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- Mar 2, 2014
- Messages
- 127
Hive Journey 6 - The Necromancer; RPG by Homor
This map has been reworked. The Sections where there is a Green Star contain new impressions.
I played through this relatively short RPG. I got interested for the Setting that is about the best thing about this map.
First Impression
You start off as a Necromancer. I got familiar with the skills quite quickly, I can permanently summon ghouls from any corpse and I decide to do so with the first few enemies and any animals around. I'm always amazed that even the smallest corpse can create a ghoul.
The number of ghouls I can have seems to be infinite, so I mark the skill on Auto-Cast and run out of Mana. Don't want to use my Items yet so I slaughter some part of the village. South I find some kind of base which allows me to instant-purchase some units.
The Graveyard provides some Bone-Soldiers, also a rather big one. because of the Mana-Well I can keep summoning Ghouls, that now got "Frenzy" because i upgraded the skill to Level 3.
I decide to follow the only quest and kill all there is.
Gameplay *
The Gameplay is simple, raise a big army and crush all resistance. The Scenario is kinda loosely tied in with the Scarlet Crusade and it is coherend in that Balnazar is the one to lead them as we later find out.
The main idea which I really like is that you're a real necromancer, not some dark mage that can summon 2 skeletons that fall apart after a short time. The execution is yet to be improved and some mechanics should be added.
You fight some hordes of Human soldiers and defeat the boss, that's it.
A friendly forest-troll camp can be found but I was not able to trigger whatever Event there might have happened.
As you lay your vergance upon thee you are rewarded with even more troops, Ghouls and Abominations.
It is kinda satisfying being able to bring truth to the term "everytime one of us dies their numbers grow" but some issues like narrow hallways where unreachable in the back are the priests with their cleanse ability tend to annoy and frustrate.
The Map has been reworked and the frustration factor dropped all the way down. With including a graveyard at the very end and the addition of obsidian statues it is easier to raise an endless stream of ghouls to finish the boss. Skeleton Archers via Black Arrow also make the challenge more about managing your army.
The Setup/Scenario is the strong point of this map.
The Gameplay is fun and challenging
Story
The story is actually well thought out but short and too weak yet.
Characters
Different Characters or Peronalities were not presented, either because it's not intended or not yet included.
Graphics
The map looks ok, some minor effects are to be found, nothing spectecular though.
What I liked regardless were the included Bone-Units they looked nice and fittet the theme.
Discovery
Though you are expected to go everywhere it still feels like it has quite good potential to become a very explorational map with lots of secrets. A little surprise is usualy to be found while playing one of which being reinforcements which appear as a result of "infecting the whole town" by destoying major buildings.
Even though this map is small the 3 or 4 different areas are interesting to wander through first time.
Quests
This is not a map to include quest-givers, sidequests or multiple goals. Therefore it's yet not included or not intended.
Layout *
I don't mean to be harsh but the Layout sucks. You have your big army which is justified by the number of enemies you gotta crush at once. A bigger map resulting in Bigger rooms and hallways would kill this complain but as it is it's the weakpoint of the whole map.
It sucks out all the fun that there is to be had with this scenario because you either fail to adapt and the priests will cleanse your mostly idle group in the back shielded by the horsemen and troopers in front or you will have to manage waves, which is neither fun nor challenging but boring. Especially because you're supposed to use summoned units for the most part.
The fight in the last third of this small map is a drag and the last fight is even longer and suffers most from layout because of the nature of the boss, summoning Burning-Legion Golems and putting most of your units to sleep.
This annoyance could also be weakend with the inclusion of another graveyard near the castle, otherwise you have to go back and build an army from scratch, summoning rediculous amounts of ghouls, which is also boring to wait for even with autocast.
Letting the Hero pick up skills beyond lvl11 (while he can reach 15) could also help provided that he gets the skills he needs to kill or disable the priests.
The Terrain is ok but this doesn't really help with this issues.
Including Skeleton Archers and making it easier for you to raise the dead of gnolls and trolls (using Scrolls of the Dead) makes it easier to deal with threats in the backrow of the enemy. Therefor the Layout is no issue anymore and you can ignore almost anything I said about it.
Items *
The only point where you get Items is at the end where there is a treasure room and these Items are not suited for your hero or of any big help. Also the experience books are useless. More suiting Items spread throughout the map would change this to positive, but as it is it is a negative point.
The Items are now spread across the map, there are more of them, they are use- and helpful and overall feel right. The treasure room still exists containing mostly weak stuff but this is more a story about what the Scarlet Crusade would have in their vault rather than a useless addition.
Bugs *
Bugs included. The biggest of them I guess is that you can use the circle of power multiple times summoning an infinite amount of bone soldiers. Granted the bug helps with the waittime when rebuilding your army but this shouldn't happen. Going back and forth to the circle of power also looks and feels stupid.
The Forest trolls don't react. If they're supposed to react somehow, this is another one.
Bugs corrected, didn't find new ones.
The buyable Skeleton Archer however which need lumber to be built while there is no way to aquire lumber holds me back from giving a perfect Bug-Score.
Final Thoughts *
I still like the Setup wanting this kind of map to pop up forever now. It is actually a good start and the issues I complain about I complain about for them to get better.
I really want this map to be finished and improved as the idea is unique in its execution. I want a bigger map also but of course the first thing would be to be able to play the small one properly and with fun.
This whole map does not feel like a RPG-Map. It feels like the first part of a campaign safe for the reachable level of 15. I'd like to see a whole Campaign around this Set-Up but I have to admit it'd take serious work figuring out the balance of your skills and the enemy's strength. Some might think that the armies are too big. Well, this is the whole beauty of this map, it is a more realistic take on how an undead invasion would look like. It's awesome.
