Overlord: Raising Hell

Not only was the Evernight Abyss more fun than the Mellow Hills Abyss, it also takes the cake for my favorite Overlord level so far. I know exactly why, too (and it's not just because the wimpy elves are the butt of all the game's jokes).

In the Mellow Hills Abyss, Overlord's first boss - Melvin, the glutton - was doomed to repeatedly gorge himself to the point of explosion. In the Evernight Abyss, Oberon, the sloth, was doomed to watching and re-watching a theater re-enactment of the elves being slaughtered, as a result of his inaction.

Anyway, the reason this level is a winner is because it's so highly structured. The goal is to work your way to the back of the stage, defeating enemies and solving puzzles to proceed. And since the center of the level is the stage itself, it's always a cinch to find your bearings and figure out roughly where you need to go next.

There were still some unnecessary ambiguities in proceeding through the level, but in general it's a great structure because it's so intuitive. Most of the levels in the main game, as well as the first Abyss, quickly got disorienting and labyrinthine because of winding paths and corridors, and the lack of a map. In the Evernight Abyss, I never had to ask myself where the fuck I was and where I needed to go; just how to get there, which is what the actual gameplay is about.

Hopefully, the remaining three Abysses can live up to this excellent level design.

Progress: Conquered Evernight Abyss