Okay, so lets start with the story since it is the most problematic part of the chapter. I mean no disrespect with these words, but I had a strong dejavu. Something like...Finale of the first human book? Yeah, pretty much those vibes filled my head. And the way I see it is they are identical to each other. I know you want to make a story fitting to your own style, and I definitely like your style, but when it comes to making finales, you either leave an open ending to make people wonder what could transpire. Or you actually finish the story. Now what we got is a cliffhanger same as the one in the first book. The scheme is "we had a big battle against our main nemesis, but an enemy inside corrupted our plans, and thus we retreat, and our choices in the last interlude decide wether it is going to be a disaster or... still a disaster, but a lesser one." Although I believe we will have our answers in respective orc and undead books about things we dont know (the elf twins, Salana's recovered body, the undeads' true plans, Aridons revival, orcs occupiyng Salria), yet still the ending felt very unfinished and the same. We got crushed, so we fall back to see how things will unfold. This leaves the players nowhere, except for waiting a spinoff campaign or making assumption over what could transpire
Also, Aedale's role in this still remains unknown, as well as her sudden cameo at the end of chapter 14 puzzled me a lot. What were Lisara's plans after all, where's Largoth? Well, waiting for the undead book I guess. But the answers about the dark entity ruling empire ( I guess, I should wait for 14b then talk) and Brian's true agenda are still to be found. To conclude, im not going to suggest anything about the story. This is your story, Shar, and all of us, hivers, following this thread, like this campaign for your unique style. Maybe that ending is the part of the style we like after all? I do not know that. But I have tried to point out that we basically get the same ending and its not a bad thing. The history repeats itself. But I just havent felt any satisfaction after the finale, maybe that is what frustrates me. Other than everyting mentioned, I think the story is well treated and you've done a tremendous job.
So, going back to the gameplay. I tried both Ebira pact and non-Ebira pact version, and to be honest the pact version not only gives us a more consistent ending but makes the chapter way easier. I liked the idea of a triple-front assault, kinda felt vanilla blood elf campaign vibes with that one. Maybe you would consider not to tweak difficulty that much? Please, oh great tyrant? Because Im all into never-trust-a-demon strategy
Still a timeconsuming chapter, and since it is not that macro-oriented, but rather an endless bloodbath (aka undead finale style) it is even more fun...And much more difficult by extension, especially when it comes to your allies. Also, maybe you could consinder increasing the max supply amount to 120? but thats just a small suggestion. In general, I wouldnt call this chapter "impossible to pass" or "jesus christ, reduce the difficulty". This is a tough chapter for sure. So were chapter 4, chapter 7, chapters 11 and 12 for both factions. I dont think 14's balance should receive any large revamps, maybe it could use a small tweak in players favour, but the only real fix I expect is making "decline Ebira's pact" option not that punishing.
Alright, this has been a very long and messy post, got a lot of thoughts and im not sure if I expressed them correctly...Or put them in the right order...Doesnt matter. These were my thought about chapter 14, maybe I'll add something after replaying it a few times, but this is it for now. Cheers, and keep up the great work of yours, Shar.
