trle.net ::: Level Reviews

Level:	Folklorist Diary III - Chronicles of Terabithia
Author(s):	Leoc1995

total rating:	6.59	Gameplay & Puzzles	Enemies, Objects & Secrets	Atmosphere, Sound & Cameras	Lighting & Textures
	eRIC	6	7	7	5
	Gerty	6	7	7	6
	Jay	6	7	7	6
	Jose	6	7	7	7
	manarch2	5	4	6	5
	Mister-B	9	8	9	6
	Phil	8	7	7	8
	Ryan	6	6	7	6
	category averages (8 reviews)	6.50	6.63	7.13	6.13

Reviewer's comments

"This is a fairly entertaining level set that has Lara exploring a variety of different settings from the Croft Manor itself, a floating islands segment reminiscent of the Mystic Experience level from the Quest of Gold series (possibly my favourite of the entire game), then to a snowcapped settlement, a TR2 Gold setting and to the climax in the mansion where things have taken a turn for the worse. The gameplay is rather mixed: there is some nice use of the torch, some exciting enemy encounters and jumping exercises, but the backtracking was overdone in a couple of places. Similarly, the overall look of some areas is nice, but others do look rather bland. Quite fun though and certainly this builder's best effort." - Ryan (14-Mar-2017)

"This actually a pretty hefty game. You get six levels with different looks, and the first five are full fledged and will likely take up to forty-five minutes each to play. The sixth one is short but intense, involving a boss fight at close quarters while you're trying to avoid multiple blades that cover the available playing field. Nothing fancy here, but it's fun to play and has good lighting, a good combination in anyone's book. The builder is showing steady improvement, and I encourage him to keep churning out those levels. Recommended." - Phil (25-Jun-2013)

"A well playable level but with nothing special in the gameplay section; I think there were excessive switches to pull, move some blocks and light objects; I found no interesting puzzles. Secrets are easy to find, simple architecture, the best were the cameras and flybies. I liked the textures too, but many times were applied massively in walls, ceilings and floors. Entertaining anyway." - Jose (23-Jun-2013)

"Not so fond of house levels and I hate the Floating Islands ones, so that wasn’t such a great start. Plus in the Floating Islands part I got stuck at almost every jump. The adventure on its own is not a bad one, took me almost 3 hours (on the clock, much more in real time) to finish. Not many enemies and the one you do encounter are not so vicious. Not so the ones you meet in the gym later. I did encounter funny collision in that room. Textures could use attention and I found even paperthin walls. But don’t let it deter the builder, practice and some more practice that is the key word with this editor." - Gerty (23-Jun-2013)

"Oddities abound. Not sure why this is called Terabithia - if you've seen the film, don't expect anything remotely like it. Also, the choice of load screen music is quite quirky, as if I'm not much mistaken it's from 'Hercules, the Legendary Journeys', a one-time guilty pleasure of mine. Anyway, it's a multi-part game, beginning and ending in the Croft manor (with a very peculiar choice of objects scattered around). The rest of the journey encompasses a lot of Peru style areas, plus a Russian base and Floating Islands scenario. Quite a bit of variety in the areas therefore, but the gameplay is less so, much of it involving switch throwing and (occasionally endless) block pushing. There is fun to be had at times however with some of the puzzles and good use of the torch, and I enjoyed the Floating Islands segment in particular. Enemies are mainly easily dealt with, although you do get a bit of a boss fight towards the end with a couple of yetis and a demigod in a cage with those potentially deadly circular blade traps. That certainly provides a somewhat hair raising moment and I'd be inclined to save your fire power for that part. Not bad if you're in the mood for something undemanding." - Jay (19-Jun-2013)

"It seems that the author really likes style levels "Floating Islands" and also very fond of TR2 because there is no one of their projects without something out of the second Tomb Raider! A game with very interesting ideas (using torches, moving blocks, etc.) which also uses a lot of logical reasoning (at least for me). In the beginning we are in Croft Manor, unlike most other mansions and like the level "Vacant Dream" the other game of the author. Arriving in "Terabithia" an entertaining journey through the floating islands, a factory abandoned using the Crowbar to change the valves and put in another place and also a sacred garden (level which made it very difficult for me) with some interesting puzzles. Ferguson Syndrome not contain enemies but back a little the style "Floating Islands". Lara is caged in Poltergeist (which makes it very difficult the movements) and will have to face enemies without being cut by the blades. In total a quality game medium to good with lots of curious and inteligente ideas. I liked it a lot!" - Mister-B (18-Jun-2013)

"This was another mixed bag for me. On the one side, there are several really nice ideas realized in this level, especially towards the end. I liked the various usages of the torch and how it was integrated into the gameplay; the exploration of partially huge areas was pleasing most of the time and the builder improved his architectural skills in some of the rooms. Also, the storyline was quite nicely raised to a climax back in Lara's home and the builder learned how to create decent long, though not extraordinary nice flybies (some of them go through solid walls). On the other hand, there are simply too many rooms that looked too plain and carelessly designed, with odd geometry, wallpapered texturing and either non-existent or unrealistic lighting. The choice of objects was not really good in this level since the builder used the same objects throughout the whole levelset, may it be in the mansion, in a floating island, temple or cold settings (btw, most of them and also many textures are "copied" from the Quest of Gold series which is the only reason why most of the less elaborate rooms look half-decent). Enemy placement was also rather uneven, with nearly no enemies in the later half of the level (and even the "boss fight" level near the end only consisted of a handful of enemies), but a few too many demigods or soldiers in the first half. Despite of that, the 13 secrets were not hard to find but were okayish-ly hidden, but I still wonder why lighting one of the plants registered as a secret(?). The gameplay in the third level was terrible in my opinion, with an ever lasting backtracking trip that was simply killing off any kind of fun, but from then on it had some enjoyable moments. I think this level roughly has the same quality than his debut (the level I rated highest until now) but in comparison it suffers from uninspired enemy and object usage. Still a solid effort showing efforts versus the builder's previous levels (1:40 hours)." - manarch2 (17-Jun-2013)

"Multi-level game beginning in a manor , more interesting than the usual manor level , this one is inhabited by a few demigods , harpies and yetis , you need to find 7 artefacts before being teleported to Vertical Journey , a ‘floating islands’ type of level , the author likes those , there was one already (the hanging prison) in The Abyss of the Horizon and it was the best level of that set , and in this present game , the gameplay is fun too. I may have missed a little bit of gameplay as I never used the artifact on the cobra head receptacle that I saw from afar, or perhaps I’ve found a shortcut. The remaining levels remind the worlds of TR2 gold , and are pleasant to play with use of the torch , jumps , pushable stones. Not always inspired , but entertaining most of the time. It was funny to pick up a valve wheel with the crowbar to place it elsewhere :] I wonder if the author knows how to manage multi-triggers as often there are ranges of several successive doors to open and the same number of switches. Also why placing 6 pushable blocks when you need obviously only one ? Then back to Croft manor which has changed again while Lara was away , happily enough the areas are restricted , you just have to use the torch again after being trapped in a rather contrived manner in a cage. Looks in this game are average , some rooms are nicely ornamented with plants and blue vases, but there is also some thin floors , and the bigger rooms have a tendency to have repetitive texturing with wallpaper effect. Anyway the best game from the author to date. 6 7 7 5 [2 h 15 – 12/13 secrets ]" - eRIC (15-Jun-2013)