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For Games Ranked 3–1
3.
Vikings of Midgard
by
Fenrir-Lunaris
Release Type:
OHR Legend Level 2
Fuzzy Description:
The Vikings are back for one last ride as the OHR’s official mascot, behind Bob the Hamster, or course. Not much to say that hasn’t already been said in previous seasons, other than that the game is complete, and it’s also the reason the engine’s “H” codename is both hard to pronounce and hard to spell. I’m not even sure I can reproduce the name here. But yeah, Vikings of Midgard is a complete game, and now Fenrir-Lunaris can finally get some beach time.
Average Score:
Total Voters:
Highest Rating:
10
Lowest Rating:
6
Achievements
Achievement
The Usual Epic
–Vikings of Midgard has been in production for over a decade, and its ongoing development has become so familiar with players that each new update and gameplay session doesn’t so much reintroduce them to a new world but allows them to visit one that they already know so well. Therefore, discovering something new is a treat.
Achievement
Krack Shanker
-In the tradition of “Mogri Shanker” (which Vikings won in 2010) and “Willy Shanker,” Vikings of Midgard steals the position and breaks the heart of another poor sap who just wants to win!
Achievement
Adapt and Conquer
–Vikings of Midgard has gone through several changes over the years, including new visual sequences, reimagined plotlines, and adaptation to the engine’s latest features. None of these changes have brought the game down, however, except almost that one time Fenrir-Lunaris suffered a catastrophic crash and lost a ton of work and nearly gave up as a result, and even with the changes, the game has remained a top-rated game since the beginning.
Achievement
Hotver–Hotner–HotOHR?
-Because Vikings of Midgard was originally built to become the OHR’s official learning game (not to be outdone by this year’s TutOHRial), its final release has also earned the honor of thematically tying in with the engine’s latest update codename. Originally, it was supposed to ship with the engine’s “Y” release, under the name “Yggdrasil.” But since Vikings wasn’t ready for that release, the “Y” release became “Ypsiliform” (January 2010). Years later, the game wrapped production during development of the engine’s “H” release, so instead of getting a semi-pronounceable name that doesn’t require a key, the engine gets “Hróðvitnir” (September 2021).
Achievement
Quality Control
-This marks the third time Vikings of Midgard has entered a Heart of the OHR and the second time it’s gotten a score. For its final outing, it received not only more votes than its first outing (15 over 5), but also a higher score (8.2 over 7.8). That’s some good quality control.
Achievement
The Legend Ends
–Vikings of Midgard earns OHR Legend, Level 2 status as of this release, but it will unlikely ever earn Level 3, partly because Vikings of Midgard is now a finished game, but also because Heart of the OHR is now (most likely) a finished contest.
Achievement
The Usual Epic
–Vikings of Midgard has been in production for over a decade, and its ongoing development has become so familiar with players that each new update and gameplay session doesn’t so much reintroduce them to a new world but allows them to visit one that they already know so well. Therefore, discovering something new is a treat.
Achievement
Adapt and Conquer
–Vikings of Midgard has gone through several changes over the years, including new visual sequences, reimagined plotlines, and adaptation to the engine’s latest features. None of these changes have brought the game down, however, except almost that one time Fenrir-Lunaris suffered a catastrophic crash and lost a ton of work and nearly gave up as a result, and even with the changes, the game has remained a top-rated game since the beginning.
Achievement
Quality Control
-This marks the third time Vikings of Midgard has entered a Heart of the OHR and the second time it’s gotten a score. For its final outing, it received not only more votes than its first outing (15 over 5), but also a higher score (8.2 over 7.8). That’s some good quality control.
Achievement
Krack Shanker
-In the tradition of “Mogri Shanker” (which Vikings won in 2010) and “Willy Shanker,” Vikings of Midgard steals the position and breaks the heart of another poor sap who just wants to win!
Achievement
Hotver–Hotner–HotOHR?
-Because Vikings of Midgard was originally built to become the OHR’s official learning game (not to be outdone by this year’s TutOHRial), its final release has also earned the honor of thematically tying in with the engine’s latest update codename. Originally, it was supposed to ship with the engine’s “Y” release, under the name “Yggdrasil.” But since Vikings wasn’t ready for that release, the “Y” release became “Ypsiliform” (January 2010). Years later, the game wrapped production during development of the engine’s “H” release, so instead of getting a semi-pronounceable name that doesn’t require a key, the engine gets “Hróðvitnir” (September 2021).
Achievement
The Legend Ends
–Vikings of Midgard earns OHR Legend, Level 2 status as of this release, but it will unlikely ever earn Level 3, partly because Vikings of Midgard is now a finished game, but also because Heart of the OHR is now (most likely) a finished contest.
