Doom Musings: 10 more secrets I missed for the Top 25

 If you don't know what I recently did on Doomworld, I had recently crafted a Top 25 list with the most nefarious secret sectors, the ones that are very difficult to even achieve. Among them were 5 honorable mentions. But thanks to the replies I got there was obviously a lot that I missed. So maybe we should get down on it and see what kinds of secrets I ended up missing overall?

The Three Worms:
MAP19 of THT: Threnody

You know, I wasn't even thinking of THT: Threnody when I really should've, but yes, the freaking worms here definitely were missed when I did my list. For shame, me. Anyways, if you don't know, this big ass map can easily distract you from the secret, what with the combat being frantic throughout. The important thing is that there's this worm you gotta find, and he's hard to track. But after you smoosh that worm, you gotta find another elsewhere. And another elsewhere. All to get a juicy BFG9000.

Wings of Wrath secrets in general:
E1M3: The Reservoir of Realm of Parthoris (just one example)

I said that as just one example because of the nature of having an inventory item that grants flight. It must be the reason why most Heretic secrets aren't really well built, because unless you don't have a Wings of Wrath item in your level at all, you can bet a player will likely use a Wings of Wrath to fly and get items on high places. Regardless, it's still important to know when and where to use one, and E1M3 of Realm of Parthoris puts a Wings of Wrath in one secret area, then has another secret area that is inaccessible by any means besides using a Wings of Wrath.

The baited BFG9000
MAP32: Doom Deux of 3 heures d'agonie 3

Most secret BFG9000s are hard to get, but for this one, it's just out in the open to the left of the familiar starting point. But just try to get it. You'll be battered, fried, torn up, all thanks to the surprise horde of monsters that pop up.

The Vargskelethor mushroom
MAP02: Phlogiston of Counterattack

Quite surprised that I didn't have a single Mechadon secret, considering how big the levels are and how many secrets to get. But quality over quantity I guess. Either way, Phlogiston originally was made for the first Doom Mapping Contest that Joel had, so there's a leftover secret here. It is of course the hardest one to find out of the ten in the map. Imagine running, finding a well-hidden pair of skull eyes (that's timed!), and then another set of skull eyes, among other things just to get one secret.

Eastern Sun's east side
MAP02: Eastern Sun of Stardate 20X7

Trying to get the secrets in this one made my head spin. At least one requires an arch-vile jump, while another one, the one I'm mentioning here, actually can be permanently closed off by a switch you'll stumble upon by accident. This one combines some waterfall hugging too!

Starting out Opulence
MAP25: Opulence of Akeldama

While most players rush into action, the first thing to do in this level would be to shoot a switch to the east of the starting point. If you go before doing so, the switch will be closed off for good! Deceptive, ain't it? And then it combines moving a long way plus some rock hopping.

The BFG Platform
MAP14: City in the Clouds of Hell Revealed

The important thing to remember about Hell Revealed is that it is made for speedrunners. Therefore, expect weird ways to do stuff as you slaughter. That BFG9000 on the top of the platform with demons around it is incredibly enticing, yet it seems so far out of reach! You gotta do stuff to open a teleporter in the southeast first, then afterwards you gotta do some straferunning. This sure is a frustrating one, but doable.

The strange alcove with the soul sphere
MAP28: Whispering Shadows of Alien Vendetta

From one revered megawad to another, in MAP28 of Alien Vendetta, there's a strange red alcove that contains a soul sphere. So how to get it? The window! Well how to get to the window? Getting over it is the easy part, staying on is the hard part, cause you gotta stay on to jump to the alcove itself.

Speed through SkePLand
MAP03: The Master of Disaster of SkePLand

The author of SkePLand wanted to make you work for the secrets, but in this map one secret goes too far. You've got this switch, it lowers a teleporter near a rocket launcher, except that teleporter is on a higher platform. As far as I know, you need a speed boost from an arch-vile nearby. Yes, a "speed boost". I don't think I've ever gotten this one legitimately.

Letting a monster open a door
MAP15: Clash of Galaxies of Community Chest 3, as well as MAP14: Underground and MAP32: The Super Secret Level of Doom 2 Reloaded and E1M3: Logistics Center of No End in Sight

Those are just a number of the examples of "make sure you don't prematurely kill a monster" before you can get the secret, because these monsters are required to open a door that you can't open yourself. The one in NEIS may be the most egregious, mostly because of how those doors work.

