Solitayre's Arc VI Review!

[Solitayre]

The epic saga continues! Spoilers ahead, of course.

Following the events of Arc V, Cade has gone all emo and decides to martyr himself by trying to kill Ketsu, the leader of the Hand, whom he believes is responsible for the horrible chain of events that destroyed his family. It falls to his trusted friend, Stoic, to rescue him...from himself. As both proven allies and old enemies are rallied against the Hand's forces, the truth of Ketsu's sinister machinations is finally revealed. Can our heroes stop this madness before its too late? Or have Ketsu's 'divinely granted' powers finally outclassed them?

Balance 3.5/5:
Battles have improved considerably from the previous arcs, due to the continual improvements made to the system over time. Gone are the incredibly frequent random encounters that plagued earlier chapters. Gone are the frequent and unavoidable deaths, though this is likely due to the development of our heroes as characters, now finally coming into their own as powerful warriors. However, the epic boss battles that made the previous arcs great are in short supply here, with only one of the major villains stepping forward to challenge our heroes, and despite some interesting and innovative abilities on his part, he ultimately proves to be little challenge. I should note that Shroud storming the Hand's headquarters at the beginning was the highlight of the arc. Charging forward and striking down minions left and right, and then curb-stomping a previously dangerous rival in single combat; finally, after twenty hours of gameplay, you feel like a superhero.

Level Design 2.5/5:
Sadly, the famed ArtBane dungeons that were so spectacular in previous arcs have taken a wrong turn here. The main 'dungeon' of the arc consists mostly of walking in a straight line and repeating the same sequence of encounters and puzzles over and over that wears out its welcome long before the end. Fortunately there are still a few of the clever minigames to keep the player distracted, including a very amusing puzzle-based distraction revolving around two side characters.

Characters 4/5:
As always, the dialogue is stellar and the characters do not fail to keep us intrigued. Several characters, especially Cade, finally begin to undergo some long overdue development, as well as new revelations about other characters. Although a drama heavy arc, the comic antics of Finley keep everything form becoming too morose. However, the motivations of some of the characters left me confused, such as Ariel, who seemes to go back and forth between betraying Ketsu and working with him as the plot demands her to. And a major plot point at the end of the arc relies on the sudden appearance of four supposedly important characters we've never heard of, which feels like a slap in the face considering the incredible detail given to other characters.

Storyline 3/5:
As the penultimate arc, things are finally starting to come together, long unanswered plot points are finally addressed, and the stage is set for the final battle. The storytelling in  this chapter is notably different than previous chapters, as the group is separated and we shift between the viewpoints of the two groups while interspersed with various scenes of other important events. While not quite as cutscene heavy as the infamous Arc V, you're still going to be watching instead of playing a lot. It took me a good 45 minutes to get to the first battle of the arc.

While the finale rapidly draws near,  I fear the creators have tried to address a few too many plot points in not quite enough time. Many sequences near the end of the arc feel disjointed as many characters do things for poorly explained reasons. As the arc goes on, a series of increasingly contrived coincidences are required to keep the story on track. For instance, the final three Toutens show up at one point and fight the party despite ostensibly being on the party's side at this point, seemingly mostly because they were the only ones who haven't been fought yet. A side event near the end of the chapter results in the re-emergence of several villains, teaming up for no adequately explored reason, as well as a character that effectively walked off into the sunset being roped back into the story. These felt unnecessary as I felt that these characters had already been adequately explored and wonder if it was really necessary to retread these plots again.

Music and Sound 4/5:
The music is still excellent, although the bombastic dungeon theme you'll be hearing a lot throughout the arc starts to get old after a while. Special note must be given to the faithful and devoted use of character leitmotifs that continue to evolve and be used in new ways throughout the arc which really enhance both characters and scenes.

Overall 3.5/5:
This arc, in spite of the various problems detailed above, was still every bit the epic adventure you've come to expect from Volrath and ArtBane and it sets the stage well for the thrilling final chapter that is yet to come. I shall be among those dutifully waiting for its conclusion.


Some final notes to our creators:
-I'm not sure what's changed in the battle scripts since Arc V but the battles in this arc lagged like crazy for me.
-The Sarah Palin joke must go. This is not a request but a desperate plea. We have enough bad memories.

[lolwut]

-I'm not sure what's changed in the battle scripts since Arc V but the battles in this arc lagged like crazy for me.