Audience Consensus:
Classic OHR game that proves bland early on but gets more interesting as it continues. Good at what it does but ultimately does nothing new. Sometimes shows its age and roots as a “Welcome to the OHR RPG.” Nevertheless, it’s still fun and well-balanced for a decade-old game. Changes from previous version offer less context to immerse players into the moment as its previous iterations. And outdated memes lessen its general appeal. But at the end of the day, it’s a completed game with a rich history, nostalgic adventure, and competent design that even skeptical players can find something to love about it. One of the engine’s greats and shouldn’t be missed, especially considering it’s designed to show off all that the engine can do. Kudos to Fenrir-Lunaris for finally putting a bow on it.
2.
False Skies
by
Feenicks
Release Type:
Re-release
Fuzzy Description:
What begins as an adventure in archaeology becomes an adventure in astronomy, and once it becomes an adventure in gastronomy, we’ll enjoy every moment of it (according to games with cooking segments). So, go hire your hands and get to the explorin’ and see what you can do about that inevitable world-shattering event, because even if the skies are false, the fun is true, and you should play it now!
Average Score:
Total Voters:
Highest Rating:
10
Lowest Rating:
7
Achievements
Achievement
Chest Level Champion
-No score for False Skies fell below 7. Note: This is the first time a game has earned this award, though two other games in Heart of the OHR history were eligible. Previous winners would have been DUNGEONMEN: Men of Dungeons (2012), which earned a similar award called “Inflated Chest,” and Kaiju Big Battel: Fighto Fantasy (2018), which had already acquired more than a dozen awards and didn’t need any more.
Achievement
Visual Feast
–False Skies has always been an attractive game, but the new archaeology zones take the visuals to the next level.
Achievement
Explorer’s Paradise
-Because False Skies plays like a classic adventure, it also allows for a robust exploration system within towns and some landscapes. Seems like there’s always something new to discover wherever you go.
Achievement
The Great Shaft
-In spite of False Skies being just one of three games to earn consistently high scores among all voters (7 points and up), it’s the only one not to win first place.
Achievement
Classic Quest
–False Skies has fallen right out of the early 1990s, looking as if it belongs on the NES, and playing like it wants to compete with Dragon Warrior or the original Final Fantasy.
Achievement
Rewriting History
-The 2018 edition of False Skies begins in town and tells the story of an archaeology academy getting practice in a fairly bland cave. The 2020 edition rewrites the opening and sends our heroes on a quest through a jungle ruin to launch the official adventure.
Achievement
Exciting Incident
-In storytelling, the “inciting incident” is the moment when the hero’s life is upended and the story’s dramatic question is asked. In False Skies’s case, that inciting incident happens during an exciting archaeology dig and not in bed, where most heroes launch their adventures. (To clarify, these adventures typically start with the hero alone in bed.)
Achievement
Mission: Transition
-Of the various tricks False Skies pulls to keep it visually arresting, it also employs smooth screen wipes to transition from map to map and from map to battle. Very polished.
Achievement
Restless Anticipation
–False Skies is the type of game that captivates the player with every new demo and builds anticipation over whatever may be coming next. It accomplishes this by keeping the game’s central mystery tantalizing while ensuring that the present content is exciting. This may in part be why it consistently scores so high among players.
Achievement
Chest Level Champion
-No score for False Skies fell below 7. Note: This is the first time a game has earned this award, though two other games in Heart of the OHR history were eligible. Previous winners would have been DUNGEONMEN: Men of Dungeons (2012), which earned a similar award called “Inflated Chest,” and Kaiju Big Battel: Fighto Fantasy (2018), which had already acquired more than a dozen awards and didn’t need any more.
Achievement
The Great Shaft
-In spite of False Skies being just one of three games to earn consistently high scores among all voters (7 points and up), it’s the only one not to win first place.
Achievement
Exciting Incident
-In storytelling, the “inciting incident” is the moment when the hero’s life is upended and the story’s dramatic question is asked. In False Skies’s case, that inciting incident happens during an exciting archaeology dig and not in bed, where most heroes launch their adventures. (To clarify, these adventures typically start with the hero alone in bed.)
Achievement
Visual Feast
–False Skies has always been an attractive game, but the new archaeology zones take the visuals to the next level.
Achievement
Classic Quest
–False Skies has fallen right out of the early 1990s, looking as if it belongs on the NES, and playing like it wants to compete with Dragon Warrior or the original Final Fantasy.
Achievement
Mission: Transition
-Of the various tricks False Skies pulls to keep it visually arresting, it also employs smooth screen wipes to transition from map to map and from map to battle. Very polished.
Achievement
Explorer’s Paradise
-Because False Skies plays like a classic adventure, it also allows for a robust exploration system within towns and some landscapes. Seems like there’s always something new to discover wherever you go.
