You may know Lucas Molina from the artsy simulation Avant-Garde, but his latest game Eastward Quest is an entirely different beast in every possible way. Part arcade game, part RPG, you control a stalwart pixel hero rushing East and dealing with monsters along the way. Use the [WASD] or [arrow] keys to move around the field and charge into enemies to kill them and get experience points for leveling up, but since doing so damages you, you need to grab food and hearts to heal. You'll also find coins you can spend on upgrades between levels, and since these are the only things that persist on your character (any levels earned during stages are reset between them, so you start from level one again), you'll want to make good use of them.
Simple, right? Right! If ever a game belonged in an arcade cabinet somewhere, Eastward Quest fits the bill perfectly. It's addictive in a very casual sort of way, and its difficulty curve continues tossing in just enough new elements in each stage, like moving enemies, status ailments, and pitfalls, to keep you on your toes. After a certain point, grinding definitely becomes a factor as you have to balance being able to dodge the thick-and-fast incoming obstacles with gaining enough levels for when the monsters get stronger and more numerous in comparison to healing items. It makes for a pleasant little bit of strategy in an otherwise straightforward game, and combined with the unique areas, music, and monsters, makes for a pleasant little arcade game to fill your spare time.
Thanks to Javier for sending this one in!
Movement turned to molasses at bad times. Might be a flash thing, though.
The odd lack of horizontal control is a bigger problem. If we're able to do it, I need more mobility than that.
Makes me hungry.
Never got slow on me, but good game overall. The last stage is hard.
At last, my persistence has finally paid off, and I have beaten that accursed dragon!
How do you defeat the dragon?!!
First, buy max stats of course. Try to level up as much as possible, but eventually, once you reach level 8 or 9, you're going to have to decide to to stop fighting enemies and focus on grabbing health potions where you can find them, and try to take as little damage as possible. And beyond that it's just persistence. That was my route to victory.
If you are pressing forward while moving up or down it gets slow. I think it has to do with dashing. Doesn't seem to be an error, just try not to multitask like that, just control up and down and you are pretty much good to go. I did not find much use for the forward or back arrows.
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