2 Responses

1. @PW Says:

   Storyline
   Design
   Gameplay
   Detail

   Up to the last mission I was mildly positive about the arc, but I thought the last mission was really pretty cool. I do think there are things that could be cleaned up/improved in the first few missions (especially the mission briefing and story logic for the first two) but the cool ending pushed it over the top for me to rate it 5 stars.

   Posted on May 26th, 2009 at 6:33 pm

2. Glazius Says:

   Storyline
   Design
   Gameplay
   Detail

   @GlaziusF

   Playing on a high-30s ice/axe tanker, diff 2 so bosses is bosses. The endless cycle of earning Mission Engineer and switching to an alt begins anew.

   —

   Hrmmm. “I have something I could use your help with, a pair of Midnighters have not reported back for several hours now. Would you mind checking it out?” The “it” is kind of missing an antecedent. Maybe just “a pair of Midnighters went out to explore a cave, but haven’t reported back for several hours now”. That gives the “it” something that isn’t a person to latch onto.

   Hmm. Looking over the mission complete clue, the game calls the Tuatha “Dannan”, not “Dannon”. “Dannon” is a brand of yogurt.

   …I think I may call them the “yogurt deer” from now on.

   After all that the obelisk is probably just part of an ancient bathroom wall or something. “Akarist the Grey makes the girls sigh.”

   —

   Ah, Oranbega.

   …not much to say, really, other than spectral lords still show up at this level and annoy the living daylights out of me.

   You’d think that after how many years of paranoia the Circle wouldn’t want to bargain with suspicious people, but I guess Darrin Wade’s name carries some weight, even with them.

   —

   It’s rather convenient that the obelisk just happened to be talking about the one important artifact in the Midnight Squad.

   …man, they make ‘em scrawny, don’t they. Poor captive guy looks like he needs a sammich.

   The Living Armor, not so much.

   In fact he just kind of rips the boss up while I’m trying to get rid of a spectral. Maybe I should have left him in place. Que sera sera.

   —

   “Have you found the him yet?” Percy’s bug text needs fixing.

   …ah, interesting. A shop full of pumpkins. (maybe it should be CoV abandoned office? I recall those were more orangey, fits Croatoa better)

   Oh, now that’s an interesting way of going about it. I thought this seemed a bit empty.

   Hmm. Clues need a bit reordered: minion, lieutenant, Midnighter, Circle guy. I think the only way to do that, though, is to reorder objectives, which you may not want.

   Also the way you made distinct names bugged the NPC text for one of ‘em. I realize it’s a bit much to ask, but if you invent some way to name them (would a pattern like “Eight Grasping Shadows” work?) then you don’t need to worry about making the same name show up three different ways.

   —

   …okay, ancient soul-devouring horrors do not go “nom nom nom”.

   …okay, so if all these allies are part of me, why do I not get any XP for stuff they kill on their own? Aren’t they me? I DEMAND A SPECIAL EXCEPTION. Also there is no Avatar of Sarcasm who non-combat follows you around making pithy remarks whenever you lose track of him.

   Could you maybe make Initiative /therm? I don’t think Thaw boosts perception (and therefore ally aggro range) the way Clear Mind does.

   —

   Storyline - ****. There’s no reason for that obelisk to describe the amulet of J’gara, unless this is one of those shonen goon powers that only work if you tell the other guy how it works first. Maybe have ‘em find out about it because Mindskewer mentions going after a recent acquisition and that’s the most notable one?

   Design - *****. It irks me a little that the bosses are the teensiest out of all the customs. But that’s really the only problem I have with the design. Everything else works very well in the service of the story.

   Gameplay - *****. The optional allies did take care of a lot of the worst fights near the end, but most of that was my own bumbling around not engaging.

   Detail - ****. Seriously. Ancient soul-devouring horrors do not go “nom nom nom”. Also a little stilted grammar in some mission intros.

   Overall - *****. It was pretty solid on test, and it’s only improved.

   Posted on June 10th, 2009 at 10:08 pm