Chumps Preview is a special kind of post where we unofficially preview games in Early Access, Beta, or are otherwise “unfinished.” This kind of preview is meant to be a first impression rather than a definitive review where we provide a rating to determine a game’s value. As such, we fully expect a game covered in a Chumps Preview to have room for improvement, some bugginess/incompleteness, and other features associated with similar games in the category.
During the pandemic, one of my favorite daily past times was to watch Mario Maker content creators make ridiculously hard kaizo levels and play levels made by others in the community. When they weren’t hamming it up for the camera (and artificially extending level completion videos with dramatic reactions), creators like Panga, CarlSagan42, Ryukhar, and GrandPooBear showed off some truly creative level designs and top-tier Mario platforming. Because of Nintendo’s long-term developmental support and content creators’ relationships with the community, Super Mario Maker and its sequel have amassed a loyal following.
While Nintendo hasn’t really done anything with old-school Zelda fan creations, an indie developer and unlikely publisher have come together to release their own dungeon maker for Zelda and dungeon crawling fans. That, dear reader, is Quest Master! It’s in Early Access right now!
Quest Master looks and feels just like A Link to the Past and Link’s Awakening. Whether it be the currently-available bosses who behave like Moldorm or upgrades like the Feather and Boomerang, the game is a blast from the past and reimagines many classic gameplay mechanics up to 2024 standards. The 2D Zelda series made up a good chunk of my childhood, so me feeling like I’m reliving my childhood with community creations is a good sign for a UGC-driven game that just hit Early Access.
The current build of Quest Master allowed me to play through community-made levels as well as create my own. I was taken to a little hub where I could choose between three adorable characters (the mouse was my personal favorite), I was given a sword and taught to use it, I could visit two NPCs that rewarded me for completing dungeons, as well as a final NPC who showed me the ropes of accessing the dungeon finder and builder. The rest of the NPCs in the hub didn’t say much, but Quest Master’s roadmap mentions something of a Story Mode in the far future. There’s also multiplayer support, letting me bring additional players with me on my dungeon crawling adventures!
Unless I missed it, there wasn’t really any onboarding as to how I could build a dungeon. The dungeon builder’s UI is too simplistic for my tastes. There needed to be a “default” in which the game could give me a hint as to what a dungeon needs as well as some light guidance to get me going into creating something magical. Instead, the way the builder is set up assumes that players have prior experience with level creation. That said, there were several level themes that already exist in the builder, with more on the way. On top of that, there are quite a few weapons, enemy types, and mechanics that exist that can give players something to work with as Julian Creuts and Skydevilpalm add more to the game. As it stands, levels can feature a handful of weapons (bombs, boomerangs, shovels, lanterns, feathers), enemy types, and puzzles.
I understand that Rome wasn’t built in a day and that this is the official Early Access release of Quest Master. You shouldn’t go into this assuming that someone has put together the equivalent of Ganon’s Tower (A Link to the Past’s eighth dungeon) or Turtle Rock (Link’s Awakening’s eighth dungeon). Instead, your expectations should be tempered to the point of assuming that folks have created early-game dungeons – think the second or third dungeon in a classic Zelda title. This shouldn’t be interpreted as a negative — you can create something quite compelling right now, and there’s more on the way!
Quest Master is very polished, too. The spritework of the enemies and controllable characters is quite detailed and smooth. The three dungeon forms currently present in the game are distinct enough from each other, invoking the classic Zelda feel of grottoes and forgotten temples. Its soundtrack is stellar, too. It feels like exactly what Zelda fans (like myself) have been asking Nintendo to give us for years with less Nintendo and far more Apogee goodness.
I don’t have complaints about Quest Master. There already hundreds of dungeons that the community has put together, ranging from small minigames like Simon Says to multi-room dungeons with a boss at the end. I could complete dungeons in anywhere from 20 seconds to 20 minutes. The creativity expressed by the community at this point speaks volumes about Quest Master’s potential as a dungeon builder, and I’m quite excited to see what else is added.
Now, let’s talk about the hub. Right now, there is one minigame that can be played in between dungeon runs. There’s a game of chance that lets players choose from an assortment of chests. When they get a ring (the only prize I was able to win), you can take it to the other NPC who will appraise it. You can equip one ring at any time, and the ring will give you a passive bonus (like an additional heart dropped whenever a heart is dropped in a dungeon). I like the idea of having a minigame like this, but it would be great if additional prizes (like different-colored objects that can be used in dungeons or new costumes for your chosen character) were available.
As I mentioned earlier, the developer roadmap mentioned that a story of sorts is on the way (in the far future). I like the idea of a surface level story, but I think that a survival mode should be considered. Super Mario Maker 2 features an Endless Challenge and Ninji Speedruns – something similar should be implemented in Quest Master. The great thing about Endless Challenge is that it would randomly select a level from the current pool for players to attempt to complete, helping bring visibility to those who spent time to create a level. A speedrun mode (like Ninji Speedruns!) would be a perfect fit for Quest Master – the game already times players and encourages them to complete levels quickly. All it needs is a weekly “challenge” for players to complete a long level!
It’s too early for me to rate Quest Master. It’s in Early Access, and there’s quite a bit the developers have committed to adding prior to its full release. That said, it’s laid excellent groundwork and fully nailed the dungeon creation and retro charm of the Zelda series. I’m quite excited to follow along as Julian Creutz and Skydevilpalm cook!
A copy of Quest Master was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this DigitalChumps review.