So let me guess, I missed a lot more?

A look back at: Dragon Quest VIII

 

My goodness, I really do spend a good chunk of free time actually playing these games. Maybe cause I knew this would be a long one? In any case, here's one of the better Dragon Quests, and despite many things remaining more or less the same the subtle differences make things a bit better. Psyche ups, alchemy pot, an expansive 3D world map that feels never-ending as you wander it for days. All this while keeping true to form. Whereas Final Fantasy does loads of changes that detract from classic formulas, the Dragon Quest formula remains throughout each successive game.

In the case of VIII, I gotta say the overall feel is quite classic for a Playstation 2 RPG. Only four party members, standard skills and magic, standardized enemy patterns, the usual medieval cliches in place. Arguably I do complain about some gameplay nuances, such as semi-randomized speed values or the alchemy pot taking FOREVER for it to finish on that item that I look up to get great weapons and armor. Hey speaking of which, scouring the area for recipes and such is quite a drag too. Good thing Zoom spells and Holy Protection are available early. The day/night mechanic returns as well for some interesting variation.

Plot-wise, the whole thing boils down to "don't touch that freaking scepter" since an evil being empowers you if you touch it. To think that even a dog would become possessed at one point is just, wow. I may not get into the post-game stuff, much like other Dragon Quest games, because overall, their longevity leaves me exhausted. But this is another Dragon Quest game that thankfully doesn't disappoint. The series really does get better. Given that this is a more 3D game, the Akira Toriyama style of graphics really prevails in each character model too.

Doom musings: Evilution's ten greatest maps

 TNT: Evilution is a rather odd WAD. Sure, it's part of the commercial set of Final Doom, and is the more accessible one as its difficulty isn't on Plutonia's memorable scale. But it's also mired in past controversy over the whole "pay to get Final Doom" stuff and what not. Regardless, this half of Final Doom is one that I go back to, even if I don't always enjoy myself all the time, and after playing through it yet again, I managed to think up the best ten maps that are the ones most enjoyable. So let's see what they are.

(and no, Metal and Mount Pain won't make the list, sorry, you fools).

10. Central Processing (MAP20)

This is certainly a controversial pick, considering all three of Drake O'Brien's levels feel like they all overstay their welcome. Whereas Administration Center has the centralized main area, and the open field that follows it, the side areas tend to be a bit boring. Mount Pain, of course, is an amalgamation of sewer hallways, weird linedef triggers, and lost souls teleporting on the mountain over and over, but almost none of it ends up being fun. Central Processing, which is the first of the Drake maps, is a relatively staggering map, one that is long, overstays its welcome, but at least the encounters are well put. The office area is silly, and once you clear the monsters, the huge valley at the east end feels empty. Nevertheless, the feel is atmospheric over there, and the level definitely proves itself well as an adventure map, with doses of back and forth every now and then.

9. Last Call (MAP30)

Obviously, I made an entire rant about the legacy of the final map in Evilution, the good, and the horrible. Yes, that Icon of Sin fight itself sucks, and a number of areas in the middle of the map are kinda meh. But of course, the torch block puzzle is an outright showstealer and one that many thought was trial and error when they first played it. Further proving this level's memorability is that spiral staircase that gets built, a testament to the fact that this is one of the select few IWAD maps that actually utilized "dummy sectors".

8. Heck (MAP28)

I gotta say, the Casali twins did horrible with their Evilution levels. Mill overstays its welcome and has a couple of puzzles that are non-intuitive, and the two secret levels are fairly difficult, but for all the wrong reasons, plus they are quite large and exhausting too. Heck, the one made by Milo, is generally alright for the most part. It's a fairly standard hub map, which is a blessing for it and a curse at the same time. Things are organized, and you've even got two areas that resemble MAP18 The Courtyard and MAP28 The Spirit World from Doom II, except more compact and difficult. Nevertheless, it's still not as tough for a level this late. This is also the final map in the TNT portion of PSX Final Doom, and I'm quite disappointed there wasn't some majorly big enemies to tangle with here.

