It took two, two and a half hours, straight through. Storyline, that is, Not touched the open-world content except for a couple of events I had to pass through along the way.
Did it solo, never died once, important to me for immersion reasons. Means everything that happened really happened, in real time, not in some fudged save game hinterland of suspended disbelief. Things got pretty hairy a few times, some close calls. Downed and rallied on kills from earlier AEs as the NPCs chipped in while I lay throwing dirt. My advice, tag everything, never know when you might need the credit.
Loaded a lot of CC and it paid off. Recommend it. Overall, found the fighting easier than chapter one. I think solo is easier in general for this stuff. Only one particularly annoying fight but no worse (or better) than Aerin. No jumping required anywhere either - good news, that.
ArenaNet art department outdid themselves yet again. New maplet looks amazing, looking forward to exploring it. Going to be jumping there I fear and plenty of it. Instances large and packed with interest. Great to roam around after everything's dead. Some new mob models or new to me unless they turn up elsewhere in content I haven't done (Sylvari personal story, maybe?).
Took over 100 screenshots. Can't use hardly any. Spoilers. For now, here's some scenery. Later, when we've all been through it, we'll talk. Form a support group. We may need counselling.
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I've been hearing a lot of good things about this episode. Hopefully that's the kick in the bum I need to get met to finish episode 1!
ReplyDeleteGUH I'd like to profusely thank you for the spoiler-free preview! Been out in the field at work and haven't been able to log on. I'll be looking forward to devouring it this weekend!
ReplyDelete-Ursan
Ooooooooooooooh, my. GOD.
ReplyDeleteDunno if it's intentional or I just had great timing, but I followed a centaur's advise and trudged along a valley in the sandstorm to reach the oasis. Sandstorm starts clearing and....in front of me is the beautiful oasis.
My jaw just dropped. This is worth playing through on my slow hotel internet.
-Ursan
One of my "Blimey, Charlie!" moments was when I emerged out of a sandstorm into the Oasis. It took me completely by surprise.
DeleteIn no particular order;
ReplyDeleteIn Vigil keep Canach has a story time scroll over his head and wee bit of new text.
As noted by many, there are a number of breathtaking vistas that open in front of you as you move through this zone. For once the crummy FOV we're stuck with works with the forced perspective and the terrain. The camera positioning still works against "looking up"...
Look up "The Eternal Alchemoose" for a chuckle.
Thanks for the tip. It took me ages even to find Canach, tucked away in farthest corner of Vigil Keep and when I did I found the conversation somewhat confusing to say the least.
DeleteI remember him as (yet another) psychotic Sylvari mass-murderer. I was taken aback to find my character chatting to him on clearly friendly terms and even more surprised to hear that he's going to be taken on by Queen Jennah's Royal Guard.
He's only been in custody, what, a few months? A year at the most. Was he ever tried for his crimes and if so was he sentenced? Come to think of it, what's the legal system responsible? The Vigil have him in custody but he was previously under arrest by The Lionguard, from whom he escaped. Can anyone keep all this stuff straight?
Anyway, the one character I trust least in the entire two seasons of Living Story is Countess Anise, who, if she's not actually the secret evil mastermind behind this whole thing is self-evidently appallingly incompetent at her job. She's either evil or an idiot, either of which would, I guess, explain why she's chosen to add a proven terrorist to the elite royal guard.
I await further developments with interest.
I did love the GW1 references... and, by the way, did you notice where that ley line looks like it was going?
DeleteCanach has had a number of different things to say in the later updates to season one. The Krytan justice system seems to have capital punishment as the standard punishment for all infractions (said as I gun down another "shady customer" stealing a crate of brew. It's interesting that even the charr have prisoners that aren't awaiting execution in Black Citadel. I gotta poke around DR see if they have a prison ).
DeletePerhaps captain's council isn't interested in starting a blood feud with anybody, there's no money in it.
@Bhagpuss -- oh, btw, since you mention that you don't trust Countess Anise -- you have noticed that Her Majesty is a mesmer, right? Just like the Countess? And that the Countess is perfectly capable of making an illusion of Her Majesty?
ReplyDeleteIsn't it interesting that the Queen is protected by someone with the exact same skills?
Trust Logan to fall in love with an imaginary girlfriend.
Delete@ Jeromai Hahaha! Logan is such a sap!
Delete@ jonreece It actually never occurred to me that Jennah would have a class in the terms our characters do. Unless it comes up as part of the plot I tend to think of all NPCs as having some kind of generic untrained non-combatant "townsfolk" or "noble" class, or, if appropriate, "militia", "guard" or whatever. That's how it would work in a tabletop RPG but maybe everyone on Tyria is one of the eight classes? That really would be weird.
Then again, when major non-player supporting characters do start flexing their player-class muscles, they tend to be a lot better at those classes than we are. Anise might be able to make an illusion of Queen Jennah but my mesmer can't - she can only make illusions of herself or generic types. And as for Marjory and her bone bridges and exploding minions...
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Delete@ Bhagpuss (edited lightly)
DeleteActually, in the novel "Edge of Destiny" it explicitly states that Queen Jennah is a mesmer, a quite powerful one. And it shows that Logan consented to having her put a geas of some kind on her to have him be her protector. So -- and this is where the relationship gets interesting -- when he left the rest of Destiny's Edge to run to her side and protect her, resulting in the deaths of both Snaff the asura and Glint the dragon that inspires the zepherites, he may not have actually had a choice in the matter. Though he believes that he loves the queen, and though he believes that he chose to leave his friends to fight alone, the novel very much leaves the door open to that being the result of a compulsion.
By the way, notice how Logan reacts whenever Jennah seems to be in danger, vs. when he is sure she is safe. Is he really a sap, or is there more to this?
So, yes, while I don't think that most NPCs have a profession, it is established that Queen Jennah does, the same one that her closest advisor does, and she is very, very good at it.
Oh, and if you play the personal story as a human, notice that Countess Anise at one point makes a convincing illusion of Queen Jennah to act as a decoy. Interesting, no?