Achievement
Rewriting History
-The 2018 edition of False Skies begins in town and tells the story of an archaeology academy getting practice in a fairly bland cave. The 2020 edition rewrites the opening and sends our heroes on a quest through a jungle ruin to launch the official adventure.
Achievement
Restless Anticipation
–False Skies is the type of game that captivates the player with every new demo and builds anticipation over whatever may be coming next. It accomplishes this by keeping the game’s central mystery tantalizing while ensuring that the present content is exciting. This may in part be why it consistently scores so high among players.
Audience Consensus:
New starting zone adds to the story while seamlessly integrating with the game’s original content. Polished and complete with complex and engaging dungeon design. Palette a bit glaring with its tan background and hard-to-see enemies. And battles can go to harsh places. But there are plenty of classes to choose from, making each adventure unique and each battle winnable. Encounter gauge also makes for a neat concept. Towns fun to explore, and the story provides for a captivating mystery. Great game overall and can’t be finished soon enough.
1.
Axe Cop
by
RedMaverickZero
Release Type:
Original Release
Fuzzy Description:
Based on a comic written by a five-year-old (Malachai Nicolle) and illustrated by a 29-year-old (Ethan Nicolle), Axe Cop is a modern masterpiece in both game design and storytelling, complete with choices and consequences, moral dilemmas, intellectual challenges, and tear-jerking music, each brought together to present an emotional journey unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before…Nah, just kidding. It’s the five-year-old version of all of those things.
It’s excellent at what it does, though, hence its easy win.
Average Score:
Total Voters:
Highest Rating:
10
Lowest Rating:
4
Achievements
Achievement
So I Deputized an Axe Murderer
–Axe Cop doesn’t arrest his villains. He chops their heads off with an axe. Based on stories by a five-year-old boy.
Achievement
Saturday Morning Special
–Axe Cop is the game that best looks and feels like a Saturday morning cartoon. Also, I think there was a time when Axe Cop actually was a Saturday morning cartoon.
Achievement
First Achiever
-Not only did Axe Cop achieve first place in Heart of the OHR 2020, but it also achieved first crack at the OHR’s new (and too long-awaited) Steam achievements feature.
Achievement
Fan Game Award
-RedMaverickZero’s second take at this achievement (previously earned for 2014’s Batman & Robin) proves once again that fan games can be fun games. Note: Technically Axe Cop is licensed, not a traditional “fan game,” but I wanted RMZ to earn this award twice, so we’re calling it a fan game for the sake of this achievement.
Achievement
Palette Hero
-A recurring achievement to the game with the best use of limited colors. Note: Normally, False Skies would’ve won this award, but because it had already achieved “Palette Hero” in 2018, I’m giving it to the next best palette.
Achievement
Top Survivor
-Globally, 2020 was notorious as a year full of death and destruction, so achieving anything during such a dreadful time is an admirable feat. To not only see the completion of a full-fledged game in 2020, but to have it rate so well with players is an achievement worthy of special recognition, and Axe Cop earns that recognition.
Achievement
Candidate for Best of 2020
-The OHR community doesn’t really hold “best of” annual contests anymore, but if it did, Axe Cop’s 8.93 average rating suggests it would’ve done quite well for itself. This award, adjusted for year, is given to any Heart of the OHR winner that scores an average above 8.0. Previous winners include Motrya (2010; 9.5), DUNGEONMEN: Men of Dungeons (2012; 8.8), and Kaiju Big Battel: Fighto Fantasy (2018, 9.0).
Achievement
Licensed Game Award
-There, you happy now?
Achievement
The Maverick Returns
-RMZ’s name comes from Mega Man, and Axe Cop’s stage select screen resembles Mega Man, so…
Achievement
Over and Out
-Scoring ranges from 10-4, and, well, it’s a game about cops.
Achievement
So I Deputized an Axe Murderer
–Axe Cop doesn’t arrest his villains. He chops their heads off with an axe. Based on stories by a five-year-old boy.
Achievement
Fan Game Award
-RedMaverickZero’s second take at this achievement (previously earned for 2014’s Batman & Robin) proves once again that fan games can be fun games. Note: Technically Axe Cop is licensed, not a traditional “fan game,” but I wanted RMZ to earn this award twice, so we’re calling it a fan game for the sake of this achievement.
Achievement
Licensed Game Award
-There, you happy now?
Achievement
Saturday Morning Special
–Axe Cop is the game that best looks and feels like a Saturday morning cartoon. Also, I think there was a time when Axe Cop actually was a Saturday morning cartoon.
Achievement
Palette Hero
-A recurring achievement to the game with the best use of limited colors. Note: Normally, False Skies would’ve won this award, but because it had already achieved “Palette Hero” in 2018, I’m giving it to the next best palette.