7. River Styx (MAP29)

River Styx is yet another map where the player is staggered on approaching the enemies and such. It's got the adventure feel to it too, you go down the path until you reach the marble temple, deal with its trials and tribulations, including a nasty crusher room and another with a spider mastermind (one of three in the whole wad, four if you count the one on Caribbean on ITYTD/HNTR). The tower area with the arch-vile can be quite frantic too. It may not be the best of MAP29's, particularly in buildup, but it works well as any sort of middling level.

6. Dead Zone (MAP15)

While there's bound to be some frantic action in Final Doom, most of it is segmented in mostly linear levels without much in the way of nonlinearity. Dead Zone is a straight-up sandbox, you can enter the main building or run around the sides, picking things off, a testament to the sandbox city levels of Doom II. On the surface, it's probably the ugliest map, with hidden doors not being easy to find without an automap or so. But it plays frantic and well and combat matters more. It sure has its fun moments.

5. Deepest Reaches (MAP16)

I consider Deepest Reaches to be the most interesting of the TNT Evilution maps. For one, its author, Andre Arsenault, doesn't seem to have a record of making any other map, so this is a one-map wonder for the author. Another is that it stands starkly contrast to everything thus far. The hellish parts of Final Doom aren't shown yet, but Deepest Reaches comes the closest, with the iconic-looking scenery of rocks jutting from the slime, the wicked library section, a few chapels here and there, and loads of subterranean caverns. It's certainly a fun adventure map. Later in the WAD, Ballistyx will follow suit with its subterranean combat.

4. Wormhole (MAP04)

The idea of deja vu is rarely explored as it can be hard to make it seem interesting in a way. Sadly for TNT Evilution, this is only explored once, but wow, when you look at TNT-inspired community wads, it's quite obvious that Wormhole served as an inspiration. Its difficulty is deceiving as well, I mean, the cramped corridors are one thing, but the trap in the beginning is another. The familiarity of the layout can be used for the second half, and oddly enough, for this map, you don't need to enter it at all if you find the right linedef for the exit.

3. Stronghold (MAP09)

Metal is such a horrible map. From the start it feels non-metal, you've got hitscanners everywhere, and that stupid end room is just blind luck for a majority of players, especially if they're not fully prepared. Stronghold on the other hand, yes, it's packed to the gills with enemies too, but they aren't gonna go for cheap tricks and open arenas. You'll be fighting all the small fries in Stronghold in more confined spaces, which should be worked to the advantage. In the end though, as far as a hitscanner-centric map, this fares far better than the one that preceded it. An interesting fact is that this map right here has only one demon, everything else is a zombie or an imp and there's nothing stronger than them in the whole map. What fun!

2. System Control (MAP01)

You know what they say. A first impression has got to be the very best. Looking at System Control, well it's just a techbase in layout...what's that? A berserk pack already? System Control starts you with the handy berserk pack, almost as if to convey that this map will be a load of fun right off the bat. Many berserk-oriented maps exist as starting maps (which can be episode starters by the way), and this was the first major one more or less. POW! POW! POW! It never gets old to punch everything on Evilution's starting map, and that's why it ranks highly.

1. Crater (MAP12)

Crater is quintessential Evilution. You've got the decently constructed techbase with slight nonlinearity, the outside areas that are somewhat expansive, the hitscanners and imps out and about, and all within a reasonably sized level. Hallways are done right, stronger monsters are spaced evenly, and there's even the peculiar dark room with border lights. A neat effect. Also neat is the walkway where you can look at a huge slimefall, in one of the most beautiful aspects of scenery in an IWAD ever. The water areas that follow aren't all that interesting, but they do give a Tom Hall-esque design vibe given their optionality. This is the level that just screams Evilution in every which way.

A look back at: Mystic Ark

 

A little variety in the gameplay is enough to make it go a long way and make it feel a bit more fresh. And it's quite odd too, considering that Mystic Ark is tied to the game Brain Lord as well as The 7th Saga in some ways. In any case, this is a fairly quaint SNES RPG that is probably worth looking at. Weird settings, figurines to collect and revive, and characters that are allusions to stuff. All this makes for a really weird game overall. Much, much easier than the 7th Saga too, although there's a bit of early game hell where you only have one character for the entire first chapter.