Final Verdict: 2/5 ----> New Final Verdict: 3,5/5
Krolan
The Twisted
This map has been reworked. The Sections where there is a Green Star contain new impressions.
I played through this relatively short RPG. I got interested for the Setting that is about the best thing about this map.
First Impression
You start off as a Necromancer. I got familiar with the skills quite quickly, I can permanently summon ghouls from any corpse and I decide to do so with the first few enemies and any animals around. I'm always amazed that even the smallest corpse can create a ghoul.
The number of ghouls I can have seems to be infinite, so I mark the skill on Auto-Cast and run out of Mana. Don't want to use my Items yet so I slaughter some part of the village. South I find some kind of base which allows me to instant-purchase some units.
The Graveyard provides some Bone-Soldiers, also a rather big one. because of the Mana-Well I can keep summoning Ghouls, that now got "Frenzy" because i upgraded the skill to Level 3.
I decide to follow the only quest and kill all there is.
Gameplay *
The Gameplay is simple, raise a big army and crush all resistance. The Scenario is kinda loosely tied in with the Scarlet Crusade and it is coherend in that Balnazar is the one to lead them as we later find out.
The main idea which I really like is that you're a real necromancer, not some dark mage that can summon 2 skeletons that fall apart after a short time. The execution is yet to be improved and some mechanics should be added.
You fight some hordes of Human soldiers and defeat the boss, that's it.
A friendly forest-troll camp can be found but I was not able to trigger whatever Event there might have happened.
As you lay your vergance upon thee you are rewarded with even more troops, Ghouls and Abominations.
It is kinda satisfying being able to bring truth to the term "everytime one of us dies their numbers grow" but some issues like narrow hallways where unreachable in the back are the priests with their cleanse ability tend to annoy and frustrate.
The Map has been reworked and the frustration factor dropped all the way down. With including a graveyard at the very end and the addition of obsidian statues it is easier to raise an endless stream of ghouls to finish the boss. Skeleton Archers via Black Arrow also make the challenge more about managing your army.
The Setup/Scenario is the strong point of this map.
The Gameplay is fun and challenging
Story
The story is actually well thought out but short and too weak yet.
Characters
Different Characters or Peronalities were not presented, either because it's not intended or not yet included.
Graphics
The map looks ok, some minor effects are to be found, nothing spectecular though.
What I liked regardless were the included Bone-Units they looked nice and fittet the theme.
Discovery
Though you are expected to go everywhere it still feels like it has quite good potential to become a very explorational map with lots of secrets. A little surprise is usualy to be found while playing one of which being reinforcements which appear as a result of "infecting the whole town" by destoying major buildings.
Even though this map is small the 3 or 4 different areas are interesting to wander through first time.
Quests
This is not a map to include quest-givers, sidequests or multiple goals. Therefore it's yet not included or not intended.
Layout *
I don't mean to be harsh but the Layout sucks. You have your big army which is justified by the number of enemies you gotta crush at once. A bigger map resulting in Bigger rooms and hallways would kill this complain but as it is it's the weakpoint of the whole map.
It sucks out all the fun that there is to be had with this scenario because you either fail to adapt and the priests will cleanse your mostly idle group in the back shielded by the horsemen and troopers in front or you will have to manage waves, which is neither fun nor challenging but boring. Especially because you're supposed to use summoned units for the most part.
The fight in the last third of this small map is a drag and the last fight is even longer and suffers most from layout because of the nature of the boss, summoning Burning-Legion Golems and putting most of your units to sleep.
This annoyance could also be weakend with the inclusion of another graveyard near the castle, otherwise you have to go back and build an army from scratch, summoning rediculous amounts of ghouls, which is also boring to wait for even with autocast.
Letting the Hero pick up skills beyond lvl11 (while he can reach 15) could also help provided that he gets the skills he needs to kill or disable the priests.
The Terrain is ok but this doesn't really help with this issues.
Including Skeleton Archers and making it easier for you to raise the dead of gnolls and trolls (using Scrolls of the Dead) makes it easier to deal with threats in the backrow of the enemy. Therefor the Layout is no issue anymore and you can ignore almost anything I said about it.
Items *
The only point where you get Items is at the end where there is a treasure room and these Items are not suited for your hero or of any big help. Also the experience books are useless. More suiting Items spread throughout the map would change this to positive, but as it is it is a negative point.
The Items are now spread across the map, there are more of them, they are use- and helpful and overall feel right. The treasure room still exists containing mostly weak stuff but this is more a story about what the Scarlet Crusade would have in their vault rather than a useless addition.
Bugs *
Bugs included. The biggest of them I guess is that you can use the circle of power multiple times summoning an infinite amount of bone soldiers. Granted the bug helps with the waittime when rebuilding your army but this shouldn't happen. Going back and forth to the circle of power also looks and feels stupid.
The Forest trolls don't react. If they're supposed to react somehow, this is another one.
Bugs corrected, didn't find new ones.
The buyable Skeleton Archer however which need lumber to be built while there is no way to aquire lumber holds me back from giving a perfect Bug-Score.
Final Thoughts *
I still like the Setup wanting this kind of map to pop up forever now. It is actually a good start and the issues I complain about I complain about for them to get better.
I really want this map to be finished and improved as the idea is unique in its execution. I want a bigger map also but of course the first thing would be to be able to play the small one properly and with fun.
This whole map does not feel like a RPG-Map. It feels like the first part of a campaign safe for the reachable level of 15. I'd like to see a whole Campaign around this Set-Up but I have to admit it'd take serious work figuring out the balance of your skills and the enemy's strength. Some might think that the armies are too big. Well, this is the whole beauty of this map, it is a more realistic take on how an undead invasion would look like. It's awesome.
Final Verdict: 2/5 ----> New Final Verdict: 3,5/5
Krolan
The Twisted
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