4 Responses

1. Glazius Says:

   Storyline
   Design
   Gameplay
   Detail

   Running on a high 40s spine/regen scrapper.

   Probably will turn out impossible if there’s any buildup, because lolregen.

   Anyway. Reactions!

   —

   Opening spread needs more cheesy lines about a search for the ultimate wisdom of the fist.

   …okay, how the hell did you pull that off? A whole bunch of kneeling untargetable enemies that stand up in waves.

   And then you get build up and rain of arrows dropped on you. Nothing a little MoG can’t handle.

   —

   Uh, why call me “master”? I’m a girl. You might want to make up crazy-sounding degrees like Guardian of the Jade Pagoda or something to call the survivors.

   Enemy descriptions are appropriately hokey.

   Were you trying to go for the “English words badly out of sync” with the hostage? Because that’s the effect I got.

   —

   Wow. Spending 7K of arc space on a one-off sight gag. That’s impressive.

   You know, with the minions’ descriptions mentioning “melon hammers” I was figuring them for Carnie mallets, but those look like ordinary maces.

   So these are the Bronzemen. Time for the deadly art of WAITING UNTIL THE RAGE TIMER EXPIRES.

   I’m on the edge of my seat here, let me tell you!

   Wow, it lasts longer than it takes MoG to recharge.

   Weirdly enough the mission completed with a few of them still standing in a guard pose. I’m guessing whatever weirdness you used to gather them up got weirded out.

   —

   If the joke is that the pronunciation of the fourth boss’s name disguises its amusing spelling, then to make it work in transcription you need to spell it phonetically. Loong Sangay?

   Once again the defeat all completes without everything going down, I guess because just the boss was needed and his servitor demons who didn’t join in on account of being spread out weren’t included in the calculations.

   —

   I realize you may be going for terrible grammar and rapid-fire dialogue with the contact stuff but it just isn’t working for me. Terrible grammar makes things slower to read, not faster.

   Space out the master’s lines more, give his little verbal tic a proper set-off from the rest of the sentence, see?

   I like the ally concept? Shame he goes down to splash damage from a random patrol.

   Time for the ancient secret art of WAITING FOR ELUDE TO CRASH.

   Should Ping Pong really be labeled the way he is? I guess since he shows up twice he needs a different name, but “Ping Pong has found something” would work too.

   —

   Doable despite the buildup. Some dying but that’s what Revive is for.

   …don’t look at me that way.

   Alright visual and mission design and gameplay - noted exceptions are the defeat alls completing with people still alive, and the whole “wait for the timer to run out” strategy. The blind master was actually far easier to beat than his student, mainly because he did about half the damage to himself with energy transfer.

   Story and detailing less so - I wanted a crazy over the top kung fu story, maybe with a little self-parody thrown in. “None have survived to tell the tale. Then how do I know what’s in there, you ask? Because INSOLENT STUDENT SHOULD SHUT UP, that’s how.” What I got was pretty pedestrian.

   Posted on May 12th, 2009 at 3:46 pm

2. james_joyce Says:

   Storyline
   Design
   Gameplay
   Detail

   I gave low marks for storyline only because there really isn’t much of one to speak of - but that’s really beside the point of this arc. This arc is a beautifully crafted challenge mission that doesn’t suffer from killer GMing like a lot of other challenge missions.

   What makes it so nice is its attention to detail. The neat effect of the consecutively activated foes, the character Ping Pong, the inclusion of past bosses in later levels, and the appropriately cheesy dialog all put it past other missions in the same category.

   One criticism I have is that the Golems’ powerset makes them a little too annoying - I would be tempted to move them to a later level, as they’re more challenging than the bosses of the levels that come after them.

   Other than that I found this thoroughly enjoyable. I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a bit more than typical challenge.

   Posted on May 24th, 2009 at 3:16 pm

3. Zamuel Says:

   Storyline
   Design
   Gameplay
   Detail

   Despite the difficulty in parts, this was a very fun arc. The attention to detail was well done and was probaly one of the best setups for Defeat All that I’ve seen. Also, the delayed attackers mechanic was well done. I challenged this at a far lower level than I should have lvl 7/8 MA / Nin Stalker so I had a number of deaths. I agree that the Bronzemen probably should lose the regen since it makes them extraordinarily powerful. Likewise, the simplicity of the story is fine but could use a bit more flair in parts.

   I would suggest changing “Daughters” to “Dragonfly Daugher” both to reference Lady Dragonfly and due to the fact that it’s singular if there’s only one. Also, I would suggest bumping up Lady Dragonfly from Lieutenant to Bos since strength-wise she doesn’t stand out from her minions much.

   I would gladly run this again at a higher level.

   Posted on July 10th, 2009 at 10:19 pm

4. RFKapoor Says:

   Storyline
   Design
   Gameplay
   Detail

   “The Impossible Kung-Fu Mission” is a great series of stand-up fights. No objects to retrieve, nobody to escort, just five straightforward smackdowns in a row. There’s not even any story, but this arc doesn’t really need it.

   The first mission pits you against the Shaolin Monks. It’s very short, and entering the final chamber to see so many of them meditating together (and glowing) was an impressive sight. The second mission introduced the Bronzemen with some suspense by having the boy found in the tunnels with one of their helmets. Pulling them to fight singly or in pairs seems a necessity with all the rage they carry.

   Lung Singe and his demons are impressive looking. It’s a tough fight between him, his imps, his demons, and his ambushes. The final map’s combined patrols of demons, daughters, and monks is a striking change after monk-only patrols. The final fight with the Blind Master and all the monks in the world is great fun.

   Kapoor gives this arc highest marks for design and detail. Gameplay is above average considering it’s just a straighforward set of fights. It can’t really be graded on storyline because there isn’t one. Overall, well done!

   Posted on July 15th, 2009 at 6:04 pm