5th Review Celebration! :D

The Sacred Grounds is a game created by ckmbud

Welcome to yet another review by me, mat7772. Hopefully, I’ll show you how this reviewing is done, by knocking you out with a stunning review. Oh, I forgot to tell you, it’s quite an exciting day today, because it’s my 5th review. I think we need to get the party poppers and balloons ready, but not yet. First I have to write my epic review, so, for my 5th review, I shall be reviewing The Sacred Grounds by ckmbud. So sit back, read, and enjoy my 5th review.

Pre-Thoughts:

I've played quite a few games by ckmbud, and loved them to pieces. Some of them were quite puzzling, take Cornered for example, and some focused more on action, like Another Random Platformer Game. But I really cannot predict on what ckmbud will include. Action? Puzzles and traps? I don’t know. But I am expecting him to deliver what I expect, a great game that I will play countless times.

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There are really not many things to talk about. It’s got scenery that looks quite simple, and will probably continue throughout the game. Yet there are no enemies nearby, which could eliminate the action, which the majority of people love to see. But I’m sure that there will be action throughout the game.

Gameplay/Review:

The game is short, taking only a few minutes to beat. Yet that doesn’t matter, it’s enjoyable. The game, in my opinion, is quite simplistic in design, yet the gameplay is quite unique. It involves more thinking than running for your dear life. In other words, it needs you to use your mind at times, then make split decisions in just a few seconds. It’s frustrating at times, and it’s also quite addictive. I don’t know what makes it addictive, if it’s the thinking involved, or if it’s something else.

There were numerous puzzles and traps, and if you got a puzzle wrong, the game becomes impossible. The puzzles didn’t occur in other Platformer games, which is good. Nobody wants to play a game where the puzzles are the same as the game they played five minutes ago, they want to see creative and difficult puzzles. Some of the puzzles were difficult to figure out, and took me a minute to then discover what to do. The puzzles were satisfying enough, but were the traps? Well, yes they were. The traps were just as great as the puzzles. They were spread out through start to finish, and some of them are very frustrating. The traps were simplistic, yet creative. Even just falling in a hole to discover that there are two fire trolls there was creative, because it was unpredictable. So throughout the game, the puzzles and traps were very satisfying, and some, frustrating.

Enemy placement was great in the majority of places. There were only one or two bland spaces where enemies could’ve been added. However, I did not like the fact that most of the enemies are thugs. The lack of variety in enemy choice was disappointing, and made the game a little bit dull at places. But, apart from that, there’s really nothing to complain about in the placement of enemies.

There was no health reward for completing any tasks, but I guess it wasn’t really needed. I finished The Sacred Grounds, and I didn’t need any health to help me, as I finished with about 1/3 of my health left (that’s why I was saying one or two more enemies could’ve been added, but out of the approximate of 250 views, two of those people have completed it). However, there was a flamethrower that you had to get, but you needed in a task. So there was only one power-up, and no health. But, that one power-up was necessary, and no health was necessary as well.

There was nothing special about scenery, infact, it was quite boring. It barely changed throughout the game. It was pretty basic, except it fitted into the theme. When I thought about “The Sacred Grounds” I thought about some basic and perhaps plain scenery, and that’s exactly what I got with it, so not all negative things about scenery, it’s good that the scenery itself fits with the game.

Ckmbud was pretty creative in The Sacred Grounds, and it showed throughout the game. I liked how ckmbud made an underground sector, just before the escape pod, where you had to navigate yourself, and only following lights and the platforms you’re on. Puzzles and traps were also pretty creative, and some never seen before. Proves that ckmbud has a creative mind. :D And the way he organised and laid the game out was creative, and very unique. So there were many creative things in The Sacred Grounds, and all I was very pleased about.

Pros:

Puzzles and traps: Throughout the game, stunning puzzles and traps were trying to stop me from continuing, and most did. It took a minute or two to figure out what to do in the puzzles, and it also made me realize at the last minute I just fell in a trap XD. Not to forget their creativity, this was great to see, as they were never before seen puzzles and traps for me.

Enemy placement: The enemy placement was mostly great throughout the game. Some of them also stunned me, jumping on top of me and making me unresponsive for a few seconds.

Frustrating yet addictive: Many times I got frustrated in the game, but it made me even more persistent to beat the game. It also was pretty frustrating when I fell in a trap, or got a puzzle wrong.

Creativity: A very strong aspect to The Sacred Grounds was creativity. Ckmbud introduced a lot of new things to the Platformer, some I may even alter a little bit and add them to some of my Platformers.

Cons:

Scenery: The scenery stayed the same throughout the game, and the scenery was also pretty boring. But it fitted in with the theme: “The Sacred Grounds” so not all bad things.

Ratings:

Action: 3.5/5. There was good action, but to spice things up, you could’ve added a bit more variety of enemies, like a Snarley in a blank spot. There were a couple of pots where you could’ve added enemies as well.

Difficulty: 4.5/5. The puzzles and traps made this game a lot more difficult. They were pretty much the reason, but once you figured out the puzzle, or avoided that final trap, it was pretty easy.

Creativity: 5/5. This is the first time I’ve ever gave a game a five out of five in the ratings section, and boy did this game deserve it! All the puzzles and traps were creative, the way the game was set up was creative, and I liked how this game had lots of new things discovered to the Platformer.

Puzzles and traps: 5/5. Woo hoo, another 5/5. (*Sigh*) Ok, now to be serious. Pretty much all of the puzzles and traps were new to the Platformer creator, there was only about two things I saw about the puzzles and traps that weren’t new. But still, I’m not changing my mind. 5/5

Placement: 4.75/5. Placement was excellent. There weren’t any health, but no health was needed. Enemy placement was also pretty impressive. There were only a few blank spots I saw.

Overall: 4.55/5 (I’m very precise)

Conclusion:

A very impressive Platformer you’ve created, ckmbud. It introduces a lot of new things to the Platformer, take the puzzles and traps for example. It also has a very enjoyable gameplay, by using your head to solve some tricky puzzles more than running around avoiding enemies. I enjoyed the gameplay to bits. The game was also well designed. Overall, a fantastic game.

Feature worthy? Personally, I think it should be featured. It’s pretty short, but here are some points: It’s very creative, and should be featured because of the new things included, like the new puzzles and traps, and it’s very frustrating, yet addictive. I honestly don’t know why it’s not featured yet, is it because it’s short? I don’t know. But I know I would definitely feature this.