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The Dragon Pearl by Ranpyon

Adrian 9 10 10 9
Bigfoot 10 10 10 10
DJ Full 9 10 10 9
Drakan 10 10 10 9
Jason L 7 7 7 7
Jay 9 9 10 10
Jorge22 9 10 10 10
Jose 7 9 8 9
manarch2 8 9 9 8
Phil 10 9 10 9
Ryan 9 9 9 9
Samu 9 9 9 9
 
release date: 25-Apr-2019
# of downloads: 161

average rating: 9.10
review count: 12
 
review this level

file size: 166.00 MB
file type: TR4
class: Oriental
 


author profile(s):
email(s):
ranpyon-ld@libero.it

Reviewer's comments
"I very much enjoyed this two-level adventure, which took me 1 h and 48 min to complete. The environment consists of oriental temples and rocky areas, both of which are beautifully crafted. The gameplay is also highly varied including inventive puzzles and platforming that offers challenges without being overly difficult. I liked especially the puzzle involving Japanese numbers and the dragon statue puzzle that were both really unique. The second level offers also a kayak from TR3 and an interesting ending, which has two different outcomes depending on what action you decide to take. Although majority of the tasks are very logical, there are two tasks in the first level that were a little unfair in my opinion. In the first task you have to push a vase on a sector that is not marked in a clear way (or maybe the shurikens in the wall were the mark?). The other one involves a trapdoor, which blends perfectly to the surroundings and can be seen only with a flare or muzzle flash from your guns. However, these are small complaints since the gameplay is highly inventive and enjoyable in general. Thus, I can warmly recommend this level for all players." - Samu (01-May-2022)
"Adventure in 2 levels where I had just a problem with the branches at first, I thought it was a ladder, without thinking of burning them. Otherwise nice level, can be a little dark, but we have enough torches. The end is well designed with beautiful kinetics." - Drakan (20-Jun-2019)
"One of the best seasonal levels but also suitable for any other time of the year. Includes tons of creative design but still in a way possible to figure out without a lot of being stuck. The first level offers a highly atmospheric, demanding yet balanced exploration for clues to the storyline buildup. The later cave part is a tad inferior with pickups deserving more highlight and a bit of pace lost on a jump sequence which ends with a keyhole for later, but then the ending wraps everything nicely. I wish this had one more level, like a little sunrise chapter to resurface from that cave - that would be amazing. Dreaming even beyond, I think we could one day get from this builder something truly iconic like those old masterclass adventures which made history were. She's definitely capable of it." - DJ Full (07-Jun-2019)
"I rather liked the architecture, settings, textures and general atmosphere. I also thought the game was cleverly designed so as to provide a bit of different Tomb Raiding tasks for everyone and, not only that, a few surprising moments as well. I liked the dragons and even the ninjas. And the two possible endings (watching Lara being transformed into a dragon is absolute news). The downside, to me, is I felt it was, quite often, counter-intuitive. Hence the 9 in gameplay. Still, great work indeed." - Jorge22 (31-May-2019)
"At the start of this level I was not overly thrilled with it, it is fairly dark here and there are a couple of smaller texture issues on the rocks. But this level grew on me and by the end it was a very satisfying experience. The darkness problem remains, there are some really pitch black spots and the blueish lighting is too oppressive at times. But it still fits the atmosphere which is very well created, I really had the feeling to be somewhere in Japan. Everything is aptly enhanced with fitting audio and nice camera work. The gameplay is also well planned and highly enjoyable, with a diversity of tasks of which none actually feels uninspired. Even the more slow gameplay elements like platforming and crawling are done with a twist and exploration is very well laid out. Puzzles are interesting as well, but except of one or two a bit more standard and one of the new ones, the chain puzzle including rotating dices, is a bit obscure, as well as finding one of the five discs in a tree (the darkness is the main problem in the latter case). Anyway this is high quality raiding and also the object and enemy usage is strong. The fourth secret is very interesting and nicely aids you in the final fight, but the concept is a bit underused - maybe in the builder's next level? I really hope to see more after that fantastic finale which came too soon for me (always a good sign) after 45 minutes. Highly recommended." - manarch2 (31-May-2019)
