Review: Lock’s Quest is a mostly functional port that lacks the finesse of its handheld predecessor

Platforms: PC (reviewed), PS4, Xbox One

Developer: Digital Continue

Publisher: THQ Nordic

MSRP: $19.99

Introduction:

Lock’s Quest stands as one of the Nintendo DS’ most underrated games, as the original version brought a novel approach to the combination of RPG, Tower-Defense, and RTS mechanics with a few touch screen novelties tossed in. The game had a memorable art style, at least in a time when pixel art was still establishing its foothold as “the cool thing for small games to do.”

Now, almost nine years later, developer Digital Continue has brought the now-defunct 5th Cell’s cult classic back to modern platforms, adding in a few enhancement along the way. The developers have done an admirable job in maintaining the core experience of the game, but problems quickly rear their head when you realize that the transition from Stylus to Mouse and Keyboard or Controller is not as smooth as I would have liked.

Lock’s Quest, as you might imagine, tells the story of Lock, a young builder who finds himself thrust into the ranks of the Archineers amidst a war between humanity and the evil Lord Agony as his Clockwork Army. The game unfolds across 75 days of battles as you gradually unlock new defensive structures, turrets, traps, and the like.

Let’s take a look at what you need to know about the Lock’s Quest remaster.

Lock’s Quest has never looked or sounded better.

Lock’s Quest is one of those games that masters the ability to work within its constraints. Where most games boast about sprawling environments or realistic visuals, Lock’s Quest pays homage to gaming’s humble origins through a pixel art style that uses subtle animations to convey character expression. These visual have gotten an update in the remaster as Lock, enemy units, and structures all contain a greater amount of detail alongside an updated UI and GUI art.

Lock’s Quest has some control issues, and it doesn’t matter if you’re using a mouse and keyboard or a controller.

As a whole, Lock’s Quest works pretty well and is easy on the specs if you are playing on PC. Its biggest problem is a responsiveness issue during more hectic encounters when trying to unleash melee combos on enemies or repair a wall or turret, especially with the mouse and keyboard. It’s worth noting that playing with a controller alleviates some of these frustrations by splitting up the tasks into designated button prompts, but playing on a controller oddly comes with its own set of problems that you don’t get with the mouse and keyboard.

Camera control becomes a slog as moving it is a manual process controlled by the right stick, and the action doesn’t always follow Lock around the battlefield since some missions will have you protecting more than one objective. As a result, it’s very easy to scan around the map for your objective only to lose track of where Lock is, eating precious seconds that you could be using to repair a wall or halt a critical mission-deciding enemy advance.

Suffice it to say; there’s no such thing as a perfect solution, you just have to figure out which set of limitations you’re willing to work within when playing Lock’s Quest.

Lock’s Quest is a tougher game than it looks on the surface.

Lock’s Quest can, at times, prove to be quite the challenge. Missions can be a constant balance of choosing to spend your Source (the game’s currency used to spawn walls, turrets, etc.) or save it in hopes of creating a stronger defense in the next (and presumably tougher) mission, as it carries over between missions on certain maps.

Repairing your structures eats up Source as well, so deciding when to repair, and when to let a turret bite the dust is another thing to consider. On more than one occasion, I burned through the Source I was earning simply because I was trying to keep every structure I had built standing. This has a crippling trickle down effect that can really shaft you on future missions, and force you to start over with an adapted strategy.

The moves and abilities you unlock can compensate for some of this, particularly your lightning attack which unleashes damage on enemies across the field. But the tricky part, once again, comes down to timing. You have to build up a gauge for these special abilities by making Lock engage in melee combat. Unleashing these moves when the enemy advance is at its pinnacle can turn the tide in your favor, and can be incredibly satisfying when doing so.

Verdict:

Lock’s Quest has a tendency to flip-flop between engrossing to downright irritating. When you’re in the zone, it’s easy to pop off five or six missions in the span of 20 minutes or so, and feel like you’ve made some real progress; obviously stemming from the game’s lineage as a handheld game. That said, there are moments when Lock’s Quest can feel like it’s working against you with problematic controls, no matter which setup you choose to use.

I also noticed on occasion that towers would sometimes fail to register enemies sitting right in front of them, whaling on their health bars. This could be especially frustrating if I found myself caught up in another repair or melee encounter, but it’s worth noting that this wasn’t a constant issue; instead, it was more of a come and go sort of deal.

In any case, the primary question is, is Lock’s Quest worth a buy. I’d say if you already own the original version, there’s not much of a reason to double dip unless you no longer have your DS or you just love the game that much. Plus, if you’re a purist, you’ll likely be turned off by the changes to the UI, GUI, and Soundtrack.

If, however, you never played the original game, but were always curious, or are looking for something relatively unique on the cheap, Lock’s Quest can adequately fill your time, provided you can get around its control issues.