ve got a series of circumstances that make me want to drop this game. If I didn’t have anything else to play, or had a lot of time to play video games (believe it or not, I don’t) or if I was enjoying the game enough to overlook these deficiencies, then I probably would continue. However, there’s too much to play, not enough time, and I don’t have the patience to deal with the situation I’ve found myself in.
In Third Person 