Characters in-game really do resemble the ones from 7th Saga in mechanics, except for Tokio who's unique ninja class is hard to compare with other characters from that game. One problem with this game is that there's no revival spell, and reviving party members involves walking back to the shrine, the main hub of the map, and retrieving their figurines again. Even worse it's a game over if the main character falls in battle and I never like those types of game over conditions. This is particularly bad considering this game has a few instakill spells (luckily the Blackout spell which two party members get is very accurate against enemies too). For some cases I'd have to put up Deathguard or the reusable Cross item right away. Magic and physicals tend to be different overall, and the Powerwave skill is probably the most useful of all as long as the character's HP remains at full.

One complaint I have is overall movement, it's so clunky and doesn't work well with the SNES-generated environments. You can easily get stuck on things even when you shouldn't and it's a hassle to go around. The encounter system is similar to 7th Saga, the best thing about that game for the record, and I'm glad it was returned for this game. Go ahead and try this, it's an interesting adventure.

Doom Musings: The best old-school slaughtermaps

So overall, the genre of "slaughtermap" has become a major staple in just about every modern wad. The need to throw hordes of enemies at the player has prevailed through the years due to everyone's lust to fight more and more. Because of how it's become more popular, many often forget about the most old-school of slaughtermaps. This post will talk about the best of those.

SQUARES.wad

Costa Lappas is credited with probably creating the most basic of all slaughtermaps. As its WAD title shows, this is a WAD with squares. There are square rooms around everywhere, and each room will have monsters and weapons. The monsters tend to have multiples in every room, with the central room being the biggest challenge. This wad is notable for being a huge inspiration on the famous Deus Vult, which in itself was a "first map". Insane, isn't it?

Showdown (Memento Mori MAP23)

I would say this is the first slaughtermap I can easily remember. In this coop-heavy megawad, Showdown was constructed around open fields and enemy armies, and while a bit rough on the edges, Showdown shows that there's going to be blood spilled at every turn. The author is one of the Casali twins, for the record, which actually becomes a nod once they throw the big challenge of Plutonia (remember that Final Doom came out after Memento Mori). Memento Mori unfortunately doesn't have a lot of really memorable maps at all, but this comes the closest. And since the set is largely coop-based, the slaughter gets turned up to eleven with more meat and more friends to help out.

Resistance is Futile (Hell Revealed MAP22)

Some will probably be surprised that Post Mortem (MAP24) or perhaps Mostly Harmful (MAP32) doesn't make this post. Well, they have a few problems. Mostly Harmful is a super secret map and is largely symmetrical, so even despite the insanity within there's still ample strategy that can be reused. Post Mortem is a powerful Living End-style level, but stuff like repeatedly teleporting mancubi as well as potentially cramped combat (assuming you don't go wading in damaging blood all the time) slows the pace considerably. Maybe this is why Resistance is Futile is the best. It has none of those things, instead opting for the Showdown approach, open fields, areas with armies behind them, well the two center buildings are also highlights in their own ways. In any case, this format will end up being reused as much as the Post Mortem format, and in many ways, they are done quite well each time.

Demonic Hordes (Alien Vendetta MAP25)

Of course Alien Vendetta makes the list, and what better way to do that than by putting in a map that says exactly what to expect? I think of Demonic Hordes as the first adventure-slaughter hybrid map. The map is still mostly slaughtering hordes, but goes further than the simple Showdown/Hell Revealed mantra and makes it into a substantial adventure. You'll be creaming enemies in many different areas and it feels like a fun odyssey no matter what. Other levels before and after this level tend to do the same thing a lot, but this is the one that really sells you as to what it's all about.

Fear (Scythe MAP26)

Eh, why not? We might as well end this one with the level that took many by surprise in Scythe. Everything at you at once! Scythe's Fear is a surprisingly simple slaughtermap, fight your way through the hordes to get the keys and then unlock the exit. The sheer magnitude of what you're facing is what makes it difficult though. Think about it, those cyberdemons guarding the keys themselves are one thing, the teleporting hordes at the bottom are another. And the way the revenant teleport closet is constructed is novel enough to make it seem endless in some way. People will remember this level and there's no denying it.

