Million to One Hero is a quirky 2D indie platformer, which also boasts an incredible, intricate level creator. You play as Epicus (yes, really), as you run, jump, and dash through his many user-generated adventures, and have full reign of the level creator to make your own.
Million to One Hero takes level creation a step further than just placing enemies and platforms, by giving you the option to create your own sidequests, write your own dialogue, and even make your own cutscenes. Not only this, but the game also has the option to create “adventures”, which are essentially a number of your levels put together to form one larger campaign. This, combined with the ability to put in your own dialogue, essentially means you have the freedom to create your own stories!
The level creator also allows you to use logic gates (in the form of visual coding), giving you endless options to make puzzles and other more advanced obstacles for players to overcome. These can take a while to get the hang of, but it’s incredibly satisfying to watch your ideas come to life when everything is put into place.
Before publishing a level, you must complete it yourself first, meaning all levels available are definitely possible to finish, even if some are very difficult! After finishing someone else’s level, you can give it a vote if you liked it, which makes it more likely to appear on the popular levels page so more people can find it. There’s also a page of featured levels, which consist of levels the developers themselves thought deserve some spotlight.
The complexity of the level creator, although being arguably the best quality of the game, does have its downsides, mainly being that it might be a little too complex. There isn’t much explanation of how to utilise the more complicated elements, such as logic gates and cutscenes, which can be confusing. All the tools are there, but it’s not necessarily clear what needs to be used where, and how to do so. I think the level creator could have been made a lot more accessible if it had optional tutorials explaining how to use the more advanced tools, to give players a basic understanding of them. Some might appreciate the challenge of learning from scratch, but I think the experience could be vastly improved for some if there was the option for a little help.
Overall however, Million to One Hero is a brilliant game which allows for a deep level of creativity, challenge, and fun. The options for level creation are endless, and of course the playable content is endless too, as new levels are constantly being made. Especially for those who like the idea of making their own stories with their levels, this is a game you won’t want to miss.
4/5 stars.