I'm pretty sure it's the updated Status Display script, I only notice the massive lag when someone had a status effect.

[ArtBane]

Thanks Solitayre. I didn't expect a review from you until after we dropped the news on net so this was a pleasant surprise.

-I'm not sure what's changed in the battle scripts since Arc V but the battles in this arc lagged like crazy for me.

I'm pretty sure it's the updated Status Display script, I only notice the massive lag when someone had a status effect.

I was not aware of this. I have a beast of a computer so I did not suffer any lag at all during battles. I'll have to contact the scripter that helped me with the script to see if we can make it more efficient.

[MOTWFAN]

I actually have to disagree with you about the dungeon designs. I thought Arc V was the wrong turn for the puzzles, but then Arc VI improved a lot. And it's not really like you're just walking a straight line... I'm assuming your talking about the cannonball parts... It's not like that wasn't challenging (especially with the spider webs slowing you down) I didn't think they were very repetitive. I've played other games where they would repeat the same thing over 10 times before ever progressing... with this, I only counted two.

[Brickman]

I did notice some nasty lag when I was playing Arc VI, but at the time I attributed it to the fact that you released it on the same night that Microsoft released one of those "critical updates" that installs by itself.  After that, there's still a ''little'' bit of lag at times, but it's not too bad.

[HarryE]

-The Sarah Palin joke must go. This is not a request but a desperate plea. We have enough bad memories.

What? I missed this one. What was it again?

[Volrath]

-The Sarah Palin joke must go. This is not a request but a desperate plea. We have enough bad memories.

What? I missed this one. What was it again?

It was the "Bridge to Nowhere" bit in the Finley/Laurel dungeon. I laugh to keep from crying...

Thanks for the review, Solitayre. I have to say, for a review with a spoiler warning, you did a good job avoiding spoilers. Will this be incorporated into your review on rpgmaker.net (the game will be released there soon enough) or shall it stand on its own here? Either is fine with me, I was just curious.

About Ariel, I'm surprised her motivation didn't come through. Early on, she figured she could get rid of Ketsu and run the show herself, but when his wings showed up, she realized he had much more potential. If it's still ambiguous, it may be because she has also deduced something about Ketsu which the audience does not yet know....what is this, you ask? You'll have to wait until Arc VII (though it will be in the first scene, so we may wind up showing a preview at some point, not sure about that yet).

As for your opinion on the reappearance of Solik and company, I have to say that was a first. After Arc V, we got many responses to the effect of "What about Solik?!" Can't please everyone, I guess. Hopefully you will like their portion of Arc VII...I'm looking forward to writing it, that's for sure.

[Korin]

-The Sarah Palin joke must go. This is not a request but a desperate plea. We have enough bad memories.

What? I missed this one. What was it again?

About Ariel, I'm surprised her motivation didn't come through. Early on, she figured she could get rid of Ketsu and run the show herself, but when his wings showed up, she realized he had much more potential. If it's still ambiguous, it may be because she has also deduced something about Ketsu which the audience does not yet know....what is this, you ask? You'll have to wait until Arc VII (though it will be in the first scene, so we may wind up showing a preview at some point, not sure about that yet).

I totally agree with you on that one, but I also know more about her actions from Clean Slate.  This is a horrible, manipulative woman, I mean, she killed Lysander's wife to get to him.  She sounds like a very two-faced individual, and a good actor, which is what I initially thought, but...

I think i've deduced what that something is.  Guess i'll see when Arc VII comes out if i'm right!

And also i'm excited to see what this Enkur dialogue is going to be like... After reading her dialogue in ARC V and hearing that eerie tune, i'm honestly a little frightened of Elyssa Brightwey.

[Brickman]

Although Solik definitely needed another beating before the story can draw to a close, I can see what he means with Enkur not really sitting right.  I mean, his arc was done.  He wasn't "fully" explored or "fully" explained, no, but he was explored as far as was needed for the role in the story he had (and as both a figure from a main character's backstory and a potentially invincible superweapon, that's plenty far), and there was nothing wrong with him forgiving Stoic and then leaving.  "Roping him back in" is a pretty good description of what happened in that scene there.  And to be honest, unlike, say, the Toutens or Ariel, Enkur's not really somebody I'm excited about fighting.

