Grim Riddles
Apr
16
Story Description: An enigmatic villain has chosen you to play a little game. Can you solve this maniac’s riddles in time to save some of Paragon City’s finest?
Story Arc ID: 1396
Author’s Global Chat Handle: @Mantid
Length: Long (5 missions)
Alignment: Heroic
Designer Notes: WARNING: Contains three timed missions with mission objectives given as riddles. There is a good chance you will fail a mission.
Similar Missions:
- Fear And Loathing On Striga
- Who Dares Wins
- The Shadowy Way of Light
- Redoubt Operations #1: Fires Over Kalago
- All Consuming
Filed under: Reviews, Family, Heroic, Infected, Length: Long, Sky Raiders
Backfire
Says:
I predict this inventive arc will be a Dev Choice once they hear about it!
The whole concept of using MA to solve riddles in-game is ingenious! And the mechanic the author came up to do it is perfect!
The time limits give a nice sense of urgency to each mission and the riddles are challenging, yet not too tough. The “surprise” in mission 3 adds an unexpected twist that keeps the arc fresh despite the repetitive nature of solving riddles!
The set up is simple and characters develop nicely thru dialogue and clues.
Custom enemy group is well-balanced and colorful, with well-thought out bios.
Only 3 drawbacks, but not significant enough to really effect scoring:
1) Replayability. Once you’ve solved the riddles, running it again is pretty simple. To be expected with Riddles, tho.
2) Spawning issues. This isn’t anything the author can control, but if a player can’t find the answer to their riddle on the map it can be frustrating.
On the first Riddle map I only found 3 of the 4 possible answers at first. If I’d known there were 4 possible, I would have looked harder. Maybe the enter mish bubble could clue you in that there are 4 possible choices on the map?
3) Typos. Just a few minor errors here and there, hopefully they’ve been ironed out by now.
Anyway, I can’t recommend this mission enough. It’s a fantastic use of MA.
Posted on April 17th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
@Unregistered
Says:
TLDR version: Unique usage of game engine. Not to everyone’s taste. Immersive.
Subjective Play Experience:
Some policemen have been kidnapped, and to save their lives, I had to solve riddles.
This isn’t for everyone. This isn’t a fighting arc. I was hoping to level my scrapper on it, but I didn’t get much xp or tickets. What this arc is, is a unique use of the MA engine, and a strangely immersive battle of wits against a well-characterized antagonist.
The moment I read the riddle, the answer popped into my head. I was wondering what “defeat the answer” meant but after jumping around the mission a little, I had a good idea. All that remained to do was to defeat the mob that was named after the answer. Easy.
The next mission was harder. Once again, I had a vague idea and looked at what mobs there were. It didn’t make sense. Did I miss something? I read through the riddle again. Oh, I thought, got it. Killed the mob, finished the mission.
The fourth mission was a surprise. Huh? What? What kind of riddle is that. I went around the mission, but none of the answers made sense. Time was running out. In order not to give anything away, I’ll just say that solving this one involves a bit of metagaming - knowing how the Mission Architect works. It was good though. Immersive. I felt like I was really up against a evil, insane “Joker”, who just wanted to win.
And the villain gave exactly the response he was supposed to. Screaming, angered, telling me I was cheating.
Time to take down the villain. It was not difficult, with the number of allies I’d gathered by the time I reached him. But it was satisfying. Very satisfying, after he made me run around and around on large maps, wasting the time of my lowbie’s jetpack!
Finally, the souvenir. Awwwww… the souvenir is just so touching. *blows nose*
To find out what it is, you’ll have to play yourself.
Posted on April 18th, 2009 at 1:16 am
Shader
Says:
Imaginative use of the MA engine.
The main villain had a unique flair that is often missing in most arcs.
The timers were a good incentive to try and get the mission done… particular when played with a lvl 50. In the back of the mind there is that ticking clock. The fourth mission was a surprise.
While I didn’t actually ’solve’ the riddles, I didn’t fail the missions. I just thumped each answer until I got the right one. In the fourth mission, having read the reviews here, I …. found the answer with the clues left here - and it left me laughing my head off.
And the souvenir… *grin* Very touching.
Not everyone’s cup of tea, but an extremely clever use of the MA.
Posted on April 19th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
Paradox Girl
Says:
Loved the riddles. I thought this was extremely creative use of the MA. The custom group was great, I was looking forward to fighting more of them. Make a sequel to this!
Posted on April 25th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Itomic
Says:
Very clever and different kind of mission. The riddles were somewhat confusing at first, but the strategy became apparent with a little travelling around the map. The last riddle with such a short timer really got my heart going, which was really cool. And the final battle with a lot of allies was very rewarding.
I’m not sure I’d play this more than once, and playing with a team who can’t read the riddles would make it difficult, but all in all it is a great and unique solo experience.
Posted on April 25th, 2009 at 11:04 pm
dugfromthearth
Says:
Great arc. Creative and well written.
First mission introduces villain and is very nicely done.
Final mission is very satisfying.
Riddle missions feel too large for the effect - a lot of searching more than deciding the riddle - but I assume this was required to haver non-linear maps. The choice of maps was odd - had variety but they didn’t really go with the overall plot.
All in all one of my favorite arcs - I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a story and something different. But not for people looking for fights or challenges.
Posted on May 2nd, 2009 at 3:07 pm
PW
Says:
I thought the riddle solving was a great concept, and the villain is characterized well.
The actual gameplay was somewhat frustrating, though; searching through large-ish outdoor maps to find the right target felt rather tedious. The first riddle made sense, I confess I didn’t “get” the second riddle (even after defeating all 4 masks that seemed necessary); the ending felt a little anticlimactic to me, with no riddles at all, you just beat the guy up. Would’ve liked more of a sense of beating him at his own game.
Posted on August 16th, 2010 at 3:06 pm
Ankylosaur
Says:
Thought this a really creative use of the MA. Found that fourth mission frustrating, but was supposed to!
It is perfectly in character for our contact to cheat here…
I have to echo PW who found the end a little anti-climatic.
Really enjoyed it overall though.
Posted on April 1st, 2012 at 10:55 am