Achievement
The Maverick Returns
-RMZ’s name comes from Mega Man, and Axe Cop’s stage select screen resembles Mega Man, so…
Achievement
First Achiever
-Not only did Axe Cop achieve first place in Heart of the OHR 2020, but it also achieved first crack at the OHR’s new (and too long-awaited) Steam achievements feature.
Achievement
Top Survivor
-Globally, 2020 was notorious as a year full of death and destruction, so achieving anything during such a dreadful time is an admirable feat. To not only see the completion of a full-fledged game in 2020, but to have it rate so well with players is an achievement worthy of special recognition, and Axe Cop earns that recognition.
Achievement
Over and Out
-Scoring ranges from 10-4, and, well, it’s a game about cops.
Achievement
Candidate for Best of 2020
-The OHR community doesn’t really hold “best of” annual contests anymore, but if it did, Axe Cop’s 8.93 average rating suggests it would’ve done quite well for itself. This award, adjusted for year, is given to any Heart of the OHR winner that scores an average above 8.0. Previous winners include Motrya (2010; 9.5), DUNGEONMEN: Men of Dungeons (2012; 8.8), and Kaiju Big Battel: Fighto Fantasy (2018, 9.0).
Audience Consensus:
Decent and in no way perfect, but excellent for an OHR game. Slick keyboard controls makes gameplay fun, while using a controller makes it nostalgic. Knows its source material well and stays faithful to the characters and their gimmicks. Screen titles announcing each map are a nice touch. Has an interesting way to interact with team members (radial menu). Mini-games tell part of the story, and they’re used intelligently. Interaction with map objects also keeps the game worthy of exploration. That said, the game isn’t perfect. Maps are over-long and tedious, with the only saving grace being the music changing between sublevels. Enemies reappearing by revisiting an area gets annoying over time. MP mechanic loses its appeal by the ice zone level as MP-refillables are plentiful. And gimmicks sometimes need explanation. But combat is well-balanced, and the stat-building system is generous, so it all works. Overall, it was the most feared entry coming into this year’s contest, and it did not disappoint expectations. It didn’t win as easily as everyone had expected, but it still won, and its commitment to quality helped get it there. Imperfect but excellent. Worthy of being called one of 2020’s greatest OHR releases. Your 2020 winner, Axe Cop.
And there you have it, your lineup for the 2020 Heart of the OHR Contest.
Thanks again to everyone who participated this year, and special thanks to RedMaverickZero and his design team for giving the community an excellent (and complete) game in Axe Cop. I also want to give a special thanks to Fenrir-Lunaris for bringing Vikings of Midgard to completion and for earning a Legends Level 2 badge in the process. Thanks also to everyone who helped make this contest run smoothly, keeping the controversies down and the votes meaningful. We’ve never had a Heart of the OHR with such a consistent (and generous) voter turnout before, and the end result has led to the best reviewed season we’ve ever had. I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again: I think this has turned out to be one of our best seasons, and I thank everyone who participated, regardless of the capacity in how you participated. Every year I wonder if I should keep going, as community participation in the OHR seems to dwindle, and my own desire to participate also dwindles. But then Heart of the OHR comes around again, and I’m reminded that the heart of the OHR still beats, even after 22 years since James Paige first uploaded the engine to the public. I’m impressed with our newest records, including those set by the voters. For the first time ever, we’ve had the majority of games voted on by every participating voter, while boasting the highest voter turnout since 2012. Most of the time, I have to chase people down and wrestle for their votes, but this year, they all just showed up and gave positive reviews. If this becomes our final Heart of the OHR, then I’ll have to say that we’ve gone out on a high note. It should also go without saying that the average contest score proves that this year has given us plenty of quality titles and throwbacks to our yesteryears. So, thanks again to everyone who came out to produce a night’s worth of free entertainment, and thanks to those who still have something coming up the line for the future. Great job to all of you. I hope you continue to work on your projects and bring this crop of games to completion. And to those who didn’t upload anything during the Heart of the OHR window, I hope you’ll still upload something soon. As always, each year needs more hits, especially in the off-seasons.
Thanks also to James Paige, TMC, Baconlabs, SwordPlay, Mogri, RedMaverickZero, and Spoonweaver for helping with this year’s prizes. I hope you all remembered what you offered (Hint: It’s on the contest’s front page). Also thanks to The Wobbler, TheCube, and James Paige for hosting the first edition of each previous contest retrospective when I didn’t have a site of my own to host them on. I don’t know how much work you did to get them onto your sites, but if it was anything like what I’m going through to get them onto this site, then I thank you for your sacrifice. For anyone who wants to view the original posts, the links can be found on each respective season’s page.
And that about does it for this year’s retrospective.
Heart of the OHR 7 begins on…we shall see….
—Pepsi Ranger