I also can't argue about the Touten thing; sure, I can understand that out of loyalty to Shroud they were trying to keep the others from interfering with Shroud's mission, since they wanted him out and he was heartset on not leaving until it was over, but actually fighting them (including a game-over screen if you lose), especially after seeing the Sparrow on their side, was a bit far.  It's exactly what he said it was--there needed to be a fight with the last three Toutens at some point before the plot ran out, and this was the only chance left to do so.  I'm willing to overlook the slight contrivance because, well, I wanted to fight those Toutens too.

I will defend you on the "four characters we'd never even heard of" thing, though.  The Great Awakening is the only reason and the only way that these characters are significant.  There is no reason to think they would have necessarily done anything important before it.  Plus all four have almost surely been in the Hand's possession since before the first day of Arc I, doing nothing but being prepared for the Awakening.  Finally, there is no reason the Hand would not have strove to keep their existence a secret.  In short, there is no reason at all that these characters should have been important or gotten screentime before now.  And besides, for all you know they're still only important in aggregate; there's plenty of speculation that the party will split up to take them all on individually but no guarantee, and even if they do I would put money on each one having a speaking part in exactly one scene, the scene in which they get their butt kicked.

As for the Palin joke, I'm sure there's some event in Solest's history which makes that pun perfectly understandable and funny for these characters who have never even heard of Alaska or the United States.  You totally don't have to explain this one; I'll trust you.

edit: Lack of fact checking For The Lose!

[ArtBane]

I also can't argue about the Touten thing; sure, I can understand that out of loyalty to Shroud they were trying to keep the others from interfering with Shroud's mission, since they wanted him out and he was heartset on not leaving until it was over, but actually fighting them (including a game-over screen if you lose), especially after seeing the Sparrow on their side, was a bit far.

If this is true than that is a bug. There should be a Lose scenario with the Toutens where Laurel becomes real riled up and heals the group and then the battle begins again.

[Brickman]

Oh?  Huh, I gotta try that.  I just assumed that there would be a game over screen since that's the default result of losing a battle; I didn't have any problem winning that battle on my first try.  Are there any other battles that work like this?

[ArtBane]

I believe the only other battle that has a lose scenario that doesn't involve death is the Lancer battle at the bottom of the crypt.

[Solitayre]

There seems to be some confusion so I shall clarify.

I had no problem with Solik showing up again, the villains teaming up for no reason I mentioned were Chard and Grinfrak, two characters who not only have nothing in common, but Grinfrak expresses nothing but contempt for working with others . Looking at Enkur's story arc, he spent his whole life hating Zeno only for him to finally let go of his anger at the end of Arc V, and for me that signals the end of his story as he has finally found peace. Revisiting him after this point seems unnecessary. However, the reappearance of Elissa certainly has potential meaning for Stoic so I suppose I shall see where this goes before judging.

Regarding the puzzles, I suppose the whole spike well thing was a little too repetitive for me. And the fact that a fairy appeared after every cannon sequence meant there was absolutely no penalty for getting hit at all, making the puzzle seem almost pointless, at least to me.

Edit: Volrath: I shall probably update my review on Rpgmaker.net when you release the arc there. I do not have reliable internet service at this time so I shall do it when I can.

[ArtBane]

And the fact that a fairy appeared after every cannon sequence meant there was absolutely no penalty for getting hit at all, making the puzzle seem almost pointless, at least to me.

Not true. Every cannon hit does 20 damage and if the entire party falls down to 1hp then the player is teleported back to the beginning of the sequence. I just think I have to make the cannons do more damage. Right now it's more of a failsafe against players that recklessly charge the cannons.

[Volrath]

There seems to be some confusion so I shall clarify.

I had no problem with Solik showing up again, the villains teaming up for no reason I mentioned were Chard and Grinfrak, two characters who not only have nothing in common, but Grinfrak expresses nothing but contempt for working with others.

Haha, that's a funny misunderstanding. I immediately assumed you meant Solik and the others, even though you didn't come out and say it. All I can really say about Grinfrak was that he joined the Ember Mages for the same reason he seemed to have joined the Toutens - He wants to be in charge (and change the name to "The Grinfrak Corps"), even though he's an idiot and doesn't have credentials for much of anything.

As for Enkur, his role in the final arc's story is probably a bit different from what people are expecting, though of course I don't want to say more than that.