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Reviews VideoGame / The H0nde Tree

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Piterpicher Veteran Editor IV (Series 2)
Veteran Editor IV
03/26/2023 14:24:29
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Far from h0-hum, but short (v0.083)

This review was published when the game was in v0.083 (most likely the final update, but mentioning it just in case).

  • Theme: A Roblox hacker named h0nde. It's executed decently enough, with some upgrades and interface elements mentioning things related to him.
  • Gameplay and core mechanics: Initially, you gain h0nde power that makes up h0nde discord accounts once you have enough of it. The resource can be spent on buyables like Generators that produce it, Multipliers that multiply its gain, Dividers that increase the Generator cost divider, and so on. You also get a prestige point layer based on the non-free Generator level and twitter account layer based on accounts, with their own buyables, upgrades, milestones, and even challenges for the former. The non-free Generator level is capped at 2,500, but you'll eventually get the ability to go past that limit.
  • Balancing and difficulty: Average speed and slightly challenging. The game's upgrades and challenges usually require you to grind a bit to make sure you're strong enough for them. The achievements also require you to reach some quota in a challenge or without a buyable type/broken limit, and the various gameplay boosts they provide are necessary to progress, so you may need to think about what to do when you're stuck.
  • Content on offer: Rather short, you can beat the game in five hours. Three fleshed-out layers and 35 achievements.
  • Polish and miscellaneous additions: There's a Story sidelayer that explains who h0nde is and what you do in-game (far from mandatory, but nice to have). The stats screen is very detailed, displaying all the multipliers to h0nde power, a comparison to how long it'd take to reach the number you have within a day, and two progress bars that show how much you need for another account. There are no real glitches, but the grammar is somewhat wonky and there are several typos.

While the game is definitely a fun challenge with nice extras, the lack of layers and overall short length has ultimately left me somewhat unsatisfied. h0nde may not have the deepest lore in the world, but surely it would be possible to come up with more platforms he'd visit and try to make accounts on.

Overall rank: C (Decent)

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Valiona Since: Mar, 2011
03/25/2023 19:30:11
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At the risk of stating the obvious, you really seem to enjoy reviewing these "tree" type games, since I've seen several reviews over the past few weeks. I tried the Game Developer's tree, but gave up some time after starting the Degrees layer, since my progress being reset got frustrating over times.

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Piterpicher (Series 2)
03/26/2023 06:09:54
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Yeah, I definitely enjoy these games, and resetting is something that any players who intend to get into the engine have to get used to... Though in most cases, I feel like the gains are rewarding enough to continue (it felt that way with the tree you mentioned, if you're talking about the Diploma layer, as at least there you'd get pretty good rewards from milestones, especially the third and fourth). Then again, that could be a rather high tolerance to this kind of stuff.

Currently mostly inactive. An incremental game I tested: https://galaxy.click/play/176 (Gods Of Incremental)
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SpectralTime Since: Apr, 2009
03/26/2023 13:40:39
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I will say that the simple fact that you add a lot of points for longevity and take a lot of points away when you feel it’s too short suggests that you consider progress resets half a feature.

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Piterpicher (Series 2)
03/26/2023 14:24:29
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I think that resetting works if you get a noticeable boost and the previous parts are sped up, to show how much more power you now have. The gameplay loop when resetting a new layer sometimes ends up as leap > progress > routine > boredom > partial automation > full automation, with various upgrades and challenges shaking things up. I think the game should either automate or move on to the next layer before it starts setting into boredom, so that things feel fresh.

One game I've been trying to play has a lot of resetting and content (more than 20 layers from what I can tell), but you don't feel much faster or rewarded by doing so (I'm at layer 10), and the gameplay is highly repetitive, with you simply waiting and grinding until you eventually hit the goal for the one available upgrade with practically no variation or interesting mechanics. That game will likely get a D or even E rank when I beat it and the page is out. Or The Tree Of Death has a ton of resetting in the second layer for little gain and tedium with rebuying upgrades, and that game would likely get a D rank (though it's also very short). By contrast, this game had a lot more variety and interesting bits, while the resets felt decently satisfying, and in fact I was disappointed that it ended up so short because I wanted more interesting things and progression, so I gave it a C rank.

Currently mostly inactive. An incremental game I tested: https://galaxy.click/play/176 (Gods Of Incremental)

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