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Hi,

Today is a big day, I just gathered my courage to present to you one of my oldest production, which is over 8 years old at the time of writing, Felix and Filix Vengelis -Black Crystal Mask-. It is an artefact from the past, the cement of my work, by far the one that has given the most to my more recent productions, including HopDrop.

Already, what is the interest of presenting old games?

The interest is multiple.

• If you only discover me with this game, I would invite you to see a more recent and fun production.
• My itch.io page acts like a portfolio. As such, I think it is very interesting to see old productions side by side with the most recent ones, for comparison, and to show that I am in perpetual evolution.
• Logical continuation of the previous point, I want to show that I do not come out of nowhere and that I have the conviction to complete what I undertake and to surpass myself.
• This will show budding creators (or people who lack self-confidence), in all fields (video games in this case, but also writing or dance, for example), that nothing comes out of nowhere, Everything must have a beginning. For my part, I have come a long way, what it takes is not to let go and keep the faith.
• I am transparent, I have no reason to hide my old productions, failures or not. Like his predecessor, the case of Felix and Filix Vengelis -Black Crystal Mask- is a bit special, its reception was disastrous at the time of its first release (2013), but from a personal point of view, it is a success.

Felix and Filix Vengelis -Black Crystal Mask-, what is it?

Felix and Filix Vengelis -Black Crystal Mask- is a turn-based RPG mixing A-RPG mechanics, which is very freely inspired by The Legend of Zelda -Majora's Mask-, which easily appears in my top 10 of my favorite games . This Zelda is very interesting to analyze, it makes a good model for learning game design. Although I gained a lot of skill with Black Crystal Mask, I still came out of Felix Vengelis -Twilight King- and his predecessors who were even simpler, I had to aim too big at this time. Especially since this game was in cooperation with my cousin, who had less base than me. I still find the result admirable, but given the potenitel of this game, it could have been better.

Felix and Filix Vengelis -Black Crystal Mask- therefore follows Felix Vengelis -Twilight King-, both in development and scriptwriting. Felix and Filix Vengelis -Black Crystal Mask- fixes many flaws of Twilight King. The level-design is evolving, especially for the dungeons which are more interesting, the fights, although still simple, are more interesting (especially at the boss level). But a few flaws remained, such as the lack of leveling.

A demo of Felix and Filix Vengelis -Black Crystal Mask- released in 2013 received a freezing reception, the game being completely eclipsed by Twilight King. From this point of view, the contact between Black Crystal Mask and the public was a total fiasco, but for posterity, it's like Twilight King, a success.

But, Black Crystal Mask, what does it bring?

Felix and Filix Vengelis -Black Crystal Mask- has a great legacy that spans time and games, including HopDrop. I did a devlog on this before, where I talk about Black Crystal Mask, comparing it to HopDrop and listing some commonalities between the two games.

To put it rather briefly, Felix and Filix Vengelis -Black Crystal Mask- takes the formula of Felix Vengelis -Twilight King- and makes his improvements. The worlds are more open and interactive, the objectives clearer. Black Crystal Mask also has 2 difficulty modes.

Is the version presented on itch.io the original from 2012/2013?

Almost, a few bugs were fixed between the original version finalized in 2014 and the current version. This version shown on itch.io is referenced as v1.2 build29112020.

The big disclaimer on the main page discourages me, can I still play Black Crystal Mask?

Obviously, I would rather recommend that you play HopDrop. The disclosure of my archives is especially there to mark what I said in the part "Already, what is the interest of presenting old games?". Also, if ever some curious people want to rub shoulders with Felix and Filix Vengelis -Black Crystal Mask-, despite all the warnings on the quality that I have been able to do, I encourage them. Seeing this old game to learn from it (what works or not in a video game, work on yourself to gain more confidence ...) is something that I find very beautiful.