Author's website: kentona.freehostia.com
Download site: rpgmaker.net
Genre: Classic RPG (dungeon crawler)
Art style: Retro (8-bit)
Overall Fun Score: 4.0
Balance: 4.0
Replay value: 4.0
Writing/Dialog: 3.5
Story/Plot: Not scored
Dungeon/level Design: 4.0
Puzzles/traps: 4.0
Graphics/Sound/Music: Not scored
Missables: 4.0/None
From the author: "Hellion is best described as a cross between Dragon Warrior, Diablo and D&D - you have a blank slate character with 7 classes to choose from at the beginning of the game. You adventure solo. You can hire hirelings. The monster drops are random. The graphics are NES. The battles backgrounds are black. There are traps. There are locks to be picked and NPCs to be persuaded."
The plot is pretty simple. There is this village with a huge multi-floor deep dungeon beneath it packed with monsters, and you play the stranger who is going to dive right in there. You don't need much more than that for a dungeon crawler game but the player does get an explored backstory later.
The graphics, music, and sounds are mostly rips and recreations of those found in the NES Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest games but they are well placed and well chosen. Keep in mind the game is deliberately low graphic, don't expect fancy explosions when you cast a spell as everything is presented in 8-bit form. And it isn't just the graphics that are retro - this game really nails its goals in feeling like D&D meets Dragon Warrior. With the plot from Diablo.
Hellion has a ton of replay value, with 7 classes (each with unique skill trees) and multiple ways to handle many situations. For example, you can build up your stealth and try to avoid battles rather than fight everything and even pickpocket the monsters and townspeople. Your alignment matters too, to a lesser extent. If you get caught doing evil deeds the good people of the town will be wary of you and less likely to trust or help you. Some secrets will only be uncovered by players with the right kind of reputation.
Most encounters are not "random encounters". You can see the enemy, and often it will run towards or away from you. The stronger you are, the more likely lesser foes will flee in terror. Once your party comes in physical contact with a monster you get the traditional battle screen for your two parties to fight it out on.
I have played through multiple times as multiple classes with quite a variety of party members (henchmen) and the game is fairly well balanced. Not perfectly balanced but enough to be impressed when you consider factors like the short development time, item drops and character stats being in ranges rather than static values, and wide variety of possible gameplay styles.
Even when I temporarily skipped most of the monsters for large chunks of the main dungeons levels, I didn't feel like I had to grind for gold or exp. If you just kill a majority of the encounters on each floor, you should be able to tackle most of the bosses without too much frustration so long as you have a solid strategy. The old RPG staples will see you through: Save often, talk to everyone, explore everywhere!
The same author has made several very good games which you can check out on his site. I plan to review a few of these after I have time to finish them. Hellion impressed me so much I was inspired me to try my hand at creating an add-on package for it. I haven't had this much fun since Black Isle Studios last game came out. The add-on is being worked on with Kentona's permission and will add several new classes as well as some unlockable bonus areas and minor tweaks.
On the rpgmaker.net page there is already an add-on called the "Rad Sunglasses mappack". That is not the add-on I'm making, but it is definitely worth getting. It adds a new dungeon with some very nice treasures.
If I ever get find the time between my other projects, I'd like write a walk-through for this game. I've never written one before. If you were ever a fan of RPG's that came out in the NES or SNES era this is simply a must have for your collection.
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