"There are so many time Ranpyon not release a level so I was like a kid in christmas morning when I discovered "The Dragon pearl" online :-D !! This adventure in two levels is just marvelous with a lot of places to discover and explore to obtain various objects (keys and artifacts) to get the pearl. Level one is very well built with an extraodinary design who remember me real Japan mountains. We discovered many pagodas, lakes, canyons, forest and more and some objects are sometimes very well hidden but because we need some objects to continue it's easy to find his way through the level. Level two is also very well build. It's an underground river this time and like TR3 the river is trapped. Beautiful level too and the use of the cayac is a good thing. Maybe more difficult than the level one but nothing impossible. The objects use during the adventure (items, enemies, ...) are just marvelous and very well build. Dragons are so lovely <3 <3 !!! The use of Meta for created them is exellent. Congratulation Ranpyon ;-) !!! I have read the game is dark on some computers but not on mine. Of course it's the night with a beautiful moon but not so dark however. Textures are PERFECT!! And I hope the author will release them in a near future :-D !!! So to conclude, it's a great adventure I will certainly play again and I can just congratulate Ranpyon for this nice trip in Japan. Recommended for everyone :-) !!!" - Bigfoot (26-May-2019)
"I thought this was a superb effort. Generally a high level of gameplay with good variation in tasks and some very well-thought out areas and textures. Beautiful objects & atmosphere in one of my favourite settings. Appropriate use of cameras. I liked the different ninjas and dragon enemies. A little dark, but tweaking the gamma easily fixed that. The only small niggles in an otherwise excellent level set for me were the vase-pulling puzzle in the first level (no clear clue where it was supposed to go - unless the throwing stars on the wall were supposed to be a hint) and in the second level I never like having the taking of an item from a pedestal causing some very distant action (very unrealistic). But apart from these - fantastic work!" - Adrian (20-May-2019)
"Here's a definite change of pace from Ranpyon's previous works. A thoroughly entertaining Oriental adventure with great looking surroundings, great atmosphere and gameplay that constantly remains fun all the way through. You get to work through a large variety of tasks, puzzles and traps which are kept fresh and exciting throughout (some, like the shootable ball, are a bit more on the sneaky side) and even an extended jaunt in the kayak. I'm not hugely fond of this vehicle, but here it is utilised rather nicely. The retextured Bartoli dragons were nice touches, and the ending was pretty neat too and I suppose it demonstrates the consequences of being too greedy. Great enjoyment." - Ryan (15-May-2019)
"Ranpyon's output to date has consisted solely of seasonal releases that, while colorful and entertaining, have the character of what I would call "light and fluffy." The Dragon Pearl, on the other hand, is a grinding, down-to- earth adventure with Lara in full combat and thinking mode that has the player on his toes at all times. I played while writing a walkthrough, taking nearly three hours of net gaming time so I could glean every delectable morsel from the playing experience. Although the two levels flow together seamlessly, the first segment is by far the longer and more complex. The overall ambiance is on the dark side, but I could most of the time see everything clearly and didn't have to light too many flares. My download is dated April 27, so I don't know if I played the original or the revised version, but I experienced no issues raised in the stuck thread. The idea of the pot luck secret has never been employed before to my knowledge, but it might have been better to remove the random factor. The first time I used it I got a health boost. I reloaded, drew the desert eagle and this time I got desert eagle ammo. But the third time I drew the desert eagle and got uzi ammo, which leads me to conclude that the reward is random. Anyway, it was a nice touch. Throughout, a highly entertaining raid." - Phil (13-May-2019)
"What a wonderful level. It has everything – beautifully made oriental settings, great atmosphere, appropriate enemies, super fun traps, puzzles and well chosen music. Whilst probably my least favoured mode of transport, it was interesting to see the kayak again as it’s not often used and it was certainly deployed in an interesting way. Gameplay is varied and enjoyable and should suit most players, although probably not for the very inexperienced. Highly recommended." - Jay (06-May-2019)
"Okay, this custom level was longer than I thought and also very challenging! Loved the japanese aesthetic, really well done atmosphere with caves, rivers and temples. Textures were great, lighting not that much. I felt it kinda random, but still good! I appreciate the new objects author made; some of them were cute. The only bad point is that I personally missed some "should-be-cool" moments, like for example the first time you encounter with that creepy dragon on a garden should have been more iconic, like with some creepy music or something! I loved the ending, btw. If you pick up the dragon pearl, Lara will turn into one of them because of the curse! That was really cool and unexpected." - Jason L (02-May-2019)
"Another good adventure from this experienced author. You'll find here an impressive architecture, good texturization and several good puzzles with a lot of exploration. Not agree with the too hidden targets you need to look for in huge areas, and sometimes the backtracking is annoying; I missed some more cameras and musics here and there, specially for the items the players are forced to shoot, more flares and more ammo for the revolver, but anyway a couple of levels (the second one in the river with the kayak was better for me) very worth to play and recommended for many players. Congratulations Ranpyon!" - Jose (02-May-2019)