A look back at: Tales of Eternia

 

You know, perhaps it's just my overall familiarity with the JRPG genre that is causing me to start feeling senile towards many games I end up playing, or maybe I'm just trying my best to care but not finding it. But overall, Tales of Eternia didn't really do much in my opinion. It's thankfully not a BAD game, but it's just painfully average. I have quite a few pet peeves with the game overall. First and foremost, the title for the North American version is that of Tales of Destiny 2. This can EASILY be confused with the REAL Tales of Destiny 2, which would actually be the fourth game of the Tales franchise. Eternia, the real name of this game, has nothing to do with Tales of Destiny. That other sequel does.

Another pet peeve? The voice acting. It's HILARIOUSLY BAD. Like, wow. Farah's the kind of altruistic person with super messy hair so you'd expect her to be vibrant, yet her voice actor sounds boring. Reid's voice actor too, has barely any emotion for his somewhat wild personality. And then you have stupidly reused catchphrases like "You bet!", "No problem!", and my personal favorite "Yeah!" from Max, just, laugh out loud. You've got plenty of sidetracks in the game's plot that it is so easy to forget where you're actually supposed to go, especially after you get the Van Eltia. I spent way too much time sailing and doing sidequests involving Chat, Max, and other unimportant characters that I forgot what the plot was about very often.

But even when I remember what the game's plot is about, I remember not a lot in terms of overall excitement. All I know is: Meredy speaks a super weird Melnic's language and isn't understood for the first half of Disc 1, two worlds are about to collide (hello Star Ocean what are you doing in a Tales game), Keele's a scholar and kind of a jerk, the Inferian kingdom are the biggest douchebags in that entire world, Ras is a double agent, somehow Reid, Keele, and Farah destroyed their own town but it got rebuilt, and you can hop between worlds in a neat way. Oh yeah, and a nice little rebel movement to fight Balir except well it's his wife that does all the work. And of course, the ending is quite cookie-cutter, just barely saving the worlds from destruction even if it means the eternal separation. Well, it's better than Star Ocean 2's plot at least.

I even hear a lot of stuff was unfortunately cut from the North American release, including extra spells for Shizel during her final fight as well as a truckload of skits which would have made the game far more interesting plotwise. There's a lot of stupid references to previous games as well as Namco's other stuff, but somehow a lot of the stuff that would have mattered in the game was ultimately cut? Makes no sense. So overall, Tales of Destiny even beats this game, and I just don't know what I should do with regards to the rest of this franchise.

A look back at: Pokemon Dark Rising 2

 I seem to always play every game the same way. I have the time to do it for a few hours or so, multitask a bit by checking all my social media for any and all updates, then finish off at a comfortable point. Must be why I adore RPGs and Pokemon rom hacks that much, since they usually have comfortable places to leave and come back to. And then when I get close to the end I always rush it so that I can move on to my next game. Did that here and plan to do it yet again. Aren't I just weird?

Well, Dark Rising 2, you're kinda great and kinda disappointing. I found the new music silly, and a bit underused apart from the trainer battle. Graphics as always are better and encounters are fun. Trainer gauntlets are still a thing as usual and are quite fatiguing, but a seasoned player like myself knows that they are just small roadblocks on the way to victory. Dark Rising 2 continues to try to overwhelm the player, offering lots of Pokemon to catch, many moves to take use of, and many of the strongest mons fought are not even catchable, sadly.

I guess if there's any real problem that the series has, it's that a lot of it is more or less the same as I've been familiar with for the previous Dark Rising. In other words, this game is just a direct continuation and the new stuff isn't as noticable. It's great that familiar faces show up, and the idea of fighting every single known enemy team is novel, along with actually battling Darugis. That and the overpowered mon he uses, along with one YOU are supposed to use which is Arceus, makes things much nastier overall. A few glitches here and there make it not as good, then again, this is less glitchier than the first Dark Rising. One thing that disappoints me are the layouts. Once again, Kanto and the Sevii Islands are recycled often, and then you have the dungeons and gyms having completely recycled layouts. So overall, Dark Rising 2 really does try to be a more interesting sequel, but not necessarily a better received one.