If I Whet My Glittering Sword

HOT TIP: IF YOU HOLD THE JUMP BUTTON DOWN, YOU JUMP HIGHER! THIS MIGHT HELP IN THE LAKE MUGAVE LEVEL.

This is Chapter 3 in the ongoing series entitled: The Life And Times Of Seth Serrenson. The first two chapters are available on Google Play and are also free:

Chapter 1: Halls Of The Goblin Lords
Chapter 2: Terror Of The Troll Witch

This game can be enjoyed standalone or played as part of the larger, role playing experience.


BACK STORY
[Be advised that the back story below contains spoilers for people who have not played the first two chapters. If you wish to enjoy the full role playing experience, please download and play Halls Of The Goblin Lords and work forward from there.]

You are Seth Serrenson, an ax-wielding ex-mercenary formerly employed by the Viscountess Bayette D'Lasio. She assigned you a quest of locating the mysterious (and underground) goblin halls and destroying the goblin shaman. You did both, but found clues that a recent increase in goblin raids is part of some larger, more sinister plot.

One clue you found was a map to Westmoreland. Another clue was a mysterious potion. Subsequent events indicated that the two clues were related. A weird potion master named Oswego, whom you encountered on the way to Westmoreland, told you that the potion was in fact a poison, and that the map pointed to the well in Westmoreland. Conclusion: Someone wants to poison the well at Westmoreland.

Oswego also told you that the only one who would make such a potion is the dreaded troll witch, who inhabits the caverns of Agolmar. You made your way to those caverns, confronted the troll witch, and cleverly killed him. Before he died, though, he told you that he was contracted to make the potion by someone who bore the crest of House Jaren.

You determine that you still must make your way to Westmoreland, thinking that the answers are there. That is where our story begins...


GAME PLAY
Combat, combat, and more combat. I have enhanced the combat engine quite a bit. Your opponents can now block, parry, and dodge. You may have noticed some of that from the promo video.

Controls are still intuitive: The joystick is on the lower left. The axe button is your attack button. The foot button is a jump button.

I usually try to make these games easy for casual gamers, but provide a time-based scoring system so hardcore gamers can compete for a high score. The time-based scoring system is still in this game (every level is timed, except for cut scenes), but there are some elements that are a little more challenging in this game. Let's face it: Troll Witch was too easy. I think even the most experienced gamers might have a little trouble with the Lake Mugave level.

Also: All melee combat is to the death. I actually set up an invisible barrier around you and your opponent for all melee combat. One of you is going to die. If your opponent dies, then the barrier is removed. This is to prevent players from just walking past monsters, taking a little damage, and then continuing. That is no more. You are a hero. Act like it.


DEVELOPER NOTES
There are some minor glitches that don't inhibit game play (the ones that I know about, anyway). I will be fixing those in the next release. I really like the enhancements to the combat engine. I've reduced the amount of damage dealt, and increased the health of both you and your opponents. This means that combat lasts longer, which I think is more fun. Remember: Melee combat is always to the death now.