Deni3000
Member
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I’m not exactly a returning player, but I’d only been playing sporadically and was entirely lost on the story, so a few months back I decided to play through the whole game up until the most recent release on a new character. I have a lot of thoughts and I figure I’d dust off my forums account to write them out.
The main thought being how the writing has improved incredibly over the years.
spoiler:
Victoria’s storyline went from being a throwaway hint in an early game quest and one cutscene in book 1 to an extremely compelling character arc in book 3. She’s become one of my favorite characters in this game, and her dynamic with Jaania and the rest of the royalty is great.
Speaking of Jaania, she’s another great character. She went from being just a part of some characters backstory to probably one of the most sympathetic villains I’ve seen, to the point where I sometimes find myself on her side. I’m glad I replayed the game before this latest quest came out, I don’t think I’ve been so excited over a video game in a while. I’m also very glad soul weaving has taken such a central role in the plot - hands down great decisions, both in terms of Jaania’s skills and the overall world lore.
Also, the "reimagined" updates to the quests have definitely helped. At least compared to the fuzzy memory I have of the earlier book 3 quests, things seem a lot smoother writing wise, especially with the rose. Solid revisions. I will say some of the Valtrith/Calamity saga still feels a bit out of place, but that could just be me.
I have one bit of constructive criticism to provide, and that is relating to some of the villains in the game, and the moral event horizon.
Sepulchure caused global catastrophes, killed an untold amount of people, and left Falconreach in ruins. All fine and dandy, but it feels like it cheapens that impact when all it takes for our character to trust him is be friends with Lynn. And Alteon, former king to the citizens Sepulchure slaughtered, and current father to the girl whom Drakath has attempted to kill over the black dragon box multiple times, his reaction to Amadeus leaves something to be desired. Of course his own past with Valen gets in the way, but it would be nice to see the player character get an option to be more cold to Amadeus, or for maybe for Victoria to have a bigger reaction if she ever learns of Amadeus' identity.
Oh, and the Malerous saga was also very fun to play through and learn some of the more ancient lore to the world dating before the 8 elemental avatars.
Finally, the gameplay: I remember how cool it was when trinkets were added, and now specials becoming swappable gave me the same excitement. The class reworks have all been stellar, both in terms of look and mechanic, and comparing with some videos of the old class skill, the entire game looks way more polished.
I used to not really do many arena fights, but ever since that semi-recent specials update I’ve been genuinely enjoying attempting the challenge fights.
Basically, the game has come a long way, and you guys have done a great job with it over the years.
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